Cerise Magazine

By Andrea Rubenstein

When we think of video games, and by extension video game commercials that feature players, we think of guys. Usually commercials show us gamers who are close to the stereotype: white, geeky, stick-thin guys. This is not so for the Wii, which aggressively targets a broader demographic. The commercials below all feature a range of players outside the stereotype; they are obviously sending the message, “the Wii is for you, and you, and you!”

Wii Fit

So, I wanted to start with one that would pretty obviously include women because it fits into the Geek Girl Stereotype Bingo card. The Wii Fit is, of course, primarily about using the Wii to exercise. I’ve included both the English and the Japanese trailer below in order to look at some of the similarities and differences.

English Trailer

This one starts out with a rather average looking woman playing the balancing “game”. She’s white and thin, but without large breasts (as well as wearing an outfit that plays down, rather than accentuates, her chest). This is our first clue that this commercial isn’t aimed at the typical male game player. From there we’re introduced to another woman, then a man who’s following along to the same female mannequin as the women were. This is an interesting role-reversal of the traditional female player being forced to identify with a male avatar, but it’s tempered by the avatar being more the “leader” rather than someone meant for the player to project themselves onto.

The next scene shows us our first couple, who just happen to be black. They introduce the hula-hooping game with the woman playing with the man watching. Since the traditional stereotype is that, if a woman is involved with gaming it’s as the spectator, I felt that this sent a powerful (if unintentional) message of women as players in their own rights, even when their partners play as well.

The introduction to the next players (a white family) is somewhat odd to me: they are playing a soccer game with a black Mii; I’m not sure how I feel about that, although on some level I’m relieved that it isn’t basketball or another sport that’s stereotypically thought of as something “black people are good at”. The son is the player in this one, with his dad right behind him holding up a controller and his mom and sister sitting on the couch watching intently. I’m not entirely thrilled at the active/passive dichotomy this sets up, but given the rest of the commercial, it’s a minor point.

After this we move back to the black couple, where the man is playing a step/dancing game while the woman bounces to the music on his left. The scene then switches back to the white family, with the boy having the controller; he and his dad are kneeling and his mother and sister are still on the couch (this dichotomy is beginning to bug me more). They’re apparently checking out the family’s BMI (which is an eyeroll-worthy activity in of itself; we all know that the BMI is a lousy measure of, well, pretty much anything since it doesn’t take into account muscle mass, right?). Finally the daughter gets a play; the dad’s still behind her with the mom on the couch and the son next to her. The last player we’re introduced to is an Asian woman. The “game” she introduces is yoga.

Japanese Trailer

Like the American commercial, this one starts out with a woman playing. In the background a man (probably meant to be seen as her boyfriend) watches. Interestingly enough, he’s sitting down, taking the passive role that the women in the white family were taking in the American commercial. He’s then shown playing the snowboard game (which, overall, makes two men, and no women, who have been shown playing sports) while the woman watches from the couch. The commercial ends with him fanning his shirt, having worked up a sweat.

From a marketing perspective, these commercials aren’t taking a huge risk. First of all, one of the major selling points of the Wii is its accessibility, and so playing that up can only be to Nintendo’s advantage. Furthermore, fitness is something that the target countries are interested in, as well as it being a stereotypically feminine preoccupation. From a feminist perspective, the portrayal of the women in the commercials was overall pretty well done (although I would have liked to see a more diverse range of body types); they were portrayed as players and people, not as eye-candy, which helps the female consumer base to relate to them. I was disappointed, though not surprised, by the lack of racial diversity in the Japanese commercial, but that’s a subject for another day (and another place).

Link’s Crossbow Training

This commercial opens with two black children playing. The girl is holding the crossbow and the boy is pointing along with her, possibly directing her (or just playing lookout). It then switches to an obviously white woman (also holding the crossbow) and a man who is probably white. It switches back to the kids for a split second, showing the boy holding the crossbow, then shows the screen with targets being blown up.

The next set of players is an older man with a younger woman; I read it as a father playing with his grown daughter. Like the children, they’re black. The man is the one holding the crossbow, and we get to see him hitting targets. It then switches back to the white couple with the woman holding the crossbow while the man directs her. After showing her shooting things on screen, it switches to the man, this time with the woman directing him.

The two children are again shown, this time with their father sitting on the couch. The girl is the one holding the crossbow. The camera angles so that we can see both her and the screen. The final scene is the white woman directing the man while he plays.

From a marketing perspective, this is a slightly bigger risk than the Wii Fit since the game isn’t one seen to be “for girls”. However, it does show Nintendo’s commitment to inclusiveness, a marketing strategy which continues to pay off, so perhaps it isn’t as big of a risk as the “sex sells” crowd has wanted us to believe. From a feminist perspective, there is a good amount of airtime for the female players, while men do more directingbecause the women are doing a lot of the playing . There are a couple of points where the men are playing and the women do nothing, but most times the men, if they aren’t playing, are directing the women. I am also impressed that they aren’t tokenizing the people of colour and have, in fact, given them more airtime than the white couple.

Closing Thoughts

When I first conceived of this piece (which was because I saw the Link’s Crossbow Training trailer) I had wanted to find a non-Wii commercial, but it’s not easy to find commercials that feature players, much less ones that feature women. Still, these commercials show Nintendo’s continued commitment to inclusive game design, sending the message to potential consumers that these games are for them, too.

Article © January 2008 by Andrea Rubenstein.