During E3 publisher Sony Computer
Entertainment of America, or SCEA, quietly announced a new Capture
the Flag mmo game.
In case you’re not
aware, Capture the Flag is
a time honored game in the first person shooter genre that first
appeared in 1994, and more recently mmorpg games. To sum up, there
are two teams that both have a base with a flag in the middle.
Your job is to take the other teams flag and return it to your base.
This used to be played outdoors with people and teams, but who
does that anymore? It’s all online now.
And, with Sony’s new
game the flag is still the objective and the goal of protecting your
flag while stealing 
the opposing team’s flag remains the same.
However, they have added a new dimension to the strategy of the
game. You can change the weight of the flag, making it harder
to steal.
However, in this game
the flag is a Princess, and you make her heavier by feeding her junk
food. And, thus the name of the game; Fat Princess.
There is a phrase
bandied about in the scriptwriting community- high concept. And
I have never had a convincing explanation of the phrase other than
it’s like art- you know it when you see it. A frequent
example of a high concept movie is Liar Liar. Or Jaws.
And I think Fat Princess
is high concept. It does a lot of things- it puts a new face on
a classic on-line game. It repackages itself with the theme of
stealing or guarding a princess. And it adds a new level of
strategy with the weight of the flag. It even sums the game up
in the title. And it generates a lot of free press.
Because the concept and name have not gone over well with some
people.
To quote Melissa McEwan
of Shakesville, "positively thrilled to see such
unyielding dedication to creating a new generation of fat-hating,
heteronormative ---holes." And, to quote my wife, herself a
life long video gamer, “Looks kinda lame.”
I would not be blogging
about a new game that had players fill an empty box with rocks called
Box of Rocks; which is the same concept as Fat Princess- a McGuffin that can be made heavier. But this is a game about making
a young woman fat so the other team can’t steal her.
And that brings up a lot
of hot button issues; the objectification of women, feminine body
image, and perceived roles for women in games.
I mean, the princess
only has value as an object to be guarded, and is made unattractive
by making her fat. That’s woman as object, woman is desirable thin
and undesirable fat. Woman is defenseless and must rely on men. The
only way this game could be more controversial is if it had something
to do with the Middle Eastern boys and Catholic Priests.
And, how many princesses
can you name from video games? Right off the top of my head I can name
five. And those are just from Nintendo games. Now, excluding Laura
Croft, how
many video game heroines can you name? That second one is a
shorter list, isn’t it?
And, there is one more
thing to add- this game was designed by a woman.
Does that make it better
or worse? Is it okay for a woman to make a game about making
women objects and fat?
Does the game designer
bear any responsibility in the self image of its players? Do
video games have such an impact on our society that we must tailor
every aspect of them to send nothing but the most positive and
uplifting of messages?
Does saying “It’s
just a game, get over it.” trivialize women who are upset about a
game that objectifies women?
Personally, I think Fat
Princess is a great idea for a game. It’s a fun twist on an
existing idea, instead of a flag it’s a princess. The rescue
the princess cliché it gives you instant thematic
possibilities and a setting that doesn't require a great deal of
definition. Yes, it does turn a woman into an object; she is
not capable of leaving the enemy base on her own. But, I think
the game would be just as fun if it were Fat Prince. And it does send
a message, intentional or not, that eating too much cake will make
you fat. I can’t discuss actual game play because I don’t own the
game or the platform it’s intended for, and it hasn’t been
released yet. But, it does sound like fun.
