2k.com

We all love it, Basketball! I played basketball since I was in 5th grade mostly for recreational purposes, but now I could even play it from home. 2k is a very well known video game amogst teenagers that love sports. However, very little the consumer knows the details that goes into the race and gender misrepresentation. Most of the best players in 2k are black, although it does fit into the stereotype of black males being basketball players. It is mostly evident when it comes to NBA 2k,  that the best players are shown in the best of their ability. For example, Stephen Curry unanimous MVP for the year 2016 is a great basketball player and in 2k he plays like so although he is white. However there is a very big gender gap. As some of you guys might know, there are also professional female basketball players, but they are not being represented at all in 2k. Which raises the quesion do women even play basketball?

2k is a perfect exmaple of the research done by Schaap. Although, there are two different leagues; the woman’s league and the man league, 2k only choosed to portray the man’s league. Which proves what Schaap said “that online spaces in many instances are masculine spaces, where expectations of behavior and iden-tity are shaped by traditional notions of heterosexuality and standards of hegemonic 1nasculinity.” This is true because although there is a woman’s league 2k has not developed female characters within their video game. Although, one might argue that there is no reason for a company such as 2k to create female characters since the consumers are mostly male teenagers. Well, that idea feeds into the stereotype that woman are not interested or may not be as good as males in sports, which is not true. Attached is an article that expands on the idea of female basketball athletes being underrespresented.

2k also feeds into Nakamura’s concept of ” the term cybertype to describe the distinctive ways that the Internet propagates, disseminates, and commodifies images of race and racism.” Cybertype is clearly evident in 2k. In the game you are allowed to create your own player, which createsa variaty of different players. However the asian and hispanic race is not represented, they only have the white and black race. Feeding more into cybertype, even when a player chooses a white character, the story is told as if the white character comes from a black family. Again supporting the stereotype that only black males are good in basketball.

Here’s a famous basketball player talking about race and basketball:

Questions:

1)Do you think women are underrepresented in sports game?

2)How much importance do you think race and gender underrepresation have in regars to videogames?