Gaming – Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Cover
Action code for battle
- Samus pictured firing a shot from the arm cannon
Sci-Fi iconography
- Including suit, arm cannon, aliens, aiming reticules
Use of overlays w/ aliens behind Samus + dials/reticules in foreground
- Displays a highly cluttered cover suggesting it’s action-packed
2 images of the aliens
- Creating a binary opposition with the front cover
Nintendo repeated 5x
- Anchor the institution
Red, green, orange scheme of her suit
- Juxtaposes w/ the pale blue, dark red and sci-fi greens of the other characters/backgrounds
Signs include
- Alien icons that are ‘bug like’ in nature
- Her suit that acts as an index for human despite clearly being robotic
- Game cube symbol
Semiotic codes
- Her power suit connotes masculinity
- Bug like aliens connotes creepiness
- Alien presence looming behind Samus connotes danger + darkness
, Gameplay
Highly conventional of an FPS
- Stereotypical HUD
- Weapon view at bottom of screen
- Health bar
- Map + Ammo count
Weapon constantly present to ensure player is aware of their own character
Slight bounce while walking to make it more realistic; no gliding
Cut scenes are streamlined to occur straight out of gameplay
Weapon reticule turns red when over an enemy
Third person platformer elements included as well as during “morph ball sections”
Camera shifts back from camera’s viewpoint to show entire environment
Semiotic codes
- Her suit connotes masculinity
- Bug-like aliens connotes creepiness
- Connotations of switching body forms suggest transgender or movement between male and
female powers
Signs
- Samus’ suit that acts as an index for human, despite being clearly robotic
- Consistent icons for computer consoles
- Index of previous battles consistently shown (dead bodies)
Cover
Action code for battle
- Samus pictured firing a shot from the arm cannon
Sci-Fi iconography
- Including suit, arm cannon, aliens, aiming reticules
Use of overlays w/ aliens behind Samus + dials/reticules in foreground
- Displays a highly cluttered cover suggesting it’s action-packed
2 images of the aliens
- Creating a binary opposition with the front cover
Nintendo repeated 5x
- Anchor the institution
Red, green, orange scheme of her suit
- Juxtaposes w/ the pale blue, dark red and sci-fi greens of the other characters/backgrounds
Signs include
- Alien icons that are ‘bug like’ in nature
- Her suit that acts as an index for human despite clearly being robotic
- Game cube symbol
Semiotic codes
- Her power suit connotes masculinity
- Bug like aliens connotes creepiness
- Alien presence looming behind Samus connotes danger + darkness
, Gameplay
Highly conventional of an FPS
- Stereotypical HUD
- Weapon view at bottom of screen
- Health bar
- Map + Ammo count
Weapon constantly present to ensure player is aware of their own character
Slight bounce while walking to make it more realistic; no gliding
Cut scenes are streamlined to occur straight out of gameplay
Weapon reticule turns red when over an enemy
Third person platformer elements included as well as during “morph ball sections”
Camera shifts back from camera’s viewpoint to show entire environment
Semiotic codes
- Her suit connotes masculinity
- Bug-like aliens connotes creepiness
- Connotations of switching body forms suggest transgender or movement between male and
female powers
Signs
- Samus’ suit that acts as an index for human, despite being clearly robotic
- Consistent icons for computer consoles
- Index of previous battles consistently shown (dead bodies)
