Super Smash Bros and Civilization: A lens into Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality

Kirby, Link, Samus, Captain Falcon, and Mario are just a few of Super Smash Bros most popular characters. For some reason, if you are not familiar with this game or these characters, Super Smash Bros is one of the most popular video games of all time. It has been around for years. As opposed to some of the more modern games that have grand maps and a plethora of characters, weapons, and plot twists, Super Smash Bros prides itself on its simplicity and its tradition. The game consists of up to four users choosing characters, deciding whether to play with stock or a time limit, choosing the map to battle on, and then finally fighting in the actual game pay to reign victorious.

Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 64.   Image from Wikipedia.com

One of the most fascinating things about Super Smash Bros, which distinguishes itself from most video games is that its array of characters are all very different. Unlike Madden and FIFA whose players are all programed to run, kick, pass, catch, block, and shoot, the characters in SSB are all very different. Lets analyze a pair of characters:

Kirby From Wikipedia.com

Character Name: Kirby
Colors: Pink and Red
Body Shape: Round
Moves: Fly, Smash Drop, Fly, Suck in opponents and then spit out
Weaknesses: No real "signature"attack move

Captain Falcon   From: www.captainfalcon.com

Character Name: Captain Falcon
Colors: Maize and Blue
Body Shape: Human
Moves: jabs, throws, kicks, "Falcon Punch"
Weaknesses: Immobilized for second after "Falcon Punch" making him vulnerable to other attack

The analysis of these two characters displays that these characters are very different. Their appearance is different, their moves are different, and their weaknesses are different. While it depends on the user, many agree that captain falcon is a more dominating character than Kirby. Not to say that this is always the case amongst all players, but definitely a general truth. These differences make these two characters unequal, not just with regard to abilities, but with regard to general physical attributes. These two characters are naturally unequal, as Rousseau would argue.  They exist in the most simplistic environment, in which there is no real ownership of property (except for the occasional pokeball or jackhammer) or division of labor. Their lives are very simple. They start with the same amount of lives, on the same map, with the same time limit, and just battle. Natural inequality exists in its most basic form. Their physical differences make for different skills and abilities. Even though Captain Falcon is overall probably better than Kirby, Kirby has its own strengths also. Kirby is better at evading danger than Captain Falcon because of his flying abilities. Even though this game doesn't rate its characters like some others do, the fact that each character is so physically different displays this natural inequality.  

In the clip below, Captain Falcon beats Kirby in battle, exhibiting natural inequality between the characters.

This game simulates a society in which characters live in a very primitive world. Even though Rousseau argues that in a natural state, characters will be peaceful, this game still advances the notion of natural inequality. Because there is not civil society present, this form of inequality is the only one truly apparent. However, as video games become more and more complex and new games come out in which characters win territory and there is a hierarchy, such as "Civilization", moral inequality is demonstrated. This game describes this advanced civil society in which there is division of labor and property.

Civilization Video Game Cover    From Wikipedia.com

This games goal is to outlast your opponents by building a society that is more advanced and prosperous than others. As opposed to winning in Super Smash Bros by just physically dominating your opponent, in Civilization one wins by outsmarting your opponent, building a larger settlement, owning more property, and being more financially successful. Not to say that ones civilization is as grand as New York City, but even the most simplistic forms of civil society display these moral inequalities.

The subheading directly indicates Rousseau's major premise. "Build an Empire" is a man made task, and therefore the inequality that comes with civil society is also synthetic as well. The characters in Super Smash Bros fight because that is their nature, where as players of civilization create societies to outlast others, displaying ideas of comparison. The advancement of these video games and growing complexity of their nature parallels the same shift that takes place when civil society is formed, a shift from purely natural inequality to moral inequality. Maybe if these games were around in the 1700s Rousseau wouldn't have had to write such a long and complex essay in two parts to advance his points.