The appeal of Cute Monkeys
Susana Pajares Tosca
Dept. Digital Aesthetics and Communication
Center for Games Research
IT University
Glentevej 67, 2400 Copenhagen, Denmark
+45 3816 8992
tosca@it-c.dk
ABSTRACT
If we agree with Sega and Nintendo advertising and look at the selling numbers of the
game Super Monkey Ball, it seems that its characters, MeeMee, GonGon, Baby and AiAi
would have to be some of the most successful computer game characters ever created.
The game doesn't have any story, but the monkeys have personality and are ever so
cute. Is it possible that the "aesthetics of cuteness" so prevalent in many Japanese
consumption and entertainment products has also now conquered Western hearts?
This paper examines the construction and reception of the four characters, and reflects
about the relationship between the pure visual design element of a game and its success
as an entertainment product, including a qualitative study conducted with a number of
test subjects exposed to the game.
Keywords
Characters, Character Design, Reception, Cultural Value, Cuteness
INTRODUCTION: Super Monkey Ball’s Characters
The characters in Super Monkey Ball are marketed as one of the main attractions of the
game, with an explicit exploitation of “cuteness” as a compelling design quality:
“Super Monkey Ball challenges players to control cute little monkeys who run
around in transparent balls not unlike hamster balls”.1
The relationship to hamsters, that was also remarked on by our test subjects (see test
description below), takes the game into the realm of childhood and communicates
softness and a certain meaninglessness of the life of creatures that spend their time
running inside a ball that goes nowhere. Here, however, the cuteness and the running
have a purpose, as Sega advertises:
“Adorable, heart-stealing characters make gameplay addictive”.2
This is a tricky argument. If we listen to most game designers (for example in 113),
gameplay becomes addictive exclusively depending on ho