·
Apply
appropriate Audience Theories to
your video game explaining any
controversy that has surrounded the game:
Passive and
active audiences
Hypodermic
Needle Effects debate
Uses and
Gratifications theory
Discuss the
different responses audiences can have to your chosen computer game
·
Provide an explanation
of how the consumer could interpret the
game, especially if they are younger than the intended audience (audience
response)
Computer games have always caused controversy since they started becoming popular in arcades. There are many people who would agree that computer games can have a large effect on the consumers who play them and their way of thinking. Action games have caused a lot of controversy over the years. The majority of modern day video games are action games. This is what most people find entertaining however many worry that most people are entertained by fighting and threat.
Passive and Active audience
A passive audience are people who will consume anything and more or less believe what they see and hear. For passive audiences, media will have a large impact on their lives as it could more or less control them. Media producers can push something on to a passive audience knowing they will accept it. Video games can largely effect a passive audience. Action games especially can negatively effect a passive audience. People believe that some action games should be banned as there are passive audiences out there who will turn violent as the video game has persuaded them to. The game 'Bully', released in 2006 caused a lot of controversy. This is because in the game you played a character who was a bully, as the title implies. This has caused a lot of controversy as many thought that it encouraged people to be bullies. Passive audiences who played this game could be led to believe that being a bully is the popular thing to do as it is what everyone is doing on their games consoles.
An active audience is the opposite to a passive audience. Active audiences are able to respond to what they consume rather than just believing what they see. They can separate what is true and what is false as well as what they believe is right and wrong. A lot of people believe that most people are active audience members and therefore video games have no real negative effect on people. In the case of Bully, an active audience member would be able to play this game and go away knowing that bullying is wrong and not partake in bullying.
Hypodermic Needle Theory
This theory was developed way back in the 1930's. This theory states that all audiences react the same and that we can all be affected by the media we consume. This theory was created to persuade people how controlling the media can be and the negative effect it will have on us. The theory itself states that everyone is a passive audience member. This theory is massively flawed and outdated as it does not take in to account people's free will. It assumes no one will disagree with what they consume. It also does not consider the personalities and the environment of different people. Some people may use this theory when protesting against video games. In terms of action games, protesters might say that someone has controlled a violent character and therefore believed it was right to then go out and act violent. There has been some cases of violence where a video game can be blamed. An example is the very serious case of murder. The game 'Manhunt' was alleged to inspire a teenager to murder someone. This does support this theory as this teenager has played this game and be lead to believe murder is now acceptable. This is however just one case out of the millions that purchased the game which shows that not all consumers are affected the same by media.
Uses and Gratifications Theory
The uses and gratifications theory is a different outlook on how people consume media. This theory is basically about not what media does to people but more what people do with the media they consume. This theory states that people use media for four different reasons: entertain, educate, social interaction and for identifying with a person or product. In the case of action video games, this theory could be used to defend against controversy. This is because it helps the point that it is not the game that is telling people to be violent it is just the person interpreting it that way. This could mean the person already had a violent nature and they felt that this was an encouragement to be violent. If this is the case then this person should not be allowed to play these video games as we know it will stimulate them to be violent. That being said there is also a counter argument using the same theory. There are obviously people with violent intentions out there and therefore people might argue that these games should be banned as it only takes one person to be turned violent to cause a lot of damage to people.
Different Responses
A certain game that caused controversy from it's initial release in 1992 was the game, 'Wolfenstein 3D'. In this game the player would control a soldier who's aim was to shoot his way through different levels and fight off Nazi's. This game had many mixed reviews. Some of the negative reviews which caused speculation was the reoccurring theme of Nazi's. The player has one enemy throughout the game and that is the Nazi's, the final boss is even Adolf Hitler. This game was banned in Germany as the use of the Nazi symbol is a federal offense in that country. Any game that is banned is bound to start panic in many different audiences. A lot of people worried that this game could spark an interest in the Nazi's for some who played it. Another major complaint was the violence and gore included in the game, it was considered unsuitable as at this time video games did not have ratings and anyone could play them.
Many audiences found there was nothing to worry about with this game. The Nazis are heavily involved with the game however it is made very clear that they are the enemy. Any younger viewers who do not know much about the Nazi's will most likely not grow up with an interest in them but instead grow up knowing they were bad. The blood and gore is also not seen as a problem for some because this game was made at a time where graphics were very pixelated. When blood is shown on the game it is only shown as a few pixels and is very non realistic. It is not something that will haunt any viewers. It is not an accurate representation of what this kind of violence would look like and therefore is not exposing anyone's mind to what they should't see.
Many parents worry for their children who are younger than age ratings suggest. As Wolfenstein 3D received so many complaints because there was no age rating and young children could play this. This game has since had a remake with an age rating of 18 on it. Besides it being against the law for anyone under this age, there are still many ways for children to get their hands on the game. A lot of parents cause controversy as they believe that young minds that are exposed to such games can grow up believing violence is acceptable as their favourite video game characters are violent. Not all video games nowadays have high rating due to violence. Games can involve things such as drugs, gambling and sexual content. These are all things that could risk damaging young minds if they are exposed to them. Many parents fear that them giving their children a good upbringing will be useless as long as they are playing these video games every night. They will grow up thinking that these actions are things that everyone does.
Passive and Active audience
A passive audience are people who will consume anything and more or less believe what they see and hear. For passive audiences, media will have a large impact on their lives as it could more or less control them. Media producers can push something on to a passive audience knowing they will accept it. Video games can largely effect a passive audience. Action games especially can negatively effect a passive audience. People believe that some action games should be banned as there are passive audiences out there who will turn violent as the video game has persuaded them to. The game 'Bully', released in 2006 caused a lot of controversy. This is because in the game you played a character who was a bully, as the title implies. This has caused a lot of controversy as many thought that it encouraged people to be bullies. Passive audiences who played this game could be led to believe that being a bully is the popular thing to do as it is what everyone is doing on their games consoles.
Hypodermic Needle Theory
This theory was developed way back in the 1930's. This theory states that all audiences react the same and that we can all be affected by the media we consume. This theory was created to persuade people how controlling the media can be and the negative effect it will have on us. The theory itself states that everyone is a passive audience member. This theory is massively flawed and outdated as it does not take in to account people's free will. It assumes no one will disagree with what they consume. It also does not consider the personalities and the environment of different people. Some people may use this theory when protesting against video games. In terms of action games, protesters might say that someone has controlled a violent character and therefore believed it was right to then go out and act violent. There has been some cases of violence where a video game can be blamed. An example is the very serious case of murder. The game 'Manhunt' was alleged to inspire a teenager to murder someone. This does support this theory as this teenager has played this game and be lead to believe murder is now acceptable. This is however just one case out of the millions that purchased the game which shows that not all consumers are affected the same by media.
Uses and Gratifications Theory
The uses and gratifications theory is a different outlook on how people consume media. This theory is basically about not what media does to people but more what people do with the media they consume. This theory states that people use media for four different reasons: entertain, educate, social interaction and for identifying with a person or product. In the case of action video games, this theory could be used to defend against controversy. This is because it helps the point that it is not the game that is telling people to be violent it is just the person interpreting it that way. This could mean the person already had a violent nature and they felt that this was an encouragement to be violent. If this is the case then this person should not be allowed to play these video games as we know it will stimulate them to be violent. That being said there is also a counter argument using the same theory. There are obviously people with violent intentions out there and therefore people might argue that these games should be banned as it only takes one person to be turned violent to cause a lot of damage to people.
Different Responses
A certain game that caused controversy from it's initial release in 1992 was the game, 'Wolfenstein 3D'. In this game the player would control a soldier who's aim was to shoot his way through different levels and fight off Nazi's. This game had many mixed reviews. Some of the negative reviews which caused speculation was the reoccurring theme of Nazi's. The player has one enemy throughout the game and that is the Nazi's, the final boss is even Adolf Hitler. This game was banned in Germany as the use of the Nazi symbol is a federal offense in that country. Any game that is banned is bound to start panic in many different audiences. A lot of people worried that this game could spark an interest in the Nazi's for some who played it. Another major complaint was the violence and gore included in the game, it was considered unsuitable as at this time video games did not have ratings and anyone could play them.
Many audiences found there was nothing to worry about with this game. The Nazis are heavily involved with the game however it is made very clear that they are the enemy. Any younger viewers who do not know much about the Nazi's will most likely not grow up with an interest in them but instead grow up knowing they were bad. The blood and gore is also not seen as a problem for some because this game was made at a time where graphics were very pixelated. When blood is shown on the game it is only shown as a few pixels and is very non realistic. It is not something that will haunt any viewers. It is not an accurate representation of what this kind of violence would look like and therefore is not exposing anyone's mind to what they should't see.
Many parents worry for their children who are younger than age ratings suggest. As Wolfenstein 3D received so many complaints because there was no age rating and young children could play this. This game has since had a remake with an age rating of 18 on it. Besides it being against the law for anyone under this age, there are still many ways for children to get their hands on the game. A lot of parents cause controversy as they believe that young minds that are exposed to such games can grow up believing violence is acceptable as their favourite video game characters are violent. Not all video games nowadays have high rating due to violence. Games can involve things such as drugs, gambling and sexual content. These are all things that could risk damaging young minds if they are exposed to them. Many parents fear that them giving their children a good upbringing will be useless as long as they are playing these video games every night. They will grow up thinking that these actions are things that everyone does.
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