REPORT- UNIT 3 ASSIGNMENT 3

This report is going to be based around a first person shooter I have personally chosen and I
will be going to write about the effects debate on how the game can possibly be interpreted
by a customer or possibly the young persons parents. Furthermore, the game that I am
choosing has to be aiming at the age range of 16-18 years.

Audience Theory
Hypodermic needle model
Hypodermic Needle Theory, also known as Magic Bullet
Theory (hypodermic syringe model or transmission-belt
model) was promulgated by Harold Lasswell in 1920s.
Furthermore, it was written in the book "Propaganda
Technique" in the World War. The theory is a linear
model of communication and talks about medias
power on audience. The message, in this theory, is said to be like a magic bullet, which
enters the minds of audience and injects a particular message. The theory explains how
media controls what the audience views and listens to and the effects, which can be
immediate or later in future. The words bullet and needle are used to show the
powerlessness of the audience as media impacts public opinion and behaviour change. The
theory was also influenced by media behaviourism of 1930s.
In terms of the game, I created which, was called Dyret, which was an
open world RPG/horror game set in Norway around the Viking era.
However, when I was creating the game I did not have the hypodermic
needle model in mind. This is because I wasnt sure on the age rating at
hand, yet as the creation of the game continued and the game showed
violence and bad language, with sexual content. Due to this I came to an
age range of 18 years old, this means that the game should be played by
no one younger than 18 years playing it. Therefore, the hypodermic
needle model was not a large concern of mine whilst creating a releasing
the game.

Uses and gratifications theory

One influential tradition in media research is referred to as 'uses
and gratifications' (occasionally 'needs and gratifications'). This
approach focuses on why people use particular media rather
than on content. In contrast to the concern of the 'media effects'
tradition with 'what media do to people' (which assumes a
homogeneous mass audience and a 'hypodermic' view of
media), U & G can be seen as part of a broader trend amongst
media researchers which is more concerned with 'what people do with media', allowing for
a variety of responses and interpretations. However, some commentators have argued that
gratifications could also be seen as effects: e.g., thrillers are likely to generate very similar
responses amongst most viewers. In relation to my game Dyret I would pre-release a few
advertisements months before the games actual release. Moreover, the way I would do this
is by either releasing a teaser trailer a 2 weeks before the release of the actual trailer in
releasing teaser trailers and final trailers helps the audience consume the media that my
game is releasing.

Reception study
Reception Theories is when producers or directors
constructs a text encoded with hidden message or
meaning that the producers or directors want to convey
across to the audience. If done correctly the audience will
be able to pick up the meaning or message straight away,
but the audience will need to be reminded of the message
throughout the film or game this could be done through character dialogue or actions within
the film or game. In terms of my game, I would have Easter eggs within the game to add
extra content that will be hidden from the player until they find it. Moreover, I would class
an Easter egg as a hidden message because in
gaming terms for Easter eggs they help tie in
some storylines better once the player has found
the Easter egg. In relation to Dyret the Easter egg
will have content which would tie in more of the
storyline that means that the players will have to
search for the hidden content to understand the
game more.

Effects debates
Effects debates are effects that media products have on an audience and that is much a wide
subject of debate. In effects of debate is more involved in particular, the need to protect and
safeguard the more vulnerable members of society.

Effects of exposure to explicit sexual or violent content

Throughout many effect debates the most common debate comes up in which is explicit
content within a game, which younger people are playing, and being influenced by. However,
the counter argument to this debate is that the explicit games have an age rating of 18 years
old, which means that no one younger should be allowed to play the game unless they are
the age rating. Yet many younger people play these games such as Call of Duty and
Battlefield, which are two war simulators that give a sense of real life war towards the player.
These games are given the 18 rating as they have a lot of violence, blood, gore and foul
language that are not very suitable for the younger ages. Yet, some parents still allow their
children to play games such as battlefield, which have an age rating of 18 on it.
The different age ratings for sub adults and adults and the meanings:

PEGI 12+ Videogames that show violence of a slightly more graphic nature towards
fantasy character and/or non graphic violence towards human-looking characters or
recognisable animals, as well as videogames that show nudity of a slightly more
graphic nature would fall in this age category. Any bad language in this category must
be mild and fall short of sexual expletives.

PEGI 16+ This rating is applied once the depiction of violence (or sexual activity)
reaches a stage that looks the same as would be
expected in real life. More extreme bad language,
the concept of the use of tobacco and drugs and the
depiction of criminal activities can be content of
games that are rated 16.

PEGI 18 The adult classification is applied when the

level of violence reaches a stage where it becomes a
depiction of gross violence and/or includes elements of specific types of violence.
Gross violence is the most difficult to define since it can be very subjective in many
cases, but in general terms it can be classed as the depictions of violence that would
make the viewer feel a sense of revulsion.

Effects of advertising
There are other debates, which a powerful but the one that is very powerful especially in the
media debates are effects of advertising. This is a powerful
tool in media as advertisements are aimed to persuade a
wide range of people to purchase their product.
Advertisements are very powerful in media because
advertisements claim that the audience needs the product
or that the products will make their lives better. In terms of games such as Call of Duty and
Battlefield, their advertisement is not telling the audience that they need to purchase the
game. However, the advertisements do persuade the audience to purchase the game or pre
order the game, as they persuade the audience by
adding additional content to the game if a person pays
for the game early in advance. This means the audience
will be paying more for the game but they get additional
content due to the fact that they pre ordered which
people who just buy the game on release will not have.
Health concerns
Within media, there are many health debates. However, the
biggest health debate is the physical and mental state of
people who play video games. For example the physical
courses that a person a acquire is eye strains from staring at
a television or monitor screen for too long and this could
course eye sight problems such as blurred vision and
blurred vision at distances. Another physical health problem is back problems as many
people playing games have a hunched posture and this courses a bad back such as back
pains in the lower back or having the bad posture could course a hunched back. However,
the larger part of the debate about the health problems is the mental state of playing violent
games. The mental state is effect as younger people are easily
influenced and seeing things like shooting people and work could
course the younger persons mental state to want to act out what
they have played on a video game such as Call of Duty. An
example the article which talks about sandy hook who decided to
proceed forward with shooting a high school due the fact that a
scene is call of duty triggered him to go into a gun and work craze
and shoot a school. Therefore, the debate about plying violent
video game such as Call of Duty can effect an unstable persons
mental state or influence a younger person.

Censorship debates
The censorship debate centres on the idea of passive and
active consumption of media. This includes texts and the
ability to decode the content of these texts and to make
rational decisions for the audience. However, a small
majority of people believe that audiences should be
protected from certain acts or language in video games
or films. Moreover, the majority of the people feel that the best way to protect people from
influential content is by censoring it. However, in doing this is takes away the choice from
consumers. In relation to a game like Call of Duty, there is not enough influential content to
make it censored, but there is a warning at the start of the game, which states that there are
unnerving sense in the game that some viewers may find
disturbing. In Call of Duty, they are making sure that
anyone who may not find the content very suitable have
the choice to either to contain forward with the game or
stop playing it. Yet, some games aspects of a game have
been banned, as the sense were too violent for views or
graphic.