Product Impact and effects on the audience P5 (a)

Meaning and Purpose:

The impact a game has on its audience is extremely important for AB as this has large impacts on their sales figures, either raising or lowering them. Games can have impacts on their audience in a multitude of ways e.g Gameplay, graphics, story and even concept. The purpose of wanting to have an impact on the audience is they will remember it as hopefully a good game. The game developers may also be sending a message through the medium of the game.

Understanding the ethical, legal and regulatory issues associated with media products:

Video game controversies are societal and scientific arguments about whether the content of video games can change the behaviour and attitudes of a player, and whether this is reflected in video game culture overall.

Since the early 1980s, advocates of video games have emphasised their use as an expressive medium, arguing for their protection under the laws governing freedom of speech and also as an educational tool. However those in opposition argue that video games are harmful and therefore should be subject to legislative oversight and restrictions.

The positive and negative characteristics and effects of video games are the subject of scientific study. Results of investigations into links between video games and addiction, aggression, violence, social development, and a variety of stereotyping and sexual morality issues are debated. However so far no conclusive scientific evidence has been found to suggest that violent games such as GTA or Call of Duty have any effect on the behaviour of players.



Franchises such as Call of Duty have been found to be controversial throughout their time due to certain content e.g No Russian Mission in Modern Warfare 2 in which the only purpose was to gun down civilians in an airport. Others have also accused the game of inspiring killers or helping them to 'train' as described by Ander Breivik the Norwegian gunman who killed 77 students, he said that he used Call of Duty to practise with a holographic sight and would play up to 16 hours a day. Many of the mass shootings in the US have also been linked to these games, however no evidence has been found to suggest they played an active role in influencing these actions.



Another issue that has arisen with the Call of Duty franchise is it's large player based of young male teenagers who can be more susceptible to so called 'copycat' violence that suggest they might copy the actions seen in video games, this theory has arisen mostly due to murders suggesting they were imitating scenes from video games. Addiction to Call of Duty is also another issue that has arisen in the past with some players playing up to 18 hours a day which can cause serious health issues both physically and mentally.



Various groups in the past have raised issues also with the message that war games such as Call of Duty send to it's audience, suggesting that Call of Duty glorifies war and desensitises the audiences to violence as it becomes the norm.




Uses and Gratification:

Instead of researching what the media do to the the audience this approach studies what the audience does with the media. This approach also takes account of people's personalities and personal needs.

Strengths:

The audience is seen as active, and reasonably intelligent. Life experience is regarded as more influential than experience of media. The pleasures that the media offer audiences are not regarded as negative.

Weakness: 

Too much optimism about the 'power' and 'choices' of an active audience can distract us from the power certain texts have, or the influence the media institutions and ownership may have on texts and understandings.

Call of Duty:

In context to CoD uses and gratification is quite simple as the audience is merely using the product for entertainment, how this content entertains them may vary slightly based on their personality and needs. As this theory suggests that the effect on the audience is based of their life experience and not media experience a game such as CoD could affect people in a variety of ways dependent on their lifestyle, gender and background.