Task 1:
There are a few different theories behind the effects of violent video games on the audience. The media has produced lots of different points and opinions on how violent video games affect the audiences they are made for and also affect the audiences that they were not originally intended for, 11 out of 18 people on the survey we conducted as group, had starting playing 18+ rated games before they were 13. The intended audiences are for those who are 18 or over and with over 50% of people who took the survey played 18 games before they were 18 is possibly what led to all the controversy with violence in video games. The hypodermic needle model theory was created by the media due to a "Manhunt murder" which was committed by a 17 year old. The game which allergdly lead him to do this was Manhunt which is rated 18+. Even being one year younger still left him underaged to play this game.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-316491/Teenager-gets-life-Manhunt-murder.html
Hypodermic needle model is also known as the hypodermic-syringe model or transmission-belt model or magic bullet theory. Now the reason behind why it is also known as these names is due to the description of the term. A needle is known for injecting something into someone, this model is basically injecting a suggested, intended message into the receiver and the receiver accepts this. Relating to violence within video games, the intended message could possibly be that the game is displaying violence is okay because it is accepted within the game. This links in with passive consumption which is where the player just goes along with whatever the game delivers and continue to play without even question what is going on. Most of the responses to video games in general are active consumption responses. Active consumption is where a player questions a lot of what is going on, why this happening within the game, why something has happened and questions what the game is portraying.
When watching some you tubers, they tend to elaborate on what is going on in the game and question what is going on. Many YouTubers/Gamers in general have different responses from what they take in from a game. Preferred responses are more aimed to the passive consumption side of things as the player just understands the message and agrees with it, no questioning, just accepting it and carrying on with the game. Oppositional responses are responses where the gamer begins to question what is happening within the game and they choose to reject the theory at hand and has an alternate view about it. Negotiated responses are responses where you agree with what the game is going along with and what they are showing them however, they may potentially change what the game is trying to say so it suits their own experiences/interests. Negotiated responses effectively partners with the uses and gratification theory. Uses and Gratification theory is a theory based on the how the audience consumes what is placed before them, how they interpret the media and that they are responsible for how they interpret it. Furthermore, the audiences also are responsible for the media they've chose which fulfils their need. There are four different models which are suggested to fulfil audiences need when we chose that particular media. These four models are Identity, educate, entertain and social interaction. Relating this to games, many people choose to play certain games as it being a way to get away from reality, a way to have fun doing what we want to do, be someone else for a change, to just learn a few things, to compete against others and to possible challenge themselves. However, this saying that we are responsible for what media we choose to indulge ourselves in is criticised by others as many say that "the public has no control over the media and what it produces - do not need to take responsibility for what they produce". http://www.slideshare.net/zlorhenley/uses-and-gratifications-theory-6933502
An advertisement which was made a while back, used reactions to gain interest from the audience. I would agree with the statement that we are responsible for what we indulge in, if we never chosen to become interested in this media exploit then it would of not became so popular. Furthermore, it may fulfil the needs of some rebellious children who in which, like the idea of watching their mother become horrified due to this gory, action full game, it goes against what a mother would recommend which some teens are drawn towards. The Advert I am talking about is"Your Mom Hates Dead Space 2" advert, where they use the idea of where they use negative reactions as a selling point. From a personal view, the fact that these Mums find this game horrifying and disgusting would make rebellious teens want to play and buy the game. However, many others find this way of advertisement falling into the negative region because of the way it was approached. Below are a few of the comments from the YouTube video. They are mixed reviews on the way that this had been advertised.
"If moms hate it then you know it's a good game"
"Hunh, aren't Moms the ones buying this game for their 'rebellious' teenagers? Can't wait for the "Your Dad Hates Dead Space 2" ads to come out. Using stereotypes like this makes the brand feel less edgy, kinda sexist and dated- that's probably counter to what they are trying to achieve"
"This advert is very interesting. What market segment are they targeting with it? The "over 18's who care what their mum thinks" market? Does such a market exist? Of course not. This advert is targeted at children too young to legally play the game. Shame on you"
"ESRB is just a guideline. It's just there to recommend their thoughts on the age suitability of the game." (In reply to the comment above)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKkPFDEiC6Q
There has always been debates on violent video games, whether they should be banned, whether they should be censored, whether the age restriction should be higher and so on. This is all due to the effects is has on the gamers. As a group we conducted a survey and one of the questions were "Do you think that violent video games affect your mentality when playing other types of games?" and 9 out of 20 said, being exposed to violent content does affect their mentality when it comes to playing games that do not contain violent scenes within them. For example, if you play a game like Dark Souls 3 where you can kill the NPC's and then switch to a game like Stardew Valley where you cannot kill NPC's, some may think that it may be possible to kill them and try it whereas others may just not even have that thought and the play the game casually. This could link in with a few health concerns because of the behaviour that we have chosen to indulge in is the one where we change our thought pattern within games and then possibly it may affect our thought pattern and behaviour within reality.
They are a few health concerns which are related to video games in general. However, the negative health conditions can come from violent video games whereas the positive health care are related to all games in general. Some say that violent video games can influence their behaviour and reactions within the real world, and the reason behind why they are possibly worse than TV or Movies is due to the fact it is the players choice to run in and attack the enemies at their own pace whereas within movies and TV series, it is all played out before you. The positive health care facts which are stated in the positive link below discusses how it can distract someone enough for them to get better/their problem. What the problem was, was an 8 year old boy would not stop picking at his upper lip for a while and " had neurodermatitis and scarring due to continual picking at his upper lip" the treatment that worked was simply giving the child a controller which had distracted him from the continuous picking. The two links below discuss what the positive and negative health care effects they are.
Negative: http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/violent-video-games-and-young-people
Positive: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC558687/
Those who believe violent video games are the main culprit for some children's unstable mentality, would possibly agree with censoring out the violent and/or the explicit content within games as this may reduce the numbers of whose behaviours have been influenced by those subjects. Now from a personal take on things, i think they should not be censored and the reason behind why I think games shouldn't be censored is due to style of the game, if a game was a pure fighting game, all of it would most likely be censored out and the game wouldn't be interesting or fun anymore. The age rating already advises what games are suitable for different aged children so that they would not be exposed to violence or explicit scenes so easily. It would most likely be the parents decision to buy them an over 18 game as game shops would not sell them to you if you were under 18. The website below shows a debate on whether video games should be censored. 81% said no and the remaining 19% said they should be. The debate results contained on the webpage from the link , may come from people who are not gamers and are in fact parents. However, when it comes to gamers and if they are not happy or want to tone down a few of the gory parts, violent part, or explicit scenes then they usually mod the game to what suits them. Some gamers may the mod the game to a point where a horror game now has rubber ducks everywhere that you have to shoot instead of really scary monsters. Most games now allow gamers to mod the games to see what bright, innovative ideas they come up with and if those who believe they should be censored could simply mod the game to change a few of the elements so it did not seem so bad. From the survey results. 13 out of 19 people have said they have not been in shock or distress due to a violent scene. What I can interpret from this is that violent video games have desensitised gamers, it allows us to control our emotions better from when we see something distressing/violent.
http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-video-games-be-censored
Survey Results Summary:
2 Female
17 Male
1 = 14 or under
6 = 15 to 17
12 = 18+
11/18 people played an 18+ game before they were 13
Average number of how many hours are spent playing games are roughly 20 hours a week
11/19 said that they play competitive games and they get quite competitive
The genre of games that they play are quite varied, the top three genres were shoot em' ups, Stealth games and Survival games
16/19 said they get frustrated at video games
8/19 said that when they play violent video games , it affects their mentality when playing other types of games
13 people said they have not been shocked by a violent scene or been in distress.
The majority of the survey takes said that they feel okay or have no issue with violence in video games.
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