Audience theory, video games and Assassin's Creed Mirage

Albert Bandura - The media effects model, AKA the hypodermic needle model

The idea that media products have a direct effect on audiences. However, Bandura’s experiment really only proves there is a measurable link between violent media and violence in children and the vulnerable. 

Cultivation theory

The idea that repeated exposure to a media product cultivates or reinforces certain ideological perspectives. For example, repeated exposure to violent video games leads to desensitisation, ie accepting the ideologies of violence. an ideology can be cultivated in an audience through repeated and prolonged exposure. Therefore prolonged exposure to violent games like Assassin’s creed may cultivate an ideology that violence is sometimes acceptable.

Reception theory - Stuart Hall

Hall argued that audiences will negotiate the ideology of media products based on their upbringing and their circumstances. Audiences can respond to the ideological perspectives of the producer in radically different ways. However producers will anchor meaning using a variety of different ways.

• Dominant ideology - the message the producer is intending to present
• Preferred - where the audience agrees with the dominant ideology
• Negotiated - where the audience both agrees and disagrees
• Oppositional  - where the audience disagrees with the dominant ideological perspective

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992)

Dominant ideology - Do your best! Collect the rings! Get to the end! Jump from platform to platform! Pop the robots! Save the birds!

Preferred - The audience agrees with destroying robots and saving birds. They understand that sonic is a force of nature vs technology. The audience will enjoy the simplicity of jumping on stuff and killing it. It is essential to destroy robots to save birds

Negotiated - Audiences may reject the capitalist ideology of sonic. Collecting things is always bad. They may enjoy playing the game very fast (speedrunning). Some people may hate the game, yet love the graphics and the character, and drawing fan art!

Oppositional  - Audiences may hate the destruction and violence. They may not enjoy picking stuff up.

Doom (1993)

Dominant ideology - Killing things in the context of a videogame is fun and exciting

Preferred - The audience will agree that violence in a video game is fun and therefore Doom is fun. The audience will understand that the enemy is bad and deserves to die. The gore is fun and gross and cool and edgy

Negotiated - Enjoys the action and violence yet dislikes the exploration. Killing monsters is fun, but does it have to be so gory? Or, I hate violence and I hate action games, but I love the terrible soundtrack 

Oppositional - The audience will understand that the violence is bad. While the enemies are not human, they could represent humans, and killing anything is wrong. The gore is too realistic and horrible

Assassin’s Creed Mirage

Dominant ideological perspective: The game provides an escapist fantasy where sometimes the right thing to do is to murder someone, and problems must be solved through violence

Preferred - where the audience agrees with the dominant ideology - the audience understands this is a video game. The audience can wear different costumes, understand references to past games, and also enjoy wandering aimlessly around the world, enjoying the historical accuracy and the views. Audiences would enjoy the tactical aspects of the violence, which helps to distance the audience from the extremity of violence. The audience will enjoying sneaking, as it constructs a thrilling mode of address. Audiences will agree that the violence is justified within the context of the game. For example, in one mission, the player is asked to liberate a friend from a harsh prison, which may justify the violence. 

Negotiated - where the audience both agrees and disagrees  - The game provides a reading where the player chooses not to kill so many people. Pacifist runs are possible, but harder. Audiences can switch off blood in the menu, negotiating the amount of violence. Discovery modes allow the audience to play the game in an educational way and not violent. This also means that children can engage with the game. Audiences may reject the violence, yet enjoy the historical accuracy of the game. Ubisoft spared no expense in creating an accurate representation of an historical space, using trips, studying traditional weapons and motion capture. Finally, some audiences may dislike the game’s narrative and justification, and choose to play solely to enjoy the violence. 

Oppositional  - where the audience disagrees with the dominant ideological perspective - audiences may dislike the stealth conventions, and feel frustration at sneaking around. Additionally audiences may despise killing. The realistic graphics and sound effects construct a horrible and unpleasant game. Audiences will find the realistic violence too gory and distasteful. Other audiences may find the stealth conventions slow, boring or even too stressful. Finally, audiences may find the disproportionate use of violence unjust and problematic, and they may take exception to this ideology.