Critical Investigation Ideas

Possible Hypothesis Questions based around the idea of video games:-

Why do violent video games result in violent behaviour and how do audiences receive them in the media?

How do action games affect the audience and why are they constructed to be more violent?

Supported examples of texts:-

• Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Activision)
• Mafia 2 (2K games)
• Uncharted (Naughty Dog)
• Heavy Rain ( Quantic Dream)
• PS3 magazine
• PC Gamer
• Halo (Bungie)
• Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games)
• Edge Magazine
• BBC News articles/ Newspaper articles- Telegraph, The Guardian, Independent
• Studies by professionals on game addiction - Professor David Buckingham
  

These texts will relate to my critical investigation, as I will focus on how the institutions promote their game and take a in depth look at the reception of these games in the news and how audiences react to violent video games, giving reference to actual video games and their successes and faults- COD (Call of Duty).

Issues and Debates surrounding the texts:

Addiction and continuous game play- Investigation will look at how the use of graphics and voyeuristic narrative seems to hook the audience- how they are addicted by violence

Violence- In depth look at how and why institutions and their video games condone reckless violence and how the audience is likely to reenact the violence. With reference to BBC news and examples of video game related violence. The effect of the games on testosterone levels and aggression.

Desensitisation- Audiences such as teenagers and children and how they are absorbed by the narrative, that they are unable to familiarise real life with the narrative in violent video games.

How do these texts fit into the contemporary media landscape?

• Launch of first person shooter game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare resulted in teenage audience being able to be enjoy being a soldier in war situations and being able to kill other players
• Rise in level of violent video games- Red Dead Redemption focus on western violence
• Teenage boys affected by violence, related to societal ideologies on knife and gun crime which is replicated from video games such as Grand Theft Auto

Media Theories:-

Hypodermic Needle theory- Casual violence made to seem more adventurous, as seen in
Grand Theft Auto, where you can play as Niko Bellic and kill civilians and cause reckless violence.

Uses and Gratifications theory- How audiences play video games as a means of escapism, let out their angers, qualms as a player in video games.

Anderson and Dill theory- Looks at how playing video games has an effect on children

Audience Reception theory- How audiences such as adults receive violent video games and how they cause moral panic, through the references of violence, drug abuse and sex.

Moral Panic- This theory is related within my investigation, as violent video games are blamed fro causing violence, with children's behaviour being more violent, as a result of playing these games

MIGRAIN/SHEP