Assassin's Creed [THEORY]

Question 1

What is Blumler & Katz’s theory? [1974]

Answer 1

• Media users seek out preferred media forms that best fulfill their needs.
  -Information: playing games to learn something [e.g history in AC]
• Identity: range of characters to relate to [e.g Aveline in AC III Liberation]
• Escapism : to become immersed [range of time periods in AC]
• Social interaction: e.g multiplayer elements in AC Valhalla

Question 2

What is Bandura/Laswell’s theory?

Answer 2

• Hypodermic needle theory
• Media is ‘injecting’ the audience with their messages who will believe and accept them.
• A passive audience is unable to question this.
• Links to AC: very violent franchise- is an audience influenced?

Question 3

What is Livingstone & Lunt’s theory?

Answer 3

• Regulation of the media is very difficult.
• Making a choice between protecting people and offering them choice
• Technology has made regulation even harder.
• For video games, regulation done through PEGI, but you can still bypass age restriction through online purchase, Siblings or importing.

Question 4

What is Steve Neale’s genre theory?

Answer 4

• Genre is made up of repetition and conforms to expectation
• AC games are all very similar in terms of style, only the location really changes.
• In order to be successful, there needs to be some kind of variation
• More recent AC games include multiplayer elements to make the game feel new.

Question 5

What is David Hesmondhalgh’s theory?

Answer 5

• Media industries seek to minimise risk and maximise profit
• Ubisoft had a ‘risk averse’ business model
• Similar games are guaranteed to make money but also stifle creativity and variety
• This is because AC saturates the market and stops other games having a chance.

Question 6

What is Curran and Seaton’s theory?

Answer 6

• Media is dominated by a small number of massive conglomerates
• This results in homogenous content and limits creativity and variety.

Question 7

What is Henry Jenkins’ theory?

Answer 7

• Fans are active participants in the circulation of media texts
• Fans use textual poaching [making texts their own and using them in ways not intended.]
• Examples for AC include: Cosplay, parkour and Assassin’s kittens.