In this task I am going to be using the reception theory
model to analyse my own personal response to the video game Starwars battlefront.
The reception theory is a theory which makes it easier to
understand how the audience receives and interpenetrate a media text. A media
text could be newspaper, magazines, films, video games and so on. The reception
theory explains how gender, class, age and even ethnicity affects the way they
read the message. The video game developers will construct a text encoding a
secret message/meaning into the game which they want the player to see and read
up on. Although this might not happen and the players might have to be reminded
of the message throughout the game like the dialog of how the character speaks,
consciences etc. There are three different types of how the audience reads
the message; Dominant, negotiated and oppositional.
Dominant reading - Dominant is where the audience wants to hear from
people and agreeing with their message but not having a full knowledge on the
subject.
Negotiated reading - This is where the audience will agree and
disagree or ask questions.
oppositional reading - This is where the audience will recognise the
Dominant message but won’t agree to it due to culture or an opinion. These are
the sort of audience which won’t understand any messages aimed at them, as they
have already got their own opinion and won’t change it.
For instance the gratification theory looked at why the
audience uses video games whilst the reception theory helps analyse what the
audience sees when they read the message. For instance Starwars battlefront has
the desired meaning to make their audience feel like they are playing and are
in a Starwars movie. To do this the game uses several code and conventions to
help get their message to their audience. Starwars audience is basically a wide
demographic of players age 8 -35+, male and mostly lower working class and
skilled working class, this means that the code and conventions in this game
must be appropriate for all ages for them to read and interpreted the message
the way the developers and producers want them too for instance if Starwars
battlefront includes clowns, dogs and kittens then they aren’t going to decode
the correct message. To avoid this the game make sure there is certain code and
conventions in the game like Light sabers, Darth Vader and so on to help the
game get its message across. Although the code and conventions does not mean
the audience will read or even see the message 100%, the correct code and conventions
just make it possible for the audience to read the message more correctly. For
instance, if you was going to watch a horror film but there was no scare, blood
or gore and the film was actually quite funny then the audience is going to
decode the film as a comedy film other than a horror film. No media text has
just one single meaning; the audience will define the meaning of the text.