P5
Task 1 - Infographic
A way to measure audience reception is by looking at the reviews that players have given it. On Steam, the gaming platform, there are ratings similar to product reviews. However, these reviews are formatted in a binary positive or negative review system. This can be used to judge but binary options are not very representative and the people reviewing can be unreliable or just giving a negative review if they are strongly against the game, there is no middle ground.
There were also some negative reviews but they seem to be because they did not like some aspects of the game. This may due to personal preference because many of these reviews noted the better aspects of the game.
There is a social media presence for Hellblade where players discuss the game and share what they like about the game.
Critical reviews praised Hellblade.
Senua has by far the most screen time, she is an independent, female protagonist. Typically, mainstream protagonists are male and, if they are female, they are often sexualised. Senua breaks these expectations, she is not a traditional, weak and passive female, she is strong and independent.
Gender is represented more equally than a lot of video games. However, the main character is female when the topics of the game do not particularly require it. The association of females with these dark topics may encourage women to talk about their mental health but may feel excluding to some men who potentially cannot relate as well or believe that this game does not apply as much to them.
Other than Druth, the characters are young, which may be to relate the topics to the target audience of a similar age to encourage awareness of mental health. Druth plays the role of the wise informer or 'Dispatcher' in media. As the older character, he gives advice and guides Senua on her journey. This is a traditional character role, but not necessarily a negative one, as it may teach young people to respect the wisdom of older people through this narrative metaphor for life advice.
Wealth is not a key element of this game, there is no currency, and Senua is not part of society because she has been exiled due to her mental health (part of the Gelt ideology from the historical research of Ninja Theory in pre-production). Suggesting that Senua does not apply to a specific class makes her struggle's ability to relate wider. On the other hand, she does not have money to spend which might suggest that they are of the lower class.
A main theme is mental health, this can be seen as a disability. If you take this point of view, this game can be seen as very progressive. Often, games that show disabilities show physical disabilities rather than mental.
The game is based on celtic mythology and there is little reference to Senua's national identity apart from when talking about the Viking attacks. She represents the white community, often described as the majority, which does not show progression.
In popular culture, women are often portrayed sexually, unlike in this game. Senua is not image conscious, apart from her clothes and face makeup, which are not particularly flattering. They have not hired a supermodel actress to play Senua, they used a normal person which suggests that the game is intended to show to young women that what actually matters is on the inside as opposed to the outside.
TASK 3 - Effect on the Audience
Media products aimed at young audiences have to be very careful with what they show. I believe that exposure to violent, sexual or bad behaviour at a young age has a strong impact on their future. Using people I know as examples, I can see how events in their early life have translated into their behaviours and opinions now. Knowing this, I can see how violence in games can make people susceptible to making different choices.
There are examples of when violent video games have inspired school shootings or cop killings and it is definitely possible to see the link. However, studies have suggested that there is no particular correlation. As well, there are games that have other themes that have no influence on people to do it in the real world. For example, simulators other than shooting simulators are designed to be played by people who cannot do the actions of the game in real life. This is also applicable to gun games, people do not often have squad vs squad gunfights because they want to be able to play it more than once, so it is just rare that these games actually end in shootings without another environmental influence.
TASK 4 - Regulatory Bodies
'PEGI' is a media regulatory body, it decides what age rating should be assigned to different video games, films and TV shows. These make it illegal to distribute products to people under the age rating. When deciding what rating to give, the boards reviews the content within the product to view the levels of violence, sex, nudity, drugs and other adult themes. The more adult content in the product, often results in the product being given a higher age rating. The aim of these ratings is to limit the exposure of these adult themes to younger audiences. Sometimes, these regulatory bodies deem content to be too much for public distribution so will order the producers to cut such material. These legal and ethical issues are removed from public view because of their negative impacts on even adult audiences and the role of these bodies is to reduce the harm of products on the public.
'Hellblade' contains dramatic behaviour, gore and violence. PEGI has given the game an '18' rating due to 'extreme violence'. It is necessary for games to have a rating and adult topics should not be accessible for people under a certain age. This helps reduce future, real violence but this law does not stop all young people from playing it, questionning the reliability of these ratings.
Here are two examples of gore and violence in the game. Physical violence in a game can desensitise the player to violence, this can make violence normal to the player and fool them into thinking violence is acceptable. Because of this, the game developers should limit the gore and violence or give it a negative consequence, such as the second image which shows Senua in pain. Associating the violence with a negative emotion will limit the influence. In other games, you are praised for killing people which is more likely to lead to real violence and your victims can just respawn, disconnecting violence from its consequences.
A way to measure audience reception is by looking at the reviews that players have given it. On Steam, the gaming platform, there are ratings similar to product reviews. However, these reviews are formatted in a binary positive or negative review system. This can be used to judge but binary options are not very representative and the people reviewing can be unreliable or just giving a negative review if they are strongly against the game, there is no middle ground.
There were also some negative reviews but they seem to be because they did not like some aspects of the game. This may due to personal preference because many of these reviews noted the better aspects of the game.
There is a social media presence for Hellblade where players discuss the game and share what they like about the game.
Critical reviews praised Hellblade.
'Hellblade' won five BAFTA game awards, this is a recognition by critics that this was one of the best games of 2018 in the world.
'Hellblade' generally has extremely good reviews and ratings, players and critics loved the game.
TASK 2 - Annotated Images
Senua is a young, female protagonist Gelt. She is celtic and suffers with Psychosis.
Druth is an older, bearded man who was a celtic legend.
The Voices
Senua has voices in her ear that tell her what to do and undermine her. These voices are mainly female but there is one male voice.
Senua has by far the most screen time, she is an independent, female protagonist. Typically, mainstream protagonists are male and, if they are female, they are often sexualised. Senua breaks these expectations, she is not a traditional, weak and passive female, she is strong and independent.
Gender is represented more equally than a lot of video games. However, the main character is female when the topics of the game do not particularly require it. The association of females with these dark topics may encourage women to talk about their mental health but may feel excluding to some men who potentially cannot relate as well or believe that this game does not apply as much to them.
Other than Druth, the characters are young, which may be to relate the topics to the target audience of a similar age to encourage awareness of mental health. Druth plays the role of the wise informer or 'Dispatcher' in media. As the older character, he gives advice and guides Senua on her journey. This is a traditional character role, but not necessarily a negative one, as it may teach young people to respect the wisdom of older people through this narrative metaphor for life advice.
Wealth is not a key element of this game, there is no currency, and Senua is not part of society because she has been exiled due to her mental health (part of the Gelt ideology from the historical research of Ninja Theory in pre-production). Suggesting that Senua does not apply to a specific class makes her struggle's ability to relate wider. On the other hand, she does not have money to spend which might suggest that they are of the lower class.
A main theme is mental health, this can be seen as a disability. If you take this point of view, this game can be seen as very progressive. Often, games that show disabilities show physical disabilities rather than mental.
The game is based on celtic mythology and there is little reference to Senua's national identity apart from when talking about the Viking attacks. She represents the white community, often described as the majority, which does not show progression.
In popular culture, women are often portrayed sexually, unlike in this game. Senua is not image conscious, apart from her clothes and face makeup, which are not particularly flattering. They have not hired a supermodel actress to play Senua, they used a normal person which suggests that the game is intended to show to young women that what actually matters is on the inside as opposed to the outside.
TASK 3 - Effect on the Audience
Media products aimed at young audiences have to be very careful with what they show. I believe that exposure to violent, sexual or bad behaviour at a young age has a strong impact on their future. Using people I know as examples, I can see how events in their early life have translated into their behaviours and opinions now. Knowing this, I can see how violence in games can make people susceptible to making different choices.
There are examples of when violent video games have inspired school shootings or cop killings and it is definitely possible to see the link. However, studies have suggested that there is no particular correlation. As well, there are games that have other themes that have no influence on people to do it in the real world. For example, simulators other than shooting simulators are designed to be played by people who cannot do the actions of the game in real life. This is also applicable to gun games, people do not often have squad vs squad gunfights because they want to be able to play it more than once, so it is just rare that these games actually end in shootings without another environmental influence.
TASK 4 - Regulatory Bodies
'PEGI' is a media regulatory body, it decides what age rating should be assigned to different video games, films and TV shows. These make it illegal to distribute products to people under the age rating. When deciding what rating to give, the boards reviews the content within the product to view the levels of violence, sex, nudity, drugs and other adult themes. The more adult content in the product, often results in the product being given a higher age rating. The aim of these ratings is to limit the exposure of these adult themes to younger audiences. Sometimes, these regulatory bodies deem content to be too much for public distribution so will order the producers to cut such material. These legal and ethical issues are removed from public view because of their negative impacts on even adult audiences and the role of these bodies is to reduce the harm of products on the public.
'Hellblade' contains dramatic behaviour, gore and violence. PEGI has given the game an '18' rating due to 'extreme violence'. It is necessary for games to have a rating and adult topics should not be accessible for people under a certain age. This helps reduce future, real violence but this law does not stop all young people from playing it, questionning the reliability of these ratings.
Here are two examples of gore and violence in the game. Physical violence in a game can desensitise the player to violence, this can make violence normal to the player and fool them into thinking violence is acceptable. Because of this, the game developers should limit the gore and violence or give it a negative consequence, such as the second image which shows Senua in pain. Associating the violence with a negative emotion will limit the influence. In other games, you are praised for killing people which is more likely to lead to real violence and your victims can just respawn, disconnecting violence from its consequences.
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