Assassin's Creed III: Liberation (Audiences)
Media Effects: Albert Bandura
Game received an 18 rating from PEGI due to violent content
Observation and immitation consequences
How likely are audiences to imitate behaviors portrayed in the game?
Social/Cultural Context
Representation of female characters, under-representation of women in video game development, an assumed minority of female video game players
Targeting of audiences
The game has a female protagonist
Does she subvert or reinforce expectations of female characters in games
The game is for a hand held device
Aimed at "on the go" gamers
Female protagonist is a way of the franchise appealing to a different demographic
The game can be a platform for female gamer identification
Relationship between media technologies and patterns of consumption and response
The game is linked to a more traditional console version
An attempt to draw gamers from different platforms and adopt new gaming habits
Downloadable content and special features
Changing patterns in consumption
Gamers ecouraged to have a more complete experience by using a range of products that can only be bought
Assassin's Creed III: Liberation (Industry)
The game comes from well known franchise and might be seen as trying to bring high production value
Distribution
Versions of the game could be purchased over the internet
Regulation
Rated 18 by PEGI
Impact of global distribution
WiFi functionality allows users to download additional content
Sold both in as a hand held game and on the console version. This convergence is relevant in terms of promotion/marketing
Game was released on the PlayStation Vita. Released alongside Assassin's Creed III
Stuart Hall - Reception theory
How might audiences react to the character, Aveline?
The video game does contain violent content. The fact that the gamer is directly involved in this through the gameplay may encourage them to behave in a violent manner outside of the confines of the game
Economic/Political Context
Originally the game was released only in PS Vita, but given the competitive nature of the video games industry, a larger HD version of the game was inevitable
In 2014 it was released across different consoles including PS3 and Xbox 360
Video games are culturally and economically significant in three major territories, Japan, Europe and USA
The release of new gaming tehcnology (PS Vita) or games from popular franhises can be major economic events