The uses and gratification theory summary
The uses and gratification theory's detailed meaning can be found in the task audience response and the effects debate, this is going to be a summary of that. The uses and gratification theory suggests that the audience will use media to help them for multiple reasons, this theory states that the audience is not passive and they will use 4 different categories to place media into. These categories are information, personal identity, integration and social interaction and entertainment.
Information
As for Crash Bandicoot the game does not concentrate on offering as much information as some video games have in the past such as Math Jam, which helps children learn maths, instead it can help with small information that helps people, like me, who wish to be a part of the game design industry, it also offers physical information for people to pick up.
The only information I can gather from it would be when I attempt to create a platform game and want to look at what makes a successful platformer, I could use Crash Bandicoot Warped as inspiration since it was a huge success. The physical effect is included with the majority of video games since they helps to develop the motor skills in the brain and fast thinking. As an individual with dyspraxia I feel as though video games have helped improve my coordination and motor skills due to some of the tasks I have had to achieve and with Crash Bandicoot it is no different. Some parts of the game are challenging and fast paced and require you to think about your actions before you approach obstacle and if it is an incorrect move it improves your quick decision making skills to solve your way out of the situation.
Information can also be seen within the video game itself with the mechanics involved, an example of said information is how the game shows the player the amount of lives they have or the amount of crates they have destroyed, this is known as in-game information. From a personal approach information can be gathered from several people who analyse it in a different way, by this I mean one person could analyse the game and look for a hidden agenda that the developers might be trying to get across, other could look towards it for information on video games, such as what makes a good 3D platformer or why the platforming game is so popular.
Personal identify
Personal identity talks about how people relate themselves to a piece of media whether it be the character or story being told. When playing Crash Bandicoot Warped I can relate to the game and the character and gameplay as the character is quite a happy go lucky guy with a humorous attitude that amuses a lot of the audience with his actions. I can also related to the story as I believe most people can since it is about how an unusual candidate has to take on such a big task to keep himself and those he loves safe, this speaks to me because it feels like a representation of some of the times in life where I felt like an unusual candidate to undertake or go through something but when looking back I learned and it has help me to grow to the person I am which is going to help me grow for the future and help my family and friends grow as I do so.
With personal identity comes gain as well for the development company, if people feel like they relate to a video game character or game in general I think that this would improve the sales of the game as people wish to play as someone who reflect themselves. While I do feel I identify with Crash I don't feel like I identify with every video game character, a good example of this is Cortex, the main villain. Why I don't feel like I identify with him is because of the personality he has, he is always looking for a way to bring hurt and demise to people he either hates or doesn't know. He is painted in this light for a reason though and that is to gain the reaction of not identifying with him, I feel like many people would agree with me that Cortex is a character who they don't wish to identify with due to the way he acts but would identify with Crash because of how popular and likeable he is.
Integration
Integration and social interaction would come in the form of discussion with people or playing the game with a friend or family member who is in the room with you. With a lot of video games there is a bigger sociably interactive side to them with things like co-op or online multiplayer being a part of the game which allows people to connect and verse/help each other fight through levels or within an arena.
As for Crash the only social aspect is as mentioned previously and from my experience from my childhood I would play the video game with my family, this was because I was quite young and would be very bad at video games requiring me to have a helping hand for some of the missions. My family also liked to have a party type mode which was a rule invented where if the player who was controlling the character died or completed the mission they would pass it onto the next player so no one was left out and we could all gain entertainment from watching and playing the game.
The second sociably interactive part I gained from Crash was the discussions I have had with friends, due to a lot of my friends being gamers and of the same age the majority of them have played the game and so we have had conversations where we talk about our favourite games and developers. We conversate over what we enjoy about the game and why and our interpretations of the game from our individualistic point of view. It has also helped me to initiate a conversation with people who I have not known very well which has caused a better friendship to blossom from awkward, small interactions to being comfortable and being able to talk about anything.
Entertainment
Entertainment is the biggest part of the game including the main reason it was made and why I play it. Video games have been created to offer this form of interactive entertainment that allow the player to experience things not possible to the realistic world. As for Crash the game is centred around unrealistic gameplay, as you can see from the cover of the game it has a giant Bandicoot has the main character of the game.
The narrative offers a humorous, quirky unrealistic story involving time travel, human like animals, mad scientists and more coming together to create a fantasy world for pure entertainment purposes. The game can be quite relaxing in some areas and very tense in others depending on what kind of play through you are going for, the game caters to people of all ages as the levels are quite easy to traverse through for small children but to collect all items and complete the game to its fullest will involve a more difficult journey through the game.
While the game does offer this element as its main target, this won't apply for everyone and the developers will have taken that into consideration when developing the game. Instead they will aim for a certain target audience, in Crash's case it aims at people who play 3D platformers aged 3 and above, this wipes out people who are haters of the platforming franchise and naughty dog know this will not bring them entertainment. However, they will still develop the game for people who are looking forward to this kind of game, their target audience.
Conclusion
When Crash Bandicoot has the uses and gratification theory applied to it there is a clear insight that the game can be used for a multitude of reasons to allow for individualistic thinkers to consume the piece of media and use it accordingly. However, these points explained are from my experience and so only give an insight into what I could use them for or how they associate to me personally.
As other individualistic people will experience Crash Bandicoot they will come to terms with associating it with their personal ideas and have different reasons for why they play the game. I believe the uses and gratification theory allows people to grow in their own way as they can identify different pieces of media to the way they believe it should be used, for example, where I stated that the main reason I use Crash Bandicoot for entertainment someone else might not and so they categorise it as more informative whether it be a personal reason or job related.
However, there are some weaknesses to this as the uses and gratification theory only expresses a theory about the piece of media an individual will digest. This means that they have to place the piece of media into at least one of the categories available and if a person doesn't find something, such as Crash Bandicoot, informative, personally identify with it, integrating or entertaining then it is a void piece of media that does't allow individualistic thinking therefore rendering it entirely useless. Also the individuals don't choose the information they see so if they don't want to see games such as Crash Bandicoot to digest then they have no control making it only partially inquisitive thinking.
Sources:
http://www.weteachwelearn.org/tag/discussion/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_Bandicoot_(character)
http://www.andrewontheair.com/tag/television/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0GsJiQTWPI
http://www.uidownload.com/free-vectors/connected-people-graphics-free-vector-420145
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/crash-bandicoot-is-in-the-new-skylanders-netflix-s/1100-6444931/
https://www.crashmania.net/en/games/crash-bandicoot-warped/overview/
https://www.mirthinabox.com/p/nerd-glasses#.WHavQbaLR8c
https://www.sparksdirect.co.uk/blog/plumen-001-and-plumen-002-the-worlds-first-designer-low-energy-light-bulbs/
http://philosophy.atmhs.com/area-of-study-2-personal-identity/
The only information I can gather from it would be when I attempt to create a platform game and want to look at what makes a successful platformer, I could use Crash Bandicoot Warped as inspiration since it was a huge success. The physical effect is included with the majority of video games since they helps to develop the motor skills in the brain and fast thinking. As an individual with dyspraxia I feel as though video games have helped improve my coordination and motor skills due to some of the tasks I have had to achieve and with Crash Bandicoot it is no different. Some parts of the game are challenging and fast paced and require you to think about your actions before you approach obstacle and if it is an incorrect move it improves your quick decision making skills to solve your way out of the situation.
Information can also be seen within the video game itself with the mechanics involved, an example of said information is how the game shows the player the amount of lives they have or the amount of crates they have destroyed, this is known as in-game information. From a personal approach information can be gathered from several people who analyse it in a different way, by this I mean one person could analyse the game and look for a hidden agenda that the developers might be trying to get across, other could look towards it for information on video games, such as what makes a good 3D platformer or why the platforming game is so popular.
Personal identify
Personal identity talks about how people relate themselves to a piece of media whether it be the character or story being told. When playing Crash Bandicoot Warped I can relate to the game and the character and gameplay as the character is quite a happy go lucky guy with a humorous attitude that amuses a lot of the audience with his actions. I can also related to the story as I believe most people can since it is about how an unusual candidate has to take on such a big task to keep himself and those he loves safe, this speaks to me because it feels like a representation of some of the times in life where I felt like an unusual candidate to undertake or go through something but when looking back I learned and it has help me to grow to the person I am which is going to help me grow for the future and help my family and friends grow as I do so.
Integration
Integration and social interaction would come in the form of discussion with people or playing the game with a friend or family member who is in the room with you. With a lot of video games there is a bigger sociably interactive side to them with things like co-op or online multiplayer being a part of the game which allows people to connect and verse/help each other fight through levels or within an arena.
As for Crash the only social aspect is as mentioned previously and from my experience from my childhood I would play the video game with my family, this was because I was quite young and would be very bad at video games requiring me to have a helping hand for some of the missions. My family also liked to have a party type mode which was a rule invented where if the player who was controlling the character died or completed the mission they would pass it onto the next player so no one was left out and we could all gain entertainment from watching and playing the game.
The second sociably interactive part I gained from Crash was the discussions I have had with friends, due to a lot of my friends being gamers and of the same age the majority of them have played the game and so we have had conversations where we talk about our favourite games and developers. We conversate over what we enjoy about the game and why and our interpretations of the game from our individualistic point of view. It has also helped me to initiate a conversation with people who I have not known very well which has caused a better friendship to blossom from awkward, small interactions to being comfortable and being able to talk about anything.
Entertainment
Entertainment is the biggest part of the game including the main reason it was made and why I play it. Video games have been created to offer this form of interactive entertainment that allow the player to experience things not possible to the realistic world. As for Crash the game is centred around unrealistic gameplay, as you can see from the cover of the game it has a giant Bandicoot has the main character of the game.
The narrative offers a humorous, quirky unrealistic story involving time travel, human like animals, mad scientists and more coming together to create a fantasy world for pure entertainment purposes. The game can be quite relaxing in some areas and very tense in others depending on what kind of play through you are going for, the game caters to people of all ages as the levels are quite easy to traverse through for small children but to collect all items and complete the game to its fullest will involve a more difficult journey through the game.
While the game does offer this element as its main target, this won't apply for everyone and the developers will have taken that into consideration when developing the game. Instead they will aim for a certain target audience, in Crash's case it aims at people who play 3D platformers aged 3 and above, this wipes out people who are haters of the platforming franchise and naughty dog know this will not bring them entertainment. However, they will still develop the game for people who are looking forward to this kind of game, their target audience.
Conclusion
When Crash Bandicoot has the uses and gratification theory applied to it there is a clear insight that the game can be used for a multitude of reasons to allow for individualistic thinkers to consume the piece of media and use it accordingly. However, these points explained are from my experience and so only give an insight into what I could use them for or how they associate to me personally.
As other individualistic people will experience Crash Bandicoot they will come to terms with associating it with their personal ideas and have different reasons for why they play the game. I believe the uses and gratification theory allows people to grow in their own way as they can identify different pieces of media to the way they believe it should be used, for example, where I stated that the main reason I use Crash Bandicoot for entertainment someone else might not and so they categorise it as more informative whether it be a personal reason or job related.
However, there are some weaknesses to this as the uses and gratification theory only expresses a theory about the piece of media an individual will digest. This means that they have to place the piece of media into at least one of the categories available and if a person doesn't find something, such as Crash Bandicoot, informative, personally identify with it, integrating or entertaining then it is a void piece of media that does't allow individualistic thinking therefore rendering it entirely useless. Also the individuals don't choose the information they see so if they don't want to see games such as Crash Bandicoot to digest then they have no control making it only partially inquisitive thinking.
Sources:
http://www.weteachwelearn.org/tag/discussion/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_Bandicoot_(character)
http://www.andrewontheair.com/tag/television/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0GsJiQTWPI
http://www.uidownload.com/free-vectors/connected-people-graphics-free-vector-420145
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/crash-bandicoot-is-in-the-new-skylanders-netflix-s/1100-6444931/
https://www.crashmania.net/en/games/crash-bandicoot-warped/overview/
https://www.mirthinabox.com/p/nerd-glasses#.WHavQbaLR8c
https://www.sparksdirect.co.uk/blog/plumen-001-and-plumen-002-the-worlds-first-designer-low-energy-light-bulbs/
http://philosophy.atmhs.com/area-of-study-2-personal-identity/
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