HA10 - Task 1

I have to analyse the FNAF games by applying The Uses & Gratifications Theory, Uses and gratifications theory is an approach to understanding why and how people find media to satisfy certain needs e.g. Information, how to do something, personal identity, entertainment, relaxation and integration and social interaction. Information that you get from the games is the story, there's not much else that you could learnt from such a simple point and click survival horror game. The story of FNAF follows a murder who used a spring locked suit to lure and kill kids and then stuff their bodies into the other animatronics to which they started to haunt them and now they roam the halls at night trying to kill you. You don't really play the FNAF games to learn something, it isn't a chuck e cheese simulator. You don't learn anything except maybe ways to increase your multi-tasking abilities but apart from that I can’t see anything else that these games could teach you. The way you could learn how to do something is by watching youtubers and learning how to complete the game and get a feeling of self-accomplishment. Since the FNAF games became a smash hit on the gaming world and pretty much all hard-core gamers know about the theory and the lore behind them so you would want to stay in the loop. Staying in the loop is very important for gamers whether it be for multiplayer action or in this case just to see what becomes the next big game such as Undertale or FNAF. You can start to relate to a game or just start to be inspired by a game such as I thought the game Undertale was really well done and it inspires me to take things from that game to use in games that I make later on in my life. As for all games that are sold commercially they are meant to be entertaining. which the game is at first but it eventually becomes more tedious to play when you start expecting everything that is coming, the game also becomes incredibly hard with little reward for completing the game, the only reason the game became as big as it did was because of how cheap the game is combined with the fact that a lot of youtubers who are highly influential on the gaming world showed themselves playing it. Games can also be for relaxation but I don't think this game does this that well because it is a real time strategy horror game where you need to be tense and quick to be able to play the game. Without being tense you won’t be able to take the game seriously enough to beat it so for that reason I don't believe this game is a game that you can just sit down and relax with. The game can be good for social interaction but not at the way most games use social interaction, most games use multiplayer as for of being social with others but this game allows you to talk to other people about the lore of the game or watching someone else play the game to see them get scared an example of the former is when me and my friend Sam talks about the newest game and why everything is happening as well as the real ending and an example of the latter is when I had my friend Steven around and had him try the game and he eventually threw the headset across the room after being jumped.

The Uses & Gratifications Theory
Uses and gratifications theory is an approach to understanding why and how people find media to satisfy certain needs such as: information e.g. to stay informed on matters as if reading the newspaper, how to do something and trying to expand your knowledge in general, personal identity such as trying to stay in the loop with things such as buying the newest games so you can talk to your friends about it, entertainment is the easiest being used for escapism, relaxation as well as just passing the time and integration and social interaction which is simply just the need to for interaction with other people so that you have a sense of belonging and connecting with others.