Videogames 9 - Fandom and active audience theory

Fandoms and active audience theory in videogames

Double mode of address - 

when a media product targets two different audiences at the same time.

                An example of this is the videogame series, 'Dark Souls', some fans will enjoy its                    difficulty and atmosphere and not care about the 'story', whereas other players who                 are seen as more 'hardcore' fans will analyse every aspect of the game such as fan                 videos to explain the 'narrative' and meaning.

• The video made by 'VaatiVidya', has made a techniqually accomplished and extremely well researched video because he is part of the audience of the double mode of address who are part of a fandom and are 'hardcore' fans of 'Dark Souls' who will analyse every aspect of the 'narrative' and meaning, this links to the Fandom theory by Jenkins, audiences can re-purpose the media product, in this case create the narrative which the game has no clarity of.
• The video addresses its audience as if he is telling a story, as he creates a narrative, the editing he uses is a voiceover clips of the game to anchor his explanations and story.
• The target audience of this video are fans of videogames and the 'Dark Souls' series, majority of the audience are perhaps other young men, as videogames are usually mostly targetted towards them.
• The video, 'Dark Souls 3 - Lore of the Main Bosses' by 'VaatiVidya' has almost 7 million views, the target audience aren't just videogame fans and 'Dark Souls' fans, it is also fans of the channel who will watch.

Henry Jenkins and fan theory

An active audience theory, fandom refers to a particularly organised and motivated audience of a certain media producer franchise, they aren't just an audience they are active participants in the construction and circulation of textual meanings. They then construct their social and cultural identities through borrowing and utilising mass culture images, may use this 'subcultural capital' to form social bonds.

Textual poaching - where the audience 'takes' what they want from a media product.

Multiple interpretations, multiple experiences in a media product like videogames.

Fan labour - often fans work extremely hard to produce professional quality material with no real remuneration, this may consider them no longer a fan to perhaps even a producer.

Manifestations of fandom - let's plays, fan edits, subreddits, cosplay, forums, fanfiction.

Online communities - audience/producer convergence, where audience members may produce stuff with the media product and interact with each other such as reddit, discussing about the media product such as videogames and show their art work or cosplay.

Participatory culture - where audiences 'get involved' with a media product through their own organisation and efforts, in a way which does not financially remunerated the owner of the media product.

Manifestations of the Assassin's Creed fandom