01 PROMOTING THE LEGO MOVIE

The uses and gratification framework, outlined by Bulmer and Katz, identify 4 main audience pleasures.

In my view the most important audience pleasure offered by the Lego Movie Video Game, relates to escapism, diversion and entertainment. It is a very active audience pleasure as a game player, as you are invited on quests and to undertake tasks, positioned as the hero who has to solve problems and complete missions to prevent Lord Business from taking over. The video game is set in a fictional world which means the player can escape from their everyday life into this new world full of heroes and creatures. The Lego Movie Video Game offers a menu of about 50 different characters which you can become and it allows player to immerse themselves in the action, rather than being passive.

The Lego Movie Video Game allows players to engage in a battle to save the world and to be on the side of everything that is good, creative and right. The archenemy throughout the game is Lord Business. There are a variety of heroes, eg. Emmet. For younger plays, Emmet is a very accessible avatar as he isn't a superhero; he is a nobody like the average younger game player. Someone who needs the support of his friends, with luck and skill, will battle through and save the day. Female players would find that the ability to play as female characters is empowering because characters such as WyldStyle are strong, independent and superior to other male characters.

Another really important audience pleasure in gameplay, is that it is a co-operative game that you can play with friends. Equally, all video games are the subject of enthusiastic conversations between the game players as it is a shared experience and the Lego Movie Video Game offers a great deal of humour as well as action. This is sometimes known as the watercooler experience which us when people enjoy talking about being fans of any particular media, eg talking about a concert, or a tv program. People who play the same video games enjoy that sense of community with like-minded people.