Stereotypes In TV Drama

Tom Branson - Downton Abbey:
Tom is an Irishman whose early storyline followed his typical 'Irish hatred' for the British aristocracy, including the Crawleys. In one episode, his brother, who is also Irish, came to visit, which resulted in a drunken argument and resulted in him being asked to leave, this is somewhat stereotypical of the irish. Such drunken behaviour was also portrayed by Tom in a different episode.

T-Dogg - The Walking Dead:
He in an African-American character, whose name is stereotypical in itself. The clothes that he is hsown to wear are stereotypical as they portray the gangsta/rapper style that was popular within the African-American culture of the 1990s, with a baggy/gold chained/ military type look. He is also shown to be quite clumsy, which can be a stereo type of black characters, as in one episode he easily, and quite sewriously slices his forearm on a cashed car.

Dev Alahan - Coronation Street:
Dev is a somewhat stereotypical indian corner shop owner, who owns a chain of shops throughout the UK. He has also been shown to be sleazy or arrogant, which can also be related to this stereotype. Such a stereotype is very common within TV programmes.

Audience Localisation Essay

Audience Localisation

As the games industry has grown, it has become increasingly important for developers to localise their games, in various ways, to make sure they can reach the largest audience possible. Some have chosen to target a broad national audience, while some opt to tune the game more specifically to a local audience. I believe it is a convenient option but still more important for a developer to target a national audience. By doing this, it means it is easier for developers to cater for specific people without increasing production time or cost too drastically as would be the case if games were frequantly altered for smaller audiences. On a whole, localisation limits the amount of critisism or offence caused through the inclusion of inconsiderate content within a game, such as nuclear references in a game to be sold in Japan, ergo this content would be altered or removed.

Localisation of a game can have a significant effect on the production of a game or even the console that the games were to played upon, which can often  cause problems for developers and platform holders alike. An example of modifications made by platform holders would be Sony, who in a bid to try and out-whit the 2000 games console ban in China, created a unique, more basic version of the Playstation 3, that was ultimately passed by the China Quality Certification Centre. This undoubtedly had a negative effect on Sony's profits, as their console had been denied entry into a country with one of the world's largest population of gamers, but however meant that they could now target an audience who other consoles are still denied access. Furthermore, games are also often altered for a number of reasons, and one a scale that larger and more frequent to that of hardware. Video games are often 'localised' to try and minimise any cultural, legal or hardware problems/limitations, which can often entail the alteration or removal of certain music tracks, linguistics or in-game events (such as those resembling 9/11 would not be included in the American version of the game). Such alterations cost a varying amount of money and time to implement, which can, and often has a negative effect to some degree on the profits of the companies involved. Developers and publishers have to make a joint decision wether to release a game to its primary audience and then delay the release of the 'localised' versions as changes need to be made, or to post-pone the release of all versions until all alterations are made, then have a simultaneous global release date. In comparison to a global release date, profits can often be damaged if a staggered release is decided. An example of this would be the 7 month gap between the Japanese release of Final Fantasy VII, and it's arrival in the United States. In relation to the alteration of offensive material, an example of 'localisation' would be the Japanese PSP version of 'Persona 2'. In this remake, 'Hitler' was changed to 'The Fuhrer', who was given sunglasses and a coat to somewhat disguise his Nazi uniform. Also, All swastikas were removed and replaced with the Iron Cross.

The representation of a game through it's marketing is just as important as that of the game itself. The same criteria for 'localisation' still have to be considered when internationally marketing a game. If something cannot be included in a game due to a particular reason, such themes should and are not used in the game's marketing. For example, swastikas are outlawed in Germany, meaning posters, adverts and other forms of advertisement for say a WWII game, will not include such an emblem in Germany. On a lighter note, however, marketing can be 'localised', not due to restrictions, but as a form of personalisation. An example of such, would be the recent advertisements used for Just Dance 4. In the US version, the advert is longer and includes a typically large american house with players that could be indentified with America, whereas the UK version is notably different. In this version, the rooms and houses are of a smaller, British style,  with the participants wearing items that include union jacks, and that are deemed more 'British' due to factors such as climate. While tailoring advertisements in such a manor may be subtle, it has been proven that it makes a difference, as it creates more of a connection with possible consumers on a more personal level, such as creating some sort of national expression.

In the world today, i believe that to some extent, it is vital for a company to make an effort to localise a game  to the best of their ability. Although in some ways, restrictions have become lax, there are still a number of areas, and cultures that are either easily offended or enhanced when the game nationalised. That is why i believe it is important to localise game, but with the condition that the research is thorough and alterations are made tastefully. It is clear that localisation is still a modern day necessity, with Infinity Ward recently having to alter Modern Warfare 2 almost two years after release as it was deemed offensive to islam by a group of Muslims (distasteful use of Mohammed's name). If localisation of games were to cease, then it would only have to take one in-game event/factor to offend a passionate or powerful group before the consequences were felt globally.  
   

The UK Retail Market: Today and the Future

The current game retail market in Britain is showing both signs of prosperity and decline. Throughout the country there are several major game retailers  such as; HMV, GAME, Blockbuster, as well as many supermarket chains offering a selection of games to appeal to a wider market. The high street also boasts some second-hand game retailers which arguably help to decline the games industry, but are still accounted for as the number of physical retailers begin to waver with the rise of digital distribution. There have undoubtedly been some problems for game retailers however, with a prime example being the administration and closure of stores belonging to the Game Group. Earlier this year approximately 277/609 GAME stores where closed, with Gamestation stores either closing or being converted into GAME, also the Gamestation website is now a redirection to the GAME website. This colossal closure is believed to be due to the reduced sales in physical copies of games, as more and more people turn to digital distribution equivalents to the high street.
I believe the fate of the UK's game retail market lies in the future progression of technology. If technology advancements are made, and all games become digitally distributed, or as illegally (as well as legally) accessible as the music industry has become, then high street retailers will surely bare the brunt of this. However, if games industry continues to have certain limitations to it's digital distribution systems, or provides benefits for the consumer for purchasing their physical copies, such as the merchandise/extras received with 'special editions', then retailers will not only survive, but prosper. There is a certainty of uncertainty concerning the true suture of the game retailers within the UK.    

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/store-closures-begin-at-game-and-gamestation/093365

Distribution #2 : Advantage Distribution

Advantage Distribution is a large distribution company, established in 2003, that supplies a multitude of various different pieces of both hard and software to the publishers and retailers of the entertainment industry. Advantage stocks games from some of the leading publishers such as Nintendo and Bethesda, as well as the latest in simulators and interactive games, with a stock of over 3000 software titles and an extensive range of hardware, Advantage can satisfy the needs of all gamers. They also supply high street retailers (in bulk) such as Littlewoods and Argos, often proving to be a popular and reliable choice.

Games Distribution

Distribution

The distributor for GTA V is Take-Two interative, which is perfect representation of the veritcal integration within such a large company, as Take-Two are both the parent company of Rockstar, (the creators of GTA), the distributors as well as all of the stages inbetween. This results in a cheaper production and distribution system. Skylanders: Giants is distributed by XPEC entertainment, an external Taiwan based distibution company. On a smaller scale (compared to the companies behind the GTA franchise), the iOS game Angry Birds was first distributed by Chillingo. The fact that they had to be externally sourced, shows the size difference and lack of vertical integration in comparison to Take-Two and the GTA IP.

Article Comparison (GTA & CoD)

http://au.gamespot.com/news/grand-theft-auto-series-shipments-reach-125-million-6400652

Last week Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick announced that Rockstar's GTA series has sold over 125 million units, with GTA IV accounting for 25 million of the units. In an interview, he compared the strategies used by Rockstar and that of Call of Duty's Activision, including his opinion on what he though was best for their IP (GTA) . He stated that "An IP that is annualized seems to hit the wall, and we don't want our IP to hit the wall". He used this years CoD title, Black Ops II as an example, saying the fact that it didn't as well as last years Modern Warfare 3 proves that the series is starting to slow. He said that this is not the case with the Grand Theft Auto titles,with them doing better each time and also believing that if an Intellectual Property is to be permanent, then it cannot be churned out annually (with the exception of sports games eg. Fifa), as it will inevitably cause the audience to 'fall out of love' with it.

User Generated Content (UGC)

UGC or User Generated Content is the term given to material that is created by consumers, for games, to enhance the creativity and variety of the gaming experience. An example of UGC would be Little Big Planet, which allows the player to have a multitude of different experiences as they are free to build and share their own levels.

UGC is having a positive effect in the sense it can prolong the life span of a game, as it allows the player to simply create new features (to a certain extent) which will allow for a new experience. The inclusion of content generation feature promoted creativity and gain popularity solely for this feature. UGc has had some negative effects however, with a main one being the possible decline of DLC. If a player can create their own levels/characters/ items etc for free as a part of the game, why would they pay money for DLC? They wouldn't. Although in reality, these fears are somewhat limited, as players often become bored and simply find it more convenient to just purchase rather than replicate the work of professionals.

Game Regulations: PEGI

PEGI

Pan European Game Information (also referred to as PEGI) is the largest and now sole game regulation authority of Europe. Until recently, PEGI was only permitted to give advice/suggestions on the age ratings for games, but since the 30th July 2012 PEGI's ratings are now forceable by law, with consequences for both retailer and consumer. PEGI bases its ratings on an evaluation of a game with certain criteria in mind, these would include things like violence, sex, gambling, swearing and drug use. Once a game has been evaluated it will be given an age rating of 3+, 7+, 12+, 16+ or 18+, with each age having it's own colour to make the rating easily identifiable (introduced in 2009 to make the ratings system used by PEGI less confusing for consumers).

Prior to PEGI's creation in 2003, there were several rating associations that had a say in the ratings of games, with the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) having a prominent influence. Now, PEGI will be the only game regulation authority involved in deciding what rating a game shall receive, unless a game is evaluated to be an 18+, where the BBFC may be consulted to verify PEGI's decision.

As previously mentioned, PEGI's rating are now enforceable by British law, with possible prosecution of any retailer that violates this law. This follows the governments growing campaign to reduce the amount of underage children playing violent games that include unsuitable content, and have believed to have influenced such children in the past to commit crimes that reflect behaviour to that shown in video games. Before this new law was introduced, retailers where permitted to sell games (of the correct age) to anyone under the 16+ and 18+ age ratings, but now, it is illegal for games to be sold that 12+ to anyone under 12. This has the potential to be severely damaging for retailers, as 12 year olds do not have any form of legal I.D, it is down to the judgement of the worker to decide whether the customer is of age. If their judgement is wrong however, the retailer could face a £5,000 fine for their actions. The threat of this punishment alone will be enough to make retailers more wary and slightly reluctant to sell certain games, which will have a negative effect of their profits and an equally as negative knock on effect to the profits of those who develop and publish the game. The developer's and publisher's will have more than just their profits effected by the legal enforcement of PEGI's ratings. The law will restrict the amount of content that the makers of games will feel they are allowed to include within a game, which may reduce the quality/experience of the game. Also, the new ratings mean that the main audience for a game that would have once made it very successful, may be restricted by their age and so unable to buy the game themselves, meaning that the audience for the game has changed. This brings me on to a major limitation with PEGI and the ratings system as a whole. Even though PEGI ratings are now enforceable by law, with repercussions for those who disobey, it will not prevent parents from parents buying the game for their underage child, nor will it stop someone using credit card details to buy a game digitally online as the mass of distribution has already shifted  to digital.

MMORPGs: Guild Wars 2



Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2 is Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG). It was released on 28th August 2012 and has currently sold over 2 million copies (proving how popular games of this genre tend to be). The game was developed by AreaNet and published by NCsoft. It is estimated that the peak concurrency of players so far has been 400,000. Unlike other MMORPGs, Guild Wars 2 does not require a monthly subscription fee to allow someone to play. It instead offers a choice of three single  purchase packages. They are The Digital Edition - £49.99, The Digital Deluxe Edition - £64.99 and The Collectors Edition - £129.99. As the price varies, so to does the content and extras that the package offers.

Guild Wars 2 is also pretty unique due to the inclusion of a story line that is responsive to the actions of the player. This feature is commonly found in a single-player game but is somewhat scarcely included in a multiplayer game, especially one that has the magnitude of Guild Wars 2. The game includes an innovative event system that has replaced the somewhat traditional quest format that is found in MMORPGs. 

http://www.guildwars2forum.com/forum.php?s=13c5ebf6482e26618c523ce471e121fe

This a forum that offers a wide range of support and opportunity for questions for players to ask to enhance their gaming experience or gain an answer to problem they may have. The forum is sectioned into different message boards with a few examples being 'Guild Wars 2 News & Updates' , 'Gameplay' and 'Professions and Races'. According to statistics; There are 11,871 threads, 139,414 posts, 18,588 (with the most players online at once was 14,386 25/08/12. There are both In Character (IC) and Out Of Character (OOC) threads.

GTA V Trailer #2 Analysis

Rockstar released the second trailer for GTA V last wednesday (14/11/12) which contained a multitude of details, some of which where obvious while some information was shown through subtle hints for which Rockstar are notorious for. When it comes to trailers for a Rockstar game, especially GTA, every last detail is representative and usually quite significant. Although the trailer is only 1:50, it is packed with details but structured to leave the viewer with questions to build the anticipation even more.

Prior the trailer's start we are shown a 'mature' age warning as to confirm that this is a game for over 18's only, telling us straight away to expect the usual violent, action-packed gameplay that we have come to expect of a GTA game.

The first thing we hear is the song Skeletons (which are a symbol of death) by Stevie Wonder. The soundtrack plays a heavy part through out the trailer, which is established from the beginning when the first few cuts are made in time to the music, as is the emergence of the 'Grand Theft Auto V' text. The first shot is an establishing shot of the entire city of Los Santos. The mist that is usually seen in the back ground due to rendering limitations does not appear here, and so shows off the graphical capability that GTA V will contain. After the first initial cuts we are presented with the first protagonist. We can deduct through cinematic shots of a sports car and Beverly Hills like house that he is a made man, in his late forties, who is suffering from family difficulties as they are shown arguing inside while the character relaxes by the pool outside. This scene contains diegetic sound while the family is shown arguing but then contains a voice-over narrative from the character when the scene switches.

The trailer leads into the second protagonist with cinematic long shots of the different landscapes of Los Santos. The next character is immediately presented as the binary opposite to the first. He is a more violent, slightly psychotic man who lives in a poorer side of the city. This character is shown, through a series of jump cuts; bludgeoning a man's head as well as using a molotov cocktail set alight and ultimately blow up someone's house. This type of fast paced action is what is expected from a GTA game and will reassure the audience that GTA V is no different. A later cut shows this protagonist deliver dialogue, which also includes elements of Rockstar's notorious humour. 'i'll swing by and sign the contracts, alright....just ignore the bodies'.

After a few more cuts through cinematic shots of Los Santos (yet again showing the graphical capability of GTA V) the third protagonist is introduced through a dialogue exchange with the first Protagonist. This is one of the many links between the characters seen, with some being more subtle than others, with them all coming together in a dialogue scene towards the end when they are formally introduced and relations revealed. The second protagonist is shown as the youngest of the three and is also a somewhat well-off man but is also experiencing relationship difficulties. This situation is very similar to the first Protagonist, which could be the very reason why their stories become entwined.

Towards the end of the trailer jump cuts become more frequent and show a number of activities like a scrambler race, a plane flight, a vault exploding (which has been confirmed to be the main theme of the game), the second character jumping from a train to avoid a collision and also a dog running through a shootout. This not only shows the typical and loved GTA violence but the inclusion of animal, which has never been done in a GTA game, but was done very effectively in Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption which has made audiences very excited to see how it has been altered to fit into GTA V. The trailer ends with the three protagonists being introduced to one another and then going on to complete the 'see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil' gesture which may prove to be an important representation of the game to come.

Grand Theft Auto V

GTA V

Grand Theft Auto V is the newest and fifth installment to the main series of the GTA franchise. Rockstar was created by Sam and Dan Houser. After the first GTA was released in 1997, there have been 4 more main series games, as well as several spin off games such as GTA: Chinawars and GTA: Libery City Stories. GTA is planned to be released in Spring 2013, and will likely continue the aura of controversy that accompanies Rockstar, and in particular the GTA franchise. There was a constant use of 'drip-feeding' information about the new game to the public, starting with a the first teaser trailer late 2011 and only releasing vague screenshots, up until official details where released last week.

GTA is a third-person, open world sandbox that includes an extensive series of both main and side missions aswell as the ability to simply free-roam the world. the next installment will is being developed by Rockstar North (Rockstar's Edinburgh Division), published by Rockstar and distributed by Rockstar's parent company, Take-Two Interactive. Grand Theft Auto V is going to return to the LA mimitation city of Los Santos (perviously seen in San Andeas) but is reportedly going to incorperate a world bigger that those of GTA: San Andreas, GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption combined. The player will be allowed to control 3 protaganists throughout the game, each with a different set of skills and abilities, and with intertwined story lines. Their names are Michael, Trevor and Franklin. Michael is a made man and former bank robber in his forties with a dysfunctional family, Trevor is a drug-fuelled psychotic man who lives alone in the desert and Franklin is a young repo man who lives in Vespucci Beach (a mimitation of Venice Beach).  Unsurprisingly, it has been announced that there will be a multitude of side missions, activites and vehicles for the player to interact with in GTA V. These will include activities such as yoga, triathlons and scuba-diving. The wide range of vehicles that is expected from a GTA game will return, including an extensive range of new cars,bikes, bicycles, ATVs, boats, helicopters and planes. With favourites like the 'Cheetah' sports car also returning.

The first glimpse of GTA V was seen in the teaser trailer that was released in November 2011. Since then, screenshots, posters and an approximate release time have been either 'leaked' or oficially released. With more, official infrmation coming out bit by bit throughout the recent week or so, with more information coming this week and next. This tactic used by Rockstar is extremely efective in getting as many people as possible to talk about the release of GTA V. This is an especially sly move by Rockstar, as they have chosen to release a second trailer and important information about the new game in and around the same day that Halo 4 was released. This directly challenges Halo's release and directs attention towards Rockstar and GTA V that would have otherwise been focused on Halo 4.
In the marketing of GTA V there have also been examples of cross-media convergence. The first teaser trailer had many elements of that for a new movie, with large cinematic shots and usig movie-style editing. The Trailer even opens with a voice over (from who we now know to be one of he three playable characters). This is a common feature used in theatrical trailers and overall, it is clear that this trailer inparticular was influenced by the film industry. 

It is clear by looking at the past games in the series, as well at the information that has been released that GTA V, will continue the series' adult orientated gameplay and overall experience. The trailers and artwork that has been released include swearing, women in bikinis, hints/use of drugs and guns. This game is specifically tailored for those who are 18+, quite possibly more to the male population, and Rockstar know they have loyal audience in that age range.#

Grand Theft Auto V will only be available on Xbox 360 and Playsation 3. Rockstar have stated that it would ruin the experience if 'motion-control' devices where catered for as it would retract the player from the in game situation. The game is available to pre-order from places such as Game, Play.com, HMV, and Amazon in the UK. However, very few pre-order bonuses have been announced, with the current information telling us iconic posters and image-viewers that depict scenery from the game are available for those who pre-order.

The second trailer (released today) has broadened the amount of information on each of the protagonists and how their lives differ and end up entwined. It also gave us a further look (in Rockstar's Typical cinematic fashion) at Los Santos and the activities and vehicles that the player will be able to interact with. 

Current Games Chart

The MVC top 20 game chart shows us up to date information what are currently the most popular games, what platfroms they are available on and the company that they were developed by. The top 3 games are Assassin's Creed III, Fifa 13 and WWE 13, with 3 out of the top 5 being developed by Activision. Out of the current top 20 games, all but one are established franchises. Dishonored is the anomaly here as it is the only new IP in the chart, which tells us that there is still a market attracted to new IP's and that it must be a large one as it is ranked at the current #10, however it is the only IP and so established franchises are evidently more popular and sell more copies across their platforms.. It is clear that Bethesda, the developers of Dishonored, are willing to take risks and create a new IP, which is unlike other developers who have chosen the safer route of creating a game that is already apart of an existing franchise. In the top 20, there are several first party games, which shows that thess games still have a dedicated audience who will either already own or will go out and buy the neccesary platform (making the game a killer app). Nintendo has 2 first party games, with microsoft having one and sony not having any at all. Although this tells us that Sony aren't very successful with their first party games, it only accounts for 3/20 games in the chart. Clearly showing that second and third party games are more popular and more successful, such as Assassin's Creed III and Fifa 13.

Quite unusually, Fifa 13 is available on the PS2. This is a made by EA to target other countries around the world such as India and Brazil where PS2's are still widely played. By targeting these audiences, EA have expanded their market to reach thousands of people that would usually be unable to play new games.

The games chart above also shows us who the core/larger audiences are in terms of those who are buying games. Well, infact it shows us that while there is a mixture of ages, the most popular games tend to be those that are targeted at hardcore gamers, as as opposed to social gamers. Such as Assassins Creed III and Fifa 13, Ubisoft and EA know there are established and dedicated audiences and so continue to build on the series as success is expected.

   

Symbiosis - Halo 4

Skylanders and GTA IV Conglomerate Maps

Skylanders

GTA IV

Social Gaming: Zynga & Farmville 2

Zynga

Zynga employs a 'Free-To-Play' business model that generates revenue through the sale of advertisment sponsorships or dircect payments by players through microtransactions. Zynga games operate by incorporating an 'energy replenishment' system that means the game will have certain limits, and so the player will have to replenish the 'energy' if they wish to play. This may be a case of either waiting for it to replenish (which can be a while) or the player  can buy in game currency through a direct credit card microtransaction. An example of this would be paying $5.00 for 21 credits, however this is not totally digital as it was originally. Zynga started to sell prepaid virtual currency cards in the US in more than 12,800 stores.
Zynga started to run Facebook and other sponsered advertisements on their website. They also became partners with Hasbro to create Zynga related products and brands.

Farmville 2

Farmville 2 is the sequel to the hit social Farmville. It was released in September 2012, 3 months after it was originally announced. There are adverts for Farmville 2 as sponsered posts by Facebook to help promote the game. Also, Farmville have staarted to use similar tactics to which they used to promote Farmville. Zynga have used petting zoos and gatherings to allow people who are 'neighbours' on the game to meet in reallife, while all the time publically advertiseing the game. This is a clever technique as it appeals to social gamers both young and old, young gamers get to play with the animals and discuss the game, and older gamers get to meet their online friends and meet new ones. 



Case Study: Skylanders Giants

Skylanders

Skylanders: Giants is a platform game that was developed by Toys for Bob and published by Activision, it is the sequel to 2011's acclaimed Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure. The game was released in Europe on the 19th October and the 21st October in  North America. Skylanders: Giants is available on several platforms including the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii ; Wii U and 3DS, as well as Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It's predecessor was nominated for 'Innovative toy of the year' and 'Game of the year', with Activision selling over 30 million Skylanders toys and making close to £350 million. It is unsurprising then that the widely anticipated sequel is expected to be even more successful .

  The Skylanders franchise is unique due to its incorporation of toy figures with the game itself. The buyer is able to purchase a figurine that can be placed on an electronic 'portal' that will then enable that character to be playable with in the game. This is made possible through the inclusion of a microchip in the base of the figures. Some of the new characters in Skylanders: Giants will even feature new light technology that will cause the figure to glow when that character is used, even though the figure does not require any form of power source. The symbiosis between the two platforms is a very successful profit maker as a player is able to use their current 'portal' and characters in the new game, but totally new players and those who wish to play with the new characters have to buy a 'Booster pack' or a 'Starter pack'. The retail prices for the aforementioned packs (for the Xbox 360) are £64.99 for the 'Starter Pack' and £49.99 for a 'Booster pack', with individual figures pricing between £10-15. It is quite clear how profits could be quite easily obtained with the higher than average pricing accompanied by the huge worldwide popularity of the franchise.

The game has been primarily marketed through the use of TV and the Internet, and so 'Viral Marketing'. Skylanders: Giants has several TV advertisements and many videos on youtube, including the franchise's personal youtube channel. The use of viral marketing allows the game to reach a wider audience and build more anticipation as more information is released, right up until the actual release of the game itself. Skylanders: Giants is a game solely targeted at a young audience, which is why TV adverts are particularly effective. It is believed that the single biggest group who purchase virtual good are under the age of 15, it is also a similar age range that spend the most time watching TV. By targeting a younger audience with Skylanders, Activision open up a multitude of possibilities in terms of making the most of a transmedia strategy. Angry birds are estimated to sell over £200 million in plush toys alone in the next year, it is clear how effective expanding a game outside of just the digital software can be. This is why, the right marketing and grasp over the younger audiences will push Skylanders: Giants to worldwide success.

Development

Different Development Models



There are several ways of which a game can be developed.

The 'Tent Pole' business model is the idea that a blockbuster game will be teleased, with a lot of support, marketing and investment. The money made will then be used to fund smaller, more risky games. It is provideing support or 'a tent pole' for these new, more creative games. EA is a prome example, when they spent $372 million on research and development in 2008 alone.

The 'Hollywood' model is another strategy of development that often requires more money, but produces a higher quality product. In this model, a large in-house development team is swapped out for a smaller team that collates the work of specialist external companies/teams.

Independent games, or 'indie' games use a different development method. Their development team is usually very small, and if the game is to be for a console, a license for a Software Development Kit, which costs money. An SDK license for a console curently costs between $2000-$10000, but Sony have recently reduced their fee to $2000. To create an independent game for Apple's iOS a payment of $99 needs to be made, and Apple will take 30% of the profits.

Synergy & Symbiosis

Synergy

Synergy is when multiple things work together to create something that wouldnt have been possible alone. In relation the the vidoegames industry, this is when different parts of the same company work together to create a better final product. An example of this could be when a game is released, but then the soundtrack is also available, such a thing was done with the special edition of Assassin's Creed Revelations.

Symbiosis

Symbiosis is when different companies work together to create a better product/ profit. An example of this is the plush toys of the Angry Birds franchise, that have been created externally from Rovio, but Rovio still take a portion of the profits. If a company wants to make products for an established franchise, a license is required.

The Rockstar Family

Rockstar Japan



Rockstar Japan was set up in 2005. They used to work with Capcom, and used to be known as the Japenese localisation headquarters.

Rockstar Leeds

Rockstar Leeds was became a strand of Rockstar in 2004, and used to be called Mobius Entertainment. They primarily develop games for handheld consoles such as the PSP and Game Boy Colour and Advance. They Developed games such as Midnight Club: DUB Edition. More recently, they worked on the microsoft version of L.A. Noire.

Rockstar North

Rockstar North was formerly DMA Design, and became apart of Rockstar in 2002, but where still owned by their parent company Take-Two Interactive. They are based in Edinburgh, and are best known for the Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings franchises.

Rockstar North are the primary developers for the GTA series, including GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas.

Rockstar San Diego

Rockstar San Diego was formerly Angel Studios but has been apart of Rockstar games since 2002. The most notable thing to come from this studio is the RAGE engine, as it was developed here and is now used in almost every Rockstar game. This studio is also responsible for the acclaimed western games, Red Dad Revolver and Red Dead Redemption. 

Jane McGonigal - 'Reality Is Broken' (facts)

1. In the United States, there are 182 million active gamers.
2. Collectively, there are 4 million gamers in the Middle East, 105 million in India, 100 million in Europe and 200 million in China.
3. There are more than 10 million gamers in the UK, France, and Germany that spend at least twenty hours a week playing.
4. 5 million 'extreme gamers' in the US that play an average of 45 hours a week.
5. Digital games, across most media platforms, is expected to be a $68 billion industry by the end of this year.
6. The planet is spending more than 3 billion hours a week gaming.
7. In America, 69% of all heads of household play computer games, 40% of all gamers are women, 1/4 of gamers are aged 50+, the average age is 35 and have been playing for approximately 12 years. 97% of youth play video games.

Independent Games and The Walking Dead (Telltale)

Independent Games

An independent game is a game that has been developed without any aid from a publisher. These games are commonly referred to as 'indie' games, and predominantly rely on digital distribution. Due to the development of digital distribution, as explained in my essay, 'indie' games have been on the rise, and are becoming very popular. Independent games such as Minecraft have sold millions of multi-platform copies worldwide, whereas some fall at the first hurdle.

In some ways, 'indie' games can be more expensive than AAA games to develop. Due to the exclusion of financial aid from publishers (making the game independent), it means the small development team often have to pay more money to create and advertise the game. However, because there are less people working on the game and those people can often go without a time restraint to develop the game, it means that the game's cost would come down (especially with the developers earning 17% of the game's retail price, but 85% if the game was sold digitally). Also, with physical copies of the game not having to be shipped throughout the globe, it is cheaper to distribute the game digitally, even after paying any loyalties to the platform holder, bringing the cost down.

From a consumer's point of view, Independent games can be, and often are, considerably cheaper than big blockbuster games. I know through personal experience with one of the currently most popular 'indie' games, Minecraft, tat the price is not necessarily a fixed one. Minecraft was first released in the alpha stage of development, which was when i bought it for around £8, but a copy of the full game now would cost you £17. Although the price has more than doubled, it is still less than half of the average price of a AAA game which retail for at least £40. Independent games are not always as 'big' or expensive, but can be just as successful as Minecraft. Rovio Entertainment launched 'Angry Birds' as an iOS App in December 2009, since then the game has sold a combined total of over 1 billion, but is on sale (for digital download) for £0.69, and also has many free, 'spin-offs' such as 'Angry Birds Seasons'. 

The Walking Dead by Telltale Games

The Walking Dead is a role-playing adventure game that is based on The Walking Dead comics. The game was created by the independent developer Telltale Games, and is split up into five episodes. The first episode was released in the week of June 27th 2012, and is available on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, iOS, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. There are currently 3 episodes that have been released, with a further 2 to come, as well as a second series. The game is only available through digital download but a physical copy is planned to be released at the end of the first series.

The story follows a a convicted criminal, Lee Everett on his journey for survival through a zombie apocalypse. As time goes on, and the plot thickens, you meet a range of characters, including a young girl called Clementine who you 'adopt'. In the second episode the group are befriended and fed human flesh by a family of cannibals who live on a 'dairy' farm. The recurring goal in the episodes is to survive, as well as find Clementine's parents, who you fear are dead. The most recent episode ended with you receiving a transmission through Clementine's walkie-talkie (who's parents supposedly have the other) from a man who claims to have her parents, and tells you and Clementine to come and meet them in Savannah. 

The Walking Dead fits a niche market due to its comic-like graphics and player interactivity. Gameplay is split between  cutscenes and 'point and click' style controls. Players are often confronted with choices that will have either long-term, short-term or no effect at all, and can even decide the fate of a character. It is this that has made the game so popular, as a player has the opportunity to have a different ending to their friends who may make different choices.

The first episode received positive reviews. Metacritic states the average review was 82% on the PC, 84% on the PS3 and 79% on the Xbox 360. 'A New Day' topped the sales charts of both PSN and Steam for a week. The First episode sold an impressive one million copies in 20 days, which means it is Telltale's fastest ever selling game.

The Walking Dead also received many awards including, IGN Editor's Award, GameSpy E3 2012 Award, Xbox Editor's choice Award and PC Gamer Editor's Award. With IGN giving the third and most recent episode a 9 out of 10, and saying:

• ''it's a disturbing, depressing and entertaining entry in a journey that's been nothing short of excellent so far''.

GameSpot said gave The Walking Dead an 8.5 and said that:

• ''The Walking Dead has passed the midpoint of it's series... and has every indication that the game will keep on getting better right through to it's inevitably depressing and unsettling conclusion.'' 

You can buy the episodes separately for 400 MS on Xbox Live, £3.99 on Playstation network or buy a season pass on Steam for £20.99, which allows you access to all of the episodes at a discounted total price. As i mentioned earlier the game is currently digital download only, which save Telltale money while they continue to work on the next episodes. These are a few examples of how smaller 'indie' games differ from AAA games in the production and distribution stages. With Blockbuster games, the game and it's DLC are competed and then released, however independent developers such as telltale can use an episodic strategy to build anticipation as well as actively tweak the future episodes from previous feedback. You would never see a large company such as Rockstar release a part of a game to only then go on to the development of the next segment, like Telltale are doing with The Walking Dead.

Modding

Modding

The 'Hot Coffee' mod was a patch released in June 2005, for 2004's Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. The mod allowed access to a mini game that allows the main character 'CJ' to have sexual intercourse with his ingame girlfriend. The mod was created by Patrick Wildenburg, a 38 year old from the Netherlands. The minigame was originally planned to be included in the full version of San Andreas, however at the last minute the game was hidden behind code to keep it from the public. By removing/hacking this code, it was unlocked by Wildenburg. 

In July 2005, ESRB stated that they would change the game's Mature rating (M) to an Adults Only (AO) game rating. This was due to the hidden content being a part of the original game, rather than just an outside source.

Rockstar gave retailers a choice of either returning their copies of the games, or applying the new Adults only rating sticker. Many retailers had their games recalled, as they where not allowed to sell Adult-Only games, this was at huge cost to Rockstar. However, it did grant Rockstar major publicity for the game, and so maintained popularity for when it was re-released without the 'hot coffee' coding. The EU was less effected by the Mod, by the fact that they had already labelled the game an 18+ and had laws to enforce the ratings of video games. America Released how important this was, and so in December 2005, the 'Family Entertainment Protection Act' was passed which gave federal enforcement on ESRB ratings. Along with the government, the owners of Rockstar, Take-Two interactive were extremely annoyed. The 'Hot Coffee' mod had lost them money and damaged their reputation.

Wii-U

The next generation - Wii-U

The Wii-U is the first console to enter the 8th generation of games consoles. The console was first unvelied on the 7th June 2011 at the E3 expo. It is scheduled for release in North America on the 18th November, the 30th November in Europe and Australia, and the 8th December in Japan. Nintendo have said that the Wii-U will support 1080p graphics (with consoles being supplied with HDMI cables) and will have two versions. A white version will offer 8GB of internal storage for approximately £249.99 and a premium black version which includes 32GB of internal storage for approximately £299.

'Nintendo Network' will be supported by the device and will allow people to have a similar experience to Microsoft's Xbox Live and Sony's Playstaton Network. There have been reports that Nintendo is working with Netflix, Hulu Plus and YouTube. This is an example of cross-media convergence and will be a huge step for Nintendo as they have never really been on parr with Microsoft and Sony in regards to online and social services. The Wii-U gamepad can also be used as a universal remote with a built in guide, even when the console is off. Users can also use the Gamepad screen to get information on the show they are watching, this information is received from Wikipedia, IMDb, as well as individual source services. The information provided on the Gamepad for each show can range from reviews, screenshots, player positions updated in realtime (in sports broadcasts), cast lists, trailers, and general information about the show. Users can then interact with the information as well as share and comment on the information on social networks such as Miiverse, Facebook, and Twitter through the Gamepad while they watch their show on the TV screen. Nintendo are also making a move towards attracting 'core gamers' with release titles such as Assassin's Creed 3, CoD Black Ops II and Darksiders II, to name a few. Titles such as these are a bid from Nintendo to move further away from their usual 'family friendly' status. By doing this, Nintendo would be able to attract some of the 'core gamers' that are used to playing similar titles/genres on other consoles, while at the same time building a reputation in gaming away from the usual family entertainment.

Digital Distribution

Will everything become digital in the future, and 

who would want this?

Throughout the past decade there have been many technological advances and developments, and the gaming industry was no exception. Along with new consoles, game engines, coding and graphics, to name only a few, major developments have been made through the digital distribution of games. Digital distribution is when the game is either fully or ‘partially’ distributed/downloaded through the internet. An example of this could be Minecraft, which has no physical copy of the game available for purchase. I mentioned ‘partial digital distribution’ due to sites such as Amazon, which distribute the game through an online service, but the consumer still receives a physical copy of the game. Digital distribution does not stop at full games either, with a majority of game developers being bringing out expansion packs; it is almost one hundred percent DLC (downloadable content). That is the current situation, and whether games distribution turns totally digital is another thing. There are many people who would encourage this and just as many who discourage this, and for a whole plethora of reasons.

There are a number of advantages to a fully digital games distribution system and along with it, a lot of people who would prefer this to the combined physical and digital distribution system currently in place. I believe that the people who would benefit the most, in regards to money, would be the platform holders, developers and publishers who are all involved in the release of a game and any add-on content that is released at a later date. This is because , not only would the companies still be making money from the game sales, add-on content and other micro transactions, but also saving money from using less packaging, having to produce less physical game copies, and not shipping as many games around the world. However, it is not just the companies that would like digital distribution to expand. More and more consumers prefer to buy their games digitally, this could be due to some people preferring; especially as they get older, not to have a collection of game cases due to possible ‘childish’ associations; or it could be due to convenience, some people may find it easier to buy directly from the consoles online services and then store everything on a hard-drive, rather than buying a physical copy from a shop or even an online retailer such as Game or Amazon. These are only a couple a multitude of reasons, but whatever the reason, the figures tell us that there are ever more of these people utilizing digital distribution. As between April-June of this year in North America, out of the total $2.88 billion spent on gaming, $1.47 billion of this revenue was sourced from gaming content in digital form (full games, add-on content, subscriptions and mobile games). This is opposed $1 billion made from physical gaming software. This is a 17% increase in sales of gaming in a digital format. This clearly shows that, digital distribution, in whatever form, is becoming more and more popular. This is not just America either, it is worldwide, with the UK, France and Germany generating more than 3 times as much revenue in digital content than physical content, with a total of $983 million, in the space of only a few months.

 Even though there is a lot of support towards a fully digital distribution system, there is still strong opposition, with valid reasons for concern. A main argument being that the internet both in the UK and US, as well as in most other countries, the internet just isn’t strong enough to support a total switch to digital distribution. OFCOM has stated that the average internet speed for the UK is 6.2 Mb/s and in the US 5.8 Mb/s. This is nowhere near good enough to support the millions of gamers that will be suddenly directed into using digital downloads. The sudden reliance on the internet for downloading games would almost certainly be a major problem for internet providers. The numbers increase would also be a problem for security. To download a game through the games console digitally, credit card details would be required. And with millions more doing so, it could be an even larger catastrophe if a network was be become under attack, and details leaked. Sony alone has over 70 million online accounts registered, which would massively increase with more digital distribution, and so hacks would do more damage than ever before. Less serious problems considered for a total turn to digital distribution are the lack of both hard drive space and hype involved when downloading games digitally. Storage space would vanish instantly if all of the games we owned where put onto one hard drive, which would be the case with digital distribution. To solve this, more hard drives would have to be bought, or larger capacities included with the games console or pc. Both of which would cost the consumer money. Finally, it is the lack of anticipation that is produced when downloading a game rather than receiving a physical copy of a game that I think will stop many people from supporting more digital distribution. It is a common opinion that downloading a game just isn’t as exciting as pre-ordering, buying and then placing the game you have waited months or even years for, in the disk tray and watch it all begin.

I personally believe that, even though the producers of the consoles and games will make more money, ‘everything becoming digital’ seems extremely unlikely, at least in the near future. I don’t think the platform holders or other companies would want to take the chance of losing some of their very loyal audiences, and would definitely not want to make too much of a move into mass digital distribution until the internet is strong enough to support the gaming community’s downloads and ensure that they receive a better experience then they are already getting with the current distribution system.

By Jonathan Harvey 

GTA IV & Mafia II

GTA IV

Developers: Rockstar North
Publishers: Rockstar Games
Price: (Originally £40), £15
Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360
 Release Date: 29th April 2008
Genre: Action Adventure, Open World
Rating: Pegi 18
How is it Distributed?: Physical and Digital distribution (inc DLC through Digital distribution)

Where Can You Get It?: Game, Gamestation, Amazon, Play.com, Steam

 

Mafia II

Developers: 2K Czech
Publishers: 2k Games (& 1C Company)
Price: (Originally £40+) , £15
Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
 Release Date: 27th August 2010
Genre: Third-person Shooter , Action-adventure
Rating: Pegi 18
How is it Distributed?: Physical and Digital Distribution (inc.DLC through Digital distribution)
Where Can You Get It?: Game, Gamestation, Amazon, Play.com, Steam

 

My Gaming Experience

My Gaming Experience

My name is Jonathan Harvey, my first gaming experience was with a PS1 around 12 years ago , i then moved onto a PS2 around 2004. At the time i spent many hours playing Starwars Battlefront I & II, along with the earlier releases of the Call of Duty and GTA series. I then got an Xbox 360 in 2009, which has produced some of my favourite games, which tend to be open world games such as Red Dead Redemption and the Assassin's Creed series. I also enjoy playing Minecraft which i bought in the alpha stage for PC and now own the Xbox 360 version too. I have recently been replaying games which i may have owned on older consoles or that i thoroughly enjoyed at the time, such as Hitman:Blood Money and Mafia II.