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