"The issues raised in the targeting of national and local audience, specifically British, by international or global institutions".

As the game industry has moved through generations with breakthrough consoles and highly demanded innovation, primarily targeting a national audience, it is becoming increasingly important for developers to focus on localising their games to cater for the widest audience range possible, increasing profits. This can be done in many ways from translation into different languages to altercations to suit cultural differences. However many developers disagree that localisation of games isn't important and so opt to target national audiences. This means that games can be much more easily altered and cater for a specific larger group of people rather then spending huge amounts of time and money focusing on alterations for a much smaller local group. This allows people to play games without concern as offensive content would be removed to deal with this limitation.

In order to sell games to the widest audience range possible, in many cases, gaming products (eg. consoles) have to be changed due to issues and legal requirements in some countries. China is one of the most well known examples of gaming product adaptations from the ban that was set in place in 2000, as the Chinese government deemed games consoles to "corrupt the mind of the teenage generation". This seems quite hypocritical and ironic when you consider that the Wii, the PS3 and the Xbox 360, the three major leading gaming consoles out there now, are Chinese made and there is a flourishing PC gaming culture. However, in recent years Plug'n'play consoles became a legal alternative to the banned home consoles. The Chinese government approved games that didn't exactly look like a console but could hold multiple games, characters and products, thus the the iQue Player released by Nintendo was available for sale at $60 (US). The iQue Player holds specifically ported games such as Nintendo 64 and any new games have to be downloaded on to a memory card at a local game retailer that slot into the controller which encases the console. Also alternative models of the PS3 have been approved by the 'China Quality Certification Centre'. This shows that the console itself had to be modified in production to enable it to be available to the consumers of China, which is one example of a localisation technique.

Alterations to the console isn't always the case or main concern and doesn't have to take place. The games themselves are more likely to be "localised" to fit certain cultural niches. To maximise sales as much as possible worldwide localisation takes place through different areas such as; graphic capabilities, local differences, language, cultures, software/hardware and music within the games. A strong example of how localisation can be an issue is that it takes a lot of time, which can prevent publishers from announcing one worldwide release date and then in turn impact on profits. A thing to consider would be the huge array of voice actors that make an appearance in GTA V and finding for example Japanese alternative voice actors that would be required to translate the vocabulary efficiently for local appeal and the length of time it would take to do this. Also in 1997, after it's Japanese release, Final Fantasy VII only reached the US 7 months after this and a further 2 months until it was on sale in the UK and Europe. Full translation and adaptations to the game expanded the time and prevented a worldwide release date due to localisation issues.

Cultural laws play a huge role in game sales internationally as a lot of countries have obvious restrictions on what is appropriate and acceptable for the people of their national audience. Due to WW2, any reference to the swastika is against the law, and that goes for game content aswell. On the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops in 2010 which contained zombies displaying swastika symbols, it immediately became highly offensive and caused an uproar with parents and so were removed from the German localised version of the game, showing that not only language is a barrier to cross when publishing a game. Also an example of a cultural change in a game stemmed from Chinese culture where bones are inappropriate to use and for this reason, the skeletons in the "Wizard 101" Chinese version were removed.

In conclusion, although I believe it is a necessity for games to be localised as national audiences still need to understand the game to play it from a linguistic point of view, some issues such as offensive content may not be able to be controlled easily. In other words, if games focused all their attention on localising every aspect of every game, how long would it take to cater nationally for all audiences individually without any offensive references whatsoever. The release times would be a huge problem and can we really eradicate all components of a game just in case they may be offensive?? what would be left?? However it is still a very important issue that needs to seriously be considered as one small factor could result in a whole audience being offended and not buying the game or any of the sequels in the future, reducing sales and profits.      

Uk Distributors

Advantage Distribution became an established distributor chain in February of 2003. Their role is delivering/distributing games to both publishers and retailers involved in the interactive entertainment industry, from huge platform holders such as Bethesda and Nintendo etc. Their supplies contain many various hardware and software (3000 titles), which within include a subsequent amount of interactive games. Advantage have created partnerships with well known retail distributors such as; Argos, Littlewoods, Express Gifts and Very, through delivering the stocks of units (games) in bulk to be sold individually by the retailer. This creates a highly reliable and popular system.

Distributors of Games (case study)

The distributors for our two main Case studies are; Take Two Interactive for the distribution of the GTA games and XPEC Entertainment for the long awaited Skylanders:Giants. The distributor of the original Angry Birds app released on the IPhone was Chillingo. Chillingo was an outside distributor that had to be found due to a loss of money so, they had to source out other link companies for this part of the business whereas because Take Two interactive is the distributor for the GTA franchise, being a successful franchise at the least, vertical integration is able to take place in order to sell the game. This is because Take Two Interactive and Rockstar own the distributors for the GTA games so they can control and afford to sell the games through their own company.

UGC - User Generated Content

User Generated Content (UGC) is exactly what it sounds like. It is the term associated with components that are created, in video game terms, by the consumers of the games, to allow a higher level of personalisation and creativity in many various forms. UGC can range from creating items that assist you within the game to whole new levels themselves to enhance the gaming experience.
A prime example of a game that highly utilises the use of user generated content is Little Big Planet. Little Big Planet is all about the creativity of the player as throughout the game they will collect a wide range of stickers, additional props/clothing and objects that can be used to build and share their own levels.

One clear advantage of user generated content is that it prolongs the life span of games as new content is always being shared and updated/upgraded, meaning people will always be creating new experiences due to the new features. Also UGC creates a sense of involvement with the consumers as they get to create and essentially be part of the game rather than just play a standard RPG and complete a mission.
However, developers have  raised the concern that the use of user generated content within games will reduce DLC sales as if consumers could create and get free levels and items in a game, then why spend money on DLC that is not required??
Also if user generated content was to become the future, it would see the end to huge franchises such as GTA etc as it is very unlikely that role playing games with characters that have background history and a set storyline will become open to be changed from content created by the consumers. These huge franchises are not popular for nothing, and so makes the future in UGC very unlikely.

Runescape- MMORPG

Runescape was released in January 2001 and since, to date, now has over 200 million accounts created and is recognised by the Guinness World Records as the world's largest free MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). It was developed and published by Jagex Games Studio after being designed by Paul and Andrew Gower as a fantasy based medieval realm.
The game is free to play, however you can become a member for as little as £3 ($5) a month, which enables  access to more gameplay and content that is not offered to non-members.

Runescape does not have a set storyline with one final goal/mission but encapsulates many! Players set their own goals and objectives as they play the game and can easily interact and communicate with players located around the world with a click of a button through trading, chatting or by participating in mini-games. Quests  have requirements including minimum levels in certain skills, combat levels, quest points and/or the completion of other quests. To gain these levels in the various different areas, players involve in PvP combat to gain experience for more advanced gear and weapons etc!

Video Game Regulation and Rating Systems

European consumers of video games are encouraged to make informed decisions on buying computer games with logos on games' boxes, through a company that was established and came into use in April 2003 known as PEGI (Pan Europian Game Information). However, the rating system only became legally enforcable in the UK in 2009 after the government decided to drop the parallel ratings system run by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) to help parents/families make the right decision in choosing games which are age appropriate for their child. In other words it's self-regulation is composed by five age categories and eight content descriptors that advise the suitability and content of a game for a certain age range based on the games content. These descriptors include bad language, drugs, discrimination, fear, gambling, sex, violence and online gameplay with other people.

There were many various rating systems that were in place before PEGI was introduced, which replaced all of these with a single system for the whole of Europe. The main reason for the change over was for the importance of child safety and "having a dual classification system and two sets of symbols often made things confusing for the consumer", stated by Profesor Tanya Byron from the Byron Review in which the newly in place system was formed through suggestions from this.

After the legalisaton of the system in July of this year, it meant that retailers could be prosecuted through fining for example of up to £5,000 for selling games to people that were clearly not aproppriate for the content that would be available to them in that particular game (under the ages of 12, 16 or 18). Although it was formerly illegal to sell games to children under the classified age ratin and game content beforehand, the new PEGI rating system law could mean not only prosectution but endangerment to their profit and sales as they now have to monitor who they sell their games to, which could reduce sales massively.

Huge alterations in the development of games may also take place as violence, explicit language, drug use and gambling whithin games may have to be severely reduced to enable the sales of games and profits in general. This however, could mean the end to huge Blockbuster/AAA games such as the Grand Theft Auto franchise which rely on such content to excite consumers, push game boundaries and overall make it appealing for young adults to buy the games for it's capabilities. Without these types of games being available for sale, may result in a loss of interest in a huge portion of the gaming community who generate masses amount of money by buying these types of games for entertainment and allowance to violent actions within the games. Also the rating system only makes it illegal for sales to children under the age rating classification and does not restrict their parents buying it for them, so it only provides a choice for parents and doesnt actually fully stop underaged children from playing such games with excessive violent content, so is it really effective to achieve it's aim?? 

GTA V - trailer analysis

Grand Theft Auto V's second trailer is finally here, but what does it tell us about Rockstar's hugely anticipated open worlder? After an almost 2 week delay (due to hurricane Sandy), the second trailer has teased us with cinematic graphics, filming and editing to get us excited for the newly announced Spring 2013 release. The screenshots shown on the left are what have caught most people's attention and you can probably guess why... the graphics. It was definitely Rockstar's intentions to show off their new engine and processor capabilities in this new trailer, which they have so obviously pulled off as you can see from the amazing draw distance and sweeping establishing shots of the games' setting; Los Santos where no distance fog (usual in most games with extreme long shots of a setting), is apparent, showing the superior graphics and capabilities.

Before the trailer even starts, we are immediately hit with the "mature" age rating warning, confirming that we are to expect the typical fast paced, action packed, highly violent content that Rockstar don't intend to shy away from, and also that only over 18's are required to play the game, further supporting this showing of the age restriction.


A component that brings the whole trailer together for me and what we are first exposed to is the song "Skeletons" by  Stevie Wonder, which instantly adds relevance and reinforces the song choice from the connotations of the title name. This is because skeletons are a symbol of death which will be (guaranteed a lot), throughout the game and so the song was effective having been played throughout the duration of the trailer. After the initial establishing shot showing the skyline of  Los Santos,  the first few  jump cut edits are  noticeable in time to the music combined with the emergence of the credits and the introduction of the game with the "Grand Theft Auto V" text containing dollar prints within the title, connoting/suggesting that money will be a major theme of gameplay. After these first cuts we are introduced, through non-diagetic narrative from the character himself, to the first of three of GTA V's protagonists. We are shown through cinematic low angle and high angle shots of an Audi R8 spider and Hollywood style mansion, ex bank robber Michaels luxurious lifestyle. Complete with a Tennis Court, relaxing drinks beside his pool, he seems well off, however with the addition of obvious family difficulties. In this scene there is diagetic dialogue from the argueing mother/wife and daughter with an as mentioned non-diagetic narration voice-over  from Michael himself as the frame switches. Dialogue in the trailer really enables it to flow like a film trailer would, which is Rockstars aim, and provides an explanation alongside a visual on screen so the
audience can understand and denote a lot of various details.


Next a few panning shots of Los Santos reveal new areas of the city and its surrounding highways, showing off the 18-wheelers, buses and freight trains you'll (presumably) get to hijack. Heading out to the sticks, we're introduced to Trevor Phillips, GTA's psychopathic second playable character, through presentation of the binary opposite to the first. Trevor lives in a rough part of town. We know this because there's fighting in the streets, beat up old bangers, men in dungarees, bar brawls and gun showdowns outside mobile homes. The editing to portray this is shown in faced paced jump cuts showing him slamming a man's head into a metal post and setting a house alight with a cocktail. This action edited scene is what is expected from a GTA game and is Rockstar's way of telling us that GTA V will be no different.

After more cuts showing off the incomprehensible detailed long shots of Los Santos, the third and final protagonist is introduced after a dialogue switch and a series of faced paced jump cuts of high speed car chases, with diagetic sounds of police sirens, a bank robbery, again supporting the role/theory of money being a recurring theme in the game and even the unexpected scene with the addition of a dog, a breakthrough in GTA games as animals have never been prominent. He is introduced as Franklin after Michael, the first protagonist is questioned (the first sign of the links between the characters), and after an argument with a woman we presume to be his partner. He also seems to have issues with his close ones in life but also is shown to be quite well off, money wise, suggesting that his and Michaels paths may intertwine.


Nearing the end of the trailer, the cuts become a lot more frequent as the music gets louder and faster. In the final scenes we are exposed to a range of activities and missions that gamers will  become part of, such as high speed motorbike chases, escaping a freight train collision and skydiving from a falling Jeep out of a plane. This gets the audience excited on what the game consists of as the pace picks up. Following more jump cuts of action from a nightime helicopter/jet chase, all 3 protagonists are introduced to eachother after crossing paths and portray the pose of the three wise monkeys; see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil, which could become a very symbolic representation of the highly awaited game that pushes boundaries and the start of a new era for Rockstar come Spring 2013.