"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.

A prime example of Symbiosis: Halo and Mountain Dew

Promotion through Symbiosis can be seen in many different forms, but in this case, the photograph above shows how video game publishers, use other products in relation to the gaming experience to promote the game and help sell the off-product. As you can see here to encourage sales and profits in Mountain Dew and promote Halo 4, they have teamed up as a form of marketing through symbiosis. The partnership is relative as many hardcore gamers will spend hours upon hours gaming and so the addition of an energy drink will help keep them awake and hydrated while they play. This is why the partnership is very strong and will hopefully massively increase profits for both companies/platform holder.

Top 20 Game chart 2012: MVC

From the table above we can see that from the Top 10, 3 of the top 6 of the major games were published by EA games (Fifa 13, Need for Speed and Medal of Honor), one of which, as just mentioned, is their multinational Fifa franchise which makes a remarkable return every year, making the game chart in the top 10 every year. This is no surprise as they go overboard on marketing and as is visible in the table, it is the game that is available across the widest range of platforms at hand, allowing the largest range of convergence/symbiosis to market and increase profits of the game. Also it is the only game to still be sold to the PS2, which is unlikely for new blockbuster games these days, maximising profits and sales further,which may be a contributing factor in the rank of 2nd in these game charts. The reasoning behind this is that EA are branching out to countries such as India and Brazil where the PS2 is still a very popular, leading console, making Fifa a top rated game in these countries. You can also see that there is only one game that is only available for purchase for the Xbox 360. This shows that through the market, established IP's have the most success compared to new IP's from: Forza  Horizon,- only available on one established platform out ranking games such as Dishonored (published by Bethesda Softworks), the only new IP in the chart for this year, that ranked 10 and available to 3 different platforms. An example of this would be Assassins Creed, ranked first being a highly successful, well known franchise. This shows that most publishers are more confident and comfortable creating/re-releasing an established franchise to ensure success than spending profits producing a new IP on the risk that it won't sell. However, it is still apparent that new IP's are well sought after and still very popular as Dishonoured still topped games such as Resident Evil 6 which is a well established franchise and available on all 3 major selling platforms; Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. One thing I particularly noticed was that a good selection of the top 20 games are targeted at a more mature audience through the violence and tasks/aims throughout the games such as Assassins creed, Resident Evil and Medal of Honour. Most of the new big releases these days are targeted at this age generation of around 18+ however there are still major blockbuster games that are aimed at a younger demographic that are amongst the best selling new games that are set to be Christmas hits this year such as the renowned Skylanders: Giants and a lesser known but still successful Moshi Monsters: Moshlings Theme Park.

Conglomerate Map for Grand Theft Auto IV

Conglomerate Map for Skylanders

Farmville 2

After it's release date on the 5th of September of this year, Farmville 2 has hugely taken storm on Facebook, who sponsor "The Ville" franchise, with over 60 million monthly users which I believe is down to Zynga's use of strategic viral marketing. It is clear just how effective this is, just by logging into Facebook you are thrown advertisements left right and centre promoting the new sequel to the huge successor Farmville, which has managed to keep casual gamers returning for more, with 64,700,000 people playing it every month! The main and obvious most effective technique that Zynga used to market Farmville 2, was that they aimed the release and game-play  to their existing users which was a very smart move considering the figures mentioned above. This is clearly seen even by them naming the new 3D social game "Farmville 2" that is very familiar to every current active user under the Zynga name as it something that they are comfortable with and that they know what the franchise's capability to make a good game is. This is what set off Rockstar's call of duty sensation, however, that was on a much larger scale. Furthering this by using viral marketing techniques to advertise the new release on the likes of Facebook (sponsors), where typical Farmville players will notice the title, attracts a lot more users as they will recognise the franchise. From having a little play on Farmville 2, it was very obvious that the game is a social interaction driven game and they don't let you forget it. Throughout the time I played there was so many screen pop ups encouraging me to add my Facebook contacts as neighbours to allow for extra farm points/cash that you needed to buy specific features in the game. Doing this is a very smart technique, although irritating, to not just get your friends involved and current users, but to promote and expand the recognition of the game by adding and getting contacts involved that have never heard of or played Farmville before, expanding the audience and increasing users in the game and profit for their franchise.

Zynga: How do they make their money?

Zynga games are supported by direct credit card payments and  business partnerships. The company develops games for social networking sites such as Facebook which are free to play, Android and also mobile platforms such as Apple IOS. A core feature to many of their games involve the gamer to resolve/become immersed in gaining "energy" to allow them to reach a final mission/goal, maybe by the help of other players' interaction can only then, they continue, or through purchasing ad-on features/extra components to aid them to carry on, through micro-transactions that Zynga generate the majority of their money from. Running out of "energy" in the games is a limiting factor for the players and this is were Zynga's business support mechanisms take advantage.  Players can accept credit card offers, take surveys or buy services from Zynga's partners in order to obtain game credits. This in turn allows the player to become a holder of premium funds that can either directly helpful or be exchanged for the vital aid/ components to complete the "mission" of the game. However these game credits can also be purchased through direct cedit card payments or microtransactions through Paypal. The fee for game credits that can be bought in the game are $5.00 in exchange for 21 game credits.

Also advertising sponsorships are sold by Zynga and in February of this year teamed up with Hasbro to create products based on Zynga brands which we be available to purchase in the upcoming months to winter. Zynga also started running sponsored stories and Facebook adverts on their website. This revenue will be split between Facebook and Zynga themselves. 

The release of Skylanders: Giants!

Being a huge a Spyro nerd when I was younger, owning a Spyro game on nearly every console I owned, the new release of Skylanders: Giants looked really interesting to me even though I didn't buy or play on it's worldwide success predecessor Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, which was renowned as the No.1 kids toy of 2011. The new set to be pre-teen game success was released just a few days ago on the 19th October in Europe and October 21st in North America. The developers - Toys for Bob and n-space (Nintendo 3DS), and publisher- Activision, massively allowed the expansion of popularity of the game by releasing it on various different platforms that were clearly target audience driven (aimed at pre-teens) with the console choices being; Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Nintendo 3DS, Wii and the soon to be released Christmas hit; The Wii U (as mentioned in a previous blog post). It is no surprise that this anticipated sequel is said to be even more successful which is hard to outdo from Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure generating nearly £350 million and the sales of close to 30 million Skylanders toys in 2011.

The Skylanders franchise pushes the boat on new thought out technology that works so cleverly to sell the game using symbiosis by merging a line of cross-platform toy figures with a video game world. This is done through the consumer/player being able to purchase over 40 new collectible figures as well as importing characters and their progress from the first game, as they are compatible with the same IP . However, it will also include a set of interactive characters that feature new light technology integrated into the toys. These are known as Lightcore characters that when placed on an electronic "portal", called the "Portal of Power", will cause the base to light up on contact with objects etc within the game. This is possible through the integration of a microchip in the base of the figures, no batteries or power source required. This makes the game very unique and up standard as we move into the 8th generation of gaming. The symbiosis between the two platforms are a perfect profit generator as the player, as just mentioned, can still use their current "portal" and characters from Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, but new consumers/players or those wishing to use the new characters must purchase a "Starter pack" or a "Booster pack". For these packs on the Nintendo Wii would cost you £49.99 for a "Booster pack" and £64.99 for a "Starter pack", and the individual characters being priced between £10-15. These figures alone just for the Wii show just how much profit can be attained easily from the combined popularity of the franchise and heavy pricing. Another unique factor of the game which I believe will mostly be apparent for the Wii, is the newly addition of difficulty modes. With the Wii reaching out to younger/family audiences with most of the games being around 3/6+ age ratings, Skylanders: Giants has opened new doors and audiences by having not only easy difficulty modes for casual gamers, but adding medium, hard and even a stage called Nightmare Mode that would appeal and be more relative to more hardcore gamers, expanding the audience further.
This also lead to the addition of game modes that can be played. Skylanders: Giants has definitely increased the sense of player individual achievement which all gamers strive for when trying to complete an RPG by adding individual toy quests to strengthen their own power. Not only single player mode is available either. Co-op, battle-mode (competitive PvP) and online multiplayer with drop out- drop in mode. This encourages social interaction and an online community for communication.

Skylanders: Giants has primarily been marketed through viral marketing with the creation of their own YouTube channel promoting different aspects of the game and their many TV advertisements. This use of viral marketing allows Activision and Toys For Bob to reach out to a much wider audience by getting them captivated in the small snippets of new exciting footage and game-play up until the day of release. Also this way of marketing is a prime technique in capturing the attention of their young target audience of 7+. This is because the largest percentage of the population who spend the most time watching television is between 7-15 years meaning they are more likely to consume the adverts, successfully attracting their target audience who will want to buy the game. Having a young target audience will allow Activision to grasp and expand their audience and popularity through may different forms of cross media convergence as an attraction.
Compared to Rockstar marketing their GTA franchise through Guerilla and viral methods, the two are carried out very differently. Rockstar spend most of their money drip feeding information to the specialist and mainstream press, co-operative marketing with Microsoft and retail, TV press and billboard advertising, whereas Activision throw a lot of their money into the productivity side of the franchise such as the production of the figurines, the add on packs (starter and booster) and making captivating advertisements boasting all of the amazing components to expect with the game. With Rockstar this is all kept very secretive and undisclosed to get their audience talking about the game before it is released. Both are very effective ways of marketing on different platforms and with the obvious triumph of the GTA franchise we can only wait and watch Skylanders: Giants gain worldwide success!

The Rockstar Family

The two first Rockstar owned companies were formed in 1999 known as;

      Rockstar Toronto -   This company was originally known as Rockstar Canada, with their most well- known work being The Warriors, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City and an adaptation of the  cult classic film and the Pc version of Grand Theft Auto IV. Rockstar Toronto has gained the most media coverage for the development of The Warriors game which gained overall $37 million world

    Rockstar Lincoln -  Formerly known as Tarantula Studios, Rockstar Lincoln are responsible for game testing and translating games developed by Rockstar Games who believe that Rockstar Lincoln are their dedicated quality assurance and software localistaion studio.Before becoming solely a quality assurance facility, Rockstar Lincoln developed video games, including the Game Boy Color version of Grand Theft Auto.

Rockstar then in 2002 formed two more companies to further expand their image known as;

       

   Rockstar Vancouver -  This company was originally known as Barking Dog Studios. They created the PlayStation 2 title Bully and the third game in the Max Payne series, Max Payne 3. Vancouver will be merging with Rockstar Toronto over the next six months.

       Rockstar North -  Previously known as DMA design, Rockstar North are probably one of /if not the most successful company owned by Rockstar Games with them being the creators of Manhunt franchises, as well as the original Lemmings games.  However, Rockstar North are most famously known for being the primary developer of the Grand Theft Auto series, including Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which are three of the best-selling games on sixth-generation consoles, in addition to the best-selling Grand Theft Auto IV in the current generation of consoles.

Over the years Rockstar Games have had many successful companies, some listed above, and their most recent additions to expanding and creating convergence with these companies where in 2004 and 2005 known as;

          Rockstar Leeds - Rockstar Leeds was formly known as Mobius Entertainment when it was founded  in 1997. It has gone on to become a top runner in the convergence of companies ran by Rockstar Games along with Rockstar North. They created Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories for the PlayStation Portable, Max Payne for the Game Boy Advance, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, and the music game Beaterator. The studio's most recent work is the Microsoft Windows version of L.A. Noire.

          Rockstar Japan -  Set up in 2005, Rockstar Japan is the Japanese version of Rockstar. They work in conjunction with 'Capcom' to produce versions of the original games for the Asian market.  



Synergy and Symbiosis

Synergy - Synergy is when two or more parts of the same company/organisation work together to produce advantageous outcomes by creating connections between directly related areas of entertainment. For instance media institutions exploit various platforms to sell various products relating to one product such as a video game or film etc. In marketing, an example of this could be when Disney released High School Musical but went on to release a film soundtrack on CD, DVD physical copy of the film and a game was also released based on the film (all promoted by Disney). Another example of this in the game industry is the release of Skyrim which was followed by a collectors edition CD named: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Original Soundtrack

Symbiosis - Symbiosis is when various different companies work together to promote a range of related products. This process happens to gain many profits through different strategies from one product. Again another example in the film industry would be that the release of High School Musical would enable a lot spin offs that other companies could get involved with, such as McDonalds using their Happy Meals to promote the film with small characters/cheap merchendise. Also products such as small toys/models, easter eggs and bed cover can also be sold to further promote the film. The distributor will agree to licensing deals for these companies to make and sell this merchendise with a percentage of the profits going back to the distributor. An example of this in the game industry 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, however a license is required for this to happen. 

Independent Games: Case Study: Fez

Independent Games 

An independent game is a game that has been developed by a individual or small team without any financial support being generated by a publisher. Mostly referred to as "indie games", they predominately rely on the use of digital distribution to be sold (as mentioned in my essay on many different platforms) and focus on innovation. These combined have lead to a sharp increase in indie games' popularity over the last few years with the most successful and obvious game choice being Minecraft, which generated over 100,000 registered users and 1000 sales in the first 24 hours of the Alpha stage released game. However, all independent games aren't always as successful and can fall flat on their face instantly.

Although in most cases "indie" games can be, and often are, considerably cheaper to create and buy than big blockbuster or AAA games, one of the main really attractive things about that games are that they are highly known for innovation, creativity, and artistic experimentation, making them a lot more visually interesting to play and in most cases this is a massive attraction to casual gamers or gamers like me that are more drawn to  arty and musically appealing, classic games (such as fez). However, because there is only a small team working on the development of the games without a certain time restraint or not have controlling interests or creative limitations and do not require publisher approval as mainstream game developers usually do, it means that the game's cost would come down. This was especially apparent when in 2008 a developer could earn around 17% of game's retail price and around 85% if sold digitally. Also, with physical copies of the game not having to be shipped throughout the world, it is cheaper to distribute the game digitally, even after paying any loyalties to the platform holder, bringing the cost down.
In opposition to this however, with the elimination of financial support from publishers, it can sometimes be the case that the team may have to pay more to advertise and create the game. They rely hugely on advertising by the majority of them having a trial run where the user downloads a trial of the game to see if they like it, rather than buying it straight away without knowing what it is like, something that huge blockbuster companies such as Rockstar would never dream of doing.

Fez by Polytron

The Guardian Tuesday 17 April 2012: Simon Parkin 

" Fez is at once a tribute to the joy of childhood exploration, the wonder of adolescent Nintendo video games and the adult realisation of life's unending mysteries.

Metascore scored Fez a 89/100 based on the reviews of 66 critics (May 13, 2012) saying;

" A masterpiece of a game that draws inspiration from many classic franchises in order to deliver a unique experience."

" thanks to rewards after successfully solved puzzles, thanks to detailed graphics with well-made mechanics of the game world rotating - you will gladly and constantly return to this title."

For my case study of an "indie" game I struggled to decide as I have many favourites and was debating between Limbo, the walking dead, fez or Minecraft, those being my top favourite "indie" games but finally decided with fez as I thought that not many people will have played it and it would be interesting to do something different.

Fez is a puzzle/platform game developed by independent software developers Polytron.  The game was initially announced by its creator, Phil Fish, on July 17, 2007 and was released on April 13, 2012 for Xbox Live Arcade, although further release on more platforms are being considered. Its protracted development was featured in the documentary film Indie Game: The Movie and A demo of Fez was shown on 31 January 2012 at the International Game Developers Association Montreal DemoNight.

In Fez, you play as Gomez, a 2D creature who lives in a 2D world. That is until one day when Gomez encounters a strange and mysterious artifact; a Hexahedron. The Hexahedron gives Gomez a magical fez hat that allows him to perceive a third dimension. Gomez must use his new ability to save the Hexahedron before his world is torn apart. Fez features 2D/3D perspective shifts in a manner similar to Super Paper Mario and uses Echer-like optical illusions to dominate the gameplay. Fez’s 2D gameplay consists of mechanics typical to platform games, such as jumping and climbing. Fez’s unique 3D trait is the ability to rotate the world 90° around and this rotation allows the player to change the perspective, realigning platforms. Since depth is not a factor in the 2D gameplay, certain actions that would be impossible in a 3D world are still possible in 2D, from the right perspective. This feature is definitely what attracted me to Fez along with the graphics and music (sounds) as I found it really interesting and unbelievable when i played it for the first time, as I had never played or really heard of another game that held this ability which I found amazing and really enjoyable to play. The goal of the game is to collect 64 cubes and anti-cubes. Cubes are visible and placed around the world for the player to collect. The player must figure out how to navigate their way through the environment to each cube, rotating the world to enable the access to certain platforms from the different perspectives. Anti-cubes are invisible and revealed only after the player has solved a puzzle and many of the puzzles require some form of cryptanalysis.

Fez won the "Excellence in Visual Art" award at the Independent Games Festival in 2008, where it was also nominated for the "Design Innovation" award. It appeared at PAX Prime 2011 as one of the PAX 10, and won "Best In Show" at IndieCade in 2011. It also won the "Seumas McNally Grand Prize" at the Independent Games Festival in 2012.

Modes of Game Development

There are a few different ways to make video games rather than the Rockstar way. The first is;
The "Tent Pole" Business model-  This has the concept that the publisher releases one "Blockbuster" game accompanied with heavy marketing and investment. Then the money made from this game supports the development of other "riskier", potentially more creative games. For example Grand Theft Auto brings in a lot of money for Rockstar which allows them to invest smaller hits. Also EA rely on their "blockbuster" hits, Fifa and Madden to create cash for the research and development of other games. ($372 million was spent on research and development).
However there are some problems involved with this mode of development. For example the companies are gambling on that one game being a huge hit/success and sometimes even big games don't return- the money. A prime situation was Spore, created by EA, sold 1 million copies in it's first 17 days, but the development costs were so big that EA only expect to make their money back with 5 years of updates and sequels.
The Hollywood Model- This idea is to contract out parts of the games design (art, car physics, assurance etc.) to other companies in order to lower development costs. So, instead of having a permanent 'in-house' team of 50+ people, the developer can have a team of just 10-20 piecing the work together undertaken by specialist external teams.
Independent Game Development- Until recently, creating games was a very expensive business, usually requiring a publishing contract in order to pay for development and a license fee required to develop the game for a particular console. However, more recently, the 'Indie Game' market have grown. Open source software's such as Apple's App store and Xbox Live Marketplace have allowed small teams and even individuals to create games and get them distributed to make money. New technology, convergence and new ways of distribution means that more abstract games are now being developed.

Jane McGonigal - 'Reality Is Broken' (facts)

1.  Digital games, across most media platforms, is expected to be a $68 billion industry by the end of this year.
2. The planet is spending more than 3 billion hours a week gaming.
3. In the United States, there are 183 million active gamers.
4. Collectively, there are 4 million gamers in the Middle East, 105 million in India, 100 million in Europe and 200 million in China.
5. There are more than 10 million gamers in the UK, France, and Germany that spend at least twenty hours a week playing.
6. 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.
7. 5 million 'extreme gamers' in the US that play an average of 45 hours a week.
8. By an average American reaches the age of 21, they will have spent 10.000 hours gaming.
9. At this point in time there is a global gaming community consisting of 500 million people.
10. There are now more than 6 million people in China who spend at least 22 hours a week gaming, the equivalent of a part-time job.
11. Some relevent statistics from the Entertainment Software Associations annual study of game players state that; 69 percent of all heads of household play computer and video games, 97 percent of youth play computer and video games, 40 percent of all gamers are women, 1/4 of gamers is over the age of fifty and the average game player is thirty five years old and has been playing games for 12 years.
12. Also, the scientific journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networking reported in 2009 that 61 percent of surveyed CEO'S, CFO's and the other senior executives say they take daily game breaks at work.

Modding

"The Hot Coffee" mod (Grand Theft Auto-San Andreas)
Rockstar North created huge controversy and received a thrashing from politicians and lawnmakers when a normally inaccessible mini game was released in 2005 along with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas game for Microsoft Windows. Public awareness of the existence of the mini game arrived with the release of the "Hot Coffee" mod which enables access to the mini game  The controversy arose when politicians prompted the game to be re-rated and pulled from some shelves due to explicit, adult themed content that the mini game encapsulated  Although the "Hot Coffee" mini game was completely disabled and its existence was only highlighted after the mod's release for the PC version on June 9, 2005, the assets for the mini game were also discovered in both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game, and people found ways to enable the mini game via console video game hacking tools. On July 20, 2005, the ESRB announced that it was changing the rating of GTA:SA from Mature (M) to Adults Only 18+, however Rockstar stated that it would discontinue manufacturing the current version of the game, and produce a new version that would not include the content that is unlocked by the Hot Coffee mod and on 20th July 2005 re-rated the game to a Mature 17+ rating. There was very little reaction in Europe. The game was already classified as 18+ prior to the release of the mod. Unlike USA, many European countries operate the same classification as they do to films- following the rule that it is an offence to sell games with adult-themed content to people under the classified age rating. Due to this, there was huge recall of the GTA:SA games that had already been released which had a massive impact on retailer sales and Rockstar North alike. On the 21st of July, the day after the rating change, North American chain stores and retailers, (which accounted for every major retailer in the United States and approximately 85% of the game's market in the country) removed the PC and console versions of the game from their store shelves, either re-stickering the box with the new rating, or returning it to the Publishers and Developers (Take Two Intertive). There was less of a reaction in th EU however. In Europe, the game was already an 18+ before the discovery of the mod. Unlike the US, many European nations operate the same classification as they do to films - it is a criminal offence to sell adult-only games to people below the age of the rating. In December 2005 after the huge issue that this mod had stirred up, Senators Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman and Evan Bayh introduced the 'Family Entertainment Protection Act', which called for a 'federal mandate enforcement of the ESRB ratings system in order to protect children from inappropriate content'. This reaction proved how huge of a problem this mod had become - the government were even involved.

The upcoming release of the Wii U

The Wii U was developed, obviously, by Nintendo and Manufactured by Foxconn and will be the first 8th generation console.

It is said to be released on November 30th of this year. To pre-order from Amazon it will cost you around £249.00 for the basic white pack and a substantial amount more for the premium black pack at around £329.00 with a 32GB memory.

The Wii U is an upcoming video game console from Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. The system was unveiled during Nintendo's press conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 on June 7, 2011, and is scheduled for released on November 18, 2012 in North America, November 30, 2012 in Europe and Australia, and December 8, 2012 in Japan. It will be the first entry in the eighth generation of video game consoles.

Nintendo stated that the Wii U supports 1080p graphics and has 2 GB of memory; 1 GB as system memory and the same for game memory. This is more than 20 times the memory of the Wii. The console will be released in two versions; a basic white version with 8 GB of internal storage, and a premium black version with 32 GB of internal storage, which includes stand and docks. An HDMI cable will be included with both versions. The Wii U features a new controller, called the Wii U GamePad, with an embedded touchscreen. The controller allows a player to continue playing games by displaying the game even when the television is off.

The system will be backward compatible with Wii, and Wii U games can support compatibility with Wii peripherals, such as the Wii Remote Plus and the Nunchuk. It will not be backward compatible with Nintendo GameCube discs or peripherals, although games will become available for purchase and downloaded from Nintendo's Virtual Console service.

The console was first conceived in 2008, after Nintendo recognized several limitations and challenges with the Wii, such as the general public perception that the system catered primarily for a "casual" audience. With Wii U, Nintendo explicitly wishes to lure "core" gamers back. Game designer Shigeru Miyamoto admitted that the lack of HD and limited network infrastructure for the Wii also contributed to the system being regarded in a separate class to its competitors' systems, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Nintendo is working with Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, and YouTube to bring streaming digital movie and television content to the Wii U. Nintendo has demonstrated that simple gestures can be used on the Wii U GamePad to transfer video content from the GamePad to the television screen. Users will also have the ability to switch from the television screen to the Wii U GamePad when watching videos.

The Wii U GamePad can also be used as a universal television remote with a built in guide, even when the Wii U is off. Nintendo also announced a free television based service called Nintendo TVii. Nintendo TVii will allow users to find programs on Hulu Plus, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and on their cable network; users will then be able select the source of the program they wish to watch and watch that program on their television or on the Wii U Gamepad. Users can also use the Gamepad screen to get information on the show they are watching, this information is recevied 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.

Games like ZombiU, a first-person shooter survival horror video game from Ubisoft Montpellier, are to be released exclusively for the new Nintendo's Wii U console. In ZombiU the player can assume the roles of various survivors during the game. The game is a reboot of Ubisoft's first commercial game, Zombi. This seems to imply that Nintendo are aiming for a new audience - an older audience that Nintendo has failed to attract so far. The Wii is associated with a younger audience, with more family orientated games. However, after the reconsideration of the challenges of the first Wii console, Nintendo have decided to try to win over older gamers that would be more used to playing platforms like Xbox and PlayStation.

Up to this point the games available on launch/release of the Wii U are as follows;

Nintendo assures greater support for third-party games on the Wii U; during E3 2011 a handful of third-party titles were confirmed to be in development for the Wii U. During E3 2012, third-party titles were shown such as Darksiders II, Assassin's Creed III, Mass Effect 3, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge, Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition, Just Dance 4, Madden NFL 13, as well as exclusives such ZombiU, Rayman Legends, Rabbids Land, Lego City Undercover, Scribblenauts Unlimited, and Bayonetta 2.
Some first-party games Nintendo has announced for the system include New Super Mario Bros. U, Pikmin 3, Nintendo Land, Wii Fit U, and Game & Wario.  

Digital Distribution – Will everything become digital in the future and who wants this?

Digital distribution is the process of delivering video game content as digital information, either fully or partially, as appose to on physical media such as hard disks for example that can be bought in retail stores. There is no doubt that in the past decade the video game industry has made many developments and advancements in technology, with digital distribution being one of the most potent among others such as upgraded graphics and coding, new consoles and game engines etc. There are hundreds of examples of fully digitally distributed games to be mentioned but some of the most obvious examples would be the likes of Minecraft (for Xbox 360 live arcade and PC, published by Mojang) and the recently released Walking Dead game for PlayStation Network (psn) and Xbox live arcade. These of which I both own myself, (and love) and which have no physical copy of the game available for purchase. However online retail service sites such as Game.com or Amazon allow the gamer to purchase the game via the internet but the consumer still receives a physical copy of the game (partial digital distribution). As advancements in the video game industry progress, more developers are trying to reach a wider audience range by creating expansion packs or add-ons for example and becoming nearly completely DLC. There is huge speculation on whether digital distribution will become the future for video gamers and the industry with many behind the idea and many opposing it for many different reasons.

The many people discouraging the future for one hundred per cent digital distribution do so for very valid reasons. A prime reason is that for people with fast Internet, downloading your games is great. However, what if you live in a part of the world where broadband is not available? According to the International Telecommunication Union, only seven per cent of the world has broadband Internet. The United States has around 26%, the UK has 31% and France has 33%. These are worrying numbers if the world of downloading video games that can easily exceed 10GB is to become a reality. Is almost 75% of the United States going to be shut out from playing the latest video games? That seems like a serious issue to overcome. Also digital distribution could easily become a personal security issue to gamers, as to download a game through the games console digitally; credit card details would be required. And with millions more people being directed to full DLC it could be an even larger worldwide problem if a network became under attack, and details leaked. Sony alone has over 70 million online accounts registered, which would hugely increase if everything was one hundred per cent digital distribution, and so hacks would do more damage than ever stated. Less concerning problems include the fact that at this moment in time internet speeds are just not up maximum potential to hold the capacity and support a complete sudden switch to digital distribution, becoming a potential threat to internet providers. If games are all digitally distributed, will we need specialty video game stores anymore? The sale of consoles is very low, so how can they stay in business without physical copies of games to sell? Big box retailers like Best Buy will be fine; they sell plenty of other products. GameStop has well over 6,000 locations. That is an awful lot of people left jobless. The last few problems are really only personal concerns for the gamer themselves. Firstly, if console games are sold digitally, right from the console, that leaves all the pricing decisions in the hands of the platform holder. In theory, they could raise the prices of games, and it would be out of our control. If a particular retailer decides to charge too much for a game, we just buy it somewhere else. If there is no retailer, either we pay the price or we do not buy the game. Finally, I know from experience the lack of excitement and anticipation from digitally purchasing a game rather than waiting and having the complete full, enjoyable experience of a physical copy. A lot of gamers live for premieres of new games and view queuing outside of Game for example for hours as the whole experience and hype that makes new physical form games something to talk about and remember, which could easily be lost by it just becoming as easy as the push of a button.

Despite the mass of people against the turning to full digital distribution, it could hugely benefit not only the gamers but the companies involved in developing, publishing and distributing the games. The people involved in these stages of production are the most likely to benefit in terms of money from the games and add-ons etc. This is because money would still be generating from the games sales, add-ons and expansion packs, but also actually saving money from not dishing it out on transporting the games worldwide, packaging and actually manufacturing the physical disc copies. Also a non- controllable benefit for the companies is that digital distribution causes many consumers to “impulse buy” games that they can get for social gaming or IOS games with a click of a button. This creates massive sums of money as digital distribution encourages impulse buys on many different platforms such as IOS using the App Store for IPhones, PC or general consoles’ online services to many generations of people. However consumers also want to see the progress of digital distribution. One reason for this could be just for the simple fact that they prefer a sleek/slick, clutter free area surrounding their consoles without stacked games cases on show, especially as they get older to prevent stereotypical associations with gaming perhaps. Another could be the convenience factor. Many people find it easier and more convenient to buy games with just a click of a button from their console and be playing the game within minutes, compared to travelling to the nearest retail store, waiting in line and buying in cash that would take much longer, whereas digital downloads could be installed in minutes to a hard drive which is much less hassle and a cleaner way of storing the games. They’re just a few examples of, but the statistics show just how far spread digital distribution has become already. There has been a 17% increase in sales on a digital format with $1.47 billion generated from digital downloads, as oppose to just £1 billion from physical format this year.

I believe that the full switch over to digital distribution is highly unlikely, especially I the near future as masses amount of pre-production needs to take place first such as dramatically updating ad increasing hard drive space and internet speed for anything to even progress any further or for it to be possible which just isn’t going to be anytime soon. Although producers will make more money, they would not chance downgrading their consumers experience with games just because the system s could not hold the capacity of the highest quality downloads and possibly losing some of their audience. In my opinion I believe that the video game distribution system will continue at the current state of fully and partial distribution combined with the continuation of physical format sales to satisfy many audiences and generations of gamers.    

Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto IV was released in 2008 published by Rockstar Games, and developed by UK game developer Rockstar North. It has been released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and for the Windows operating system. Overall, Grand Theft Auto IV took over 1000 people and more than three and a half years to complete, with a total cost estimated at approximately $100 million, making it one of the most expensive games ever developed. GTA IV was distributed on both digital and physical formats.

Minecraft

Minecraft is a sandbox-building independent video game created by Swedish programmer Markus  Persson and now developed by his company, Mojang. In 2011, Jens Bergensten, took full creative control over Minecraft. It was released as an alpha on May 17, 2009, with a beta version on December  20, 2010. Official versions for iOS and Android have been released and the full version of the PC game was released on November 18, 2011 at MineCon 2011. The Android release was temporarily exclusive to the Xperia play but is now available to the rest of the Android market. On May 9, 2012, Minecraft was released on Xbox 360 as an Xbox Live Arcade game, co-developed by 4J studios . All editions of the  game can be bought as a one-time purchase (not monthly).  As of May 25, 2012, the game has sold over six million copies on PC,and over nine million copies across all platforms. Minecraft was published by Mojang and co-publishers Microsoft studios and proceeds total $763,000. It can be purchased digitally on PC and/or from retail game stores at a price around £16.95.

Video Games

Hi, my name is Ashleigh Foy and I have loved games for a long time and grew up with Playstation. I have owned all 3 Playstations, gameboy colour and advance and Nintendo DS in the past and now also own a Wii and play games on my laptop and IPhone. When I was younger I loved all the NES games like Mario 64 and played games such as sonic generations, spyro, crash bandicoot and Lara croft. I would say I have played and still do a range of different video game genres and enjoy all of them for different reasons. I don't play games every day anymore but when I do, I tend to play games like minecraft for example. I still love playing the classic games which I have on Playstation 3 but wish I had more time to play them!! I would say though that my favourite game series would definitely be the Zelda games I have played every single one released including the most recent, Skyward Sword, although the classic and new Super Mario games are another nearly joint favourite having completed every Mario game aswell.