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