"The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange"
Below the cut will be some prompts to consider what you would talk about in this part of the spec based on the games and tech we have studied, but with regards to new tech - if you are v comfortable with the concept of Digital Distribution and DLC along with some great examples I bet you could answer anything to do with this.
Again - not an exhaustive list, just me thinking about what we've talked about and what examples we have mentioned or what you might want to look further into.
Production - Digital Distribution and DLC - The role of DLC in game production - deliberately saving levels/missions/characters for later, leaving them out of the Day 1 release of the game so that they can release this content as DLC later. Previously, they would start DLC from scratch after the release but now it has become the norm for developers to create the DLC alongside the regular game. This maximises sales further down the line as well as extends product lifecycle - keeping gamers playing their game for longer before they go trade it in: The publishers do not want this to happen as the pre-owned market gives NOTHING to the publishers and they don't like any buying habits that don't result in them making money - remember: a business wants to make as much profit as possible.
New tech in recent years - Gesture controllers - The Wii U, Xbox Kinect, PlayStation's Move - what have these developments in the post-Wii world done to the games market? What has it done to the gaming audience? Think about the Xbox and PS controllers, 13 and 15 button beasts - what audiences does the new trends of controller devices appeal to?
And remember: Keep mentioning that the gamer landscape has changed. Overcomplicated control mechanisms were always a problem with attracting other gamer profiles ie. females and different age groups - 40% of gamers are now female - could developments like this have aided this shift?
Distribution - The ability to distribute digitally has changed the world of gaming - and changed the look of the High Street. WH Smith's no longer stock games ... Gamestation is no more thanks to Game's woes .... all because it is far too easy to purchase games digitally. You can buy online through Amazon and get your game in the post but then you'd have to wait - for impulse purchases digital distribution is where it's at. Sure, internet speeds not catching up and bandwidth swallowed up by HD streaming of movies through Netflix and Lovefilm etc are not going to allow 100% digital distribution of games any time soon but a significant amount of content is out ther digitally. Go find a copy of Minecraft in Game and there's a great example of digital content becoming a success story. All those millions who bought the game did not buy it in a games store, only through online channels. Valve's Steam store basically own the digitally distributed PC game market. DLC keeps games giving for longer and longer - drip feed extra content so that the game is never finished.
Case Study for digital contribution: Mr Howard going to the parental home down south for Christmas and forgetting Halo 3. Instead of going without for a week, Mr Howard purchases the game digitally for £7.99, 1 download later and I'm playing exactly where i've left off back in Liverpool...
Halo 3 on offer aside, the Xbox Games on Demand section is hugely expensive - Modern Warfare 3 for £50 are you mad??? But R* games are a few years older and their price reflects this, Payne aside - if we take Rockstar Games for example you can buy and download
Red Dead Redemption - £19.99
GTA IV - can't see price as I have the disk installed...
Max Payne 3 - £29.99
LA Noire - £19.99
This is one of the only ways publishers can get money out of older games - remember: They get nothing if you go and buy LA Noire for £12 pre-owned from Game. (Unless of course you decide to invest in LA Noire DLC that is!)
There is a market here as not everybody wants all these plastic game cases cluttering up their gameplay area so you could argue there is a market for these games? Hard drives permitting you could have all of R*'s back catalogue without owning a single disk case.
Marketing - The Xbox dashboard used to be a sleek beast of a portal to get you playing your game asap. Now it's chock full of adverts for all kinds of things. I glance across to the Xbox now as I type this and I see... a link to Lovefilm Instant ... a link to purchase The Dark Knight Rises ... a link to buy some Kinect Sports DLC ... a link to buy Skyrim Dragonborn DLC ... Therefore, advertisers are able to get right in there and sell gamers items right as they sit there on their sofa about to play a game. They can use Web 2.0 channels through Facebook advertising, YouTube channels with glossy adverts for games and products. They will be using new tech to sell you products - and then offer you the chance to purchase online to increase the chances of impulse buying.
Exchange - Modding, UGC, Web 2.0 - New tech has allowed for the two-way communication channel that is modding to flourish. Games are getting released that start off as mods made by the community - Counterstrike the famous example.
Minecraft shows the example of games using web technology and a web 2.0 ethos to share your created worlds with others.
The use of web 2.0 technology such as YouTube has led to livestreaming - there is a massive audience for machinima and watching gameplay videos. Products exist for the recording and streaming of your games straight onto YouTube - in fact the new CoD Black Ops game allows this to happen in-game with livestreaming being able to take place as you play. YouTube is also home to gameplay vids, videochats, walkthrough guides and general audience feedback and community exchange of information.
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