Lesson 21 - Targeting local audiences - essay

Bulletpoint we are focusing on from the exam spec:

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

Therefore, this morning we are going to research for and Blogpost an essay on this subject, taking in the various sectors of the gaming industry.

Introduction: Why do you think it is important to target national or local audiences?

Production: How do local audiences change the products introduced to markets? Use the example of China and consoles.

Localisation: What is localisation and what are the issues involved?

Marketing: How does games marketing change to target local audiences?

Conclusion: What do you think are the most important issues - and with globalisation and the role of the internet, is localisation more or less important in the current climate?

For each section, remember to back up with contemporary examples and make your own assumptions about the audiences involved.


http://www.edge-online.com/features/localised-world/
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/tag/localisation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_localization
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/feature-q-a-and-localisation-roundtable/084699
http://gengo.com/about-us/blog/an-inside-look-at-video-game-localization/
http://www.languages-media.com/press_interviews_mangiron.php
http://www.industrygamers.com/news/industry-careers-video-game-localization/

Lesson 20 - Games Distribution

Task 1 - Distributors for our case study games?

Read the following MCV article on Distribution ie. How the game gets from the manufacturer to the consumer. Games distribution special

After reading this, research the following facts: (click to read beyond the cut)

Lesson 19 - UGC

Click below to see PPT from today's lesson as well as the two homework tasks:

Lesson 18 - Video Game Ratings - LESSON FOR MONDAY

1. Visit the four links below and have a read

Pegi delayed again
Pegi Games Ratings to come into effect
Pegi is law: What now?
Age Ratings @ Ask About Games

 

2. You are to produce a report on Video Game Regulation and Ratings Systems

 

Sections to consider:

 

• What is Pegi?
 
• Why is it being introduced?
 
• How did games previously receive ratings?
 
• What changes for publishers, retailers and developers?
 
• What issues are there with this system being implemented?

 

You will need to do some reading around this subject: Not Wikipedia but reading around the computer games industry press - look at the Bloglinks I have on the right hand side. However, these are just for starters: You will need to read a few of your own to get a good understanding of the role that video game regulation plays in the videogames industry.

Lesson 17 - Technological Convergence

You are going to find out what consoles are owned on your table - then in the second half of the lesson you will be using this primary data to influence the creation of a new console you will design as a group.

PPT after the cut

Lesson 16 - Close study of a MMORPG

MMORPGs – Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games – are some of the most popular videogames available with millions subscribing at any one time.

What is also interesting for us is the audience who play these games: a larger number are female and usually older than the players of conventional games.

TASK:

• Select a MMORPG of your choice and prepare a study on it on your Blog.

Popular MMORPGs - Pick one from the list

World of Warcraft
Aion GLobal
Lineage
Runescape
Age of Conan
Second Life
Lord of the Rings Online
Everquest
Star Wars The Old Republic
Ultima Online
The Sims Online
Guild Wars 2

Answer the following questions to gain some background knowledge about the game and identify the institutions involved in developing and distributing it.

-          What is the genre of the game?

-          How much does it cost to subscribe?

-          How is the game different from a console-based game?

-          Who makes the game?

-          Is the game global or only available to certain regions, such as Europe?

• Now research the audience for the game. Identify some fan sites, art works and message boards relating to the game. What do these tell you about the players of your chosen game? Survey each of your selected sites and make notes on the following:

What do the players discuss? Tactics, locations, general chat?

How do the players represent themselves on the message board? Do they have game names and personal icons?

How many people are members of the message boards?

Does the page have links? If so, what to?

• Structure your case study so that it summarises your main findings as clearly as possible. You should include screen shots and other images to illustrate it.

TO BE POSTED BY THURSDAY'S LESSON

Lesson 15 - GTA V Trailer Analysis

GTA V Trailer #2 behind the cut - Your task is to write a detailed analysis of the trailer using all of the skills you have learnt in Miss Crompton's lessons - think about cinematography, sound, narrative, edits etc - combined with what I have been going on about: Audiences, institutions, everything you know about R*

Lesson 14 - The UK Games Market

1. Go to http://www.mcvuk.com/retail-biz and find out the top 20 games chart of the last week: BlogPost these and then follow up with a commentary on the chart. Describe what kind of games are popular. This should try and go into detail, so you are not merely saying what games are in there - I need you to start writing more analytical, like A-Level Media Studies students. Look out for trends - what qualities do the games have in common? Are there any anomalies - does anything stand out? Are there any developers or publishers that pop up more than once? Which platforms dominate? Did anything surprise you? This needs to be a thorough piece of writing, do not take shortcuts!

2. Read the articles that I've labelled with the UK Games Market (Added as a quick link on the top right) and make notes in a new BlogPost entitled "The UK Games Market".

3. We are going to have to return to Cross-Media Convergence: How a game can be aided by other media channels - TV, Film, Internet, Print

eg.The Internet
*FIFA 13 Ultimate Team players logging into the EA Sports Site's Ultimate Team website to bid on new players in eBay style auctions or share their teams to Facebook
*Skylanders players being able to showcase their characters and engage in Skylanders themed games online in Skylanders Universe
*Rockstar Games uses Rockstar Games Social Club as a hub for players of all R* games - announcements, reminders of multiplayer competitions etc.


TASK: Blogpost a detailed definition of cross-media convergence with clear examples, A reminder of how R* uses cross-media convergence:

Lesson 13 - Big business and the conglomerate

Videogames are big business - which is why some of the largest companies are including game companies in their product porfolios. You need to be aware of the bigger picture - aware of the huge conglomerates that overshadow the games industry.

Task 1:
Create a conglomerate map for Skylanders Giants - think of this as a hierarchy of the company. The output Skylanders game is on the bottom but there is a large multinational conglomerate on top. What companies are in between?
Task 2:
Create a conglomerate map for Grand Theft Auto 4 (or 5)

Homework for Thursday:
1.Ensure task 1 and 2 are completed for next lesson and fill any gaps in your Blogposts.
2. Read up on any GTA5 announcements that have been made in the last week

Further information on conglomerates can be found in the PowerPoint used this lesson - to be found after the cut.

Lesson 12 - Social Gaming

Social gaming
Starter Task:
When you log in and get onto this Blog, go to this link and answer the question on screen.

The lesson's PowerPoint is behind the cut

Tomorrow - Test of what you know so far!

Tomorrow's lesson will be taking place in L22 - This is my classroom and where we will be every Thursday period 5.

You will have a sheet of questions to work through. Some will require longer answers than others - some will require examples from the games we have looked at so far.

To revise, it would be wise to revisit the lesson powerpoints label cloud on the right hand side of this page as well as the History of Rockstar Games video.

If you finish, I have an article from Edge Magazine that I will be asking you to read and make notes on. The article charts the current trend of games aimed at the pre-teen market - obviously a very different audience from the GTA IV and V games we have been looking at. One of the most successful of these games aimed at pre-teens is the Skylanders series, loosely based on the Spyro universe.
The first Skylanders game was the big hit of Christmas 2011 and Friday sees the release of sequel Skylanders: Giants - which many predict to be a similar success (sales if not critical!). If you have time with your revision, have a glance at a couple of the trailers to see what makes this IP so unique

Click below for the official trailer for the sequel.



Consider the difference in marketing between Skylanders and GTA IV. Where do you think Activision (Publishers of Skylanders) choose to spend marketing £££ advertising the game?

Lesson 11 - Synergy & Symbiosis

11 synergy symbiosis from mrhoward12

TASK:

1. Define these two terms without copying and pasting.

2. The examples earlier in the PPT used the film industry - Explain them using your own examples from the Games Industry - you will have to think about what to research: Googling "symbiosis in games" will not give you what you need!
PPT behind the cut

The Rockstars are taking over!

Rockstar Games have come a long way since Brits Sam and Dan Houser were slogging it out in the music industry (BMG) - now the sprawling Rockstar empire covers many countries. They are vertically integrated - they own companies involved in every stage in the videogame making process from start to finish.

Each of these has since been renamed with the word Rockstar in their name - remember that R* has been iconic: it stands for many of the firm's key fundamentals, as well as acknowledging their lofty ambitions from day one.

TASK: find out information on all members of the Rockstar family. Give the name, what they do, what company they used to be and when they became part of Rockstar. What game has each of these satellite firms been involved with?
These studios all have the standard R* logo, but usually a different colour - try to include an image of the logo to help us get to know them a big better!

BONUS LEVEL: What is the link between the ultra violent Grand Theft Auto games and the classic puzzle game Lemmings?

THURSDAY: First Half Term test of what you know!

(Edit: Yes, it is now Thursday we will be doing this - we will find something else to do tomorrow when we are in the computer rooms and save the test for when we are in a classroom)

FOR THURSDAY: It would be wise to go through everything we have looked at so far to do with the videogame industry in the Audiences & Institutions module.
We are going to have a test of everything we have looked at - in particular key terms and industry terminology that you will need to be familiar with for the exam.
You will also need to be completely familiar with the Rockstar Games corporation - remember the History of Rockstar Games YouTube series of videos!
Click on Lesson PowerPoints on the right hand side for everything that has been used but the areas we have looked at so far are:
*The different sectors of the videogame industry
*Convergence - both cross-media and technological
*The Institutions
*Rockstar Games
*Your specialist topic (essay subject) be it Digital Distribution/Social gaming/controller changes
*Consumption
*Game Development (Business models)
*Indie Games
*Media Ownership - Rockstar Games and vertical integration

Click here to go to all the lesson powerpoints:
http://dhsemediamrhoward12.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/lesson%20powerpoints

Lesson 10 - Media Ownership

Some notes on the main issues of media ownership - with reference to Rockstar Games

PPT after cut

Lesson 9 - Modes of game development

Not all games are the same - The term rather outdated term of 'videogames' (that I tend to use for clarity) covers both GTA IV and indie games such as Super Meat Boy and Fez.

Therefore, we all need to be aware of the main differences between the AAA/Blockbuster and the charming little independent games -  or Indie Games as I will be referring to them.

TASK 1: Using the PowerPoint below, jot down some notes about the different modes of game developments in your Blogs.

PPT after the cut

Task for Thursday's lesson: Independent Games

Independent games

So far we have only concentrated on big budget mainstream games like those made by Rockstar. However, we cannot neglect another sector of the videogames industry: The independent games market, often referred to as 'indie games.'

TASK: (even though you are not in Thursday I would like this task completed in time for Monday's lesson)
To be posted on your Blog.
Research what an independent game is.
In what ways are they different from Big blockbuster or AAA games?
Consider cost, pricing, marketing, distribution etc. what are the most popular indie games?

Once you have made it clear that you know what a indie game is, I would like you to pick an indie game to write a case study for. Tell us everything there is to know about your game, ready to present to the class on Monday.

Links
http://indiegames.com/index.html
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_game
http://www.indiegamechallenge.com/2012-winners/
http://guardian.co.uk/technology/indiegames?cat=technology

Lesson 8 - How are games consumed?

Consumption is important to consider - do not stop with the end users just playing a game in their home - there are many other ways gaming influences consumers.

PPT after the cut

Lesson 7 - EA Sports FIFA 13 Marketing & Distribution

Lesson 6 - Marketing in GTA IV