Exemple of exam script: Production and distribution

January 2009 Section B
"Discuss the ways in which media products are produced and distributed to audiences, within a media area, which you have studied.
Candidates must choose to focus on one of the following media areas though you may take reference to other media where relevant to your answer.
Film, Music, Newspapers, Radio, Magazines, Video games"

If you were answering this question, you would obviously be writing about production and distribution of videogames, getting in as many relevant references to case study material - Rockstar Games, Mojang or your own back-up case study to use just in case needed!

Here is an example of a script from this exam - do you think you could produce something like this? (or even better!)

Open publication - Free publishing - More media

Here is what the examiner report said about this candidate's answer:

Lesson 19 - UGC

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

Latest whose missing what

Click to enlarge.

FAR too many slipping into the red zone - Missing 4 or more pieces of work since Half Term.

Do your best to catch up or come and see me if there are any problems.

Activision has opened special Skylanders concessions in three HMV stores

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/hmv-opens-skylanders-concession-stores/0105629

Activision has opened special Skylanders concessions in three HMV stores.

Special areas can be found in HMV's Oxford Street, Manchester and Glasgow branches. Each area will feature a variety of Skylanders products (including licensed cards, puzzles, wallets, bags and badges), character art, artificial grass and dedicated games stations.

GTA Shipments hit 125m as "special" series continues to grow

And that’s why the industry gets excited, sits up and pays attention when the words ‘Grand Theft Auto’ are uttered.

*Read beyond the cut for Take-Two's boss comparing Rockstar's GTA products with Activision (And COD/Black Ops) - it's like they are doing our work for us - An essential read!!*

Wii U - Shigeru Miyamoto gives us a tour of Nintendo's new console

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/nov/23/wiiu-nintendo-shigeru-miyamoto

The man who made Mario has high hopes for the first of a new generation of gaming machines



In 2006, Nintendo announced the Wii. Everyone laughed at the name, then everyone laughed at the crazy TV remote-style controllers. Then everyone stopped laughing, and there was an odd silence from industry analysts and pundits, who simply didn't know what to make of it. The public, however, did: the Wii became the best-selling console of its generation, cheerfully trouncing the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, by managing to coax non-gamers of all ages into having a go.

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.

Definition of the day: Mod/Modder

Mod/Modder

Mods are literally ‘modifications’ to games that change their appearance, structure or level design, for example, but that usually leave the underlying gameplay and mechanics intact.

Most common in the world of PC games, the practice of modding relies on free ‘mod tools’ released by game developers. These tools allow modders to design their own maps or levels, rework graphics or change the physics in the gameworld, among other things.

Most mod tools are distributed freely but their use is governed by End User License Agreements (EULAs), which usually prohibit modders or mod teams from selling their creations for commercial gain. Counterstrike, based on Valve software’s Half-Life, is probably the most famous example of a videogame mod and such was its popularity that it was eventually released as a game in its own right.

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

The OXM Breakdown - Indie Games

The latest OXM Breakdown is a stringent and searching assessment of indie game creator deification that's only slightly reliant on swearing, Quavers and crude metaphors about bottoms. There will be inconsolable weeping, verily, and on-screen prompts.

 

Like the President of America during a national terrorism crisis, Log's somehow arranged to be airborne (heading Canada-wards) at the time of publication. Obviously, he's expecting the immediate fallout to be severe. Don't disappoint him.