https://www.hstry.co/timelines/grand-theft-auto-5-marketing-campaign
The above document is the exact wording from the OCR AS/A Media Studies specification outlining just what you need to be prepared for and need to know before sitting the Institutions and Audiences section of the G322. Have a read through, take a deep breath and then don't panic...
There's a lots of new words in there and complicated sounding stuff but all that is being asked is whether you understand how and why we get the wonderful media products we consume daily.
We've decided to study the magical world of videogames so it's asking us who made CoD: Black Ops? How did they? How did they advertise the game? Who is it designed to appeal to? How did we get hold of a copy? How do we play it?
Or if CoD: Black Ops isn't your thing just replace it with Sims 3, Red Dead Redemption, Angry Birds or even CityVille...
If we condense the above information we need to know about the following 4 main aspects of the videogames industry:
Then alongside this we have be able to understand key media concepts and industry strategies the identify where they have had an effect or have been used in the above aspects.
The idea of this blog is to introduce you all these new concepts, define them and put them into context where you can understand them. Use the labels on the side to navigate through the information and get what you need from the resources.
Just some last minute info on words that might come up in the question and might unnecessarily scare you.
If the word EXHIBITION comes up - don't panic. Games aren't 'exhibited' like, for instance, films are - but this is the point consumer get to see/consume the product - so for games you can talk about consumption, exchange and distribution.
If CONSUMPTION comes up in the question, what they want to know about is how audiences interact with the media products - how they use them and how the patterns in consumption are changing. Things to talk about:
1) You're own consumption patterns - do you play games more than you did? Do you expect games to be free? Do you play on more online? Do you play more on tablets/smartphones? Do you buy fewer games and play them for longer (CoD FIFA)? Were you never a gamer but now play due to Facebook or Smartphone games?
2) Consumers becoming 'prosumers' (consumers now interacting with the products are creating their own stuff
Convergence Culture (Jenkins)
When old and new media intersect in such a way that the way in media producers and media consumers interact changes.
Use: The consumption of RDR is a good example of media convergence as consumers have used both old and new media to alter the way in which they experience the game. For instance RDR fans have used the internet to create fansites and communities to share tips, stories and experiences about the game. They have also developed their own modifications and shared them over the internet.
Machinima e.g. this RDR Fan Film
User generated content
Mods e.g. this RDR mod that (I think) allows you to ride bulls.
3) The importance of the consumer in marketing products, specifically making things go viral - sharing things they found on social media e.g. first Angry Birds trailer, Angry Birds scores, RDR Gunslinger on Facebook, photos of interesting outdoor adverting (RDR New York Mural).
4) The importance of freemium - more consumers expect content to be free and EA believe it could be the future of the whole games industry and are beginning to bring In-App-Purchases or micro-transactions to their games. The beauty of freemium is treats consumers differently. The traditional business model (that RDR used) presumes that every consumer wants to pay just £40 for a game and that's that. Freemium allows different consumers to pay different amounts for different experiences e.g. Angry Birds - pay more to get Mighty Eagle (easier game) or more levels.
5) The fact that the average age of console gamer is 37 and so might expect more 'mature' material such as RDR or as the 37 is time poor (family, work) can only play in short bursts or on the go therefore Angry Birds is more appropriate.
Here's a few quotes stats and facts that might help you - basically the average gamer is no longer the teenage boy.
In the UK, 37 % of the population played games
in the last 12 months. That's 21m people.
Almost 90 % of 11-year-olds across Europe play
video games in some form.
Almost 25 % of 11- to 14-year-olds in UK play
games on social networks.
In UK, only 5% of people say they play games on
apps, online AND packaged. In the UK there is a huge contingent that only plays
packaged goods.
In the UK in terms of value, the majority of
revenue - around 80 % - is driven by packaged goods.
Pre-owned is 16 % of the UK market.
Half of the games played in the UK during 2012
were apps.
Angry Birds was the UK's most popular game in Q1
2012. It had 10 % of the total market.
In Europe 45% of all gamers are female, 49% is at least 35 years, while 12% is younger than 20 years.
In 2012 the number of Facebook users who played game rose by 11% to 251 million, around a quarter of the user base
ex-EA COO John Schappert recently left the company to join firm Zynga stating that "Traditional games have become more (hard)core, they require an expensive console, use a controller which laymen are afraid of, and their interfaces are not always the easiest to use. People are buying fewer games and playing them longer. A lot of players are stretched for time - they don't have two hours, they have fifteen minutes and don't want to spend money."
By 2012 Steam had 54 million active users worldwide and had over 1860 games available. It is estimated that Steam makes up for around 70% of the digital distribution market for video games.
Then there’s issue of Whales and developer desire to hook them. Whales are defined as users that spend over $1000 on a IAPs on one single game and so will be responsible for as much revenue as several thousand low spending users or ‘minnows’. It is this type of consumer that makes the free to play model work with stories of users spending $6000 a month on games such as Clash of Clans, anecdotal evidence of one user spending $100,000 on Zynga’s Mafia Wars and estimates that just 1% of all Zynga’s customers account for 25-50% of the companies total revenue.
Physical sales of games in the US were down 22% in 2012 and the UK games market was down 17.4%
The way users are playing games is changing away from the console dominance which means that it’s only the top games – GTA, FIFA, Call of Duty, and the low budgets indie games – Limbo, Angry Birds, Hotline Miami etc that are make sizable profits. It’s in the middle of market where the problems are as console developers face high costs and often receive little reward. The knock-on effect of less games being sold is that the console manufacturers do not make a return in the investment of developing a console from the license fees. While is it is wrong to declare console gaming in terminal decline, it clear that the business model no longer working and can’t be sustained.
http://www.pixelprospector.com/the-big-list-of-game-revenue-sales/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/02/17/deep-down-the-rabbit-hole-of-ingrained-games-industry-sexism/
http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html
Definition: The rapid increase in the amount of a
product.
WHAT CAUSES PROLIFERATION
Success
If a product proves to be popular and successful then other products similar in
function, genre or style will be released in order to target a similar
audience.
Digital distribution
Using downloads or streaming is far cheaper than physical distribution (no retail,
shipping or packaging costs) and enables institutions to target a global market
far easier. This encourages more and different types of companies
(independents, major studios) to produce more content.
Technological convergence
The fact that nearly all digital products (tablets, smartphones, computers)
have very similar functions – specifically the ability to connect to the
internet and play various types of media (games, music, film) has two effects:
1) It allows for digital distribution (see above).
2) It creates a PROLIFERATION in platforms/hardware that can play ALL types of
media.
It is because of technological convergence that your phone now plays games or
your games console plays films – when once there were only a few formats you
could play game/watch films on, now there are many.
EFFECTS OF PROLIFERATION - Hardware
Increases the numbers of potential
consumers
The proliferation of technologically converged hardware increases the size of the
potential market for media products. e.g. Due to the proliferation of
smartphones a huge number of consumers – who wouldn’t have bought a specific
games console – now play games.
Games developers have a choice of format
to create for
No hardware manufacturer has a monopoly on the market (Nintendo did have a
monopoly in the 80s and could dictate what games developer could and couldn’t
do).
Audiences are fragmented and hard to
target
Institutions now have to cater for numerous ways of consumption or settle for
only a fraction of the potential audience. In the games industry this means
creating a version of your game for DS, 3DS, PC, PS3, 360, Mac, Ipad, Facebook,
Chrome, PS Vita, Wii, Wii U – which would be costly and time consuming. In the
film industry there is cinema, DVD, Blu-ray, downloads, streaming etc.
EFFECTS OF PROLIFERATION – Software
Promotion can become more important than
product
One way of standing out in a busy marketplace is spend more on advertising and
promotion. This could mean there is less to spend on production and potentially
the quality of the product is reduced.
More competition means pressure to sell
The pressure to sell could mean less innovation – don’t take risks, just give
consumers what they already like (more sequels, less creativity) or dubious
business practices (in-app-purchases/freemium targeted at children)
More competition drives down the price
This is better for consumers but for institutions this mean less profit which scares
of potential investment and businesses could fail.
More choice
At first would be good for the consumers, but too much choice can be confusing
and could cool consumers’ interest.
PROLIFERATION: Red Dead Redemption and Angry Birds
EFFECTS OF PROLIFERATION – Hardware
Only the PS3, 360 and high-spec PCs could manage to run Red Dead Redemption due to the open-world environment and HD
graphics, this means Rockstar’s target audience was reduced to just the owners
of these consoles and not everyone who plays games.
Rovio, however, due to the simplicity of Angry
Birds, have been able to create Angry Birds for all tablets, phones, mobile
game consoles allowing them to target a huge potential audience and achieve a
billion downloads. Initially the proliferation of the iPhone and iPad helped
their early success.
A userbase of 1 billion allows them to exploit the Freemium business model –
giving the game away for free, monetize a percentage of the userbase with
In-App-Purchases (e.g. Mighty Eagle 59p).
Keeping ahead of competition
Due to the success of Rockstar’s GTA series there was a proliferation of
open-world games set in cities (Prototype, Infamous, Saint’s Row, Sleeping Dogs
etc). To differentiate their games from the competition Rockstar were forced to
create deeper more detailed experiences: RDR
has countryside full of wildlife, GTA V has a far larger map than IV and much
more different landscapes. This means the quality of the product increases
(good for consumers), however, productions costs increase.
If production costs rise, the risk of creating games increases, which means
failure may cost a company dearly. US games company Midway recently went bust
when competing in the FPS market dominated by Call of Duty. Their game,
Homefront, cost £20 million to make and didn’t sell enough to make back the
initial investment.
If making game becomes riskier then companies will take less chances. Rather
than be creative and innovative, they will rely on established brands and
existing IP (films, superheroes, TV shows).
So proliferation increases competition that could
improve the quality of a product in the short term BUT in the long term may
have the opposite effect.
PROLIFERATION AND THE APP STORE (DIGITAL
DISTRIBUTION)
As the App Store reduced the barriers of entry into the games world (no
physical distribution costs, 70/30 split with Apple) a huge amount of
publisher/institutions/developer began creating content.
In Autumn 2008 the App Store reached the milestone of 10,000 apps.
Today (08/05/13) there are 867,530 apps available from a total of 229,094
active publishers/developers.
The biggest category of App in Games with 145,078 games available and Apple
receiving 81 submissions to the App store every day.
Here's an article on the nature of the app business world and some of reasons behind proliferation.
The problem for developers/institutions
Due to competition to be successful you have to be Free and exploit using the
Freemium business model.
But Freemium only works if you have
a large userbase.
To create a large userbase means promoting your game to get users.
But as there’s no revenue coming in
(as the game is free) this will need investment and there’s no guarantee the
product will be successful.
The best way to attract consumers is to get on the ‘Top’ Lists as that is where
most users look for content.
But getting on the ‘Top’ list
requires users to download the product.
So how did Angry Birds become successful?
When Angry Birds was released in
Dec 2009 there were 36,356 other games to compete against. Rather spending a
lot on advertising, Rovio used PR (press relations) to get key websites and
games forums talking about the game. This is a time consuming strategy
especially as Rovio did it territory by territory, but they knew that once the right
people played Angry Birds, due to the quality of the game they would begin
talking about it.
The strategy worked: first it was a hit in Finland, then Sweden, then when it
was a success in the UK Apple took notice and featured it on the App Store. To
capitalize on this exposure Rovio created a Youtube animation of the characters
and achieved both synergy (the App store feature and video combining to
increase exposure) and the promotion of the game going viral (spread by
existing social networks).
Once it was established in the ‘Top’ lists the success gathered its own
momentum (consumer download apps in the charts which keep them in the charts). Rovio
then ensured the game was talked about by releasing new products (Halloween, Rio versions) and achieving synergy by
producing numerous type of Angry Bird product (25,000 and rising).
WARNING FROM HISTORY -
US GAMES CRASH OF 1983
In 1983 the US games industry was worth $3.2
billion dollars.
30 new companies entered the games market -
there were 12 consoles to choose from.
This proliferation drove down price and drove
down quality - big losses were made, investment dried up.
1985 the US games industry was worth $100
million and was declared official dead by some analysts.
Search for ‘All Your History: The Video Game
Crash of 1983’ on Youtube for full story.
REMEMBER: ALL THIS IS USEFUL IF PROLIFERATION COMES UP IN THE QUESTION. BUT YOU CAN ALSO MENTION PROLIFERATION IF A QUESTION ON (DIGITAL) DISTRIBUTION OR TECHNOLOGICAL CONVERGENCE COMES UP.
Here are some articles about the games industry that you MIGHT want to read to get your mind working for the exam.
Don't feel you have to read any of them as I'm sure you've enough to get through - but they're here if you want.Media Ownership
Who owns what parts of the process (Production, Marketing, Distribution, Exchange) and if they own it they can usually make money from it. So this could be IP, brands, distributions methods (shops, retails), game engines, technology, consoles etc. It also leads really easily into the first definition of Media Convergence (see below).
Proliferation
A rapid increase in the number of a certain type of product.
Use: In Autumn
2008 the App Store reached the milestone of 10,000 apps.
Today (08/05/13) there are 867,530 apps available from a total of 229,094
active publishers/developers.
Technological convergence
Technological
convergence is the tendency for different technological systems to evolve
toward performing similar tasks. This is possible as more and more products
comprising of more and more technologies.
Use: The PlayStation3 is an example of technological convergence as it is
machine that not only plays game, but can be used to watch Blu-Rays, surf the
internet and organise and display digital content such as photos and music.
Media Convergence (Cross) (two ways of looking at it)
“The ‘coming together’ of previously
separate industries which increasingly use the same or related technology and
skilled workers. A feature of the contemporary media environment, convergence
is a product of mergers between companies in different. (Branston and Stafford
2010)”
Use: Warner Bros. Interactive is part of
WB Home Entertainment which is turn part of Time Warner. So Time Warner is a
company that produces films, games, comics, magazines, online content. There
are both advantages (synergy) and disadvantages (overheads, multiple deadlines,
conflicting interests) to this situation.
Convergence Culture (Jenkins)
When old and new media intersect in such a way that the way in media producers
and media consumers interact changes.
Use: The consumption of RDR is a good example of media convergence as
consumers have used both old and new media to alter the way in which they
experience the game. For instance RDR fans have used the internet to create
fansites and communities to share tips, stories and experiences about the game.
They have also developed their own modifications and shared them over the
internet.
Synergy
Definition: The interaction of two or more agents to ensure a larger effect
than if they acted independently.
Use: Rockstar used synergy in their marketing by timing the release of the
first trailer to coincide with the release the first RDR magazine preview which
was in the US games magazine Game Informer.
Viral Marketing
Definition: A marketing technique aiming at reproducing "word of
mouth", usually on the internet and through existing social networks.
Use: Rockstar used viral marketing to increase awareness of RDR by creating
a Facebook App Gunslingers in the hope that users would share the experience
with their social network.
Guerilla Marketing
Definition: The use of unconventional and low cost marketing strategies to
raise awareness of a product.
Use: To promote GTA 4, Rockstar used Guerilla marketing, putting up ‘wanted
posters’ over New York, stickers up on notice boards and commissioning works of
graffiti that featured characters from the game.
Vertical Integration
Definition: Absorption into a single firm of several firms involved in all
aspects of a product's manufacture from raw materials to distribution.
Use: Rockstar Games have become a vertically integrated company by buying
developers they have previously worked with, such as DMA Design who became
Rockstar North and Angel Studios who became Rockstar San Diego. By doing this
Rockstar have control over development, funding and marketing of their
products.
Third Party Game
A game made by a company that is completely independent from the manufacturers
of the console that the game is played on.
Second Party Game
A game created exclusively for a specific console through a contract agreement
with the console manufacturer. (The console manufacturer may own a percentage
of the studio, but not enough to give it a controlling interest.)
First Party Game
A game created by the console manufacturers themselves or by a developer in
which the console manufacturer has a controlling interest (over 51% of shares).
Game Engine
A game engine is a software system designed for the creation and development
games.
Developer
The software developers who create the game.
Publisher
The company that funds, market and distribute games that they have developed
internally or have commissioned or acquired from an independent games
developer. (NB even though most publishers also develop games as well, they are
referred to as ‘publishers’ to differentiate them from the companies that just
develop games.)
Machinima
Derived from the words ‘machine’ and ‘cinema’, Machinima is art of filmmaking
created by using real-time recording of computer games, virtual worlds or any
already-existing 3D digital worlds.
Modding
Modding is a slang expression that is derived from the word "modify” and
refers to the act of modifying a game to perform a function or to include
content not originally conceived or intended by the designer, and then usually
shared via the internet.
Sandbox Game
A game that allows the gamer to ignore the main objectives of the game (usually
the Story Mission) and engage in other non-goal orientate activities.
http://www.promaxbda.org/showcase/game-marketing/2012/2
http://www.edge-online.com/features/the-making-of-batman-arkham-city/
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Questions G322
How important is technological convergence for institutions and
audiences within a media area which you have studied?
Discuss the ways in which the media products are
produced and distributed to audiences, within a media area, which you have
studied.
“Media production is dominated by global institutions, which sell their
products and services to national audiences.” To what extent to you agree with
this statement?
What significance does the continuing development of
digital media technology have for media institutions and audiences?
Discuss the issues raised in the production and exchange of media texts in your
chosen media area.
“Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices.” To what extend would you agree with this statement, within the media area you have studied?
To what extent does distribution affect the
marketing and consumption of media products in the media area you have studied.
Discuss the importance of cross media
convergence and synergy in the distribution and marketing of
media products in the media area you have studied.
Discuss the issues raised by media ownership upon the diversity of media products
and services available to audiences in the contemporary media area you have studied.
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The presenter of this documentary doesn't half speak fast but if you can keep up this is really worth watching. It explains the state of the games industry at the moment and shows just what a turbulent time it really is for established players in the industry. As one talking head explains its a perfect storm of change - digital downloads, social gaming, mobile phone gaming - all changing simultaneously and so rapidly that the industry is finding it hard to keep up. And the reason why they are finding it hard to keep up is because they have no idea what the shape of the videogames industry will be in the next five years. It's an exciting time, but there's a reason why many of these industry figures look so pale and clammy - they're panicking.
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Also of interest is this article on the marketing strategy for Portal 2 that encourage savy fans of the game to buy a series of independent games just to find out clues about Portal 2. The article suggests that the complexity of the viral marketing trail could have potentially annoyed some of the hardcore fans. See what you think.
Here's a review of the impact social network and media have had for marketing companies.
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http://www.videogamedesignschools.org/resources/
Created by: VideoGameDesignSchools.org
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-09-28/research/30211715_1_video-ads-...
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http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2012/04/opinion-kohler-video-expensive/?utm_sou...
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/magazine/angry-birds-farmville-and-other-hy...
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http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2012/03/grand-theft-auto-jacked/
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http://www.edge-online.com/features/mojang-adventure-capitalist
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