The Video Games Industry

Structure 

Publisher - The publisher is responsible for licensing the rights and the concept on which the game is to be based. Large publishers/developers also handle both the marketing and distribution themselves. In the international game industry, the publisher and the developer are generally the same concern. For example, the large American game publisher Electronic Arts (EA) owns a number of development companies that develop games based on licences EA has obtained.

Developers - Some developers started as companies that developed games on contract.• Today, the great majority of developers are independent game companies that develop games based on their own rights, and publish the games themselves. Some game companies can thus be regarded as both publishers and developers.

The Distributor - The job of the distributor involves marketing the game, handling packaging and transport and in some cases providing user support. The international publishers sometimes function as distributors for small game developers. In such cases, the distributor owns no rights to the product, but helps in making it available on the market.

5 Most Important Games of All Time

5. Madden Football (1990)
The first John Madden NFL football actually premiered in 1988 but it was the second version in 1990 that set it on its path to annual releases and becoming the best-selling sports game of all time with over 85 million copies sold as of 2010. Former coach and broadcaster lent his name to the series, insisting on realism. Each year giddy football fans line up at midnight to get the newest game and to see what new additions have been made.  Perhaps the biggest key to Madden’s long success is its exclusivity contract which gives it the only game with rights to NFL player names, team names, and stadiums, virtually guaranteeing a monopoly on the NFL. The sucess of the Madden series then lead to EA creating the popular FIFA franchise which is popular on the oppsite side of the atlantic to Madden. 
4. Space Invaders (1978)
Space invaders was developed by Taito in Japan and licensed to Midway in the U.S.  This simple blast the alien invader games is perhaps more responsible for the rise of the arcade game industry in the late 1970’s and early 1980s than any other game. Over 60,000 machines were sold in the U.S. It became the first “must have” game on the Atari 2600 and quadrupled sales of that console in 1980. The game was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto who would later go on to design classic games like Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, and F-Zero

3. World of Warcraft (2004)
World of Warcraft wasn’t the first massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), but it’s become the most popular and influential. First released in 2004, World of Warcraft took the Warcraft real-time strategy series and turned it into an online game for the world to enjoy. As of 2011 the game had over 11 million subscribers and holds the Guinness World Record for the most popular MMORPG by subscribers. Developer Blizzard Entertainment has produced numerous expansion packs to keep players coming back for more.    

2. Wii Sports (2006)
Wii Sports came packed with the Nintendo Wii console when released in 2006 and because of that it enjoys the status as being the best-selling video game of all time with over 75 million copies sold. But more importantly, Wii Sports became the greatest social videogame, allowing friends and families to compete in sports like tennis, baseball, bowling, golf, and boxing. Wii Sports has bridged generations becoming the game to have a strong following among senior citizens. Wii Sports has thrived in retirement communities where golf and bowling leagues sprouted up en masse. Wii Sports signalled a change in the video game industry, and it brought many people to gaming for the first time.
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1. Super Mario Bros. (1985)
Released at the launch of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Mario is also largely responsible for the NES’ initial success. It was the best-selling game of all time for over two decades until being supplanted by another game on our list with over 40 million units sold. Mario has gone on to become Nintendo’s flagship character with each new system they release, and the name Mario can sell almost anything that Nintendo wants it to. And more importantly the 2D platformer is still very popular and addicting today, meaning that this game can be played over and over again by different generations without ever getting bored.

The Effects of Changing Technology on the Video Game Industry

Since the start of the 21st century there have been massive leaps in technology which have allowed the video game industry to evolve. At the start of this century Sony were just about to bring out the Playstation 2 which saw huge improvements on the Playstation 1. There was much more space, better processing and things seemed much more realistic. Skip forward a few years to 2003 and we see the the introduction of the EyeToy which would allow users to control things on screen using motion. Although this didn't catch on very well it was the start of a big change in gaming. By the middle of the 00s we were introduced to online gaming for the first time via Xbox Live which enabled players to play against one another via the internet, and this is a huge thing today. And thenw e come back to the EyeToy. In the current generation of games consoles we have the Playstation 3, the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii. All three of these can use motion in order to enchance the gameplay. The PS3 has Playstation move which is very similar to the Ninentdo Wii in the way it enables players to use a remote to play the game, and the Xbox Kinect which is a much improved version of the EyeToy.

Upcoming Game

Call of Duty: Black Ops II, abbreviated as COD: BO2, or simply BO2, is an upcoming first-person shooter developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. This is the ninth main installment for the Call of Duty franchise, set for release on November 13, 2012. It is the sequel to Call of Duty: Black Ops and was announced on May 1, 2012e. It is the first game made by Treyarch to be set in the future, and also the first direct sequel produced for the series by the studio. The story takes place across two separate arcs, one recounting events in the 1980s, and the other following characters in the year 2025.

1980s

The 1980s story arc follows the exploits of Alex Mason, fighting in a proxy war in Angola whilst suffering from a disorder as a result of his brainwashing in Vorkuta. Viktor Reznov will reportedly return in this section of the game, and it has been suggested that his friendship with Mason will continue to be explored.
This portion of the game chronicles the rise of Raul Menendez, the primary antagonist of the game in the 2025 chapter. Known locations in this section are Angola, Afghanistan, Panama and parts of Central America.

2025

In 2025, a cyberattack targets the Chinese economy, crippling the Chinese Stock Exchange. In retaliation for this, the Chinese government has banned the export of rare earth elements, sparking a "Second Cold War" between the United States and the People's Republic of China. During a Chinese invasion of Los Angeles, David Mason - the son of Alex Mason - and a team from the United States Navy Special Warfare Development Group must escort the American and French presidents to safety as they come under attack from automated weapons and Menendez's men. In the time since the 1980s, Raul Menendez has styled himself as the leader of the Cordis Die, a populist faction hailed as the champions of victims of economic inequality. In his role as their leader, Menendez has taken control of the "keys" to the armed forces, hijacking the United States' automated weapons systems and turning them against their masters. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Frank Woods has survived his encounter with Lev Kravchenko and escaped from Hanoi. He has taken refuge in a secret location known as "The Vault" and has anticipated Menendez's rise to prominence. Woods serves as the narrator for the 2025 story arc. Known locations are Los Angeles, The Vault, Singapore, Yemen and Cayman Trench. 

Gameplay

Departing from the notorious linear campaign style of past Call of Duty games, Treyarch has decided to take a non-linear and sandbox approach to Call of Duty: Black Ops II, (meaning no back-to-back missions with the same outcome every time replayed) instead the old linear style has been dropped in favor of "a more open ended campaign that relies heavily on player choice. "There will be significant points within the single-player campaign where the player is essentially given control over the course the game will take. It won't be a simple "A, B or C" choice either, it will be more expansive than that, for example, not protecting a certain character won't lead to a mission failure, instead it will change the course the game will take. To help with the departure from a linear campaign are a set of special missions dubbed Strike Force. These missions are sandbox, and play similarly to a Real Time Strategy game. The player can assume the role of a commander, command ground forces, and on top of this, there will be the ability to go back to the traditional first-person and take part in the action themselves. The player gets to have a chance of taking control of many different warfare technology such as unmanned vehicles, jets and robotic automobiles. If the player dies in a Strike Force mission, the story will go on, keeping the record of deaths rather than loading to the last saved checkpoint. The missions will go on to change the story, even change Menendez's plans. By the time the cold war ends the player will see that they have made the results different.





  

'Worst' Paragraph Rewritten

Editing is used in this clip in order to show us the feelings of the lesbian woman. We see lots of fades involving the lesbian woman, particularly when she is with the other woman which could perhaps show us that she is dreaming up ideas. Another way that the editing is used is again through fades. After the 'rape' scene we see the fade, and the fire in the bedroom is through her body, which could possibly show the danger. It also juxtaposes the two scenes, because on is her being 'semi-raped' and the other is her lusting over the other female character in the scene. The editing is used in conjunction with the camera shots, and we see the point of view shots used so we can see what she is looking at.

Terminology - Camera Shots

Camera Angles

1 . Extreme long shot

Extreme Long Shot

This can be taken from as much as a quarter of a mile away, and is generally used as a scene-setting, establishing shot. It normally shows an EXTERIOR, eg the outside of a building, or a landscape, and is often used to show scenes of thrilling action eg in a war film or disaster movie. There will be very little detail visible in the shot, it's meant to give a general impression rather than specific information.
The extreme long shot on the left is taken from a distance, but denotes a precise location - it might even connote all of the entertainment industry if used as the opening shot in a news story.

2. Long Shot

This is the most difficult to categorise precisely, but is generally one which shows the image as approximately "life" size ie corresponding to the real distance between the audience and the screen in a cinema (the figure of a man would appear as six feet tall). This category includes the FULL SHOT showing the entire human body, with the head near the top of the frame and the feet near the bottom. While the focus is on characters, plenty of background detail still emerges: we can tell the coffins on the right are in a Western-style setting, for instance.

3. Medium Shot

Contains a figure from the knees/waist up and is normally used for dialogue scenes, or to show some detail of action. Variations on this include the TWO SHOT (containing two figures from the waist up) and the THREE SHOT (contains 3 figures...). NB. Any more than three figures and the shot tends to become a long shot. Background detail is minimal, probably because location has been established earlier in the scene - the audience already know where they are and now want to focus on dialogue and character interation. Another variation in this category is the OVER-THE-SHOULDER-SHOT, which positions the camera behind one figure, revealing the other figure, and part of the first figure's back, head and shoulder.

4. Close-Up

This shows very little background, and concentrates on either a face, or a specific detail of mise en scène. Everything else is just a blur in the background. This shot magnifies the object (think of how big it looks on a cinema screen) and shows the importance of things, be it words written on paper, or the expression on someone's face. The close-up takes us into the mind of a character. In reality, we only let people that we really trust get THAT close to our face - mothers, children and lovers, usually - so a close up of a face is a very intimate shot. A film-maker may use this to make us feel extra comfortable or extremely uncomfortable about a character, and usually uses a zoom lens in order to get the required framing.

5. Extreme Close-Up

As its name suggests, an extreme version of the close up, generally magnifying beyond what the human eye would experience in reality. An extreme close-up of a face, for instance, would show only the mouth or eyes, with no background detail whatsoever. This is a very artificial shot, and can be used for dramatic effect. The tight focus required means that extra care must be taken when setting up and lighting the shot - the slightest camera shake or error in focal length is very noticeable. 

Camera Angles

The relationship between the camera and the object being photographed (ie the ANGLE) gives emotional information to an audience, and guides their judgment about the character or object in shot. The more extreme the angle (ie the further away it is from eye left), the more symbolic and heavily-loaded the shot.

1. The Bird's-Eye view

This shows a scene from directly overhead, a very unnatural and strange angle. Familiar objects viewed from this angle might seem totally unrecognisable at first (umbrellas in a crowd, dancers' legs). This shot does, however, put the audience in a godlike position, looking down on the action. People can be made to look insignificant, ant-like, part of a wider scheme of things. Hitchcock (and his admirers, like Brian de Palma) is fond of this style of shot.

 

A cameraman, raised above the action, gets a high angle shot

2. High Angle

Not so extreme as a bird's eye view. The camera is elevated above the action using a crane to give a general overview. High angles make the object photographed seem smaller, and less significant (or scary). The object or character often gets swallowed up by their setting - they become part of a wider picture.

3. Eye Level

A fairly neutral shot; the camera is positioned as though it is a human actually observing a scene, so that eg actors' heads are on a level with the focus. The camera will be placed approximately five to six feet from the ground.

4. Low Angle

These increase height (useful for short actors like Tom Cruise or James McAvoy) and give a sense of speeded motion. Low angles help give a sense of confusion to a viewer, of powerlessness within the action of a scene. The background of a low angle shot will tend to be just sky or ceiling, the lack of detail about the setting adding to the disorientation of the viewer. The added height of the object may make it inspire fear and insecurity in the viewer, who is psychologically dominated by the figure on the screen.

5. Oblique/Canted Angle

Sometimes the camera is tilted (ie is not placed horizontal to floor level), to suggest imbalance, transition and instability (very popular in horror movies). This technique is used to suggest POINT-OF-View shots (ie when the camera becomes the 'eyes' of one particular character,seeing what they see — a hand held camera is often used for this.

 

Camera Movement

A director may choose to move action along by telling the story as a series of cuts, going from one shot to another, or they may decide to move the camera with the action. Moving the camera often takes a great deal of time, and makes the action seem slower, as it takes several second for a moving camera shot to be effective, when the same information may be placed on screen in a series of fast cuts. Not only must the style of movement be chosen, but the method of actually moving the camera must be selected too. There are seven basic methods:

1. Pans

A movement which scans a scene horizontally. The camera is placed on a tripod, which operates as a stationary axis point as the camera is turned, often to follow a moving object which is kept in the middle of the frame.

2. Tilts

A movement which scans a scene vertically, otherwise similar to a pan.

3. Dolly Shots

Sometimes called TRUCKING or TRACKING shots. The camera is placed on a moving vehicle and moves alongside the action, generally following a moving figure or object. Complicated dolly shots will involve a track being laid on set for the camera to follow, hence the name. The camera might be mounted on a car, a plane, or even a shopping trolley (good method for independent film-makers looking to save a few dollars). A dolly shot may be a good way of portraying movement, the journey of a character for instance, or for moving from a long shot to a close-up, gradually focusing the audience on a particular object or character.

4. Hand-held shots

The hand-held movie camera first saw widespread use during World War II, when news reporters took their windup Arriflexes and Eyemos into the heat of battle, producing some of the most arresting footage of the twentieth century. After the war, it took a while for commercially produced movies to catch up, and documentary makers led the way, demanding the production of smaller, lighter cameras that could be moved in and out of a scene with speed, producing a "fly-on-the-wall" effect.This aesthetic took a while to catch on with mainstream Hollywood, as it gives a jerky, ragged effect, totally at odds with the organised smoothness of a dolly shot. The Steadicam (a heavy contraption which is attached a camera to an operator by a harness. The camera is stabilized so it moves independently) was debuted in Marathon Man (1976), bringing a new smoothness to hand held camera movement and has been used to great effect in movies and TV shows ever since. No "walk and talk" sequence would be complete without one. Hand held cameras denote a certain kind of gritty realism, and they can make the audience feel as though they are part of a scene, rather than viewing it from a detached, frozen position.

 

5. Crane Shots

Basically, dolly-shots-in-the-air. A crane (or jib), is a large, heavy piece of equipment, but is a useful way of moving a camera - it can move up, down, left, right, swooping in on action or moving diagonally out of it. The camera operator and camera are counter-balanced by a heavy weight, and trust their safety to a skilled crane/jib operator.

6. Zoom Lenses

A zoom lens contains a mechanism that changes the magnification of an image. On a still camera, this means that the photographer can get a 'close up' shot while still being some distance from the subject. A video zoom lens can change the position of the audience, either very quickly (a smash zoom) or slowly, without moving the camera an inch, thus saving a lot of time and trouble. The drawbacks to zoom use include the fact that while a dolly shot involves a steady movement similar to the focusing change in the human eye, the zoom lens tends to be jerky (unless used very slowly) and to distort an image, making objects appear closer together than they really are. Zoom lenses are also drastically over-used by many directors (including those holding palmcorders), who try to give the impression of movement and excitement in a scene where it does not exist. Use with caution - and a tripod!

7. The Aerial Shot

An exciting variation of a crane shot, usually taken from a helicopter. This is often used at the beginning of a film, in order to establish setting and movement. A helicopter is like a particularly flexible sort of crane - it can go anywhere, keep up with anything, move in and out of a scene, and convey real drama and exhilaration — so long as you don't need to get too close to your actors or use location sound with the shots.

Mock Exam.

Part Two..

Right at the start of the clip we see the four slaves being marched, but the only thing we really see of them are the rag which they are wearing. These immediately signify poverty and people of a lower class. If we compare this to the guards who marched them in and what they're wearing we see that they are of a higher class than the slaves based on the fact that they are all wearing a uniform to do their jobs. The situation they are immediately shown in tells us that the slaves are inferior to everyone else. Furthermore, the way that they are always shown between the gaps in fences that they are trapped in their environment, and are treated similar to the way in which animals are treated. If we compare the colours which the slaves are wearing, browns and greys, and compare that to the upper classes who are wearing really bright colours with gold trim, it shows us how much difference there is between the different groups of people. They are wearing colours such as white and purple to show us purity.

We see a lot of evidence of a lower class when the slaves are in the small hut, we get a wide angle shot with all four of their faces in, but very little movement from any of them, and no talking whatsoever, the only noise we can hear is from outside, which is the from the guards and the upper classes. When the door opens in the hut we see all three classes in order. The upper classes are sat at the top, the guards stood in the middle who represent the middle class, while the slaves are at the front but below everyone else, signalling the lower class. During the fight between the black slave as the white slave we see a difference between the slaves. The camera is at a low-angle to show how big the slaves are, but the black slave is always closer to the camera, as he his the one that the director wants us to focus upon, but in these shots we still see the upper classes above the slaves. We also get a high angle shot from behind the upper class family, which shows them looking down on the slaves, and while the slaves are risking their lives they just see it as a bit of fun. This is a signifier of a higher class, and conforms to the stereotypes of both rich and poor.

During the clip we see plenty of use of sound. When the slaves are being marched out we hear slow music as that links well with the slow pace which they are walking with. While in the hut we hear lots of diegetic sound to make up for the lack of speech. The sounds are mainly related to the fight going on outside, and is metal hitting metal or skin. During the fight that we see we have very fast-paced, tense music, but whenever the camera cuts to the upper classes it all goes calm again, which shows that it means very little other than entertainment for them, but when we go to the slaves we can see that they are fighting for their lives, and that the life for the upper classes is relatively easy in comparison to people of a lower class. The editing also shows us the same sort of thing. Whenever the fight is going on the cuts are very fast paced, with the shot changing all the time, but whenever we cut towards the posh it is a much more focused on them to show how calm their lifestyle is. 

The actions of the characters show us a lot about the different classes too. The way that the black slave is angry towards the upper classes is a stereotypical representation towards the way that lower class people feel about the upper classes. It shows jealousy ad hatred towards those who are better off, and therefore those who are in control. We also see how the rich look down on the poor, by the way that the wife of the family uses derogative language towards the lower class when she calls him an 'imbecile'. This also conforms to the stereotype of the rich looking down on the poor.

Preliminary Work

When we started off doing the Preliminary work we were originally warned as to how difficult it could perhaps be, and watching the previous AS level groups we realised that one of the biggest difficulties would be originality. After a brief period we finally came up with an idea that we considered good enough to follow through with. A teacher leaving the classroom while a student steals exam answers off of the computer. 

Once we had decided on the idea, we worked out who would be taking up what roles in the filming off the clip. Myself and Tom took part in both the filming and the directing of the piece, while Tom and Eliot took on the acting. Before that we had to complete several pieces of paperwork, such as a script, a storyboard and a timeline. Once we have ticked all those boxes we were then able to commence with the filming.

Once filming was underway we tried to get plenty of shots for each small clip, so that we could get the acting spot on and make our editing much simpler. We did this with every small clip and often tried experimenting with different camera shots, to try and get used to using all of the things that could potentially improve the clip. After using up most of our 2 hour time limit on the filming we were soon able to start editing together all our clips. In hindsight I wish I had done a little more on the editing as it would probably have come in handy to have the experience of using the software, but I did a little bit and managed to grasp the basic concepts of Sony Vegas.

Looking back on the work that we did I feel as though our group worked very hard, and we all contributed to the task. Doing the work that we did was something I didn't think I could do in under a week so it has helped me prove myself wrong. Next time we do similar work I intend on using the editing software a lot more to try and utilise it myself rather than relying on others, and perhaps acting and letting someone else have a go at using the camera.