Decoding Questions
"How important is technoligcal convergence for institutions and audiences within a media area which you have studied"How important is two media industires working together for companies and the people who buy the games in the computer games industry. - Mention the use of Cinematic Advertising, the use of the Internet in indie games on KickStarter, sales on the internet, Advertising of games on YouTube and development videos. $3,000,000 raised on KickStarter by Tim Schafer
"Discuss the ways in which media products are produced and distributed to audiences, winthin a media area you have studied"Talk about the production and distribution stages of the video games industry - The way in which retailers pay money to sell the games in sell same and distribute it around the world both instore and online. Retailers such as Amazon, Tesco and Game sell games online and instore, while Steam, PlayStation Network and Xbox Live all sell their games via download. The big name companies operate a "closed door policy" which means that they don't allow anyone to find out information about the game.
Video Game Production
Video game development is the process of creating a video game. Development is undertaken by a game developer, which may range from a single person to a large business. Mainstream games are normally funded by a publisher and take several years to develop. Indie games can take less time and can be produced cheaply by individuals and small developers. The indie game industry has seen a rise in recent years with the growth of new online distribution systems and the mobile game market.
Most video and computer games are developed by third-party developers. In these cases, there may be external and internal producers. External producers may act as "executive producers" and are employed by the game's publisher. Internal producers work for the developer itself and have more of a hands-on role. Some game developers may have no internal producers, however, and may rely solely on the publisher's producer.
For an internal producer, associate producers tend to specialize in an area of expertise depending on the team they are producing for and what skills they have a background in. These specializations include but are not limited to: programming, design, art, sound, and quality assurance. A normal producer is usually the project manager and is in charge of delivering the product to the publisher on time and on budget. An executive producer will be managing the all of the products in the company and making sure that the games are on track to meet their goals and stay within the company's goals and direction.
For an external producer, their job responsibilities may focus mainly on overseeing several projects being worked on by a number of developers. While keeping updated on the progress of the games being developed externally, they inform the upper management of the publisher of the status of the pending projects and any problems they may be experiencing. If a publisher's producer is overseeing a game being developed internally, their role is more akin to that of an internal producer and will generally only work on one game or a few small games.
Assassins Creed Franchise
"Assassin's Creed is an historical action-adventure open world stealth video game series that, as of 2012, consists of five main games and a number of supporting materials. The games have appeared on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, iOS, HP webOS, Android, Nokia Symbian, Windows Phone platforms, and the Wii U. The main games in the franchise were developed by Ubisoft Montreal, with the handheld titles developed by Gameloft and Gryptonite Studios, with additional development by Ubisoft Montreal. All games in the franchise are published by Ubisoft. The series has been a success and won a number of awards. The series took inspiration from the novel Alamut by the Slovenian writer Vladimir Bartol."
Assassins Creed is a video game made produced by a large company, Ubisoft. Work began on Assassins Creed III in 2010, and after work had been done by a team of 1300 people the game was eventually released in November 2012. The game was developed by a team of people operating a "closed door policy" which means that information on the game only comes via leaks on the internet, or via the "making of" documentary that was featured onYouTube (See Below). The game wasthe most pre-ordered game in the history of gaming, and after spending $52 Million on advertising (£4milion in the UK alone) thenthat is little surprise.
The Assassin's Creed Franchise has now been going since 2007 and had become one of Ubisoft's flagship games in this short five year period. The franchise has been very successful and has still managed to keep fans interested even in the current 5th installment of the game. The successfulness of these franchises come from the familiarity with the character, the game and trust in the developers that they can once again make a successful video game. Assassin's Creed has used three different characters in the installments of the game, Altair, Ezio and Connor, however they are all linked to Desmond, the character whom we see in the present day at the start of every game. He uses a special device, named the animus to go back in time and go through the experiences of his ancestors in order to collect certain artifacts.
Double Fine Adventures
Double Fine Adventure is a Point and Click Action-Adventure Indie game designed by Tim Schafer. He is a developer who made Ation-Adventure games when they were popular, and since their demise he has tried to remake another but has never been able to due to lack of money. So when he put the idea for the game on KickStarter in February 2012 he would never has expected such a positive response. Having set out to try and make $400,000 he ended up making $3,336,371, money which could be used to improve the game is various ways. People who pledged money towards the game benefited from rewards and these rnged from a free copy of the game to lunch with the two main developers (Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert). The thing that got people to pledge money to the game was the video that Tim Schafer uploaded to YouTube trying to drill up support for the game, the response to which was so outstanding that they met the target of $400,000 in less than 8 hours. This coupled with the lack of a point and click adventure game has meant that Double Fine Adventure has thrived and could become one of the most successful indie console games of recent times.
Double Fine Adventure doesn't have a big marketing budget like Assassin's Creed, and this allows for more money to be spent on the game. Tim Schafer has relied on word of mouth accross forums, YouTube and social media to market the game and so far this has been a strong approach. The game is also saving money by not being distributed in a box with a disc, but instead as downloadable conent meaning. This means it is available on Android, iOS, PSN, Xbox Live and Steam.
