Video games

Tuesday 5th November 2024

LO: to explore the history and context of video games

Video games are a relatively new form of media. Recently the diversity of games in genre and platforms there has been a boom in people playing video games.

In 2024 the video game market is estimated to be at a value of 282 billion dollars.

1970's

Games: pong, maze shooter

features: single player, basic, no narratives,2 dimensional

1980's

Games: legend of zelda, mike tysons punch out, madden football

Features: more content, can have a narrative, more interactive,2 dimensional

1990's

Games: Sonic the hedgehog, Mortal combat,

features: multiplayer, more narrative, better graphics, 3d graphics

2000's:

games: angry birds, rockband, call of duty

Features: can be played on a phone, play with multiple friends, online play

2010's

Games:Minecraft, GTA, Fortnite

Features: better graphics, more processing power larger game worlds, can play in servers with many people

2020's

Games: animal crossing, hades

Features: can play online on portable consoles.

Three major changes in video games since the 70's could be the availability of consoles that have the power to play games, online play, more interactive gameplay

1. People can play games on phones, consoles and pc's

2.Smartphones are popular for gaming because a majority of people own smartphones and many mobile games are free

3.the gaming audience has gotten more diverse and wide

4.the game companies make money from these games by adding advertisements in between periods of playing the game and having in app purchases to give yourself a boost

5.Augmented reality is when a game adds to what you are seeing in real life and it can help add more immersion to a game by changing what somebody sees in real life

Minecraft: can be played on console, pc and mobile phones. Can supply social interaction and entertainment and personal identity

Fortnite: can be played on console and pc. can supply social interaction and entertainment.

Friday 8th November 2024

LO: to research the case study and explore the context of video games

Do now

1. graphical development, multiplayer

2.when reality is added to with digital elements

3.playing online with friends

4. being able to relate to the main character

5. entertainment

Fortnite case study:

1. Epic games produced Fortnite

2. Fortnite has been around since 2017

3. Fortnite has made over 26 billion dollars

4. Fortnite had multiple modes save the world, battle royale, lego Fortnite and rocket racing

5. There isn't a story to Fortnite. players skydive onto an island that has weapons and whoever is last alive wins, however their is a storm which acts as a barrier for players and slowly brings them closer till only one person is left

6.Fortnite is a third person shooter game

7. Fortnite has accounts on twitter, instagram and youtube. The game Fortnite is talked about on many other platforms though such as Twitch a live-streaming platform where streamers play games whilst interacting with their viewers live.

8.  fortnight allows users to play with each other by using the internet to create a connection to a lobby within their servers.

9. Fortnite had a very unique art style for its genre, Fortnite has had many collaborations with other popular franchises such as marvel and DC, the gameplay had many unique aspects.

10. People play Fortnite according to the uses and gratifications theory for social interaction because the of the potential to find new friends because you can meet people who live very far from you.

EPIC GAMES:

Epic games started in 1991 it released its game engine used to make fortnite free to make games for people and companies to use

Exploring context: do violent video games make people more violent.

Many moral panics have happened over the relationships between audiences and the games these ranged from fears that violent games would make people violent to addiction problems and the amount of screentime that is healthy

Compared to other games Fortnite is much more tame when it comes to violence and racism.

Prince harry on Fortnite. "its created to addict" "its so irresponsible" Prince harry thinks Fortnite is addictive and bad for young children 

Violence on video games on Fortnite: "no evidence that they having anything to do with violence""i love video games, even the violent ones" "publication bias causes studies that show that video games are violent more than ones that dont"  violence on video games says there is no link between violence and violent video games

Tuesday 12th November 2024

Regulation
Do now

1. Epic games
2.Lego Fortnite
3.unreal engine
4. a panic in a group of people about morality
5. a regulation is a rule preventing something from happening

as pegi age ratings increase the amount of violence allowed in each pegi rating also increases

Fortnite has a rating of pegi 12 for frequent mild violence. Parents are more worried about Fortnite addiction that causing violence.

How is the video game industry regulated? refer to Fortnite for your answer

The video game is regulated by the se of age rating companies such as pegi which work as guidelines for parents to know quickly and easily the content of the game, with an increased pegi age rating the older the intended person playing the game is supposed to be due to the increased mature content in each older bracket of rating. For example Fortnite has an age rating of 12 due to frequent mild violence in its content this means that whilst the content is not the most violent it happens many times and children only around 12 should play it, it is unsuitable for people younger due to this violence.

in the UK the GRA rates games using the pegi system, there is a law that every video game needs an age rating.

Technology

one of the things that has made Fortnite so popular is its accessibility on multiple devices. this accessibility on multiple devices is known as technological convergence. Fortnite also has cross media convergence because it can be watched on many streaming platforms and video platforms.

technological convergence is when something can be accessed on multiple electronic devices

Cross-media convergence is when a piece of media can be found on multiple media displaying platforms

Convergence is when two pieces of media or technology can be accessed at the same place

Fortnite collaborations: venom, tomb raider, God of war

The format of Fortnite fits to have any character be in its world and keep the game fresh.

synergy- having two or more products promote each-other at the same time

dyers star theory: the idea the celebrities are commodities or products manufactured by institutions. Dyer believes celebrities are constructed by companies to mimic human emotion to create an image to sell products.

Convergence benefits Fortnite because it lets players access the game easier which can help make the game more popular. Additionally convergence benefits Fortnite because the game can be watched on many media sharing websites, which allows for more people to know about the game thus possibly making them want to play it making the game more popular. Also convergence benefits Fortnite because it can be played on many devices anywhere which allows more people to be playing at a time for example the nintendo switch console which allows for portable gaming of games such as Fortnite. This links to  Dyer's star theory because all the convergence to multiple media sharing websites allows for celebrities to post about Fortnite and sell it to their many fans.

Synergy benefits Fortnite because it brings attention to the game from the use of more popular IP's or celebrities for example Fortnite's many collaborations with brands such as Marvel and celebrities such as Lebron James. Additionally this synergy benefits Fortnite by influencing people to buy in game content because it supports their favourite creators or celebrities making Fortnite much money in the process. Also Fortnite benefits of synergy because the celebrities and brands which they collaborate with are trending in the media so keeps Fortnite trending too, which increases Fortnite's popularity. This links to the Dyer's star theory that celebrities are just advertising campaigns created by businesses to mimic human emotion to sell products because celebrities interact with Fortnite to sell its in game purchases to its fans. 

10/12 marks

Band 4

Friday 15th November 2024

How do video games make money?

Do now 

1. synergy

2.when a piece of media is accessible from multiple technologies

3.PEGI

4.games rating authority

5.the control of something

Free to play video games that are free to download earn most their money form in game purchases for skins to customise your character. Some of the in app purchases are microtransactions which allow you to purchase power ups or boosts which allows users to gain an advantage without having to do anything in game. Battle passes that drip feed limited exclusive content that can only get from the battle pass. merchandise and licensing deals are done with other companies to produce fortnite merchandise. When fortnite was released it exploded in popularity and to keep hype behind the game.

the launch and success of fortnite:

the promotional campaign around fortnite targeted gamers, across different gaming sites before fortnite release reached 150 million users across different gaming sites. There was a cinematic trailer for the games campaign which is not customary for video game trailers. the game gained 10 million players in the first 2 weeks following its launch. Fortnite is still very successful.

Why so successful?

650 million registered players. In the last 2 years the profit generated by fortnite is 4.4 billion. 30 million active users this year per day.

Collaborations:

one factor in its success is the integration of characters from other successful franchises. For example the avengers infinity gauntlet generated 1.2 million mentions on social media. this buzz raises awareness for the games live events motivating people to play. 

Two other collaborations done are star wars and stranger things.

The fortnite world cup was first held in 2019. it received considerable media attention and was streamed on their twitch channel. Epic now employs professional gamers to keep the game at the forefront of online conversation. Celebrity players such as drake also raise the profile of the game. Celebrities involved with fortnite have been eminem and snoop dog. IN collaboration with Ariana grande the rift tour was scheduled to have a live event on fortnite

Explain why audiences play video games. Refer to the uses and gratifications theory in your response.  [12]

USE THIS STRUCTURE TO ANSWER THE EXAM QUESTION:

• Explain what the uses and gratifications theory is.
• Entertainment – explain what pleasure audiences get from playing video games and give an example.
• Personal Identity – explain how audiences might use video games to construct their own identity and give an example.
• Social Interaction – explain how audiences can communicate with each other through video games and give an example.
• Information – explain how audience could gain knowledge from playing video games and give an example.

The uses and gratifications theory is a theory that states people only use pieces of media for 4 reasons, personal identity, information, entertainment and social interaction.

People may play video games for entertainment by the feeling of accomplishment that can be gained from winning a game for example in the game "fortnite" a player who is the last alive is awarded with a win and a custom win glider that allows them to demonstrate their win to other players. Audiences might use video games to gain a sense of personal identity by relating to a character within the story of the game which allows them to gain a sense or relatability to the video games, for example in a story game such as god of war a person could relate with the personality of one of the many colourful cast of characters featured . Social interaction is promoted from video games because it allows for people to communicate with each other about the video game in real life, for example the game fortnite releases much new content periodically in "seasons" which can be discussed by people in real life. People may also play games for information such as strategy games like "civilisation" which is based in many historically accurate happenings which allows for a player of the game to gain a higher understanding of history.

Tuesday 19th November 2024

Audiences

LO; to explore the appeal of video games and how the industry targets different audiences 

Do now 

1.cosmetic purchases, battle pass

2. more exposure to different audiences

3.marvel, star wars

4. trailers, sponsoring content creators

5. personal identity, information, entertainment, social interaction

Website task:

1. it has a carousel at the top of the website displaying all of Fortnite's newest events, below there are many scrolling games of what game modes are trending

2. The game, its in game cosmetics, recent collaborations, popular creative mode games

3. collaborations with multiple celebrities such as snoop dog or ice spice

4.upcoming events, new updates and products.

5. play the game, purchase cosmetics, interact with others online

Homepage is appealing through the use of bright animated graphics and the use of imperatives such as "Watch now!". A range of posts highlight the latest news and developments in Fortnite, for example new characters or future events. The audience of people who play fortnite 78% are male. 22% are female, 53% are 10-25 and 42% are in full time employment.

the unrealistic violence and cartoon style graphics with as much of a emphasise on construction as killing appeals to younger children and parents. The rise of E sports stars seen on streaming platforms such as twitch, this promotes the interest of the game in celebrities which allows for Fortnite to directly collaborate with those celebrities further boosting Fortnite's popularity. Fortnite uses Seasons with rumours and gossip about future seasons which mimics the format of tv show drama's to create more hype around the games new releases.

APPLYING AUDIENCE THEORY

Media effects theories work on the principal that audiences can be active or passive. the difference between those two is how they engage with media messages. An active audience is an audience that engages with a media message by evaluating, responding or questioning that idea. Passive audiences are audiences that except what the media tells them without question.

Fortnite has an active audience because the audience has to interact with the game to use it, the audiences also post about the game online to talk about it

The basic gameplay of fortnite means you have to be an active audience. Fortnite creative also allows to create more products for other Fortnite players to play. In addition Epic games have released their operating system for free allowing other users to create their own game.

Fortnite offers entertainment and social interaction. Fortnite supplies entertainment with the very engaging gameplay of the game. Fortnite also supplies social interaction by allowing people to discuss the many new events that happen to people in real life.

Friday 22nd November 2024

LO: Exam preparation

Do now

1. bright graphics, interactive content

2. The fortnite audience is people mainly between the ages 10-25 more male audience

3. collaborations with different IP's such as stranger things and Uncharted

4. passive audience

5. personal identity

Exam preparation

Fortnite was published by epic games. The pegi rating of Fortnite is 12+ because of its frequent scenes of mild violence. Fortnite has become so popular because it appeals to many different audiences in multiple ways, one of these ways is through the many collaborations with popular ip's such as stranger things or star wars and another way is its gameplay which has as much an emphasis on construction as it does destruction which is better for parents who might be worried about violence in video games and it keeps gameplay interesting. Technological development has helped make Fortnite more popular because of the capabilities of technology allow for fortnite to host large servers of players with up to 100 people all playing with each other at the same time. The game is funded not by the purchase of the game which is free to play but with microtransactions, collaborations and licensing for products.

Explain how Fortnite make money and how they have remained so popular. 

Use your knowledge and the notes from recent lesson to answer this question.

Try to show:

• Good, accurate knowledge & understanding of the funding model and successes
• Good, secure examples from Fortnite
• Appropriate use of media terminology

Fortnite makes money in multiple ways by selling licensing to allow for companies to make products with their name, in app cosmetic purchases which allow people to customise their in game character and a battle pass which functions almost like a monthly subscription service which has limited time cosmetic releases. Fortnite has remained popular with multiple strategies such as releasing new content in "seasons" which can help drum up hype by having teasers for these new releases keeping the audience engaged, collaborations with many celebrity players such as Drake to bring attention to the game from fans of the celebrity and media that talks about celebrities and hiring professional streamers that have large followings to play the game and create more attention towards the game.

Tuesday 26th November 2024-