Video games

 Video games.                                                                                                                         05/11/24

L/o: To explore the history& context of video games

Video games are a relatively new media form

Since the 1970s they have had a massive growth. this has been due to rapid technological development.

In recent years the diversity of game genres and platforms on which they can be played has meant an explosion in the gaming industry

In 2024 the video games market is projected to reach a revenue of US$282.3bn.

Video game industry is massive.

1970's- mathematical games single player games simple, mainly arcade games

1980's- pac man, game first games appear on home console bigger variety home gaming multiplayer games comes in 

1990s- sonic the hedgehog, more narrative more console choice

2000s- the sims,  better graphics more narrative 

2010s- minecraft, more advanced more narrative more generative content streaming

better graphics

more at home consoles

play online

more interactive

changes in technology 

use of mobile gaming

pay anywhere with anyone 

1- what sort of platforms can people use now to play games on? 

consoles and mobile devices

2-  why are smartphones such a popular way for people to play games?

people can play anywhere they want as they can take their phone anywhere they want with them.

3-  what do you think has happened to the gaming audience because of these technological developments?

the gaming audience has become bigger and more diverse as most people have access to a console or a mobile phone

4-  lots of smartphone games are free to play. How do the game companies make money from them?having in app purchases or including ads people have to watch in order to get something or to move on in the game

5- what is augmented reality and how has it been used to enhance games?

digital technology is used to combine real world with 3D to make it more realistic 

Minecraft- console, entertainment, social interaction, personal identity 

Roblox- mobile and computer, entertainment, social interaction

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Case study: Fortnite                                                                                                                  08/11/24

L/o: to research the case study and explore the context of video games.

Do now.

1-  better graphics, narratives

2- digital technology that is used to combine the real world with 3D to make it more realistic.

3- playing with others online

4- creating their own character in a game

5- entertainment 

1-Epic games

2-7 years launched in July 201

3- over $26 billion 

4- six distinct game modes versions. battle royale, save the world, creative, 

5- the story involves a mysterious figure emerging from a meteor, the islands crater, and the descent of chaos. the players have to compete to be the last standing in a battle royale. free to play, multiplayer

6- survival game fusion of. battle games and construction games

7- in some streaming platforms most viewed game on youtube and has it's own facebook, twitter and instagram account 

8- enter the game lobby and start a duo or a squad match. allows people to chat together using the chat function.

9- bright colours grabbing young peoples attention, allows people to play together and there is something for everyone on the game its free, unique art style, rise in population of game genre, regularly updated so keeps players engaged, can be played on phones  

10- entertainment- play to get rid of boredom and gives them something to do, social interaction- play with others and talk to others about the game. personal identity because the players get to chose their skin and what weapons they use expressing themselves as much as they can.

Epic games

epic games was started by Tim Sweeney in 1991 originally run from his parents house

runs an operating system called unreal engine to develop Fortnite. they have made this accessible on their website and encourage their audience to use it to develop their own games . unreal engine has also been used by professional game developers to create titles like Batman:Arkham City and Infinity Blade

2014, Guinness book of records named unreal engine as most successful video game engine

Exploring Context

Do violent video games make people more violent?the relationship between video games and audiences has been controversial area, with many moral panics 

these ranged from fears the violent games encourage copycat behaviours, to worries about addiction and the amount of 'screen time' that is healthy.

Fortnite when compared to other successful titles like: Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty contains very little explicit or realistic violence, and the cartoon like graphics also make the game more suitable for younger players.

1. Prince Harry 

key ideas: should be banned- addictive and dangerous 

agree/disagree: disagree because the game is suitable for younger players as the game isn't graphic and isn't dangerous at all

2. violence and video games

Key ideas:  no evidence that video games and violence have no link however video games and violent thoughts have some link.

agree/disagree: agree with theres no link between violence and video games as studies were done to show theres no link between violence and video games as people who have played video games have less hostile thoughts than people who don't play video games.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Homework-11/11/24

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

Audiences play videos games for entertainment as they play to keep themselves busy and to occupy them when they are bored or have free time, They also play video games for social interaction this could be talking to people in game on the chats to after playing the game making friends through talking to others about the game as they would have similar interests, video games allow people to talk to other people nation-wide using chat option in some games. People could also use video games for personal identity as in create mode in some games they can build their own buildings and things and also they have the option to chose what skin their character has or completely customise their own character, they could also relate to a character in the game they are playing or inspire to be like a person in the game.  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Regulation.                                                                                                                                 12/11/24

L/o: to explore how video games are regulated.

Do now

1- epic games

2- save the world

3- unreal engine

4- everyone panics about the same thing wide spread feeling of fear that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or wellbeing of a community or a society.

5- the act of controlling something

 

PEGI- age ratings used for video games.

3- suitable for all ages, with no sounds or pictures that could frighten young children

7-suitable for young children with some possibly frightening sounds and scenes mild violence

12- suitable for children 12 and over violence towards fantasy characters, non-realistic violence towards humans, sexual innuendo or posturing and mild bad language  

16-suitable for children 16 and over with violence and sex that looks the same as it would in real life

18-only suitable for adults with gross violence apparently motiveless killing, or violence towards defenceless characters. 

Fortnite has the PEGI rating of 12 for 'frequent scenes of mild violence'. It seems that parents are more concerned with issues surrounding addiction then the levels of violence.

How is the video game industry regulated? Refer to Fortnite to support your answer.

Pegi regulates the different age ratings that are given to games based on the content that is included. Fortnite has a rating of 12 due to the frequent scenes of mild violence. There are 5 different age ratings 3,7,12,16,18. 3and 7 are the games more suitable for younger children however  may have some scenes that could frighten some young children. 12 is suitable for children 12 and over as there would be some violence towards some characters, sexual innuendo and mild bad language. 16 is suitable for children over 16 as there is violence and sex that would look the same as it would in real life. The final rating is 18 and these are the games that are only suitable for adults to play due to motiveless killing and violence towards defenceless characters.  

games rating authority- GRA

Technology

L/o: to explore how technology has advanced gameplay 

Convergence- one of the things that has made Fortnite so popular is the ability to play the game from anywhere (computer, consoles, mobile). you can also download it for an range of operating systems. not only this but you can move, mid-game, between devices without interrupting game play. This means it can be payed at home, or on the move, on a tiny screen or a video projector. This is a good example of technological convergence.

Fortnite is also a good example of cross-media convergence. Fortnite is the most viewed game on Youtube and has used streaming platforms like twitch (owned by amazon) to broadcast live competitions.

 cross media convergence- games being streamed across different social platforms

convergence- ability to access games from different devices

technological convergence- ability to play anywhere because of ability to play across devices.

Collaborations.

-star wars

-marvel

-deadpool

Synergy- having two or more products help to promote each other at the same time 

In collaboration with marvel studios there was special avengers: infinity war segment and a tie in with Godzilla. The format of Fortnite means that any type of costumes, weapons and games can be introduced to keep the game fresh.

Films/TV/record labels/ sorts can promote their brands to over 20 million players, whilst famous collaborations keep Fortnite in the news and social media.

Epic games has a good relationship with various non-gaming celebrities  such as Drake and basketball  star Ben Simmons. This helps to promote the game beyond the traditional gaming market.

Dyer's star theory

star theory refers to the idea that celebrities are commodities manufactured by institutions. Dyer believes that celebrities are constructed to represent 'real people' experiencing real emotions in order to relate to audiences and sell products such as films or music. 

Convergence benefits the Fortnite brand because it allows their players to access the game across different devices like consoles, computers and mobile phones. This allows a wider range of people to play the game across different devices and still be able to play with each other. It also helps the Fortnite brand because it allows cross-media convergence to happen so the game will get more views due to being streamed across multiple streaming platforms and other social media platforms. Technological convergence also helps Fortnite's brand as the game allows people to play on whatever device they want to and still be able to play with their friends and they are able to switch devices without interrupting their game-play and still be on the same level and stuff as they were on a different device. Convergence also helps Fortnite because people wanting to play on the go but also at home would be playing twice as much as people who only play at home as the people who place on two or more devices might be buying more in game things than other might be doing due to having more devices to see the new updates on. 

Synergy benefits Fortnite's brand because when the collaborated with Drake the people who like his music started to play the game due to him being a character in the game and people who play Fortnite also started listening to his music to get him more popularity and Fortnite got more money and popularity through people wanting to buy the drake stuff on the game. This is the same with when Fortnite collaborated with Star wars they helped star wars get more views and money though having star wars themed things in the game so people wanted t go and what the films but it also helped the game as it bought them more money and popularity due to star wars fans wanting to play the game to use the star wars things. 

band 3

7 marks out of 12 marks 

www- used references to Fortnite 

ebi- more detailed and more references 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How do video games make money.                                                                                         15/11/24

L/o:to explore how the gaming industry make money

Fortnite is a GaaS ( game as a service )

how does Fortnite make money?

- in game purchases

-merchandise sales

-minro transactions

- battle passes

- drip feed limited edition and exclusive content to those who buy a battle pass

-crew subscriptions pay monthly fee and become Fortnite crew includes bonus content and a monthly allowance of v-bucks. 

The launch and success of Fortnite

The promotional campaign targeted existing games 

The campaign reached 150 million users across different gaming sites

It had a cinematic trailer

The game gained 10 million in the first 2 weeks following its launch

It is still very successful

Why so successful?

As of 2024 Fortnite has approximately 650 million players.

Fortnite has made $5.5 billion per year

Collaborations

one actor in its success is the integration of characters from other successful franchises, such as marvel and star wars

For example the Avenger's' infinity gauntlet limited time mash up' generated 1.2 million mentions on social media in the first two days.

This 'buzz' raises awareness of the game amongst audiences who are not exiting gamers

Fortnite has done collaborations with stranger things and ghostbusters

E-sports and events

The Fortnite world cup was first held in 2019. It received considerable media attention and was streamed on their Twitch channel.

Epic now employs many professional gamers to keep the game at the forefront of the online conversation.

Celebrity players also help raise the profile of the game.

Fortnite has also hosted a variety of events from festivals to 'live' concerts 

In collaboration with Arianna Grande's Rift Tour in august 2021 Fortnite scheduled a series of virtual shows in the game

These were publicised on their website and socials through teaser trailers posts on twitter instagram and facebook on the run up and during rift tour quests unlocked rewards in game purchases like Arianna grande costumes and emotes new item on the website explaining 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Video games: exam preparation.                                                                                            22/11/24

L/o: to explore the possible exam questions for video games.

Do Now

1- bright animated graphics, all new features highlighted.

2- more males half 10-25, half older

3- emphasis on construction as well as killing, non-gamer celebrity players

4- passive

5- personal identity 

revision highlighting key stuff

Publishes

PEGI RATING

What made it so popular ,technological development helped

uses and gratification theory why so successful?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Homework-25/11/24

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

Fortnite makes money through in game purchases and encouraging their players to spend money on getting limited edition skins for their characters and to buy in game money(v-bucks). They also make money through merchandise sales and battle passes, this is where players pay to be able to have access to exclusive things like skins and deals. They also make money through crew subscriptions where players pay a monthly fee and become part of Fortnite’s ‘crew’ which gives them access to bonus content and a monthly allowance of v-bucks.

They have stayed so popular because they include a new update every week to keep their audiences interested in the game which makes people want to play it more as there is something new every week. They also do collaborations with celebrities (gaming and non-gaming) to keep people interested this also gets them more money through their players buying the exclusive skins. Having non-gamers collaborate with them also entices people who are fans of the celebrities to play the game causing them to pay for the skin overall making Fortnite more money and keeping them popular at the same time. They would also make money through the collaboration as the celebrity would give them some money to be featured in the game.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

highlighting key things for mock

Who the game targets

What different elements of the game make it appealing to audiences

What are the uses and gratifications theory is

Use the uses and gratifications theory to explain what audiences get from playing the game 

Missed lesson content.