Component One: Section B Investigating Media Industries and Audiences

1. Component One: Section B Investigating Media Industries and Audiences Assassins Creed 3: Liberation Summary of Textbook p.115-119

2. Key Terms and Definitions: PEGI: The Pan-European Game Information is the age rating system which was set up to help European parents make informed decisions on buying computer games. It was launched in spring 2003. MMORPG: Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Game is when a large number of players can be involved in the virtual world of a game at one time. Persistent Worlds: A feature of MMORPG, it is when the game world continues even when the gamer is not a part of it, this replicates real life. CRPG: Computer Role-Playing Game is a smaller version of an online multi player game, where there are usually fewer players and a non persistent world. FIFA 17 would be an example of this. Augmented Reality: Computer generated content overlaid on a real world environment, commonly used in video games. This content can come in many forms, including devices that can be hand held and devices you can wear, like headsets and glasses. Avatar: The players representations of themselves within the game. PlayStation Vita: A hand held game console developed and released by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It is the successor to the PlayStation Portable as part of the PlayStation brand of gaming devices. Ubisoft: French global computer game publisher and developer, with headquarters in France. Transgressive Behaviour: Behaviour that goes beyond the norms of social acceptability.

3. Historical Context of Video Games Industry • Popular Consoles: • Xbox 360 • PlayStation • PlayStation Vita Overview: The computer game industry is relatively new in comparison with other media industries, but has had a rapid growth in recent years. Games can be played on a range of different consoles offering diverse gaming experiences including the Xbox 360, PlayStation and PlayStation Vita. These consoles also enable multi-player interactivity which broadens gaming experience. The profile of gamers have changed in recent years as it is no longer the stereotype of a lone male teenager in their bedroom; gamers are now of all ages and demographics of both genders. Playing computer games is also taken more seriously in the media industry, and computer games are now accepted as media products.

4. Regulation of the Video Games Industry Overview: The regulation of video games is a sensitive issue and there are regular reports regarding the suitability of the content of video games and the easy accessibility to this content by young people. The wider media usually waste no time apportioning blame for the violent behaviour and lack of sociability of young people to the gaming industry. Games like Grand Theft Auto have raised concerns over the content included and the potential effect on the gamer. Until 2012, the classification of video games was carried out by both PEGI and the BBFC. This is now the role of Video Standards Council (VSC), although the BBFC is still responsible for the classification of all non-gamer linear content on a game disc, such as the trailers and featurettes. The role of the VSC is to regulate and classify games using the PEGI system to give a game a rating and additional information about the game that would help consumers, particularly parents.

5. Regulation of the Video Games Industry Why is regulation necessary? Regulation of the Video Game Industry is necessary because it helps specify whether certain games contain appropriate content for their intended audience. This helps consumers when buying games, especially parents, who would only want to buy suitable games for their children if they are young. By having video games regulated on suitability, consumers can then be aware of content which could have a potential effect on the person playing the game, as behavior outside the social norms can be alarming and a potentially negative effect of playing a game which is not suitable for their age category. What is PEGI? PEGI is the age rating system which was originally set up to help European parents make informed decisions on the computer games they buy for their children. The VSC use the PEGI system to give game ratings and other information when regulating content.

6. What’s the Audience Appeal of Video Games? • Video games give users an experience that isn’t available in other products. Many games offer a multi playing online experience not replicated in any other media platform. In the MMORPG format a large number of players can be involved in the virtual world of a game at one time. • These huge multi-player games are also unique in that they have a persistent world, which adds realism to their playing experience. • The gaming phenomenon of 2016 was Pokémon Go, a game incorporating augmented reality and location based technology targeted at the whole family. • Video games are role playing games and the aim is usually for the players together to complete a mission. • Within the game the player must have to succeed at certain tasks in order to proceed to the next level. • Different games position the players in different ways, for example single player, multi player, distanced controller or specific character role play. The game play can be in first or third person.

7. Set Product: Assassins Creed 3: Liberation Production, Distribution and Circulation: The video game is part of the very successful Assassin’s Creed franchise; it was developed by Ubisoft and was launched alongside Assassin’s Creed III in October 2012. Assassin’s Creed III was the best selling game in the UK in the week of its release on the PlayStation 3, with the best sales of the series to date. It was the biggest launch in publisher Ubisoft’s history and the third biggest launch of any game in the UK in 2012 (behind Call Of Duty: Black Ops II and FIFA 13). The game casts the player as Aveline, a young women living in New Orleans before and during the American Revolution, and as such links closely to Assassin’s Creed III. As part of the marketing and distribution, a trailer for the game was released. Continued marketing includes game playing videos on YouTube introducing newcomers to the game and suggesting different playing techniques. Another marketing strategy was to enable gamers to download additional content for example the tomahawk belonging to Connor, a unique Alligator Hunter hat and additional memory, enabling the gamer to relive Aveline’s adventure in New York from Connor’s point of view.

8. Set Product: Assassins Creed 3: Liberation Economic Context Summary: Video games sales are very competitive across the platforms and producers. PlayStation (PS) Vita is part of the 8th generation of gaming technology and was released to compete with the popular Nintendo 3DS. The game was originally released in 2014 in a modified HD version across a larger range of consoles and platforms, including PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, to expand the audience reach and ensure greater economic success.

9. Set Product: Assassins Creed 3: Liberation Watch the trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5RxYUw4DFY How important is the trailer in the marketing of the game? The trailer is very important when it comes to marketing the game, as this is going to be the first glimpse of what consumers will be playing, and if the content within the trailer doesn’t appeal to their audience, the game will not succeed. The Assassin’s Creed trailer had intense music running in the background of the clips within, this helped create an overall atmosphere of what the game will entail, conveying to the audience where the game is going to go with their content. If the trailer for a video game doesn’t immediately excite and entice their audience, the game will not excel in terms of being bought and sold.

10. Set Product: Assassins Creed 3: Liberation What is the Unique Selling Point of the PS Vita?: The USP for creating the game for the hand held device PS Vita offers an immersive experience for the gamer, away from the constraints of the console or television. This suggests the target audience is the ‘on the go’ gamer who is attracted to the flexibility of the playing experience. However, the release of the game on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox consuls suggests the need to broaden the reach to encompass the more traditional gamer. Who is the Target Audience?: The inclusion of a female, mixed race protagonist in Aveline de Grandpre, an assassin, is an unusual decision for this franchise and may be to address the rise in female gamers who could want a female role play experience. This shows that their intended audience is a mixed gender group of 18+, as they have been diverse in the characters created for the game, which had positive feedback, from female players especially. Why do you think the creators of the game included the (female/mixed race) character of Aveline de Grandpre? The inclusion of a female central character reflects a cultural move within the industry to address change within society and the gaming world. Gender issues are a subject of debate within the gaming industry, where most of the main protagonists in the best selling games tend to be male. Where female characters appear, this tends to be in games targeted at a younger audience, and game creators have been criticised for adhering to outdated stereotypes.

11. Set Product: Assassins Creed 3: Liberation Social and Cultural Context: What issues are subject to debate in the gaming industry and why? The inclusion of a female central character reflects a cultural move within the industry to address change within society and the gaming world. Gender issues are a subject of debate within the gaming industry, where most of the main protagonists in the best selling games tend to be male. Where female characters appear, this tends to be in games targeted at a younger audience, and game creators have been criticised for adhering to outdated stereotypes. I think this initially became an issue when the rise in female gamers grew and many people noticed that the only character choices given to players were all male, so by making a diverse group of mixed gender and mixed raced characters really broadens the selection given to consumers.

12. Set Product: Assassins Creed 3: Liberation Study the following gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L97VKWGPo78 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVmgHaL-ljs Key Question: Do you think that Aveline is a positive role model for female game players?

13. Key Theory: Bandura – Media Effects What does Bandura suggest in his idea? (3 key points) • The media can implant ideas in the mind of the audience directly. • That audiences require attitudes and emotional responses and new styles of conduct through modelling. • That media representations of transgressive behaviour, such a violence or physical aggression, can lead audience members to imitate these forms of behaviour.

14. Key Theory: Bandura – Media Effects Key Question: Do you agree with his theory? Can playing violent video games lead audiences to imitating them in real life?