Video games

 since the 1970s they have had a massive growing industry due to rapid technology advancements 

1970:video games reached a massive audience through coin operated arcade games and home consoles 

1980 Nintendo started making more home consoles

1990: games started to become online so you play play with other people and games start to have meanings and storylines

2000: graphics start to advance and games became more advanced 

2010:

1)the variety of different platforms to play on 

2)the rapid change in technology

3)increase in graphics 

1)mobile, computers and laptops

2)it was one of the cheapest option and you can use it on the go

3)it became more popular due to more games and advancements 

4)they use adverts to earn money

5)it made it feel more life like since it uses real life scenery 

Cod: played online, could be for certain people, involves some real wars

Minecraft:

Do now

1)new home consoles technology graphics speed and interactivity 

2)combines the real world with computer-generated content 

3)playing with others online

4)relating to a character

5)entertainment 

Case study: Fortnite

L/O to research the case study and explore the context of video games

1)Epic games

2)July 17 2017

3)26 billion

4)

5)it is a battle royale in each game there would be a 100 players on a map where you need to find weapons and materials to fight eacb other 

6)free to play battle

7)you could see it on youtube facebook twitter and Instagram feeds 

8)it is a online game

9) it was free and everyone could play it 

10)

Epic games

started by Tim Sweeney 1991 and run from his parents home

used a operating system called unreal engine to develop Fortnite

in 2014 the guinness book of records named unreal engine as the most succesfull video game

epic games own video game developer Chair entertainment and cloud-based software

Exploring context 

Do violent video games make people more violent 

it has less violent graphics 

Prince Harry it was a irresponsible game which was also addicting 

violence in video games 

Do now

1)Epic games

2)Save the world

3)unreal engine 

4) moral panic is a wide spreading feeling of fear that some evil person or thing threatens the values,  interest's or well being 

5) regulation= act of controlling something

Regulation

Video games rating are mandatory. Under UK law, the games rating authority (GRA) rates the game using PEGI system.

The main differences between PEGI age ratings are the types of content that are allowed at each rating level              

• PEGI 3

  Suitable for all ages, and should not contain any sounds or pictures that are likely to frighten young children 

   
• PEGI 7

  Suitable for children over the age of 7, but may contain some frightening scenes or sounds 

   
• PEGI 12

  Suitable for children over the age of 12, but may contain more graphic violence, mild bad language, sexual innuendo, or sexual posturing 

   
• PEGI 16

  Suitable for young people over the age of 16, but may contain more mature and realistic violence, mild bad language, sexual innuendo, or sexual posturing 

   
• PEGI 18

  Only suitable for adults, and may contain gross violence, motiveless killings, glamorisation of using illegal drugs, and explicit sexual activity

Fortnite had a PEGI of 12 for frequent scenes of mild violence but it seems parents are more concerned about being addicted to it

Games are regulated by the use of PEGi age ratings. These are ratings will decide what is suitable for people of that age. The differences between the ages are the types of contents. For example. Violence, sexual innuendo, bad language, realistically etc. Fortnite has a PEGi 12 since it only contains a little graphic violence 

Technology

 convergence= thing that can be used on different things/places 

 technical convergence=can be used on different platforms

1)Nike

2)Adidas

3)Mclaren 

synergy= brings a wider audience to both the 

Dyers star theory

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

Explain how convergence and synergy benefit the Fortnite brand 

Paragraph 1: Convergence benefits the Fortnite brand because it makes playing it more available for everyone. For example they use technical convergence which allows everyone to play on different platforms and it being free makes almost everyone have the availability to play it this benefits them since they would earn more money because everyone could play it and then might buy in game items 

Paragraph 2: Synergy benefits the Fortnite brand because they would use famous celebrities who are not related to the game which will bring their fans who probably never heard of Fortnite to start playing it.

This works both ways since people who already play Fortnite might not know the celebrity which will also might gain interest in them. possibly uh Band 3 (7 marks) 

add more reasons and examples with the use of convergence and synergy 

Do now

1)synergy

2)something that can be used on different platforms

3)PEGI

4)games rating authority

5)regulation is the act of controlling something

How do video games make money?

Fortnite money making methods

Advertising

collaborations

in-game purchases 

subscriptions 

the game starts to loose its hype or there is nothing 

The launch and success of Fortnite

the promotional targeted existing gamers 

the campaign (fearless media) reached 150 million users across different gaming sites.

it had a cinematic trailer 

they gained 10 million players in the first 2 weeks following its launch.

approximately 650 million registered players

averages 5 and a half 

for example the avengers infinity gauntlet limited time mash-up generated 1.2million mentions on social media in the first two days 

star wars

john wick 

transformers 

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

Do now

1) in game items advertisements 

2) more people might have an interest

3) nike , mclaren 

4)ads , 

5)personal identity information entertainment 

Audiences 

L/O to explore the appeal of video games and how the industry targets and different audiences

 

main elements are the games you could play or what it out right now like new updates

the products are all on the home page

they have 

a range of posts highlight the latest news and developments in Fortnite. 

the menu bar includes links to pages for each mods of the game and other features like competition 

target audience 78% are male 22% are female 53% are aged 10-25 and 42% are in full time employment

the unrealistic violence and cartoon-style graphics to make it more appealing to a younger audience 

People who like the lego games or zombie survival, star wars, music styled games, 

applying audience theory 1

they mainly work on the idea that audiences can be active or passive the difference between an active audience and passive audience is how they engage with media messages 

an active audience that engages with media messages by interpreting evaluating and responding to them they are able to question the messages and challenge the ideas they convey

a passive audience accepts media messages without question and is most likely to be directly affected by them they are more receptive and less engaged 

the distinction between active and passive audience is important because it challenges the traditional view of media as having a one way flow of information 

events, seasons, playing the game 

personal identity= choosing what game or what you want to do

entertainment= a wide choice of products to use  

Do now

1) it has all of its products on the home page, merchandise 

2)78% are male 22% are female 53% are aged 10-25 and 42% are in full time employment

3)celeberties not related to the game

4)passive

5)

Exam preparation

 Industry

AUDIENCE

fortnite targets younger people