Planetside 2

Answer the following questions on your blog:

Use the Planetside 2 Wikipedia entry to answer the following questions:

1. What is Planetside 2? Planetside 2 is an MMOFPS (Massively Multiplayer On-line First Person Shooter) game that is free to play on-line. It is a war game set in a sci-fi environment. 
2. What genre does the game belong to? Massively Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter
3. Planetside 2 developer/publisher: Sony online entertainment 
4. When was it launched? July 7th 2011
5. How does the gameplay work? Planetside 2 is free to play open world persistent MMOFPS. In Planetside 2 players fight in epic large scale battles across a variety of landscapes during the day and night. Each area within Planetside 2 supports up to 2000 players in one battle simultaneously.
6. What are the six different player classes in the game? 

1. Infiltrator

2. Light Assault

3. Combat Medic

4. Engineer

5. Heavy Assault

6. Max

Business model

Now look at the section on the Planetside 2 business model.

1. How much does Planetside 2 cost to play? Its free. 
2. What does a subscription offer to players? Increased experience, points, and extra resources.
3. What can the in-game currency be used to buy? Aircraft's, Vehicles, Medical kits. 
4. Why do some players dislike games in which users can buy additional weapons or health? Because it usually doesn't require genuine skill and its in a way "fake".  

The three factions

Summarise the three factions that players can join in the game:

The Terran Republic: All about houner, duty, justice, etc. 

The Vanu Sovereignty: All about enlightenment, truth, wisdom, etc. 

The New Conglomerates: All about death, anger, disorder, etc.

Task 3: Regulatory bodies

PEGI

Visit the PEGI website and have a look around. 

Now click on the FAQ section of the website and answer the following questions:

1. What is PEGI and where is PEGI based? Europe; Pan European Game Information
2. How does PEGI rate games? Depending on how graphic/appropriate the content is
3. What are the age classifications used by PEGI? 3, 7, 12, 16, 18
4. What are the seven aspects that PEGI look for when giving a game a rating (e.g. violence)? Violence, Horror, Drugs, Sex, Discrimination, Bad Language, Gambling

ASA

Visit the Advertising Standards Authority website and have a look around. 

Now click on the About section of the ASA website and answer the following questions:

1. What is the ASA's mission? to ensure that advertising in all media is legal, decent, honest and truthful, to the benefit of consumers, business and society.
2. What are the ASA's values? Consistent and proportionate, Reliable and ethical, Fair and respectful to all, Accessible and helpful, Intelligent and thorough, but also timely and proportionate, Open and accountable, acting with integrity and never being afraid to admit that they're wrong and an excellent team, inspiring excellence in each other.  

Now click on the Rulings section of the website. This is where the ASA reports on recent complaints and whether they upheld the complaint or rejected it.

Choose one of the complaints and write the following:

1. The company that was advertising: Virgin holidays Ltd
2. Why someone complained:Two complaints challenged whether the ads were irresponsible because they believed they encouraged consumers to tan their skin without raising awareness of sun safety 
3. Whether the complaint was upheld and why: Upheld. ASA understood that prior to the launch of the "Tanuary sale" competition, Virgin holidays communicated their partnership with a skin cancer charity to promote sensible tanning. 

Phone and tablet gaming: tasks

Read this BBC News article about Candy Crush Saga. Answer the following questions:

1. How much money is Candy Crush Saga estimated to make each day from its users? $850,000 per day.
2. How does it make this money? Through in-game purchases (extra lives/add ons/ access to higher levels) and in-app advertising and pop up adverts.  
3. How many people are estimated to have installed Candy Crush? 500 million people.
4. Where do people play? 60% of uk gamers play  from work, 28% play during working hours.
5. When was the game released? April 2012 (released on Facebook), November 2012 (iOS devices), December 2012 (android devices).  
6. When did it reach 500 million downloads? November 2013
7. Who is the typical Candy Crush gamer? Women aged 25-45
8. What percentage of gamers have spent money on Candy Crush, buying in-app purchases etc.? 25% of players have spent money on candy crush. 
9. What percentage say they are addicted to the game?  30% of gamers. 
10. What is your own experience of playing Candy Crush? Have you played it? Yes, I have and its extremely addictive. Also because you loose lives quite easily, its tempts you to purchase some which is how they make so much money. 

Game 6

Casual game. The player must select the best pieces from an ever-changing selection to complete a bridge over increasingly uneven terrain. Pieces can be rotated, flipped or even cut in half, to fit the growing structure.

The player must be careful as some pieces are booby-trapped and will explode if handled incorrectly. Optional game play includes selecting only pieces of a specific colour or texture, or working against the clock.

Name of game: Build-a-bridge

Task 1

Summarise who might play the game and what platform they will play it on. 
Platform- Mobiles, smartphones, tablets
Target audience- Teenagers from the ages 10-16 year olds. 60% Males 40% Females. It's aimed at people who like exploring different game genres and are up for a challenge.  

Task 2

Use AIDA to plan a 10 minute marketing campaign for the new game:

A: How will you create marketing materials that attract audience attention to the game?We will create marketing materials that attract the audience attention by advertising it on other free apps. This will include pop up adverts that will appear on screen when someone is using a specific app (preferably a similar app to the game we're marketing as the target audience would be similar)  

I: How will you generate audience interest? We will generate audience interest by creating multiple social media pages such as; Twitter, Facebook & YouTube. This will therefore stimulate word of mouth as most teenagers own social media accounts and they are likely to share content from the page to their profile for their friends to see.

D: How will you stimulate audience desire to buy the game? We will create advertisements on youtube that has various gameplay that gives insight of how the game works and the different levels the game has to offer. We will include a well-known voiceover that may have been used for previous game adverts. The voice would appeal to the younger generation and would be memorable. The colours of the game advert would be vibrant and the colour scheme would be more appealing to a male audience. It will use colours like blue, navy, green and red which connote that the player will be tackling a challenge.

A: How will you promote audience action? One way I would promote audience action is by encouraging people to share high scores online an compete with their friends. I would also advertise an extension (DLC) of the game where the players can create their own levels. This will make them want to buy the game even more as they'd want to compete with friends and test eachother. 

Look at the following advertising agency websites:

W+K Amsterdam

1. What do the letters stand for? (Clue: look at the very bottom of the website) Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam 
2. What brands have W+K Amsterdam advertised? Sony, EA (Fifa 14), Nike, Coca Cola  
3. What videogame campaigns have they created? FIFA 14
4. What additional information can you find out about the FIFA14 advertising campaign? "The world of FIFA is fun and incredible. Every year millions of people gather to play the game. Imagine a gathering of that size. It is bigger than some countries. It is the FIFA Armada, an armada of football fun. But unlike the usual armada with sailing ships, our armada is made up of lounges, couches, apartments, hammocks, bean bags, anywhere you play FIFA on wheels. Driving a bright red FIFA 14 van, Lionel Messi is leading the FIFA armada, pulling behind him a set of enormous TV screens suspended by parachutes that attract gamers of all shapes and sizes to join. Amongst them are pro footballers Gareth Bale, Stephan El Shaarawy, Tim Cahill and Javier Hernandez ‘Chicharito’ and FIFA-loving celeb Drake, all getting their game on, along with everyday ‘Joes’." <The paragraph summerising FIFA 14 on the W+k Amsterdam website. 

Rokkan

1. How long has the Rokkan advertising agency been around for? Its been around since the year 2000
2. Where is Rokkan based? New York, United States
3. What brands have Rokkan advertised? jetBlue, Sharp, Nestle PURINA
4. Why was Rokkan's campaign for the videogame 'Dishonored' so successful? Because the graphics were extremely realistic and gave the audience a real insight of the game. 
5. Who was the publisher for 'Dishonored'? Bethesda Softworks

Task 1: Developers and publishers

Rockstar Games
Background: 1998, New York
Owner/founder:Sam Houser
Most successful games: GTA, Max Payne, L.A Niore
Interesting fact about the institution: They own 8 studios responsible for producing games

EA (Electronic Arts)
Background: May 28th 1982 Redwood city, California 
Owner/founder: Trip Hawkins 
Most successful games: The Sims, Fifa 12, Battlefield 3 
Interesting fact about the institution: In 2011, EA purchased the online gaming company PopCap which is behind the addictive hit games such as- Zuma, Bejewled and Plants vs Zombies.

Zynga
Background: July 2007 San Francisco, California  
Owner/founder: Mark Pincus
Most successful games:Farmville, Texas HoldEm Poker, Chefville
Interesting fact about the institution:The company was originally founded in April 2007 under the name Presidio Media; the company name then changed to Zynga and was the founded officially as Zynga in july 2007. 

Nintendo
Background: September 23rd 1989 Kyoto, Tokyo 
Owner/founder: Fusajiro Yamauchi
Most successful games:Super Mario bros, Donkey Kong, Pokemon
Interesting fact about the institution: Nintendo developed a mobile phone in the early 2000's 

Sony Computer Entertainment
Background: November 16th 1993 Tokyo, Japan
Owner/founder:Ken Kutaraji (founder)  
Most successful games:Little big planet, Start the party, TV superstars 
Interesting fact about the institution: The institution is responsible for producing games for the playstation but they were also responsible for creating the playstation themselves. Ken Kutaraji is known as "The father of the playstation"

Homework- Case study: Just Dance 4

Name of game: Just dance 4 

Release Date: October 2nd 2012 (Europe) 

Institution behind game: Ubisoft

Print

There is a number of key conventions featured in this movie poster; It follows a bright multi-coloured colour scheme that connotes fun and gives you a party vibe; There is only one type of sans serif typeface; It includes an number of slogans around the title that is dominating most of the poster and is acting as a central image aswell.  

Review 1: "Just Dance 4 doesn't bring much in the way of new featres to the party, but if all you want is to have one hell of a fun, energetic, and hilarious time, there really is no party quite like a Just Dance 4 party."

Review 2: "This is as fun a game as any in the series, with routines that are even wilder than before, and a keen self-awareness that eagerly embraces its over-the-top kitsch qualities. "

Review 3: "If there's anything bad to be said about Just Dance 4, it's that there's not much new here. It's largely a song pack, albeit a very entertaining one. "

The game has not been featured on the front of any magazine covers. 



Broadcast 

The advert for this game  is extremely effective and uses a number of key conventions that typical Wii television adverts would use. For example, during most of the advert, the setting is domestic and takes you on a journey through a house during a house party. The bright lighting of the modern looking home has synergy with the modern authentic colour scheme of wii (which is the main platform its available on) but also the party theme of the advert has synergy with the bright colours on the poster and front cover of the game. The track used for the advert is a feel good song hence the name, "good feeling" and the creators have used celebrity endorsement by having the singer of the song feature in the advert. The advert aslo features e-celebrities like D-trix, Lindsey Stomp and the Cimorelli sisters to promote the game.

  
Ubisoft also hosted a launch party where lots of different well known celebrites attended and spoke publicly about the game. The fact that there is a wide range of celebrities means that fanbases of the celebs would be aware of the game and know that the celebrity they aspire to be like plays the game and therefore they'd want to buy it too. 

E-media

The website of the game attracts its TA as  which would consist of families and friends who are want to have fun and interact by coming together and playing the game as the colour scheme is bright and multi coloured, which would connote fun and enjoyment. The most interesting aspect of the website structure is how the background has been divided equally between both genders; there is a pink side with a cartoon of a young woman and a blue side with a cartoon of a young man. This may be ubisofts way of letting the audience know that the game is for anyone and it doesn't matter what your gender is. 

The youtube channel has 25,022 subscriptions.

This user generated video is of a group of famous youtube gamers playing the game. This would promote it to their fanebase and anyone who is subscribed to them as by watching them playing and enjoying the game, they too may be inspired to do so. 

The facebook page has over 6.7 million likes. 

The twitter page has has over 53.7K followers and the famous hashtag used to promote the game was #JustDance4