Monday, 29 October 2012
Zynga's Business Model:
Zynga has a free-to-play business model, this means the consumers do not pay any money. So they use 2 different methods to make their money:
One way is micro-transaction. This means that players can purchase extra in-game items ahead of time, instead of playing the game for longer to earn them. For example: You can play 50 rounds on draw something to earn 150 coins (at maximum), or you can buy 200 coins for 69p in about 20 seconds.
Zynga also sells advertising sponsorships within some games such as movie tie-ins and other brands.They will get a percentage of revenue broought in from the advertisements, a small percentage also goes to facebook.
Sunday, 28 October 2012
Skylanders Giants Info
Skylanders Giants is projected to be the most profitable game for the <10 market, despite taking one the 90's most popular gaming characters and murdering him. [R.I.P Spyro :( ]
It was released on October 17, 2012 in Australia, on October
19, 2012 in Europe, and was released on October 21, 2012 in
North America, and will be released on November 22, 2012 in South America, by Neoplay.. Square-Enix is also planning to release a Japanese version of this game, sometime in 2013. It will also be released on the Wii U as a launch title in North America, Europe and Australia, and will utilize the Nintendo Network service.
The idea is that you have small statues like trading cards and
they connect to your console and then appear in the game.
These statues are also a universal product meaning that once
you have it you can use it on any console.
Each figure costs roughly £5.00.
They have also added new rare silver statues which are worth a lot more (but do pretty much nothing different, they're just silver -_-')
The game is developed by a company called "Toys for Bob"
The publisher is Activision
It was released on October 17, 2012 in Australia, on October
19, 2012 in Europe, and was released on October 21, 2012 in
North America, and will be released on November 22, 2012 in South America, by Neoplay.. Square-Enix is also planning to release a Japanese version of this game, sometime in 2013. It will also be released on the Wii U as a launch title in North America, Europe and Australia, and will utilize the Nintendo Network service.
The idea is that you have small statues like trading cards and
they connect to your console and then appear in the game.
These statues are also a universal product meaning that once
you have it you can use it on any console.
Each figure costs roughly £5.00.
They have also added new rare silver statues which are worth a lot more (but do pretty much nothing different, they're just silver -_-')
The game is developed by a company called "Toys for Bob"
The publisher is Activision
Monday, 22 October 2012
Independent Games + Case Study
Independent games are more commonly known as “Indie Games”.
They are created by individuals or small groups, without the financial support
of a publisher. This means that they often rely on Digital Distribution to sell
their product, e.g. XBLA, PS:Store and Steam. Indie gaming has become more
popular recently because much larger corporations are using digital
distribution as well. Meaning that while people are buying a AAA game on XBLA
they may notice an indie game and purchase that also.
Indie Games also tend to be considerably cheaper because
they do no need to pay publishers and they market on a smaller scale than a AAA
game.
Some of the most popular indie games include:
Braid, World
of Goo, Minecraft, Angry Birds and Super Meat Boy.
Case
Study: Minecraft
Minecraft was developed by Mojang (pronounced, Mo-Hyang).
It was the first Indie game ever to make over US$1 Million. Minecraft is ,a
Sand-Box game, based in a world similar to lego, where everything is made of
blocks, these blocks can be altered re-arranged, joined together and smelted. In
the newest update, you can also fight dragons, brew potions and enchant
weapons, (because they wanted to cash in on TES:V:Skyrim’s release).
Minecraft gained a lot attention through viral marketing.
Upon its release, a large amount of YouTube account holders, “You-Tubers”, made
videos about the game which quickly spread word of the game and it’s notoriety
increased.
Just as its popularity began to spike a small group of
You-Tubers began a Machinima series about the game. This small group then
became the Famous “Yogscast”, one of the most popular channels on all of YouTube.
This resulted in the game’s profits dramatically rising.
The game’s popularity was so grand that the lead
developer at Mojang, Notch, became the first developer to become a millionaire from
selling a Beta for a game.
Other small time developers have tried to take advantage
of Minecrafts popularity. If you look on the XBLA now, and go to the indie
games section, there is high probability that you will see at least 5 games that
are similar to Minecraft.
Minecraft currently costs £17.95 on PC, 1600 MSP on
XBL:A, ad £4.99 on IOS and Android devices.
Monday, 15 October 2012
Synergy and Symbiosis
Definitions:
Synergy:
Two parts of trhe same company create different murchandise all to reach the same goal.
For example:
Disney created High School Musical the movie. They also made a Soundtrack and a DVD. All of which were made to make a profit fromn the franchise.
Symbiosis
Two Different companies work together to create products that will benefit both companies.
For example:
The Angry Birds Plush Toys are made by seperate company to Rovio.
Synergy:
Two parts of trhe same company create different murchandise all to reach the same goal.
For example:
Disney created High School Musical the movie. They also made a Soundtrack and a DVD. All of which were made to make a profit fromn the franchise.
Symbiosis
Two Different companies work together to create products that will benefit both companies.
For example:
The Angry Birds Plush Toys are made by seperate company to Rovio.
Rockstar Studios
Rockstar Games bought out the developer DMA after the success of the original GTA and GTA II. DMA then became Rockstar North after the Housers realised that only DMA could be trusted to make the games as gopod as they wanted them to be.
Rockstar Japan was the Japanese localisation headquarters of Rockstar Games,. They worked in conjunction with Capcom. Rockstar Japan made games specifically for the Asian market.
Rockstar London was created in November 2005 and took over the developement of Manhunt 2 after Rockstar Vienna closed. They also developed the hand-held adaptation of Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Midnight Club LA Remix.
Rockstar Japan was the Japanese localisation headquarters of Rockstar Games,. They worked in conjunction with Capcom. Rockstar Japan made games specifically for the Asian market.
Rockstar London was created in November 2005 and took over the developement of Manhunt 2 after Rockstar Vienna closed. They also developed the hand-held adaptation of Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Midnight Club LA Remix.
Monday, 1 October 2012
GTA San Andreas, Hot Coffee Mod (UNFINISHED!!!!)
Hot Coffee is a normally unaccessable minigame in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The minigame involved sex between the main protagonist, CJ, and his in-game girlfriend. Upon the game's release, the developer, Rockstar North, decided it was contrabersial and closed off the piece of coding that allowed access to the minigame, just before the release. Then 1 year after release, a dutch moder found this piece of code and released as a mod for the PC version of the game.
The discovery of this minigame created a large amount of controversy around GTA, with some politicians firing harsh words at both the developer and the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), the group that decide what the ratings for video games in North America. It has also revived the debate over the influence of video games in general with new protests against several other games such as Killer7, The Sims 2, and Bully.
Jack Thompson was one of the first to criticize the game for its hidden content, believing violent media is one of the main causes of violent crime in America. Thompson filed lawsuit against Rockstar Games on several occasions for previous games they have developed.
U.S. Senator Hillary suggesting new regulations be put on video games sales. The ESRB conducted an investigation that changed the game's rating from Mature to Adults Only 18+. Also, Congress passed a resolution to have the Federal Trade Commission investigate whether Rockstar intentionally decieved the ESRB by having the content in the game.
In New York, a class action lawsuit was filed by Florence Cohen, an 85-year-old grandmother who purchased the game for her 14-year-old grandson (according to the old rating of M, the game is typically considered inappropriate for this age). Cohen's lawsuit claimed that Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of the game, are guilty of deception, false advertising, fraud and abuse. The accusation of deception is based on the change from M-rated to AO, meaning according to the lawsuit that the original rating was a deceptive practice.
A protest group organized a protest on August 4, 2005 at Rockstar's headquarters. The group demonstrated against San Andreas as well as the upcoming game Bully, due to fears that the content could inspire children to become bullies themselves.
The discovery of this minigame created a large amount of controversy around GTA, with some politicians firing harsh words at both the developer and the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), the group that decide what the ratings for video games in North America. It has also revived the debate over the influence of video games in general with new protests against several other games such as Killer7, The Sims 2, and Bully.
Jack Thompson was one of the first to criticize the game for its hidden content, believing violent media is one of the main causes of violent crime in America. Thompson filed lawsuit against Rockstar Games on several occasions for previous games they have developed.
U.S. Senator Hillary suggesting new regulations be put on video games sales. The ESRB conducted an investigation that changed the game's rating from Mature to Adults Only 18+. Also, Congress passed a resolution to have the Federal Trade Commission investigate whether Rockstar intentionally decieved the ESRB by having the content in the game.
In New York, a class action lawsuit was filed by Florence Cohen, an 85-year-old grandmother who purchased the game for her 14-year-old grandson (according to the old rating of M, the game is typically considered inappropriate for this age). Cohen's lawsuit claimed that Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of the game, are guilty of deception, false advertising, fraud and abuse. The accusation of deception is based on the change from M-rated to AO, meaning according to the lawsuit that the original rating was a deceptive practice.
A protest group organized a protest on August 4, 2005 at Rockstar's headquarters. The group demonstrated against San Andreas as well as the upcoming game Bully, due to fears that the content could inspire children to become bullies themselves.
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