Task Session- Productions, Consumption and Exchange!

Task 1


Models of Production (From Daves Media Blog: LongRoad Media)There are many ways in which we can make video games, one is a business model but this proves how expensive games are to make especially for big name consoles like xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Many indie games such as Grand Theft Auto and any Iphone game are really growing and would make a good case study.
The tentpole business model is very similar to a lot of hollywood studios which is the idea that they release a huge blockbuster game and then have extreamly heavy marketing for it. Which then helps other riskier games be made.
The hollywood model is an idea to give out the game to other smaller development companies in order to lower the costs of making the game. So instead of having a large development team of 50+, they use a small development team of about 10-20. This lowers the cost and can help towards maketing the product largely.
Games development was a costly business, especially having to pay for a developer with a publishing contract and a lisence fee to develop for a particulare console until recently the growing "Indie Game" market, thanks to Apples App Store and Xbox Live Marketplace means that small teams and even individuals can make games and get money from them!
Aswell as development costs, game developers are required to pay fees for develpoment kits to create there console games.
The iPhone SDK is a software kit developed by Apple. The SDK is free to download but to release the software it must "enroll" in the iPhone Developer Programme, which is a step requiring payment and Apples approval!
Developers who put there programme on the App Store will receive 70% of sales and will not pay any distribution cost for the app!
Zynga, on Facebook, is a casual game developer that focuses on brower based games that can be played alone or in social-networking sites!

Task 2

List all the different ways we can consume video games today! How is this different from the past? give specific examples from produced video games!

• Ipad
• Nintendo DS/3DS
• PS3
• Wii
• Xbox 360
• Ipod
• Mobile/Android/Smart Phones
• PC
• Televison

All of the above are ways to cosume video games now days! As technology moves on so does the way we can consume and play our games. In the past we only ever had a few ways to consume video games, for example Game Arcades, Gameboys/Gamecube etc. and they only had limited games as it was quite recent and new in development, it also cost quite a lot to play or buy video games. Compared to now we have a wide selection of games with a range of prices, usually we can get the same game for different types of consoles, whereas in the past you could only get a game a for a specific console. As you can see there are many differences from the now and then in the gaming industry.

Task 3
Interview 5 people on how they get hold of the games they play? How do they pay for such games? what methods are used? collect your findings and answer the following:
How many different ways do people pay for games? what methods are they?
Which games have been discussed in your interview? do they each have a different method of exchange if so why?

The first person we interviewed was Grace. Grace gets her games from shops, such as HMV or Game, she usually pays for them with a voucher, as she only buys them at birthdays/christmas and the last game she bough was COD.
The second person we interviewed was Amy. Amy also buys her games from shops like HMV or Game and she usually pays for them with money and the last game Amy bought was Cooking Mama 3.
We then interviewed Abbie. Like Grace and Amy she also buys her games from shops but she also buys them online, like Amazon, and gets them delivered to her door. She has not bought any games recently but one of her favourite games is Guitar Hero.
We interviewed Hannah . She buys her video games in shops like most people, but she also downloads her games from the App Store to go on her Ipod. She usually pays by card in both shops and on the App Store. Although this was not a recent purchase Hannah's favourite game is Just Dance 2.
Finally we interviewed Lauren. Lauren also buys her games online to get delivered to her home but she also downloads them for her Ipod and she also buys them in shops for her PC. She pays by Cash or Card depending on her method of buying. Her favourite game and most recent purchase was Sims 3.
How many different ways do people pay for games? There are 3 methods of payment that the people we interviewed used. This included Cash, Card or Voucher.
Which games have been discussed in your interview? Cooking Mama 3, Call of Duty (COD), Guitar Hero, Just Dance 2 and Sims 3 were discussed!
Do they each have a different method of exchange if so why? Most of them were different although cash and card was popular with the interveiwee's