Friday Classwork

Task 1: developers and publishers

Research the following game developers/publishers:

Rockstar Games

Background: year formed and location
- 1998 in New York City, United States.

Owner/founder:
- CEO: Terry Donovan. Founders include: Dan Houser, Terry Donovan, Gary Foreman, Jamie King, Sam Houser.

Most successful games:                                                                                                                               - Grand Theft Auto 5 (released in September 2013)

Interesting fact about the institution:                                                                                                         - GTA 5 made its $300million production budget back before the game was even released to the public.

EA (Electronic Arts)

Background: year formed and location:                                                                                                     -  May 28 1982 in Redwood City, California, United States.

Owner/founder:
- CEO: Andrew Wilson. Founder: Trip Hawkins.

Most successful games:
- Battlefield Series, FIFA Series, Titanfall.

Interesting fact about the institution:
- Founder Trip Hawkins incorporated and established the company by investing $200,000 of his own money into EA on May 28 1982, Seven months later Hawkins secured $2million from EA.

Zynga

Background: year formed and location
- July 2007, San Francisco, United States.

Owner/founder:
- CEO: Don Mattrick. Founders: Eric Shiermeyer, Mark Pincus.

Most successful games:
- Farmville

Interesting fact about the institution:
- Through 2009, Zynga made money from lead generation advertising schemes, where by game participants would earn game points by signing up for featured credit cards or video-rental services. Zynga intentionally worked with scam advertisers to make up a third of Zynga’s revenue.

Nintendo

Background: year formed and location
- September 23 1889, Kyoto, Lattwvia.

Owner/founder:                                                                                                                                          - CEO: Satoru Iwata. Founder: Fusajiro Yamuchi

Most successful games:                                                                                                                               - Mario Series

Interesting fact about the institution:                                                                                                         -  Nintendo is worth over $86billion.

Sony Computer Entertainment

Background: year formed and location
- May 7 1946, Toyko, Lattwvia.

Owner/founder:
- CEO: Kazuo Hirai. Founders: Masaru Ibuka, Aki Morita.

Most successful games:
- PS4 most successful console.

Interesting fact about the institution:                                                                                                         - 6 million PS4s have been sold compared to Microsoft’s XBOX ONE has sold around 4 million.

Task 2: Advertising agencies

Look at the following advertising agency websites:

W+K Amsterdam

What do the letters stand for? (Clue: look at the very bottom of the website)

- Wieden and Kennedy Amsterdam

What brands have W+K Amsterdam advertised?

- Nike, EA, ESPN.

In your opinion, what is the most creative campaign on their website?

- Personally, I really like the Brazil World Cup advert where the Brazilian team are goofing about in an airport with a football. This advert is really creative as the public are inferred into the advert.

What videogame campaigns have they created?

- The last 5 FIFA Campaigns.

What additional information can you find out about the FIFA14 advertising campaign?

- They worked on the FIFA 14 advert which included Lionel Messi driving a fan with hundreds if not thousands of people playing FIFA behind him. Big name stars like El Shaarawry, Hernandez and Drake were featured.

Rokkan

How long has the Rokkan advertising agency been around for?

- 14 years.

Where is Rokkan based?

- New York, Chicago and LA.

What brands have Rokkan advertised?

- Aer Lingus, SHARP, Wellpoint (main)

http://rokkan.com/work/

Here is a link to all of their work.

Why was Rokkan's campaign for the videogame 'Dishonored' so successful?

- Rokkan believed the success started when the released a cinematic trailer for the game “Dishonored” and the launch of their first digital efforts with a Dishonored website;

“Which ignited a groundswell of buzz and anticipation throughout the blogosphere and online gaming communities.”

Who was the publisher for 'Dishonored'?

- Bethesda

Task 3: Regulatory bodies

PEGI

What is PEGI and where is PEGI based?

- Pan European Game Information (PEGI). PEGI is based in Europe, Canada and Israel.

How does PEGI rate games?

- PEGI self-regulation is composed by five age categories and eight content descriptors that advise the suitability and content of a game for a certain age range based on the games content

What are the age classifications used by PEGI?

- 3+, 7+, 12+ , 15+ and 18+.

What are the seven aspects that PEGI look for when giving a game a rating (e.g. violence)?

- Content of the game, violence, bad language, fear/horror, sex, drugs, gambling, discrimination and online.

What is PEGI online? What does PEGI online regulate?

- This division of PEGI was formed in 2007. It's an addition to the PEGI system for online games and aims to give young people in Europe improved protection against unsuitable online gaming content and to educate parents on how to ensure safe online play.

ASA

What is the ASA's mission?

-The mission of ASA is to ensure that advertising in all media is legal, decent, honest and truthful, to the benefit of consumers, business and society. They aim to achieve their mission by getting better at regulating ads in all media.

What are the ASA's values?

- The ASA values include information such as 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 when they’re wrong.

FIFA 14 Marketing Campaign

                                                  FIFA 14 MARKETING CAMPAIGN

PRINT:

1.Find a FIFA14 print advert and describe how it promotes the game.

2. On the front cover we're able to see Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale. Personally i believe they used these two players as Messi himself is said to be the worlds best player and Bale is the most expensive transfer in football at a staggering £86million from Tottenham to Real Madrid...I believe that these two are enrolled within the front cover to show the fans that with FIFA you're getting the best of the best.

3. Whilst looking through a website called "Metacritic" i established that "Realism in football games reaches its maximum" therefore showing me that FIFA 14 is the best one yet as it is described as everythinh that buyer could of wished for however, as well as good feedback i saw some positive but negative feedback. "Although lacking a bit in terms of innovation when compared with previous iterations, FIFA 14 remains a well balanced, pro found and addictive soccer experience that will be enjoyed by rookies and veterans". This shows me that the game is good in some parts but lacks in some areas.  I then went on to see an angry rage review from a FIFA fan which quotes  "Worst FIFA ever!! I never felt so angry
playing a football game in my life..Fifa is going backwards with this new game." 

It seems like FIFA is unfortunately not loved by every fan!

4. I think that magazine reviews are effective in promoting the game to FIFA's target audience (3-45). Most people that inquiry purchasing the game may refer to reviews to analyse what everybody else thinks of the game to see whether it is worth buying or not. Most gaming magazines can be targeted at these audiences aswell.

5. I think e-media is the way to broadcast/promote items in the future...Twitter and Facebook are gaining thousands of users daily and with uses of hashtags like #FIFA14 people can become more aware of what is going on however, billboards and leaflets in busy cities such as London can be highly useful as there is multiple different shops that you can purchase from and just like hashtags you can become more aware, I think e-media is still the better choice.

BROADCAST

1. The TV Advert. Big name footballer stars (the best of the best) are seen competiting against normal members of the public, even big name star Drake made an appearance. The use of big stars in casual clothes playing against regular people emphasizes the use of the slogan "We are FIFA 14" showing us that we're all the same. I personally think EA thought about this in deep success.

2. My theory is that Messi is the main star of the advert therefore he is seen driving the van to express that he is "leading the pack".

3. Towards the end of the video they make sure that we understand the game. We're told what platforms, release date and where we can refer to if we need more information, If i am correct througout the whole advert the official EA website is seen at the bottom of the screen.

4. The use of famous footballers, celebrities and regular people makes us feel like we're one of them
or that they are one of us, it is as if they're reaching out to different types of people (genders, ages and ethnicities)

5. The youtube trailer is strict just in-game footage with animations to express in-game features. They want to make it interesting to watch.


E-media

1. There is multiple different options to chose from which persuades the audience to be intrigued to carry on browsing.

2. Around 21 million.

4. Bale - A video of him shooting showing that he has been throughly involved.
Messi - Posted the TV advert.
Reus - He posted a picture of his FUT card.

5. #FIFA14

6. On Wednesday the FUT TOTS cards were released therefore they were reveiling names.