Marketing


To give Left 4 Dead significant exposure, Valve (the Independent game company) financed a $10-million marketing campaign for the game in the United States and Europe, with advertisements appearing on television, print, websites and outdoor placements in many cities. Valve also hosted photo contests called, "Dude, where's my thumb?" offering copies of Left 4 Dead to people who submitted the best picture involving zombies or the outdoor advertising.


Left 4 dead have used facebook as a connection to the outside world and focus their marketing on a wide target audience. On the 'Left 4 Dead' facebook page they engage the viewer with various marketing strategies; one of which is the promotion of new characters. They have a range of photos with the in game graphics and also models of the characters within the game. This gives people an insight to what the game is like and the kind of graphics/characters that feature in the game, intriguing the viewers and making them want to buy the game to play with/against. 


To promote the game and provide basic training to players before starting the game, Valve chose to develop a pre-rendered intro movie. This movie was released on Halloween and shows events prior to the beginning of the "No Mercy" campaign. Valve chose an intro movie over in-game training mechanics because they wanted the players to be immediately dropped into a zombie apocalypse. The movie aimed to make the game seem more meaningful and realistic when playing it as the trailer shows how the game would look in real life, adding another dimension to Left4Dead. This engages the the players of the game, but also promotes it to those who have never played it.

The product is also promoted in such a way that makes the consumer believe that they are getting the most out of their money buy including free items within the game if it is purchased before a certain date. This makes the consumer happy when they have bought the game as they receive 'free' products.

Production
The development of Left4Dead started in 2005 by Turtle Rock Studios which was then purchased by Valve Corporation during the development. The latest version of the Valve source engine was used with improvements such as multi-core processor support and physics-based animation to more realistically portray hair and clothing, and to improve physics interaction with enemies when shot or shoved in different body parts.Turtle Rock Studios aimed to create a horror film-inspired game that merges single player games' character-driven narrative structure with multiplayer games' social interaction and high re playability.

Distribution
Development of the game was completed in 2008 and two versions were released digitally: A downloadable digital version, which was available online, and a digital retail disc version. Left 4 Dead is available for PC and Xbox 360, as Xbox bought the rights to the game. The product is available in stores and online via websites such as play.com which promote the sales of the game. Althought the game cannot be purchased on xbox live, there is alot of downloadable content available for purchase.

Consumption

The consumer is able to play single player campaign, split screen and interact with on line game play. There are also available free downloadable packages online which brings a variety of maps and items. This ensures that the consumers do not get bored, and always have something new and different to look forward to.

Easter Homework task

Olly Henderson, Fifa case study

View more presentations from Holly Taylor.

FIFA 11

Marketing

Fifa football games since 1993 have had the rights to use the main football governing body as their name which for one was massive because people would see that and think and also trust the game would be high quality. In fact, what Fifa did was genius because what made their game alot better than anyone elses, was the fact they had acquired licenses for every player and also every team so that when people are playing, it is more realistic and more enjoyabele which is what every gamer wants.

As well as that, another brilliant plan that Fifa came up with was that they could attract people also with have popular, well known commentators over the top when playing which would make the gamer feel like they are really playing and are the main attraction each time they play.this was a genius move for the marketing of their game at the time because once somebody played it and enjoyed it, it meant they would tell somebody else and the word would be passed around and then the game would sell more and more across the world.

Because football has grown as a sport so much around the world, it meant more and more people got to see the best players perform and get that feeling that one day there might be a game where they would feel as good as modern day players. This growth of football around the world helped Fifa alot because it meant they could ship games out to stores everywhere and know that people would want to try it out and see how good it really was. This is another reason why marketing of Fifa 11 was so big. The last big factor also was the internet. Because the internet was so massive around the world, it meant people could watch real life game play and then if they liked the look of it, purchase it over the internet instead of having to come in and buy it by hand. This then meant when it came to marketing the game, people had two choices of how they wanted to purchase it and also it meant stores were never over crowded with people and stores never sold out quickly.

Production

Production of Fifa 11 was just the same as all the other Fifa games except, the players were much better, the stadiums were alot more realistic and also the graphics were basically identical to the real life players which is hard to do but over the years, technology has got better and more advanced which has also helped the games rise over the past years. Fifa 11 also comes with alot more features such as all the players ratings around what they should be, you can create your own team and also the fact you can transfer players to make your own team which is great fun when playing a big tournament. As well as that, during the transfers in a real season, players are automatically transferred to the new team so that it is more realistic, and also you can get used to them playing in your team.


Distribution

Distribution of Fifa 11 is done in many different ways and also products are sent to be sold across the world from the internet, in store and alo over the internet to download certain content for the game. The game would be sent off to all the different gaming stores and also other stores so that wherever people live, there is always a store where they can go and purchase the game. If people however do not want to leave the comfort of their own home, millions of copies of the game is avaliable to be bought from such sights as Amazon or even supermarket stores such as Tescos or Asda. Wherever you look, there is bound to be some way you can buy the game because Fifa want people to be able to enjoy playing the game and to have easy access to buy one from most places. This is a clever move to be able to purchase from over the internet and also from stores because it means that the internet use and also stores will financially be ok because of the fact the money is split 50 50 between each.

Consumption

While playing the game, people can create thrie own team or own specialised player which makes them feel they are very important which is key when playing a game because you want to enjoy it and try and make it feel as realistic as possible. this was a clever move from Fifa because it makes individuals want to improve their player or team. The more players can interact with the game itself, the more they will enjoy playing it which is what Fifa and EA sports want most.

Forza 4

IamMarketing

One way this video game is marketed is by using in between commercial breaks on the television.  That way, the game is able to get its message across to a much wider and diverse audience.  In the adverts, they use famous cars, for example, Lotus, Ferrari, Maclaren etc.  They also use standard cars like Ford, Vauxhall, Peugeot etc.  This range of cars gives the game a much wider range of possibilities - this is the game's killer app.

When considering the range of places to market this game, one of the most popular areas of use is Facebook.  Facebook targets a very wide audience where there would be a very wide age range to market to.  Use of Facebook would enable the consumers to put in their personal preferences like commentary on whether they liked the game or not and use of Facebook would also enable the consumers to talk to one another on whether they enjoyed or liked the game or not.  This would give instant feedback from the consumers.

Production


This video game was developed by Turn 10 Studios and published by MotorSport.  The game uses a wide range of cars from a Honda Civic right up to a prestigious Enzo Ferrari and the Le Mans prototypes such as the Audio 8.  This use of different levels of cars will appeal to a wide range of consumers as there will be a car to suit everyone's taste.  The production also uses customisation and offers colour change which has an artistic appeal.  The video game also had rave reviews in different well known journals.

Distribution 

The distribution of this video game is through many different sources and outlets.  Many are distributed through high street shops like Game, HMV and GameStation but one of the biggest selling distribution networks is when people buy on line.  HMV also provide an on line distribution service that is fast and efficient.  This way of marketing and purchasing the video game is aimed at reaching a much wider audience.

Forza is only available on the Xbox consoles making a niche market and basically Xbox has purchased the sole rights to distribute this game and by cornering the market, they will make vast profits for themselves.  The cost of this video game is £39.99.

Consumption

Forza can be consumed in many different ways, for example, the videos can be played on discs from the consumer's console, or connect to Xbox Live and play interactively with other people on line and this will open up a much wider audience both in this country and worldwide.  To make the game more interesting, downloads can be made of other cars, tracks etc. and this will open up other possiblities of varying the game and making it more appealing to consumers.

 

Super Mario Bro's Case Study

Super Mario Bro's is a platform video game which was developed by and published for the company Nintendo. Released in 1985, Super Mario Bro's has been the best selling video game of all time for over two decades, before being outsold by Nintendo's own Wii Sports in 2009.

Marketing

Super Mario Bro's has many different target audiences which is one main reason that the game has been such a huge success. By being such a versatile game, enjoyed by all of the family, the company Nintendo takes advantage of their marketing strategies to really sell their product. 

When Super Mario bro's fist started they had televised adverts which showed all of the family playing on the Nintendo console, which then shows that anyone can play the game. Through time, they have always been creating new adverts which shows all of the different target markets playing the games, and also for their 25th anniversary, they created a 90 second advert with top rated celebrities involved which made the game that much more admirable. 

Now a days, as the internet is a major part of marketing, Nintendo has incorporated some on-line games (Emulators) which people can play for free. The games are much like the console games however you cannot save your game play and go back to it another day, which would encourage players to go out and buy the real games for their consoles. Also as Facebook has become a very popular site, Nintendo have started to create pages and groups where players can join, add characters as friends, and comment on various hints and tips, which would improve their personal game play. Nintendo has also created sites where you can buy Super Mario Bro's merchandise which would appeal to the younger players, where you can buy cuddly toys, key rings, clothes. all with their favourite characters on them. Nintendo had also created a website which is dedicated to only Super Mario Bros which has the music which is on the games, and as you scroll over the categories, it has the same effect as when Mario is jumping up to hit the blocks to get coins.

Production

The game produced was a side scroller plat former game, with its own theme tune, which became quite recognisable to the consumers. the first version of Mario was actually a character called Jumpman, however the man who made many games for Nintendo- Shigeru Miyamoto, then went on to renaming him Mario, and came up with a brother of Mario called Luigi. after a while, they added different characters and costumes into the game which if Mario walked over for example a mushroom, he would then get bigger and be able to crush anything that he walked over, also if he walked over a flower, Mario would then be able to throw fireballs at his enemies.

Distribution

Hand held gaming has become very popular over the years, so Nintendo created a game on every games console they have produced, for example Nintendo 64, Nintendo Game Cube, Nintendo Game Boy, Nintendo Ds ETC. Nintendo had also started creating online versions of the Mario games, and also Super Mario Bros Apps which you can download onto iphones and certain android mobiles however, these are only Apps which tell you cheats, not the actual game. 

Consumption

Consumers can use the Super Mario Bros game in many different consoles, which can be hand held or not, the games are easy to use so that means many different age groups can play the games. The game is designed with lots of different levels, which allows the user to do as many levels as they want, save the game and access it easily at another time. Can also use the game on the computer, which people can play when they are doing other things, like browsing the internet etc.

Angry Birds Case Study

Angry Birds is a third party puzzle game which was developed by Rovio Mobile. The game was first released on the Apple App Store, which encouraged the company to make versions for Nokia and Android phones too. As of March 2011, 100 million copies have been sold across all platforms. Rovio is currently developing a Facebook version of Angry Birds.

Marketing:
Angry Birds is well suited to the iPhone market, it has short gameplay sessions, a storyline which appeals to a wide audience, and a simple concept which becomes addictive. App sales come mostly from viral marketing (word of mouth), so Angry Birds was successful because it appealed to almost everyone. Also Rovio have continually updated the game, and released new versions which keep users playing. This keeps the game in the top 25 apps on the App Store, which is a form of promotion.

Angry Birds Rio has been released to promote the new movie Rio Birds, this is an example of synergy. Although this version has a new setting and storyline, the concept hasn't changed it's just rebranded. The game will also feature the updates like the original. In the first 10 days of the app being released it sold 10 million copies, which proves the popularity and power of the Angry Bird brand.

This game has relied on viral and internet marketing to become successful. Rovio have created Facebook, Twitter pages for fans of the game to follow. On Twitter game players and developers can discuss the game and any problems/issues. Facebook has extra content available if you 'Like' the page, there are some videos, photo stills, links for download etc. We also found there was lots of merchandise such as t-shirts, cakes and toys which are make by fans of the game.

Production:
The idea for the game came from some cartoon images of wingless angry-looking birds. Rovio decided to design a game around this and soon found that the birds needed an enemy. Swine flu was in the news at the time and was the inspiration for the pigs. The mechanics of the game were inspired by medieval slingshots (right). A similar game Crush the Castle, had similar mechanics. Initially the game cost €100,000 to produce (about £80,000).

A Facebook version of Angry Birds has been in production for over a year, and is expected to begin testing this month. The game will take advantage of Facebook facilities to create new features.

Distribution:
Mobile gaming has become very important so easy access to the game is crucial for success. Angry Birds is available on mobile devices stores such as the Apple App Store and Android Market. The price is low at just 59p, this encourages users to buy the game and updates that follow.

Consumption:
Customers are using Angry Birds on their mobile devices/smart phones. The game is designed so that users can play short levels/sessions and can easily return. The concept/mechanics of the game are also very simple which means that it is easy to play on-the-go. The use of a touchscreen also simplifies the game for all users as anyone can use a touchscreen, it's easily to understand and use.

The game motivates consumers because as you complete levels new sections of the games are unlocked, and new versions of the game are continually released. There are also ratings and game scores for each of the levels which encourages consumers to keep playing the game so they can get more points.

Easter Homework: Institutions and Audiences – Videogames.

You need to continue building your research around your chosen game case study.

Firstly type up your research on marketing, and then research the following in relation to your chosen game:

Production – how was the game designed and constructed?

Distibution – distribution of the game to the consumer (to stores/online/downloadable content)

Consumption – how is the consumer interacting with and playing the game?

Remember your game must not be from the Rockstar company and should not be in the same style as Red Dead Redemption.

You can do this in pairs; the above sections must be completed over Easter. There will still be more information to add and you will present your case studies in the second week back.

USE TERMINOLOGY FROM THE POWERPOINTS!!!!!!!

What different genres of games are discussed?
Nearly all genres are discussed including:
Sports Games
Fantasy- This was said for people to escape from their lives and be who they want to be. 
Action- There are examples of this getting very graphically violent. 
Adventure


What does the documentary say about character development?
The Documentary states regarding characters that:
The player develops a relationship with them through perhaps feeling sorry for them and wanting them to complete their mission. Some also say that they can relate to the character in some ways as the GTA example was mentioned when the guy said he thought the character was a good guy in bad situations like himself.

video games film review

This is a documentary where Charlie Brooker talked us through as the audience different types of games and what is main features of them. One thing that was very good about this documentary was that Charlie managed to keep us as the viewers entertained which helped him gain are attention and listen to what he was saying. He talked us through shoot em ups which is exactly was it sais on the tin, shooting games. he sums up the different types of games that he goes through (such as GTA and driver) and he sums up the type of people that play them (sad people) but then goes in to detail about different types of people who plays these games on features they have compared o other games on the market.

'Video Games - Charlie Brooker' Documentry

The programme ran through a time-line of all of the types of games which have been produced throughout gaming release, these included side scrollers, beat-'em-up, RPG's & Shoot-'em-ups etc. The programme also, went through how games graphics and story lines have changed since their existence. Charlie Brooker, also went through how it is quite clear what is real life and what is in a game.

Charlie Brooker's documentary

There are different genres of games in the gaming market which interests different ages groups and different personalities. violent games are, such as beat them ups and shoot them ups are coming more popular in the gaming industry.
Each game has a disadvantage that the consumer may not like. for example, games tend to have different
things to unlock on the way and you have to have the skills to experience the games properly which can annoy the consumer.
Over the years the graphics have changed dramatically.

- There are many different genres of video games - Shoot 'em up, platformer, first person shooter, strategy etc.
- There are many different audiences for these different genres.
- There is a lot of controvosy within video games such as grand theft auto, which makes some people believe that their audiences are likely to commit the crimes commited in the game.

Charlie Booker Documentary

In the documentary featuring Charlie Booker many issues were discussed about video games. The different genres of games were explained, with examples throughout gaming history. These included: platformer, first person shooter, MMORPG, puzzle, shoot 'em ups, beat 'em ups, amongst others.

One of the main points of the documentary was that gamers are often seen as teenagers who have nothing better to do with their time. As games got increasingly more violent, parents began to worry about the effects of that games had on their children. Games like Grand Theft Auto allow the player to get involved in crime such as murder or reckless driving, which many thought would cause confusion for players between what is reality and legal and what is illegal. This has caused gaming as a whole to be rejected from society.

Charlie Brooker Film Review

In the documentary Charlie explains his opinion on the video game world, he sums up that games are for sad people that haven't got a life and the games a designed in such a way that this type of person will enjoy it. The games generally have a storyline filled with blood, violence and guns. The storyline it self is often basic as the developers focus on pleasing the gamers mind with drugs, violence and sex. The only games that wouldn't include this sort of would be games such as 'Guitar Hero' and 'Rock Band'. Charlie explained that some game produces attempt to over shadow the violence and produce games more family orientated such as 'Viva Pinyata'. But the media....

Our views on the program about video games

we feel that video games have progressed vastly since they were first invented, but especially in the last 10 years. With the invention of the Nintendo Wii, PS3, and X-box 360, there are many genres of games available for a very wide targeted market.

A lot of different genre of games are covered during the program such as sport, shoot em' ups, adventure etc... They talk about the target audience that these genres appeal to and also the criticisms of each genre, such as the negative impact violent games have on children.

Charlie Brooker- video games

The aim of program was to give examples of every area of video games and to see what his views were on them. It was interesting that he showed how many different areas of gaming there were. He also showed how games have change in terms of graphics and story lines. He also talked about the negative media attention video games get and how it is blown way out of proportion. He made good points on how people can tell the difference between games and reality and there is no need to get all stressed about it.

Charlie Brooker Film Review

In the documentary Charlie explained how the video games industry how changed througout the development of the media.

The games started off with 2D side scrolling games with very pixelated graphics.