The Video Game Industry Week 10

THE RISE OF THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY As with other industries there are three main themes associated with the video game industry 1.The video game did not arrive in a flash as a result of one inventor’s grand change 2.The video game as a medium of communication developed as a result of social and legal responses to the technology during different periods 3.The video game industry developed and changed as a result of struggles to control its channels to audiences

EARLY DEVELOPMENTS PINBALL MACHINE – coin-operated game in which a player scores points by causing metal balls to move in certain directions (often using flippers) inside a glass-covered case ENTERTAINMENT ARCADES – commercial locations featuring coin-operated machines such as pinball machines, fortune tellers, and shooting games BULLETIN BOARDS – software that allows users to exchange messages with other users, read news and public articles, and perform other activities such as play games MULTIUSER DUNGEONS (MUDs) – early text-based online fantasy role-playing games MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE ROLE-PLAYING GAMES (MMORPGs) – video games in which a large number of players—as many as hundreds of thousands—interact with one another in virtual worlds

FIGURE 14.1 Timeline of the Video Game Industry /s1/timeline/ TIMELINE: THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY

VIDEO GAME HARDWARE HARDWARE – the device or console on which video games are played Video Game Hardware Gaming Consoles Desktop or Laptop Computers Handheld Game Devices Interactive Television Mobile Television CASUAL GAMERS – men and women who are older than the hard-core types and/or who like to play less intense (though not necessarily less difficult) games than the hard-core types; these games include puzzle, card, board, and word games AVATAR – a character that represents the user within a virtual world

MORE ABOUT VIDEO GAMES Link: The Original Video Game Link: TED Talks - Brenda Laurel on Games for Girls Link: TED Talks: David Perry – Are Video Games Better Than Life?

THE PRODUCTION OF VIDEO GAME SOFTWARE VIDEO GAME PUBLISHERS – companies that coordinate the production of video games THIRD-PARTY PUBLISHERS – companies that are unaffiliated with hardware companies and that typically create games that work on a variety of systems

SOFTWARE GENRES Action Games Adventure Games Casual Games Simulation Games Strategy Games Sports Games EDUTAINMENT – teaching-oriented video games that are designed to have educational outcomes for specific groups of learners

ADVERTISING CONTENT AND VIDEO GAMES Creating Custom Games – To create a custom game (sometimes called an “advergame”), an advertiser partners with a game company or hires developers to create a game that is exclusive to that marketer Embedded Ads – Some companies or organizations don’t want to go through the trouble of paying for and distributing games, but they do want to reach certain target audiences. To accommodate them, game publishers increasingly place ads or products in the action so that players will see the commercial messages or use the products in the course of their game play DYNAMIC IN-GAME ADVERTISING – the process of sending ads into video games while individuals are playing and of changing the ads and offering different sponsored downloads depending on the players’ game setting and level

MEDIA ETHICS: CONFRONTING KEY ISSUES -Concerns about content -Concerns about privacy -TRANSACTIONAL DATABASES – databases that store and sort large quantities of data that reflect transactions— such as logs of phone calls, s, mailings, or purchases -Concerns about Self Regulation

PRIVACY AND SELF- REGULATION Lawmakers at the federal level have agreed with digital marketers and publishers that the best way forward is through self-regulation Four Principles to Self Regulation and the Video Game Industry Notice (or Awareness): Visitors to a site or app should be made aware of the company’s information practices Choice (or Consent): The visitors should have the option of making decisions about how their data will be used during the current session on the site or app, as well as the collection of data or opting out Access: The visitor should be able to view the data collected and challenge it if the visitor considers it inaccurate Security: The data collection and storage should take place in ways that stop people and firms from getting the data if they have no right to the data

TABLE 14.1 ESRB Ratings of Top-Rated Video Games TOP-RATED VIDEO GAMES