Rockstar Games
Background: Founded in 1998 based in New York City
Owner/founder: Terry Donovan
Most successful games: GTA (grand theft auto)
Interesting fact about the institution: On GTA V, Rockstar games spent a sum of 300 million dollars and received it all back only on pre-sales. 

EA (Electronic Arts)
Background: Founded in 1982 based in Redwood city
Owner/founder: Trip Hawkins
Most successful games: The Sims
Interesting fact about the institution: Their most successful game (The Sims) is the world’s most successful pc game ever and they have been awarded 5 different Guinness world records.

Zynga
Background: Founded in 2007 and based in San Francisco
Owner/founder: Mark Pincus
Most successful games: Farmville
Interesting fact about the institution: Zynga is named after the found (Mark Pincus') dog.

Nintendo
Background: Founded in 1889 based in Kyoto Japan
Owner/founder: Fusajiro Yamauchi (founder) & Saturu Iwata (Global President)
Most successful games: Mario
Interesting fact about the institution: 4 of the top 10 selling games is Produced and Developed by Nintendo.

Sony Computer Entertainment
Background: Founded 1993 and based in Tokyo Japan
Owner/founder: Andrew House
Most successful games: Tekken
Interesting fact about the institution: The PlayStation was the result of a failed collaboration between Sony and Nintendo  

W+K Amsterdam

• What do the letters stand for? Wieden + Kennedy
• What brands have W+K Amsterdam advertised? Nike, Powerade, Heineken.
• In your opinion, what is the most creative campaign on their website? “Heineken, The Odyssey”
• What videogame campaigns have they created? EA FIFA14.
• What additional information can you find out about the FIFA14 advertising campaign? In-depth explanation for the metaphors implied on the campaigns as well as tech-detail.

Rokkan

• How long has the Rokkan advertising agency been around for? 14 years (launched in 2000)
• Where is Rokkan based? New Jersey.
• What brands have Rokkan advertised? Chipotle, SHARP, Nestlé.
• Why was Rokkan's campaign for the videogame 'Dishonored' so successful? The innovative idea of creating a fully integrated 360°campaign to introduce the new game.
• Who was the publisher for 'Dishonored'? Bethesda

Task 3: Regulatory bodies:

PEGI:

What is PEGI and where is PEGI based? PEGI stands for Pan European Game Information. It is a European video game content rating system established to help European consumers make informed decisions on buying computer games with logos on games' boxes. The developers are based in Belgium.

How does PEGI rate games? PEGI rates games through adding logos on games' boxes which depicts if the game has violence or sexual content etc. and adds an overall rating such as 18+ or 3+.

What are the age classifications used by PEGI?3, 7, 12, 16, 18

What are the seven aspects that PEGI look for when giving a game a rating (e.g. violence)?Violence, Bad language, Sexual Content, Use of drugs, Gambling, Fear, Discrimination, Online games.

What is PEGI online? What does PEGI online regulate?PEGI online 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? 

Quoted from there website:

"Our mission is to ensure that advertising in all media is legal, decent, honest and truthful, to the benefit of consumers, business and society.

We aim to achieve our mission by getting better at regulating ads in all media, and in particular by:

·              Making a success of regulating online ads

·              Being an effective part of the response to societal issues shown to be affected by advertising

·              Placing more emphasis on prevention rather than cure

·              Being more efficient and in tune with consumers, business and society"

What are the ASA's values?

Quoted from there website:

"Our shared values are to be:

·              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 we’re wrong

·              An excellent team, inspiring excellence in each other"

Complaint:

  The company that was advertising: Beko PLC

 Why someone complained:

 Indesit challenged whether the claim "The UK's bestselling home appliance brand":

1. was misleading and could be substantiated, because they understood that the claim was based on a subset of the home appliances product group and not on the entire range of home appliance products; and

2. was misleading, because they believed that most viewers would not understand to what the qualifying text "GfK, Total MDA 6, volume sales, Aug12-Jul13" referred.

  Whether the complaint was upheld and why: Upheld because the ASA understood that the claim "The UK's best-selling home appliance brand" was based on sales of GfK's MDA6 category.

Wii Party case study

General research

When was Wii Party released on the Nintendo Wii?

July 8th 2010

Which developer/institution created Wii Party?

Nd cube. Nintendo SPD

How many copies has the game sold since release?

230,000 units 

Broadcast

What are the key conventions of a videogame TV advert? What would you expect to see in most videogame TV adverts?

homely scenes is the atmosphere of which the game is played at

How many of the key conventions you have listed above appear in the Wii Party TV adverts? List them with specific details from the Wii Party TV adverts.

The key conventions the advert is the use of music appearing along with a voice over.

What is the typical setting for Wii Party TV adverts? Why is that setting used?

The typical setting for the wii party is either an apartment or a family home.

How might the setting appeal to families?

This appeal to families because it represents all family members as a nuclear family; seeing as the 'perfect family'

What celebrities do the adverts feature? the use of JLS gives a sense of promotion to the fans

What do you notice about the celebrities' costume and make-up?

They're all wearing casual clothing which goes along with the theme of it being a homely setting that attracts to everyone.

Why do you think those particular celebrities were chosen?

because it appeals to different audience members of the fans of the celebrity 

What do the celebrities suggest about the Wii Party target audience?

They suggest that the target audience want to have a game to play with their family so they can interact and spend time with one another

What else can you learn about the Wii Party target audience from the TV adverts? Suggest a demographic profile: gender, age, social class etc.

The target audience's age varies from 5-55, therefore it appeals to both young and old people because its basic and fun for everyone to contribute.

What audience pleasures do the Wii Party TV adverts offer to viewers? Refer to Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory when answering this question.

The audience pleasures the game offers the viewers is a source of entertainment, and being able to interact with other creating a common interest within the families; this goes along with what theorists such as Blumler and Katz created.

What examples of branding can you find in the Wii Party TV adverts - either for the game itself or Nintendo Wii?

The wii party is only made for the nintendo wii therefore it promotes the console, and encourages more people to buy it 

Do you think the TV adverts were effective for promoting the Wii Party game?

Yes because it allows you to reach out to a broader audience and make people who are not on any sort of social media aware of the game, and what sort of game is out in the market for them to appeal to it more.

Print

Find a Wii Party review from a magazine or newspaper. What does the review suggest about the target audience for the game?

"Wii Party U may be seen by many as another mini-game compendium churned out to appeal to families but there is more to it than meets the eye", this suggests that there is more to the video than expected

Is the review positive or negative about the game? Copy and paste one quote from the review to support this view.

Do you think magazine reviews are effective in promoting the game to Wii Party's target audience?

E-media

Visit the Wii Party website. How does it attract and maintain the interest of a Wii Party fan?

What do you notice about the people in the scrolling central image featured on the website?

How many times can you find the words 'friends' or 'family' used on the official website? Why do you think the website emphasises this aspect of the game?

What is the colour scheme for the website? What does this suggest about the target audience?

Look at the 'Video Gallery' on the official website. What do the 'Invitation' videos suggest about the Wii Party target audience?

How many 'likes' has the Wii Party/Wii Party U Facebook wall had?

How does the Wii Party Facebook wall cross-promote other Nintendo games? Find three examples and explain why they appeal to the Wii Party target audience.

Wii Party does not have such a strong presence on other social networking sites. Why do you think this is?

Which platform do you think is strongest in promoting Wii Party to its target audience - broadcast, print or e-media? Why?