AS MEDIA – Media Industries and Audiences

Case Study – Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation

Revision Booklet

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Produced: 2012Company: UbisoftFormat: Handheld, ConsoleDistributor: PlayStation

AS Component 1: Investigating Media Industries and Audiences

Focus areas:Media ContextsAudiences Media Industries

“The video game industry has prospered as games continue to not only alter the entertainment landscape, but change business, sports, arts and education. While 20 years ago games were a niche entertainment medium, today they are a strong enough engine for innovation across sectors. Our industry plays a significant role throughout society.” (www.theese.com)

Theorists to consider:

Blumler and Katz – Uses and GratificationsAudiences make active use of the media to fulfil certain needs

Albert Bandura – Media Effects

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Audience reflects behaviour taken from a media product

George Gerbner – Cultivation TheoryAudience views, values and habits formed through regular or repeated consumption of media

Henry Jenkins - Fandom Fans are active participants in production and circulation of media products

Livingston and Lunt – Media RegulationThe role of regulation on both product and audience

David Hesmondhalgh – Cultural Industries Mainstream products seek to minimise risk and maximise audiences

Areas to focus on:

Historical context

Product context

Economic context

Social and Cultural contexts

Technology

Production, distribution and circulation

Regulation

Audience

Media Effects

Cultural Industries

HISTORICAL CONTEXT – THE GAMES INDUSTRY

Rapid growth in recent years

Financial profits rivalling major films

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Sales of mobile gaming and other hardware expanding

The image above shows the actual growth of the global games market from 2012-2018 and the projected growth for the following three years

The expansion of mobile gaming has come at the expense of both PC and Console gaming, although all three areas are forecasted to get bigger

The expansion in mobile gaming, in particular, can also be found in the next illustration

PRODUCT CONTEXT

Variety of consoles offer a diverse gaming experience

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PlayStation launched Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation on the handheld mobile device PS Vita

The game offers familiar pleasures to existing fans of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, such as narrative situation of Assassins v the Templars and open world gameplay

Introduced new elements to target a wider audience, such as availability of the product through devices and the use of a strong female protagonist (to be drawn upon in the Audiences section of this booklet)

ECONOMIC CONTEXT

Video games are financially significant across the major territories

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Release of new game can be a media event

Initial sales of Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation were very good

Originally released exclusively on PS Vita (2012) – hand-held device

2014 – Released on a range of consoles and platforms to ensure economic success, including PS3, Xbox360, Microsoft Windows for PC

Considered to be part of the current 8th generation of games technology

WATCH

Watch the video ‘Market analyst Stephanie Llamas on China 's growing gaming industry’ (‘Assassin’s Creed’ Moodle folder)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0F88ZXITw&feature=youtu.be

In terms of the economic situation (market value) of the Games Industry in the UK comparing 2017 and 2018, this can be seen through the illustration below:

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SOCIAL and CULTURAL CONTEXTS

Profile of gamers has changed over time

Gamers are diverse in age, demographic and gender

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Assumptions that the vast majority of gamers are adolescent/young adult males is a myth

In recent years there has been the rise of multi-player which broadens experience and brings audience together

Gaming is now a global phenomenon

Playing of computer games taken more seriously

Video game products valid for academic study

Becoming more complex in construction and demanding of the player

Problems with regulation due to wide availability (see REGULATION section)

TECHNOLOGY

WATCH

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Evolution of Video Games In 3 Minutes or Less (1940-2018)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33-uJiUwMN8

PS Vita

2012 – building on increasing success of mobile technology

PS Vita designed with features associated with smartphones

Brought high game production values to mobile gaming

Distribution – purchased online through PS Networx and other major outlets

The illustration below demonstrates the popularity of devices in the UK (2018)

PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION and CIRCULATION

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Part of successful Assassin’s Creed franchise (ensuring financial success?) developed by Ubisoft, the French video games company and released through Sony

Launched alongside Assassin’s Creed 3

Most economically successful of the franchise at that time

Biggest launch in Ubisoft’s history

Maximum impact for sales of both titles

Released through Sony on their PlayStation hardwareMarketing and Distribution

WATCH

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The trailer for Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation (link also in the AC3 folder on Moodle)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfpfhztOBVI

WATCH

Game playing videos on YouTube suggesting different playing techniques (link also in the AC3 folder on Moodle)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqrKfrgmnwc

Additional content downloadable to enhance playing experience. This relates to changing patterns of consumption

Use of convergent technology to allow wider access of additional content and to play the game on a variety of devices (see next section)

Use of the female protagonist, Aveline, within the marketing campaign

DIGITALLY CONVERGENT MEDIA PLATFORMS

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What do these words mean?

Digital Media Convergence – the ability for media producers to make varied media content available through the same device; e,g. being able to watch films and play games through a mobile phone, or accessing the internet and social media through a games console etc.

Media Platform – the way through which a media product can be accessed, e.g. cinema, smart TV, mobile device, DAB radio, games console etc.

Hand held PS Vita could be linked to full PS3 console version – able to unlock additional content

Use of convergence relevant to promotion, marketing and circulation

Link back to accessibility of the game and widening audience participation

The illustration below highlights the possibilities for digitally convergent media platforms currently in the UK

REGULATION - UK

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Video games largely regulated by the Video Standards Council (VSC)

Applies the Pan European Game Information system (PEGI)

PEGI – similar to British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) for film

Rates games according to AGE and VISUAL CONTENT

Seeks to protect children across Europe

AC3: Liberation classified as an 18 rating

due the level of violence in the game being

considered as gross – certain acts may be

seen as horrific methods of killing

Livingstone and Lunt state that regulation (control) across the various digital media industries is difficult, due to easier access to the material by the audience through digital technology.

Many concerns have been raised about the fast development of technology, the access to it, and the ability of regulators to keep pace with it.

READThe following link provides a good understanding of how the PEGI regulation system works (or maybe doesn’t)

https://www.kotaku.co.uk/2015/01/13/uk-video-game-age-rating-system-works-doesnt

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AUDIENCE

Video games are useful texts to study in relation to GENDER ISSUES

These can be through:

Representation of female characters

Often sexualised and used as secondary characters

Represented through costume and body shape rather than personality

One of the most iconic of female characters in computer games is Lara Croft, from the Tomb Raider franchise

As this illustration shows, her characterisation has changed to some significant extent over time, from her first appearance in 1996 to present.

Other video games and franchises (including Tomb Raider) regularly feature female characters in terms of appearance, and frequently of a highly-sexualised nature

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Through the character of Aveline, Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation were seeking to subvert the stereotype:

Through costume

Through action

Through ethnicity

We can perhaps take from this that the creators of the game are attempting to not only change the perception of a female character, but to also potentially make the game appealing to a female audience? This would, again potentially, widen the demographic.

A further gender issue to consider is the under-representation of females within the gaming industry. This may have some connection to the representation of female characters and players within the industry and wider gaming community

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Video games can also be studied through the representation of those who play them, which again can be often linked to the player’s gender

It is worth revisiting the illustration which identifies the relatively small percentage gap between genders, in terms of game playing

The illustration below may seem slightly frivolous, but the message is clear, in terms of how female games players, and not just characters, are sometimes represented, considered and constructed

AUDIENCE APPEAL OF COMPUTER GAMES

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Below are a selection of possibilities for the appeal of computer games – you may be able to consider more, especially if you are a games player

Gives the user a unique experience

The player can become characters

The player can change or adopt a different identity when playing

Some games allow a player to determine different outcomes

The engagement with fantasy or ‘alternative worlds’ – AC3: Liberation has ‘open world play’, which allows the player to have freedom to explore the virtual world

The participation in gaming communities and forging relationships

It is not uncommon for players to shape and influence the industry itself (see FANDOM)

We can incorporate Blumler and Katz’s ‘Uses and Gratifications’ theory into the playing of games, and these can be applied to the playing of Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation

Surveillance Some games linked to world events – AC3:Liberation is set in 18th century New Orleans, America

Personal Identity Players able to change or reinforce identity

Interaction Multi-player functions allows for interacting with others

Escapism Engagement with extraordinary environments

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT

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Made for PS Vita (hand held device) – unique selling point

Potentially aimed at more casual or mobile gamer – opposite to traditional console and PC gamers

Received positive reviews from female game players

Use of female protagonist – unusual in the franchise

May appeal to a different demographic – gender, ethnic, age

Might appeal to female players on a mobile – rather than traditional male

stereotype sitting at a console for hours?

FANDOM

We can certainly include the notion of ‘participatory culture’ as highlighted by Henry Jenkins, with reference to the playing of computer games generally, and applying it to AC3: Liberation, specifically.

It is worth noting that the evolvement of video games has occurred alongside the development of the Internet, which naturally allows players to interact on many levels, both with games and other players.

In this sense, the player is always ‘active’ in playing the game, but also in developing online material, such as ‘walk-throughs’, reviews and commentaries. The ‘activity’ also extends to how subsequent versions of the game are developed, changed or adapted.

The Assassin’s Creed franchise has a strong and developed fan-base, which is also reflected in the use of ‘cos-play’ at franchise and games conventions, such as Comic-Con

EFFECTS THEORY

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A theory often associated with Albert Bandura

Media implants ideas directly into the audience

Also referred to as Social Learning Theory

Audiences are ‘modelled’ to acquire attitudes and emotional responses

Based on repetition and over-exposure

Represents Transgressive Behaviour

What is Transgressive Behaviour?

Behaviour which goes beyond norms of social acceptability

Often associated with violence and physical aggression

Leads audience to imitate and replicate a form of behaviour

Often referenced in Bandura’s famous ‘Bobo Doll’ experiment (1961-1963)

WATCH

The ‘Bobo Doll’ experiment (3.47)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmBqwWlJg8U

Video games often criticised for assumed effect over-exposure has on behaviour

Considered to affect the young and impressionable, in particular

Immersion in a game can lead to difficulties in distancing from what is real and what is fantasy

Many academic studies have been carried out regarding the possible link between playing video games and their supposed negative effect on the player, particularly in terms of violence and sexualized content

CULTIVATION THEORY

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George Gerbner’s theory may also be applied to the playing of video games, and for AC3: Liberation

The theory sets out the media can be responsible for shaping, or ‘cultivating’ audiences’ conceptions of social reality

Can be linked to gamers having a pre-conceived perception of female characters

Also could be linked to how female gamers are perceived by male gamers, or how male gamers are perceived by the games they might play

CULTURAL INDUSTRIES

We can use David Hesmondhalgh’s theory to explore the way in which cultural industry companies, such as Ubisoft and Sony, might attempt to minimise risk and maximise audiences

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The game is part of an established franchise with a large fan-base. Producers are clearly attempting to harness the popularity of this franchise to encourage sales both of the game itself and the hand-held device the PS Vita.

The video game industry offers many comparable examples of attempts to use software (games) to sell hardware (games systems and platforms).

Exam-style questions

Having gone through this revision booklet consider how you might answer the following exam-style questions:

Briefly explain what is meant by the term ‘regulation’

Explain how the producers of video games ensure their financial success. Refer to Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation to support your points

Explain the impact of recent technological changes on the video games industry. Refer to Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation to support your points

Explain how audiences might be positioned to engage with video games. Refer to Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation to support your points

Explain how the range of platforms used to distribute video games might affect the experience of playing them. Refer to Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation to support your points

Explain the impact of digitally convergent media platforms on global production, distribution and circulation. Refer to Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation to support your points

Explain some of the issues related to female characters in video games. Refer to Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation to support your points

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