Week 4: The Video Gaming Industry
Examples of media products within the video gaming industry:
- Soundtracks
- Merchandise (e.g. action figures, clothing, etc.)
- Walk through Guides
- Films (games based on films, films based on games)
- Accessories (e.g. gun shaped controllers for shooting games, tennis rackets for the Wii)
- Advertisements
- Comic books
Consoles
http://www.thegameconsole.com/
The Magnavox Odyssey released in 1972 is the first home video game console, predating the Atari PONG home consoles by 3 years. Unlike most video game consoles, the Odyssey is analog rather than digital. Unlike any conventional console today, this system was powered by batteries. The Odyssey and its variants also lack sound capability (hence a silent console), which was not uncommon in early PONG systems of that era.
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft’s first attempt into the gaming console market, and competed with Sony’s PlayStation 2, Sega’s Dreamcast, and the Nintendo GameCube. The integrated Xbox Live service allowed players to compete online. The Xbox was discontinued in late 2006, although the final Xbox game, Madden NFL 09 was released in August 2008. Support for out-of-warranty Xbox consoles was discontinued on March 2, 2009; any in-warranty repair now needed will not be undertaken and faulty consoles will replaced with an Xbox 360 instead. Xbox Live support was discontinued on April 15, 2010.
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft, and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles. Some major features of the Xbox 360 are its integrated Xbox Live service that allows players to compete online, download arcade games, game demos, trailers, TV shows, music and movies and its Windows Media Center multimedia capabilities. The Xbox 360 also offers region specific access to third-party media streaming services such as Netflix in the USA or Sky TV in the UK. The Xbox 360 was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005. The console sold out completely upon release in all regions except in Japan and as of April 2010, there are over 40 million Xbox 360 consoles worldwide.
Playstation
The PlayStation, abbreviated to PS is a fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, 1994. The PlayStation was the first of PlayStation series of console and handheld game devices. Successor consoles and upgrades include the Net Yaroze, PS one, PSX, PocketStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation 3. The PlayStation was the first “computer entertainment platform” to ship 100 million units, which it had reached 9 years and 6 months after its initial launch.
Playstation 2
The PlayStation 2, officially abbreviated PS2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony. The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was released a year later in Japan. Its primary competitors were Sega’s Dreamcast, Microsoft’s Xbox, and Nintendo’s GameCube. The PS2 is the best-selling console to date, having reached over 140 million units sold as of September 30, 2009. In late 2009 Sony stated that the life cycle of the PlayStation 2 will continue until demand ceases.
Playstation 3
The PlayStation 3, officially abbreviated as PS3 is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment, and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles. A major feature that distinguishes the PlayStation 3 from its predecessors is its unified online gaming service, the PlayStation Network, which contrasts with Sony’s former policy of relying on video game developers for online play. Other major features of the console include its multimedia capabilities, connectivity with the PlayStation Portable and its use of a high-definition optical disc format, Blu-ray Disc, as its primary storage medium. The PS3 was also the first Blu-ray 2.0-compliant Blu-ray player on the market. The PlayStation 3 was first released on November 11, 2006 in Japan, November 17, 2006 in North America and South America and March 23, 2007 in Europe and Oceania.
Nintendo Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others. As of May 2010, the Wii leads the generation over the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in worldwide sales and in December 2009 broke the record for best-selling console in a single month in the United States. A distinctive feature of the console is its wireless controller, the Wii Remote, which can be used as a handheld pointing device and detects movement in three dimensions. Another distinctive feature of the console is WiiConnect24, which enables it to receive messages and updates over the Internet while in standby mode. The Wii is Nintendo’s fifth home console, the direct successor to the Nintendo GameCube and able to play all official GameCube games.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles and the Microsoft Windows operating systems. It is the sixth installment of the Call of Duty series and the direct sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, continuing along the same storyline. It was released in conjunction with two other Call of Duty games: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized for the Nintendo DS, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex, a port of Call of Duty 4 adapted by Treyarch for the Wii console. In addition, a comic book series based on one of the game’s characters was also produced, entitled Modern Warfare 2: Ghost.
Recently it was announced that there are two downloadable map packs for the game. They would be fist made avaliable to Xbox 360 via Xbox live before other platforms. Within 24 hours of its release, it was downloaded over 1 million times. Within the first week it had been downloaded 2.5 million times, breaking Xbox Live DLC records.
Man Hunt
Manhunt is a stealth game developed by Rockstar Games, it was released November 18, 2003 for the PlayStation 2 video game console, and April 20, 2004 for Xbox and Windows. Although it was generally well-received by critics, Manhunt created a controversy due to the graphic violence the player is encouraged to engage in. This resulted in the game being banned in several countries and implicated by media in a murder, although this implication was later rejected by the police. In October 2007, its sequel, Manhunt 2 was released and spawned controversy as well.
An interesting link about the gaming industry
Primarily the gaming industry has been aimed at males, particularly teenage males with games such as the Call of Duty series being extremely popular. Some of the most popular games are war and fighting games (and other similar themes). These games can be quite difficult so young children find it hard to play and many of these games are 18 and 15′s so are not suitable for young children anyway. Many females do not like these games either as they are seen as too violent and many just find the game play boring. The Nintendo Wii has helped to cater for the market that is left, females and young children. The Wii has a variety of games that are family friendly and orientated so families can play together no matter their age.
The internet can be seen as a positive to the video game industry as many of the latest gaming consoles are able to connect to the internet and now it has even become a built in feature. This is primarily for gamers to be able to play online with their friends and people around the world. For most people this is a big part of gaming as many find it more fun to play with other people than just by themselves as it gives them a chance to interact with other people and they do not have to be using the same console unlike in the past. Gamers with consoles such as the Xbox 360 are able to download arcade games, game demos, trailers, TV shows, music and movies. This can make the overall gaming experience more enjoyable as not only are gamers able to play online but consoles can do other things such as download and watch their favorite TV shows and films.
