Video Games - Pt.2

How does this trailer target a specialised and a generalised audience?

• According to David Hesmondhalgh, it is essential for industries to 'minimise risks and maximise profits'.

• Trailer for Assassins Creed 3 Liberation:

• Targeting minorities by having a coloured woman and a coloured group of people involved in the game, the black female protagonist subverts the expectations of having a white protagonist, therefore making the game trailer interesting and unique.

• We have a black female avatar or player/character/MC.

• Adding 'new missions', is targeting pre-existing fans, double dipping.

• Common industry practice, to rerelease games.

• Tackles issues surrounding slavery, post-colonialism. 

• It is a potentially subject to the audience, which pushes boundaries and increases word of mouth sales. So by friends talking about the game more people are going to be wanting to buy and play it due to it being interesting and talked about.

• This trailer shares similarities to the cult film 'Django Unchained' which was made in 2012 the same year that this trailer was released.

• The graphics were of high quality, which means it has high production values.

• A spin off from the main series, released on a smaller console, this is a big budget, high quality and high production value game produced by Ubisoft Montreal, which have also created games in the successful assassins creed series.

• Multi-Platform Release - Gives a general or mass audience compared to an exclusive game which would only come out on one platform. Exclusive games will ride up sales on certain consoles as if there is a game only available on that console then people will buy that console over another for that specific game. By Assassins Creed 3 Liberation being a multi-platform release it will give the game a general or mass audience which minimises risks as there are more people available to purchase the game which will increase profit.

• The trailer shares the conventions of a high end blockbuster Hollywood film.

• Diegetic voiceover/Narration, lots of action packed gameplay. Orchestral soundtrack suggests that is quite high end giving it high production value.

• Each of these games feature a character wearing a hood covering their face, they're each set in a historical setting, this minimises risk as they are creating a brand image which is instantly recognisable to an audience.

• If a game sells, the company will make a new one but with similarities so they can bring in money still.

• Intertextual reference to the castlevania series, with the new feature in the liberation game by being able to use a whip.

Magazine

• Woman magazine sold 3 million copies a week for 70pence per copy.

• Adbusters is a culture jamming magazine which is anti-capitalist which rejects the idea of capitalism and the rejects the idea of money and profit.

• Adbusters cover price was £10.99 - the price was so high due to not being a mainstream magazine.

• We know Adbusters is non mainstream and anti capitalist - due to it being subversive and it is intentionally dark.

• Adbusters is published by Adbusters Foundation as it is self published.

• Adbusters doesn't contain adverts which explains its high cover price and is a non profit magazine.

• Louis Vuitton - a black malnourished african child to advertise their company, saying about red soles, due to the child having bleeding feet as they have no shoes to make people who buy Louis Vuitton shoes for an expensive prices feel bad for spending money on shoes when people cannot afford basic shoes so their soles are bleeding.

Video Games

• The sales for Assassins Creed 3 - Liberation did not meet the company's expectations so the Ubisoft producers decided to rerelease the product.

• The game was not very well critically received and it didn't receive any good reviews. Sales will be affected by the low critic reviews causing it to underperform so they are rereleasing it a second time due to it being easier to make money as they can polish up the game as they already have a game.

• 600,000 copies being sold for the PSVita which is good on a small platform such as a PSVita but due to it being such a big budget game it didn't do financially well.

• Video games used to be regulated by a company called ELSPA, now it is regulated by PEGI.

• Pegi rating don't relate to the level of difficulty - it is more about informing the audience about what is in it.

• It is legal to buy a pegi 18 game if you are under the age of 18 but a shop probably will not sell it to you.

• The first ever game to receive an age certificate was in 1993 and it was resident evil which got an age certificate of 15.

• It is an advisory classification system.

• Steam is a digital gaming and downloading platform.

• BBFC - Some games are randomly picked out to be rated by the BBFC. Now all you need to do is buy things online and get it delivered to your house online.

• The regulation of video games in the UK is largely ineffective due to digital technology.