Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
HA1 Task 6 - Finance and Market Trends
Franchised IP
The Matrix
Concept
The Matrix explores the possibility that the human race is actually living within a virtually generated world. The world as we know it has actually long since died and the human race is being cultivated, so as to allow "The Machines" to harness the electrical currents within our bodies as an energy source within the real world.
With technology constantly and quickly becoming more advanced, it allows the viewer to second guess their own reality. With virtual reality devices and video games being on the horizon, it isn't difficult to believe that the world as you know it could simply be the product of someone else's design.
Inspiration
The Matrix is a hybrid and may contain much more than any genre name could describe, it belongs to the epic genre, as, in modern terms, it redefines the hero who sets out to suppress overt threats to humanity. The movie makes numerous references to recent films and literature, and to historical myths, religions and philosophies. The Matrix's premise resembles the Ancient Greek aphorism "know thyself", Plato's Allegory of the Cave, the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, Calderón de la Barca's Life is a Dream, René Descartes's evil genius, Kant's reflections on phenomena versus the Ding an sich, Edwin Abbott Abbott's Flatland, George Gurdjieff's The Sleeping Man, and the brain in a vat thought experiment.
History
The Matrix series includes a trilogy of feature films, all of which were written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski and produced by Joel Silver, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss and Hugo Weaving. The series began with 1999's The Matrix, which depicts the recruitment of hacker Neo into humanity's rebellion against sentient machines. The film was highly successful, earning $460 million worldwide, and becoming the first DVD release in the United States to reach sales of three million copies.
The success of the first film encouraged the release of two sequels, The Matrix: Reloaded and The Matrix: Revolutions.
However it had also encouraged development within other areas, as the franchise continued to expand into video games, comic books and it even had it's own anime.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix_%28franchise%29#Influences_and_interpretations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix
http://www.angelfire.com/planet/matrix_1/understanding_the_matrix.htm
Serialised IP
Oddworld
Concept
Lorne Lanning: On a very practical level, we were striving for a deeper and more engaging sense of story and emotional character development for games. We brought character development, production design, animation, and effects from the film industry. We wanted to feel like you were playing not just a challenge, but someone’s fate – someone that you had to be responsible for.
Inspiration
It was film that was the key inspiration, but from games the most fun I personally had, aside from pure racing and arcade-style games, was the great early side-scrollers like Prince of Persia, Out of This World and Flashback. I loved those games, but most importantly those games made me feel like I was controlling a lifeform more than a piece of art in some challenge contest.
History
The developers originally stated that the Oddworld series would be a pentalogy called the Oddworld Quintology, and that Abe's Exoddus and Stranger's Wrath games were bonus titles not counting toward the total of five. The Oddworld Adventures Games are handheld versions of Abe's Oddysee and Exoddus. The Quintology was halted after the first two games, when the company decided to redirect its efforts toward film production. There were also a few titles that were hinted at in interviews and press releases, but they were never developed.
Sources: http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2012/09/28/behind-the-classics-oddworld-abes-oddysee/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oddworld
HA1 Task 5 – Budgets
Variable Costs
A variable cost is a sum of funds which can vary depending on the production output. They can rise as production increase, or lower as it decreases. Variable costs can be spent on materials or labour which are relevant to the project.
For example, if the volume of work is too slow and extra labour is required, the variable costs will increase to accommodate the extra work force within a boundary.
Fixed Costs
Fixed costs are funds which will never increase or decrease regardless of the amount of products produced or sold. They include costs such as rent of property, materials, labour, etc..
Break even Point
The Break even point is the point in a business where a profit has neither been gained or lost. When the gross-profit has met the fixed costs.
Monitoring
In business, it is required to set up a budget which is monitored each month. This is necessary to ensure that the fixed costs are not exceeded and to establish where these extra costs can then be cut.
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Wednesday, 3 October 2012
HA1 Task 7 – Contractual, Legal, Ethical and Professional issues
Contractual
Employment
An Employment contract is an agreement between the employer and employee. the contract of employment denotes a relationship of economic dependence and social subordination, for example an employer will agree to pay a certain wage, as well as treat the employee with proper respect and fairness, while the employee will agree to complete their given tasks to the extent of the contractual agreement as well as treat their employer with respect.
Development
Within the Games industry, it is common for publishers to hire game developers to create games.When this happens, the two companies form a development agreement in the form of a contract. This agreement states the terms, ownership and warranties regarding the game in development.
For example, within the terms, it will be decided how much the publisher will pay the developer to create the game and whether or not their will be royalties or what the rate of royalties will be.
Ownership: who owns the IP (Intellectual property) the developers or the publishers? This can be essential to both parties. If the IP is successful, ownership can be an asset to both parties, as the party with ownership of the IP will then be able to continue producing related merchandise without input from, or payment to the other party.
Warranties: This is an agreement which binds the developers to using only the source code which they have created, while also binding the publishers to only asking the developers to create a game which they have the rights to.
An example of this can be found here.
License
When a publisher wishes to have a game made about a movie, tv show, toys, etc.. The publisher and the owner of the IP make up a contract which specifies the details of the license.
These details spell out what the publisher can and can't do with the IP. For example, the publisher may only be able to use certain characters or locations from the IP within their game.
However, it can also affect which platforms the IP owner is willing to allow the game to be published on, PS Vita, Wii U, etc..
The territories in which the game is released can also be part of the license, for example: The game could be released within Europe, but not the USA.
There is also a term for how long the contract will last (Most contracts don't go on forever). They don't normally run longer than five years. After this term has ended, the license holder no longer has the right to produce merchandise related to the licensed IP.
A good example of this would be the Harry Potter video game series which was produced by EA Games.
NDA
An NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) is designed to ensure that confidential information is not leaked to the public by a second party. For example, if a developer were to outsource another development studio, an NDA would have to be agreed upon by this second development studio in order to ensure that they do not divulge confidential information to the public, Gameplay systems, the games story or even the games title are good examples.
This is also true in the case of a Closed Beta. A Closed Beta is a portion of a video game which a game developer or publisher has released to a select few in order to test out a video game, reveal bugs and generally ensure that it is fun. These tests are essential to the development of a video game, but could be catastrophic for the games financial success if information is leaked so early.
Anyone caught breaking an NDA could face dire consequences in a court of Law.
Collaboration
A collaboration agreement would be used in a situation which involves an indie developer, or someone who creates games as a hobby. It is used to figure out the ownership and compensation involved in creating a game.
A collaboration agreement is designed to clearly state who owns the IP, who does what, who gets what, the way the IP will be used, and how the project will end.
Legal
IP
IP (Intellectual Property) is a term used to describe many different types of creations originating from a persons imagination.
Under intellectual law, owners of IP's are granted exclusive rights to intangible assets such as, Music, literacy and art, etc..
Within the gaming industry an IP can range from being a single piece of artwork to an entire franchise, therefore the ownership of an IP can be everything to a publisher. It is not uncommon for IP's to be sold on to other publishers or developers, this has happened with many popular IP's such as, "Crash Bandicoot" and "Spyro the Dragon".
After these IP's have been sold on, they are often rebooted and can contain minor changes to the original concept of the IP, however it is not uncommon for complete overhauls, such is the case with the "Devil May Cry" franchise, which when rebooted contained major changes ranging from character design to the story of the games them selves.
Copyright
A copyright is used to protect an authors work from use by another person or company.
A copyright can protect numerous things, from titles, characters, music and the list goes on.
For example, we all know about "Sonic the Hedgehog" the little guy from Sega who runs fast, collects gold rings and spends his time ruining the evil plots of Doctor Eggman. Let's say I created a game called Speedy the porcupine, who runs quick, collects ruby rings and spends his time ruining the dastardly plans of Mr. Manegg, I would probably find myself on the losing end of a court case.
Trademark
A trademark is the mark which identifies a product, they can take their form in names, logo's slogans, etc..
Trademarks are regsitered for specific products within certain classes, that's not to say trademarks can't be similar to one another. As long as it is different in some way, it is usually ok.
Sometimes, the similarities can be strikingly obvious.
Patent
A patent is basically the function of a product, in the gaming industry this could be related to a publishers/developers game play mechanics.
Without the permission of the patent inventor, others can not recreate and then sell on a product of the same function, it would need to have notable differences to set it apart from the original patent.
However much like an IP, patents can be sold on or rented out. This can lead to many variations of the same patent across the market.
Within the Gaming industry, a good example of this would be the "Unreal Engine" This is a game engine which many developers have used to make various games, however despite this, these games can still be easily set apart.
Registered Design
Registered designs are the eye candy of the whole IP package, they can be the promotional artwork for the game, the box art or any related art work.
Registered Designs allow publishers/developers to give the consumer or even a developer an idea of how they envision the game, this allows the consumer to summarise for themselves what the game will be like from these designs, while also inspiring the developer who is creating the game.
Ethical
Violence
Violence is a common part of video games today. Many people believe that by playing violent games, the player can also become influenced by it and therefore become violent themselves.
Violence is demonstrated in many forms within video games, from the firearm based battles of "Call of Duty" to the stealthy assassination style of "Assassins Creed". It is not uncommon for certain individuals to blame their behaviour on something which they have seen in a game. In fact, there was a case on the release day of "Grand Theft Auto IV" in which a gang of youths attacked and stole from another youth in order to gain his copy of "Grand Theft Auto IV". Their reasoning behind the attack? "It's what the main character from Grand Theft Auto would have done."
Rating - PEGI
PEGI (Pan European Game Information) ratings are used to aid parents/guardians in picking an appropriate video game for their children. It does this via a range of age listings and icons which represent the content of the game. These days it is now illegal to sell a video games to children who are not old enough to meet the PEGI rating of said game.
Despite the PEGI rating system, it is not uncommon for those who do not meet the PEGI ratings to acquire video games which are deemed inappropriate towards their age group. In many cases, parents themselves will purchase these games for their children, thus it isn't uncommon to hear a 7 year old during an online multiplayer match of "Call of Duty" an 18+ rated game.
Education
Education can also be found within video games. In a subtle manner from things such as the settings of video games, "Assassins Creed II - The Italian Renaissance" Then there are games which are directed towards providing an education, "Brain Training". These are the positives of education from video games, however, there are also negatives..
These are inherently covered by the PEGI rating system, but can include drugs, bad language and violence. All things which can be learnt about from certain video games.
Stereotyping
Gaming is generally stereotyped as being a guy thing, therefore it is quite common for most video games to be aimed at a male audience.
However in today's age of gaming there is a wide range of developers, both male and female who are creating games for all sorts of people regardless of their age, ethcic or gender.
Therefore despite games such as "God of War", "Assassins Creed" and "Call of Duty" being aimed at a male audience, it is not uncommon for a female audience to be present, and vice versa.. Games such as "Viva Piñata", "Dance Central" and "Little Big Planet" which are aimed towards a female audience, a male audience is also present.
Addiction
Like many things, playing video games has become an addiction for many people. For some the chance to escape the real world and engulf themselves within a world where effort and patience will always result in progression is irresistible.
A video game addiction, like most addictions is not a good thing. It can cause people to lose out on more important things, such as social activities, relationships and even work.
Professional Bodies
UKIE
UKIE is the only trade body for the UK's interactive entertainment industry. They are around to ensure that the needs and the positive image of video games are met.
They’re around to help ensure that members from the videogames and wider interactive entertainment industry have the right economic, political and social environment needed to expand the industry.
The UKIE also possess a Property Crime Unit, which seeks to minimise the damage caused by intellectual property theft and catch those responsible for it's activity.
IGDA
The IGDA (International Game Developers Association) is a professional society which houses over 10,000 video and computer game developers world wide.
It is based within the United States and it's purpose is to advance the careers as well as enhance the lives of video game developers. It is a non-profit organisation and has no real barriers regarding entry, as any person who considers themselves a game developer may join.
Women in Games
Women in Games is an organisation with 3 main aims:
1. Give a voice to women and men in the games industry and in games education with interests in supporting
and encouraging the role of women in the games industry.
2. Support and disseminate research into games, games culture, games education, games industry, games
technologies, and other game related areas, especially (but not exclusively) with reference to the
experience of women playing, developing and responding to games and game culture.
3. Provide networking opportunities for women and men working in the games industry and researching game related areas.
They're objective is to solidify the place of women within the video games industry. This can also be referenced back to "sterotyping" where it is commonly conceived that gaming is a guy thing.
It is the aim of the "Women in Games" organisation to prove that otherwise, ensuring that women have a role in playing as well as developing games.
Website Link
BAFTA
BAFTA (British Academy Video Games Awards) is an awards ceremony connected to (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts)
It serves to reward game developers on their efforts within the games industry by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. Thus allowing the best of the best to be accessed and appreciated by the public.
Website Link
Employment
An Employment contract is an agreement between the employer and employee. the contract of employment denotes a relationship of economic dependence and social subordination, for example an employer will agree to pay a certain wage, as well as treat the employee with proper respect and fairness, while the employee will agree to complete their given tasks to the extent of the contractual agreement as well as treat their employer with respect.
Development
Within the Games industry, it is common for publishers to hire game developers to create games.When this happens, the two companies form a development agreement in the form of a contract. This agreement states the terms, ownership and warranties regarding the game in development.
For example, within the terms, it will be decided how much the publisher will pay the developer to create the game and whether or not their will be royalties or what the rate of royalties will be.
Ownership: who owns the IP (Intellectual property) the developers or the publishers? This can be essential to both parties. If the IP is successful, ownership can be an asset to both parties, as the party with ownership of the IP will then be able to continue producing related merchandise without input from, or payment to the other party.
Warranties: This is an agreement which binds the developers to using only the source code which they have created, while also binding the publishers to only asking the developers to create a game which they have the rights to.
An example of this can be found here.
License
When a publisher wishes to have a game made about a movie, tv show, toys, etc.. The publisher and the owner of the IP make up a contract which specifies the details of the license.
These details spell out what the publisher can and can't do with the IP. For example, the publisher may only be able to use certain characters or locations from the IP within their game.
However, it can also affect which platforms the IP owner is willing to allow the game to be published on, PS Vita, Wii U, etc..
The territories in which the game is released can also be part of the license, for example: The game could be released within Europe, but not the USA.
There is also a term for how long the contract will last (Most contracts don't go on forever). They don't normally run longer than five years. After this term has ended, the license holder no longer has the right to produce merchandise related to the licensed IP.
A good example of this would be the Harry Potter video game series which was produced by EA Games.
NDA
An NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) is designed to ensure that confidential information is not leaked to the public by a second party. For example, if a developer were to outsource another development studio, an NDA would have to be agreed upon by this second development studio in order to ensure that they do not divulge confidential information to the public, Gameplay systems, the games story or even the games title are good examples.
This is also true in the case of a Closed Beta. A Closed Beta is a portion of a video game which a game developer or publisher has released to a select few in order to test out a video game, reveal bugs and generally ensure that it is fun. These tests are essential to the development of a video game, but could be catastrophic for the games financial success if information is leaked so early.
Anyone caught breaking an NDA could face dire consequences in a court of Law.
Collaboration
A collaboration agreement would be used in a situation which involves an indie developer, or someone who creates games as a hobby. It is used to figure out the ownership and compensation involved in creating a game.
A collaboration agreement is designed to clearly state who owns the IP, who does what, who gets what, the way the IP will be used, and how the project will end.
Legal
IP
IP (Intellectual Property) is a term used to describe many different types of creations originating from a persons imagination.
Under intellectual law, owners of IP's are granted exclusive rights to intangible assets such as, Music, literacy and art, etc..
Within the gaming industry an IP can range from being a single piece of artwork to an entire franchise, therefore the ownership of an IP can be everything to a publisher. It is not uncommon for IP's to be sold on to other publishers or developers, this has happened with many popular IP's such as, "Crash Bandicoot" and "Spyro the Dragon".
After these IP's have been sold on, they are often rebooted and can contain minor changes to the original concept of the IP, however it is not uncommon for complete overhauls, such is the case with the "Devil May Cry" franchise, which when rebooted contained major changes ranging from character design to the story of the games them selves.
 | |
| Same guy, different IP Owner |
Copyright
A copyright is used to protect an authors work from use by another person or company.
A copyright can protect numerous things, from titles, characters, music and the list goes on.
For example, we all know about "Sonic the Hedgehog" the little guy from Sega who runs fast, collects gold rings and spends his time ruining the evil plots of Doctor Eggman. Let's say I created a game called Speedy the porcupine, who runs quick, collects ruby rings and spends his time ruining the dastardly plans of Mr. Manegg, I would probably find myself on the losing end of a court case.
Trademark
A trademark is the mark which identifies a product, they can take their form in names, logo's slogans, etc..
Trademarks are regsitered for specific products within certain classes, that's not to say trademarks can't be similar to one another. As long as it is different in some way, it is usually ok.
Sometimes, the similarities can be strikingly obvious.
Patent
A patent is basically the function of a product, in the gaming industry this could be related to a publishers/developers game play mechanics.
Without the permission of the patent inventor, others can not recreate and then sell on a product of the same function, it would need to have notable differences to set it apart from the original patent.
However much like an IP, patents can be sold on or rented out. This can lead to many variations of the same patent across the market.
Within the Gaming industry, a good example of this would be the "Unreal Engine" This is a game engine which many developers have used to make various games, however despite this, these games can still be easily set apart.
Registered Design
Registered designs are the eye candy of the whole IP package, they can be the promotional artwork for the game, the box art or any related art work.
Registered Designs allow publishers/developers to give the consumer or even a developer an idea of how they envision the game, this allows the consumer to summarise for themselves what the game will be like from these designs, while also inspiring the developer who is creating the game.
Ethical
Violence
Violence is a common part of video games today. Many people believe that by playing violent games, the player can also become influenced by it and therefore become violent themselves.
Violence is demonstrated in many forms within video games, from the firearm based battles of "Call of Duty" to the stealthy assassination style of "Assassins Creed". It is not uncommon for certain individuals to blame their behaviour on something which they have seen in a game. In fact, there was a case on the release day of "Grand Theft Auto IV" in which a gang of youths attacked and stole from another youth in order to gain his copy of "Grand Theft Auto IV". Their reasoning behind the attack? "It's what the main character from Grand Theft Auto would have done."
Rating - PEGI
PEGI (Pan European Game Information) ratings are used to aid parents/guardians in picking an appropriate video game for their children. It does this via a range of age listings and icons which represent the content of the game. These days it is now illegal to sell a video games to children who are not old enough to meet the PEGI rating of said game.
Despite the PEGI rating system, it is not uncommon for those who do not meet the PEGI ratings to acquire video games which are deemed inappropriate towards their age group. In many cases, parents themselves will purchase these games for their children, thus it isn't uncommon to hear a 7 year old during an online multiplayer match of "Call of Duty" an 18+ rated game.
Education
Education can also be found within video games. In a subtle manner from things such as the settings of video games, "Assassins Creed II - The Italian Renaissance" Then there are games which are directed towards providing an education, "Brain Training". These are the positives of education from video games, however, there are also negatives..
These are inherently covered by the PEGI rating system, but can include drugs, bad language and violence. All things which can be learnt about from certain video games.
Stereotyping
Gaming is generally stereotyped as being a guy thing, therefore it is quite common for most video games to be aimed at a male audience.
However in today's age of gaming there is a wide range of developers, both male and female who are creating games for all sorts of people regardless of their age, ethcic or gender.
Therefore despite games such as "God of War", "Assassins Creed" and "Call of Duty" being aimed at a male audience, it is not uncommon for a female audience to be present, and vice versa.. Games such as "Viva Piñata", "Dance Central" and "Little Big Planet" which are aimed towards a female audience, a male audience is also present.
Addiction
Like many things, playing video games has become an addiction for many people. For some the chance to escape the real world and engulf themselves within a world where effort and patience will always result in progression is irresistible.
A video game addiction, like most addictions is not a good thing. It can cause people to lose out on more important things, such as social activities, relationships and even work.
Professional Bodies
UKIE
UKIE is the only trade body for the UK's interactive entertainment industry. They are around to ensure that the needs and the positive image of video games are met.
They’re around to help ensure that members from the videogames and wider interactive entertainment industry have the right economic, political and social environment needed to expand the industry.
The UKIE also possess a Property Crime Unit, which seeks to minimise the damage caused by intellectual property theft and catch those responsible for it's activity.
IGDA
The IGDA (International Game Developers Association) is a professional society which houses over 10,000 video and computer game developers world wide.
It is based within the United States and it's purpose is to advance the careers as well as enhance the lives of video game developers. It is a non-profit organisation and has no real barriers regarding entry, as any person who considers themselves a game developer may join.
Women in Games
Women in Games is an organisation with 3 main aims:
1. Give a voice to women and men in the games industry and in games education with interests in supporting
and encouraging the role of women in the games industry.
2. Support and disseminate research into games, games culture, games education, games industry, games
technologies, and other game related areas, especially (but not exclusively) with reference to the
experience of women playing, developing and responding to games and game culture.
3. Provide networking opportunities for women and men working in the games industry and researching game related areas.
They're objective is to solidify the place of women within the video games industry. This can also be referenced back to "sterotyping" where it is commonly conceived that gaming is a guy thing.
It is the aim of the "Women in Games" organisation to prove that otherwise, ensuring that women have a role in playing as well as developing games.
Website Link
BAFTA
BAFTA (British Academy Video Games Awards) is an awards ceremony connected to (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts)
It serves to reward game developers on their efforts within the games industry by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. Thus allowing the best of the best to be accessed and appreciated by the public.
Website Link
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