Assignment 2
by Alex Toner
Task 1
Marketing Campaign Analysis
Ubisoft had a interactive website called “Cash Contagion” allows you to find out the infection risk of your banknote, by either scanning it in via webcam, or typing the serial number into one of the appropriate fields (you won’t miss it). The currencies currently supported are Pounds and Euros. This incredible way to advertise allowed the company to immediately expand from their target audience. This is because anyone with a banknote can join in and then discover what the game is about.
In my opinion this website is truly unique, compared to any other form of advertising. This is because it allows the user to feel engaged in the advert itself, this creates a sense of connection, this may allow the user to spread the advert online or through word of mouth.
Ubisoft have made very creative adverts and have used different formats to advertise. However even though they have made adverts that have reached a wide audience and created a lot of attention for the game, they still have created bad press for the game. Ubisoft released promotional material for Tom Clancy’s The Division, which appears to take press quotes out of context in order to try and make Bungie’s Destiny look bad. The company has released an advertisement for The Division that claims the game “blows Destiny out of the water.”
Despite there being a multitude of differences between Destiny and Tom Clancy’s The Division, it seems like people can’t help but to compare the two games. Now even Ubisoft is jumping on the bandwagon, as the company has released an advertisement for The Division that claims the game “blows Destiny out of the water.” However the quote was about the Division's Beta which drew more players than Destiny‘s beta did a couple of years back.
Task 2
Demographic
Tom Clancy's The Division is an action-heavy, third-person massively multiplayer shooter game set in the aftermath of a bio-terror attack in New York City. The game offers players opportunities to help out law enforcement, military troops, medical personnel, and more in their efforts to take back the city from opposing forces. Due to the nature of the game and its story, the violence can be intense, particularly for younger kids.
Aside from the violence present in the gameplay (shooting other humans, for example), there are also dark elements that include things such as areas littered with corpses in body bags and people dying in the street from the virus. Language is another issue, as the game features regular use of profanity in dialogue, it's because of this that the Division is an age rating of 18.
The Division is not a gender specific game, there is an option for a male or female character at the start of the game, allowing for more option for male and female players. In the game itself there are no parts of the game that indicates that it is aimed at one gender. This is the same race, when creating a character you are able to change your race and through out the game there is nothing aim specifically for a certain race.
Socio-Economic Status
People who play the Division, have a monthly spare of £125 to £499. And have jobs in Architecture and interior Design. This may suggest that the players use their spare money on video games.
Audience Type
Psychographics
INFP personality (“THE MEDIATOR”). This personality type links with the Division because the story makes people eager to help a good cause. In the Division you are a civilian who is part of the "Division" a group that is tasked with a mission to save New York. This makes the player feel like they are their character and a part of the game.
Task 3
What is the media effects debate and how does this affect the gaming industry?
The Effects Debate, Does the media have the power to change peoples’ behavior, attitudes or promote values and ideologies?
“The media effects debate is a long standing question over how influential and penetrative the media is towards the people exposed to it. A particularly easy (and frequently occuring) example is the question – does watching violent movies make violent viewers? Martin Barker, in his book “Ill Effects”
In the media effects debate there are usually three different opinions on the subject:
- Those who articulate their concerns about the effects of the media without any actual evidence (politicians, the media itself, campaigning groups etc).
- Those who have conducted research into media effects, whether the outcomes are positive of negative (academics in various fields).
- And those who are the subject of the debate, usually children or teenagers consuming new forms of media which the ‘adult culture’ are worrying about (slasher movies or video games etc)
Psychological theories relate to what is going on in the mind of the individual human being when immersed in the video game or watching the film. Whilst sociological theories look at the broader impact of games/films on groups of people or society in general.
Media Effects debate
The mass media is such a major part of people’s lives that one of the major debates in media studies is the effect that the media may have on its audience. This issue focuses on the negative effects that may be created by media texts; for example, considering if there might be a link between violent behavior and representations of violence in the media.
Censorship is the use of power by authority figures to control what individuals, groups or society can or cannot see, hear or read in media products.
Active & Passive Consumption
An active consumption is when the audience will engage and discuss media messages that comes across to them and some times question the media messages through life experiences.
A passive consumption is when the audience doesn’t engage or question the media message but just accepts it, this what media outlets want to achieve when making a film or show as they want to view to except and not question.
Hypodermic Needle Model
Uses of Gratification
However, some commentators have argued that gratifications could also be seen as effects: e.g. thrillers are likely to generate very similar responses amongst most viewers.
Reception Theory
1) Dominant
Dominant is about what the audience wants to hear from people and agreeing, but with limited knowledge on the subject.
2) Negotiated
Negotiated is when the audience agrees, disagrees or questions a political speech or news broadcast due to previously held news.
3) Opposition
Opposition is when the audience recognizes the Dominant message but rejects it due to culture or political opinion, as people actively rejects any political speech from a party on any subject and acts as the opposition.
Alternative responses
Fan culture is a much wider than ever before, this is because we now have technology at our hands. There are many kinds of fan communities out there. Most of them have touch on science fiction, comic books, manga, anime, video games and movies. Fan productions have flooded today no matter on the Internet or in real life.