The Promotion and Marketing of Video Games GCSE Media Studies Set Topic 2013-14
Top Ten Video Games 2012 Call of Duty: Black Ops II – Activision FIFA 13 - Electronic Arts Assassin's Creed III – Ubisoft Halo 4 – Microsoft Hitman Absolution - Square Enix Just Dance 4 – Ubisoft Far Cry 3 – Ubisoft FIFA 12 - Electronic Arts The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Bethesda Borderlands 2 - 2K Games
How are video games promoted and marketed? In a word doc, list as many strategies and methods for promoting and marketing video games as you can think of.
How are video games promoted and marketed? print advertisements large posters/billboards trailers television advertisements websites use of social networking merchandise press releases previews/reviews public appearances/premiers celebrity endorsement
The Key Concepts Key Concepts Media Language Representation Audience Institutions
Applying the key concepts to a promotional campaign Just Dance 4 - Ubisoft
Video Promo
How does the Just Dance 4 trailer use media language and representation to promote the game?
How does the Just Dance 4 trailer use media language and representation to promote the game? Features of media language Representations? Camera Angle Shots Movement Mis-en-scene Editing Sound
Iconography – the Just Dance brand
Planning your answer Focus on one key point in each paragraph Ensure each paragraph refers back to the question Ensure each paragraph uses media terminology Use specific examples from the text
Feedback from Just Dance 4 trailer analysis How does the Just Dance 4 trailer use media language and representation to promote the game? All of you explained what the media language was Most of you explained what the representations were Some of you explained how the media language and representations helped to promote the game
Feedback from Just Dance 4 trailer analysis How does the Just Dance 4 trailer use media language and representation to promote the game? All of you explained what the media language was Most of you explained what the representations were Some of you explained how the media language and representations helped to promote the game
Appealing to audiences Audience theory in relation to video game promotion
Uses and Gratifications Theory This theory states that audiences are attracted to media texts that are USEFUL or which provide them with some GRATIFICATION (pleasure) Blumler and Katz (1979) theorised that these uses and gratifications fell into four categories: Diversion – something to pass the time Personal Relationships – something which allows you to make more productive friendships, for example by giving you something to talk to your friends about Personal Identity – something which allows you to define who you are Surveillance – something which allows you to find out about the world around you
Uses and Gratifications Theory David Morley (1991) argued that there were five types of uses and gratifications: Cognitive (learning – the text helps you find out something) Affective (the text affects you and provides emotional satisfaction) Tension Release (the text allows you to relax or let off steam) Personal Integrative (the text helps you to define your own personal identity) Social Integrative (the text helps you with social interactions e.g. by providing a topic of conversation or way or interacting with others)
Richard Dyer’s Utopian Solutions “Utopia” is an imaginary ideal world Richard Dyer argues that “entertainment offers the image of ‘something better’ to set against the realities of day-to-day existence.” This is the idea of “escapism” Inside the world of a video game your existence can be “better” than in the reality of day-to-day existence
Richard Dyer’s Utopian Solutions Real World Problem Entertainment World Utopian Solution Exhaustion Dreariness Boredom Fragmentation/Loneliness Scarcity/poverty Energy Intensity Excitement Community/companionship Abundance/wealth
The idea of aspiration Aspiration is the idea of wanting something better than what you have Advertising, marketing and promotional material will often present an idealised representation of the world – a Utopian Solution – as audiences will aspire to that lifestyle and its trappings
Idealised representations in Just Dance 4
How does the Just Dance 4 trailer use representations to appeal to its audience? Use audience theories in your answer What uses and gratifications does the trailer suggest the game offers? What utopian solutions does the trailer suggest the game offers? Give examples of idealised representations that create audience aspirations