UNIT 01
A05 - Compare distribution channels and ownership patterns for your game genre choice.
Here you have to show understanding of how the games industry in terms of who owns what, how they make their money and how products gets to the consumers.
Select three games from your genre - (preferably three games from the last five years so nothing too old). Make sure they are significantly different in terms of scale of production and distribution model.
For example:
1. One big-budget very successful game that uses traditional models of distribution to reach consumers.
2. An iphone game that uses Itunes and downloading to distribute and maybe freemium way of making money.
3. A flash game created by an indy developer that you can play on a PC.
Suggestions:
Life-Sim
The Sims - Farmville - Iphone game?
Survival Horror
Resi 6 - I Am Alone - Slenderman
Sandbox
GTA4/Red Dead - Minecraft - Castor/Payback
MMORPG
WOW - Parrallel Kingdom - Guild Wars 2
RPG
Runescape - Mass Effect - Final Fantasy 3 (Iphone)
Racing
Cube Runner - Trials Evolution - Forza
3rd Person Shooter
Shrapnel (iphone) - I am Alive - Gears of War
For each one find out the following:
Ownership - the developer, the publisher and which formats (games machines) it is released.
Does the publisher own the developer?
Who owns the format?
How much does it cost to release a game on that format?
Is the game based on another licensed product (movie, sports personality, car)?
Distribution and Exchange - how does the products get to the consumer and how does the company make money from it?
How do you get hold of the game - are their multiple ways of doing it?
Do you get the whole game or do you have to pay more for the full content?
Do you pay upfront for the game or pay in other ways?
Is it free? If so how do the company make money?
Then write a summary paragraph comparing the different models that you have discovered discussing the advantages and disadvantages to both the company and the consumer.
E.g. Angry Birds - Free to download, then paid for the Premium version:
The Fremium model is good for consumers as they get to try the product before they buy, however, they to pay more to get more content. It's a risk for the company as they have to build up a big user base to make money and there's the risk that no one will buy the premium version.
As ever, make your blogs looks exciting with images and embedded videos. Also include the PDFs if you want - just download them and put them on your post.
REMEMBER TO LABEL YOUR POST UNIT 01
This is the level of work that got the last years group a Merit