Star Trek: videogame marketing campaign

1) Pick out the five most significant aspects of the Star Trek campaign from the list above and explain why they were important in creating a buzz about the game.

Previewed in game magazines

I would say this is effective as it is thought to be a reliable resource as you are able to see everyones views on what people think of the game. 

Gadget Show live game available to play

This is another effective technique of making the game successful as firslty the gadget show is a popular programe where everyone watches is and so having the game available to play on it will make it more known.

Gameplay footage on YouTube

This is a significant aspect as it will show the players who are interested in it to see what you have to do in the game and to see what it is like.

Interview with Brian Miller released

2)Watch the following YouTube trailers and explain why they might appeal to an audience:

• Teaser trailer
• Xbox teaser trailer
• Full trailer
• Comedy trailer with William Shatner

3) How many views did these trailers receive in total?

4) Why did the Star Trek videogame publisher develop the marketing campaign over such a long time?

5) What other examples can you find online from the Star Trek marketing campaign? Print? Reviews? Broadcast? E-media? Do you feel the campaign as a whole was successful?

GTA 5

GTA 5

In all three print adverts, we see that the name “Grand Theft Auto

 5” is written in the same font thus making this font the games official font. In the first picture, we see a seductive woman in the centre of the cover. The woman is wearing a revealing bikini – as this game is rated 18 the cover hints that the game contains sexual content. Also, we notice that the central image appears to be of higher significance as it is bigger than the title – in doing this, the central image becomes the first thing the viewer will look at thus allowing them to decide whether they would like to buy this game. As this game is targeted at older teens and young males the image will attract their attention immediately. Furthermore, all the posters contain vibrant colours thus meaning that they attract attention. In two posters we see the use of the colour blue – this is significant as blue connotes coolness which reflects the target audience as they will want to play this game in order to be “cool”

“The scale and sense of freedom is so staggering that the initial wave of amazement never wears off”

(GTA5 PS3 REVIEW)

“A story that is not only what GTA has always wanted to tell but also fits the way people have always played it.”

(EDGE ONLINE)

Both of these reviews present the game in a positive way. The first comment reflects the images on the print advert that suggest freedom therefore, the comment and print advert go side by side. Also in the second comment, talks about the way the game is created in order to look like a movie. This is a unique style to the game and another reason as to why the game is so hugely successful.

On the cover of this magazine, we see a print advert of GTA5. This advert successfully promotes the game as the readers of this magazine will gain an insight to the game whilst also reading about other games.

This advert is effective in promoting the game as there is a sense of violence that keeps the viewer engaged. Also, through the trailer, we see that in the game you are able to live a much more plush life thus meaning that struggler's may choose to play this game in order to escape reality.

At first sight, this website looks like a tourist website as you see sub categories like”beaches and watersports”, “Friendly neighbours” and “shopping and glamour”. The website does not contain any sexual content and therefore somewhat contradicts the game itself. The website in my opinion is not very clear as the game is presented as a country. 

The game itself does not have an official YouTube Channel. However, Rockstar games has an official YouTube Channel page

This video, attracts attention as it is funny. Many people will watch this video and want to play the game in order to re create the stunts seen.

On the GTA 5 facebook page there are 1.9 miilion likes 

Fifa 14

Case Study - Fifa 14

The poster above is a print advert for the game Fifa14. The most significant part of this poster is the name ‘Fifa14’ which is seen on the left side of the poster, this is unusual as the name of a game tends to be in the centre of the poster. The font is bold thus attracting your attention as soon as you see this poster. This is reinforced by the black and red font on a white background thus making the colours more prominent.  The image of a world famous footballer outlines the game perfectly. Additionally, the image of a world famous footballer, seen on the right hand side, attracts the target audience and promotes the game.

“The more you play, the more the game evolves into a nigh-on perfect footballing dream”

(Playstation Official Magazine – UK)

“FIFA 14 oozes style, authenticity, and bold design from start to finish. It looks and feels better than ever”

(Official XBOX Magazine)

“Scoring is still too easy, with any on-target shot from within 40 yards finding its way into the net.”

(The Apps Magazine Website)

In the three reviews above, we see a mixture of good and bad reviews. The first and second review, presents Fifa 14 in a positive light thus encouraging you to play the game. However, the third review suggests that the game is slightly unreal and isn’t better than playing real football.

Magazine Reviews are effective as they can sometimes have two views – the good and bad thus allowing people to decide whether or not they would like the game.  Additionally, the magazine reviews often have screenshots of game play thus allowing people to decide whether they like the graphics and whether they think the game is worth its money.

In my opinion, e-media is very effective as people do not have to go out of their way in order to buy a magazine just to read one item. The reviews on the internet are two sided and contain people’s opinions.  Furthermore, there are many more reviews on the internet in comparison to a print review.

Broadcast

In the Fifa 14 advert, we see people from many different cultures and people of many different ages play together. Amongst these ordinary people are celebrities thus suggesting that people who play Fifa 14 are equivalent to celebrities. Also, the use of scenes of game play show what the game involves and presents that the game is fun.

The advert begins with Lionel Messi driving a van this is significant as almost immediately the audience are aware that this advert is about Football. Also, Lionel Messi is a world famous footballer and therefore the fact that he is playing Fifa would encourage others to Fifa too.  

The advert starts with a van with the number 14 thus introducing the year of the game. Towards the end of the advert the slogan “we are Fifa 14” appears, the slogan is short and catchy therefore easy to remember. The main star in this video would be Lionel Messi as he is the first character on screen, however, there are other celebrities in the ad.

E-Media

The FIFA 14 website is completely covered with images of football and football language. For example, “Precision Movement”, “Pure Shot” and “Real ball Physics”. By doing this, anyone who loves football or the game Fifa will enjoy reading this website page.     

The Facebook page has 160K likes

Instituions

Rockstar games:

Background: Rockstar games are a multinational videogame developer and publisher situated in New York.

Founded: In 1998

Owner/Founder: Founded by the British producers Sam and Dan Houser and is owned by Take-Two interactive.

Most successful games: Grand Theft Auto and Midnight Club as well as their open world free roaming settings in there games. A couple of more successful games are: Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, L.A. Noire, The Warriors, Bully, Manhunt, Midnight Club, State of Emergency, and Red Dead.

Institutions:

·         The largest permit being the Grand Theft Auto series which was one of the most popular games to be sold and have had batches of at least 157.5 million alone.

·         Rockstar Games received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award at the British Academy Video Games Awards in March 2014.

EA (Electronic Arts)

Background:  Electrician Arts are an American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games situated in California. It was formed in 1982 on May 28^th.

Owner/founder:  Founded by Trip Hawkins

Most successful games: Madden NFL, FIFA, NHL, NCAA Football, NBA Live, and SSX.

Institutions:

·         In 2011 Electronic Arts was the world's third-largest gaming company by revenue after Nintendo and Activision Blizzard.

·         EA announced that it had exceeded $1 billion in digital revenue during the previous calendar year

Zynga:

Background: Zyna games are a provider of social games and develop social games that work on mobile phone platforms such as the Apple IOS. The headquarters are situated in California, USA in San Francisco.

Owner/founder: It was founded in July 2007 by Mark Pincus

Most successful games:  One of their most successful games was The Farmville series.

Institutions: Zynga games had over 265 million monthly active users and three of the top five Facebook games.

Nintendo:

Background: Nintendo is a Japanese multinational consumer Electronics Company based in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded in 1989 on September 23^rd.

Owner/founder: The founder of Nintendo was Fusajiro Yamauchi

Most successful game: One of the most successful games was Mario Bros

Institutions:  Nintendo has sold over 669.36 million hardware units and 4.20 billion software units

Sony Computer Entertainment

Background: year formed and location

Owner/founder:

Most successful games:

Interesting fact about the institution:

Sony Computer Entertainment:

Background:  Sony Computer Entertainment is a Japanese multinational video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry. It was founded in 1993 on November 16^th and is situated in Japan Tokyo.

Owner/founder:  Nintendo is owned by Andrew House

Most successful game:

Wii Party

Wii Party

When was Wii Party released on the Nintendo Wii?

Release date: 08/07/12

Which developer/institution created Wii Party?

Nintendo

How many copies has the game sold since release?

 230,000 units were sold


Broadcast

What are the key conventions of a videogame TV advert? What would you expect to see in most videogame TV adverts?

·         Title

·         Short dramatic clips

·         Words on screen

·         Release date

·         Some have a colour scheme (e.g bright colours)

·         Company name

In most videogames you would see some parts of the game in the advert to show the players what it is like. You would also see people playing the game itself and their reactions to it

How many of the key conventions you have listed above appear in the Wii Party TV adverts? List them with specific details from the Wii Party TV adverts.

In the wii party TV advert you can the title of it at the end of the trailer and you can also see the company name.

What is the typical setting for Wii Party TV adverts? Why is that setting used?

The setting used for the tv advert was shown in a living room. It also showed a family playing the game together having fun. This type of setting was used is because the publishers probably wanted to let the public see that it is a game where you can play with family and friends. A home setting makes the game seem fun and enjoyable as firstly you see the characters smiling and laughing and secondly most people think of home as relaxing and comfortable and so it makes the game seem for interesting.

How might the setting appeal to families?

The setting of the advert will intrigue the families as it would kind of persuade them into buying it as it shows a happy family having fun together and parents would want that with their families too and so it would make them buy it.

What celebrities do the adverts feature?

The advert doesn't feature any celebrity. It shows a group of random people but made out as if they were families or friends.

What else can you learn about the Wii Party target audience from the TV adverts? Suggest a demographic profile: gender, age, social class etc.

From the Wii tv advert you can tell its aimed at 50% female and 50% male as it shows both males and females enjoying themselves whilst playing the game. The game looks like its aimed at people of middle class and of 5 maybe 6 years and older as it shows a younger kid playing as well as an older man (about late 30’s)

Do you think the TV adverts were effective for promoting the Wii Party game?

I think the tv advert was effective at promoting the game as it shows what the game is actually like as well as having a group of people enjoying themselves whilst playing it. It also shows a short mini game in it which allows the public to see what they’re will be playing if they do buy it.

Print

Find a Wii Party review from a magazine or newspaper. What does the review suggest about the target audience for the game?

·         “Awesome casual gaming for all the family. Great deal with the Wiimote as a sweet present. Totaly worth the money. But if there isn't a wiimote bundled, it would be a 7/10 for me. Not great for single player”

·         This one a great one to play with friends and family. Some reviewers think its no good, but I think it's better than Wii Sports"

Is the review positive or negative about the game? Copy and paste one quote from the review to support this view.

It is a positive review about the video game , a quote to show this is “This one a great one to play with friends and family. Some reviewers think its no good, but I think it's better than Wii Sports"

Do you think magazine reviews are effective in promoting the game to Wii Party's target audience?

I think they are effective as it shows the public (who want to buy it) what the game is really like. If they were good reviews then the public would believe in more than them than the company as they would actually tell the public what the really need unlike the company itself.

Representation: 'The hunger games'

Representation- 'The hunger games'

Women

Men

Children

Foreign people

black

white

The hunger games uses a variety of representations throughout the trailer. For example, it uses: women, men, children, foreign people, black and white. In the trailer the female character is portrayed as the most strongest candidate whereas, the male character is portrayed as weak. However, in American movies the female usually plays a role of being a lover for the main character or kidnapped by people, whereas the male plays a heroic character. A stereotypical interpretation is that foreign groups are usually seen as the evil cruel people  which is what the hunger games mainly consists of. 

Film poster and trailer-Analysis

Film poster and trailer- Analysis

Fast and the Furious 6:

Genre: Action/Romance

Key Conventions (poster): Title of publication, production blurb, a strong intriguing image, release date and flash names

Key Conventions (trailer): Voiceover, Release date, title of publication at the end, background music, screen text and short dramatic clips

Target Audience: The target audience is 15-46 years

Why it was so successful: The movie is so successful as firstly fans of Vin Diesel and Paul Walker would definitely watch it. Moreover, this movie is suitable for people who are into racing and action films which broadens the audience more. The trailer also leaves suspense for the audience which makes them wanting to watch it making the film popular.

Harry Potter 7:

Genre: Fantasy

Key conventions (poster): Good strong central image, Title of publication, production blurb, effective tag line, release date and flash names

Key conventions (trailer): Warnerbros sign, background music, voiceover, short dramatic clips, relase date, title of publicayion, platform (3D), website and screen text

Target Audience: 12-40

Why it was so successful: I think Harry Potter was a successful movie because of its magic. Everyone wants to believe that magic exists; they want to become wizards like Harry. It is also because of the actual story, his parents were murdered but some how he survived which intrigues the readers as they'd want to know how. Moreover, as there are 7 series it tells us its successful. If the audience liked the very first film, the'd go and tell the friends so on so forth (voice of audience). 

Abduction:

Genre: Action/Romance

Key conventions (poster): Title of publication, effective central image, production blurb, flash names, screen text and release date.

Key conventions (trailer): Lionsgate sign, voice over, short intriguing clips, background music, flash names, credits, title of publication, coming soon, website and social sites e.g facebook 

Why it was so successful: I think the movie was successful because of the characters. Fans of Taylor Lautner would definitely be interested in the movie. In addition, the story behind it is quite fascinating as he doesn't know who he is; he doesn't know who he's living with and who is real parents are.