Double Fine revision

Publishing

· Double Fine adventure's genre is point and click. A genre that in recent years has declined and as a result developers haven't created a game of this genre in past years. This is why Tim Schafer has turned to Kickstarter to crowd fund his game.

· Its target audience is middle aged males. The genre limits its target audience. People that have experienced the point and click genre before are likely to buy into the game and because the genre hasn't been done in the past few years, younger people are unlikely to buy the game.

Development

· Double Fine lacked the resources to self-fund a game,the company elected to crowd-fund the project on Kickstarter, a method Schafer had seen successfully used to raise much smaller amounts for independent game developers

· The game engine is Moai. and it uses 2D computer graphics instead of 3D to keep to the "old school" nature of adventure games. It also is far less complicated and allows the developers to focus far more on the game.

· Double Fine set the goal for the project at $400,000, with $100,000 allocated to the film production and $300,000 for the game. This amount was easily achieved.

· Crowd funding also has benefits when designing the game because there are less restrictions on the developers.

· Double Fine also accept feedback from those that pledged money so they can improve the game for the target audience

Marketing

· Crowd funding has enabled DFA to gain customers before the game was built by encouraging gamers, that are interested in the point and click genre, to pledge money in return for the game.

· By using YouTube to create hype and advertise Double Fine, it has been hugely successful

· Tim Schafer has been the face of the company. Tim himself has attracted interest because of his personality and successful previous games.

· Other incentives to buy into DFA are exclusive game art, access to private community areas to discuss the game, prints and invitations to meet with the Double Fine staff.

Distribution

· It can be bought as a digital download available on Android, Linux, iOS, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. Because of the genre and restricted funding (even though more money was raised than expected)

Textual analysis terminology

Shots

Extreme close up - a very close shot of a person or object. It can be used to create shock and to focus on a symbolic or important object

Close up - A lose shot of a person or object. It is used to show facial expressions and focus on an important object.

Medium shot - shot that shows half of a person. Used to show people talking.

Two shot - shows two people in the same shot. Used to show two people on equal terms.

Over the shoulder shot - a shot that show another character from over the shoulder of the character in the foreground. Used to show people talking. High and low shots can be used.

High shot - the camera position is higher than eye level. Used to show a person is inferior.

Low shot - the camera position is below eye level. Used to show a person is superior.

Long shot - shows all of the person. Used to show people moving and reveal things about their environment.

Extreme long/establishing shot - show the entire surrounding from a distance. Used to establish the environment the scene is taking place.

Movement

Pan - camera rotates from side to side.

Tilt/pitch - camera rotates up or down.

Zoom - increases or decreases the cameras field of view to magnify a portion of the scene.

Dolly/track - the camera's position changes. Dolly in moves the camera closer to a subject while dolly out backs it away

JOKE WARNING

The other day on strictly come dancing one of the judges was replaced by a camera. It was Lens Goodman.

 

 

Editing is very important when creating a film and many different techniques can be used to create effects.

Continuity - continuous action show in a sequence

Montage - a series of seemingly unrelated shots that the audience must work to connect

Cross-cutting/parallel-editing - simultaneous occurrences. In other words two different shots that appear to be happening at the same time

Transitions - refers to what happens between shots. How an editor transitions to the next shot

Cut - indicates the end of a shot

Dissolve - a type of transition. One shot blends into the next one. Indicates a large passage of time between shots.

Fade - a type of transition. One shot blends into a single colour, usually black or white.

Wipe - a type of transition. One shot moves off screen to be replaced by another. Different wipes signify different things. Eg: a wipe up or down can connote a hierarchy.

Digital effects - most editing software offers a variety of effects to be used for transitions. Pixilating, animation and focus drops can be used.

Juxtaposition - two shots that contrast each other. This type of editing can be used to show differences.

JOKE WARNING

The other day I was at football training and my coach said to me "when this cross comes I want you to head it in" Then I said "but I don't have any editing equipment"

 

 

Music, sound effects and voices all create an atmosphere and connote different things.

Diegetic sound - sound that comes from a source that is visible on screen. Eg: voices, animals, objects

Non-diegetic sound - sound that doesn't come from a source on screen. Eg: music, narration, sound effects.

Major key - connotes happiness and joy

Minor key - connotes sadness

Crescendo - gets louder and builds up

Diminuendo - gets quieter

Staccato - short sharp notes

Legato - long notes

Leitmotif - a tune associated with a character

Dynamics - levels of volume

Atmospheric sounds - low ominous rumbles

Hypersensitive sounds - exaggerated noises

Another good way to describe sounds and music is to use adjectives and to describe what emotions the sound connotes.

JOKE WARNING

I like to use building blocks to play long notes. The technical term is legoto.

Revision - essay terminolgy

Gaming Industry

Publishing - the game genre, narrative and target audience all come under publishing

Development - the process of creating a game and its design.

Marketing - how the game is advertised

Distribution - how the game goes from the publishers to you

Cross media convergence - the coming together of media. Eg: the cinematic experience of modern games

Technological convergence - the coming together of media technologies. Eg: games consoles being able to play movie, apps, Internet as well as games

Crowd Funding - people pledge money to fund a game. Eg: Double Fine adventure was funded by kickstarter a crowd funding company.

Passive audience - the audience just receive the media product

Active audience - the audience have input into the media product

Revision - Assassin's Creed 3

Here is a few, well quite a few points that you can put in your essay for publishing, production, marketing and distribution.

Publishing

• The franchise first attracted a younger audience with the first Assassin's Creed hence the rating was 15+ while Assassins Creed 3 is an 18+. The franchise has grown up along with the audience to maintain its faithful fans.
  
•  It is popular with older men. Mr Croft likes the game. They were the first generation to grow up with the gaming industry and experience all the changes from tetris all the way to this new Assassin's Creed.

• The PSVita version has the main character as a female. The target audience for this version is aimed more at females as they would be able to relate with the character.

• The new character is bigger, stronger and better at fighting which appeals to boys that are "obsessed" with war.

• Assassin's Creed 3 is very much a multi-genre game. Fantasy, adventure, strategy, beat em up, sandbox, sci-fi, puzzle, stealth and racing. This makes the game very immersive and allows the gamer to explore and spend many hours completing the missions, collecting or just enjoying this virtual world which in this new assassin's Creed that is much larger than previous games. 

•  The game is mostly third person which means that the camera is behind the character.

• The multiplayer in the assassins creed has been included since Brotherhood and has been mostly successful. It is a different concept from the usual team deathmatch on most first person shooters and includes players hunting each other. The genre of the multiplayer is very much stealth and is popular for its inventiveness.

Development

• The game engine is Anvil next and it can do weather cycling, create crowds of at most 2000, the world changes over time to do things like growing plants or making damage to buildings permanent. The characters in the game have artificial intelligence. In the crowds each person has their own personality, wind and water simulation is so accurate you use the actual naval techniques to aim at the enemy, when the character walks through snow his footprints are remembered for the duration of the mission. This encourages sales because the player wants to see how the game improves.

Game design

• Characters - The characters have stayed quite similar. The protagonist in each is strong, athletic man who kills men via some fluent fighting style. Also the women in each game are thin and have two impressive features. Anyway the protagonist moves are more fluent and smooth compared to previous games.

• World – How one interacts with the surroundings and in the case of Assassin’s Creed 3 how the free running system works. This is evident when one runs free as Connor. As well as buildings we start free running through trees and up cliffs. This makes the long time player want to continue playing as it shows the evolution of skills from the easy buildings to the intricate branches. It also makes the player feel like they are achieving something as they have been playing through the evolution so they feel they have got better at controlling it.

JOKE WARNING

 

There are also hunting regions but they are very expensive. They're dear

 

• Game Software - this is how the hardware is used. The software is the content of the game in its basics. This involves the graphics and how they improve. In Assassin’s Creed the graphics are ahead of its time but we focused more on the buildings and looks. Now in Assassins’ Creed 3 we focus more on the character and the background. An example of this is the first protagonist Haytham. His face is uncovered unlike the previous games and we see how the better graphics affect his face. Also in the background there’s new motion for example people passing by windows.

Marketing

• On 28th September 2012, Ubisoft announced that they were to spend £4million on marketing. This is the largest spend on the promotion of a product by the developer, in a big push to sell as many as possible to cover large costs.

• This helps sales figures in an obvious way, the more people who see it across the TV, radio, advertising boards.The more people are aware of it, and then they look into it, find a large network of exciting "exclusive reveal" videos on the Internet and get excited for the game, and want it when it comes out.

 

• On You tube, you can find a wide range of videos showing interviews and new features of the game. These helped build up anticipation for the game from fans, without revealing too much. This is a good way of promoting something as it comes at absolutely no cost  but is a great way of building up excitement and draw in more people who preorder because they are watching the videos and want the game as a result.
  
• Other editions with extras are also available and help the franchise develop sales figures as collectors and "hardcore gamers" will buy a number of, or at least the most expensive edition. This helps bring in much more money to the franchise, at little extra cost to them. It also helps the franchise establish itself as it shows the commitment from the developers and designers

JOKE WARNING

There's a new series of games that are all about herbs. It's a new franchive

 

Distribution

• Assassins Creed III has been distributed across many different platforms including Xbox-360, Playstation 3 and the all new PS Vita. AC3 has tried to reach as many customers as possible.

• An example of a store that is on the highstreet and on the internet is Game. On the online store customers can order and even pre-order the game for bonus features. The store allows the exact same capabilities in both pre-ordering and buying the game directly.

• With Assassins Creed III being a sequel in the popular Assassins Creed franchise, most game stores and most supermarkets now sell the game. As well as been sold widely throughout stores, the most common distribution for the game is online. Also companies such as Amazon and Play.com are distributing the game widely because of their trusted customer base. This allows the game to be distributed on a huge scale.

• When the game is ordered online the customer can either pick the game up from the store that they purchased it from or they can choose to have the game delivered directly to their home.

JOKE WARNING

Have you heard of the killer that looks back on his murders and thinks about them. Apparently he follows the assessing creed

Essay success criteria


Plan

• Use four boxes and work out how you will structure your answer before attempting to write it
• Work out what the question is asking you to do.
• Use correct terminology.
• Cross it out afterwards

Essay

• Use appropriate terminology as much as possible
• Be consistent and sustain your analysis. Your essay is only as good as your worst paragraph
• Clear and sophisticated style
• Well argued
• Always link back to the question and directly answer it in every paragraph
• Include facts and figures when appropriate
• Try not to repeat
• Balance your argument
• Don't repeat

JOKE WARNING

Even if the question doesn't involve the solar system you still have to plan it.

Revision - Gaming Industry Facts and Figures

General facts
 
These facts are from http://www.esrb.org/about/video-game-industry-statistics.jsp
 

• the average age of a gamer is 34
• the average number of years adults have been playing games since is 12
• 67% of US households play video games
• percentage of gamers - 25% are under 18, 49% are 18-49 and 26% over 50
• the average gamer spends 8 hours a week playing video games
• 40% of all gamers are female
• 64% of parents believe games are a positive part of their children's lives

Assassin's Creed 3 facts
 

• Assassins Creed 3 is an 18+
• Developed by Ubisoft
• Work began in January 2010
• The PSVita version has the main character as a female.
• Assassin's Creed 3 is very much a multi-genre game. Fantasy, adventure, strategy, beat em up, sandbox, sci-fi, puzzle, stealth and racing
• the game engine is anvil next
• spent £4million on marketing in anticipation of the release of Assassin's Creed 3.
• On You tube, you can find a wide range of videos showing interviews and new features of the game.
• Available across 4 consoles, there are 7 different editions of Assassin's Creed 3.
• The Standard Edition is available on Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita and PC.
• It has online Multiplayer
• Ubisoft announced that the game is the most pre-ordered game in the company's history
• It was the best selling game in the United Kingdom in the week of its release, with 3.5 million units sold

Double Fine Adventure facts
 

• largest crowd funded game
• Kickstarter project initiated on February 8, 2012
• set the goal for the project at $400,000, with $100,000 allocated to the film production and $300,000 for the game
• within nine hours, the Kickstarter project had exceeded the $400,000 goal and by 24 hours, it had surpassed $1 million
• raised $3.45 million from more than 87,000 backers through kickstarter
• various incentives were given to those that pledged $15 or more, including the game itself
• a digital download available on Android, Linux, iOS, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows
• started in
• uses Moai as its game engine
• Tim Schafer is the face of the game and has uploaded lots of videos on You Tube
• uses 2D computer graphics
• will have voice acting for the English version, and include text localisation for French, German, Italian, and Spanish languages

Crowd Funding Essay

How is crowd funding affecting the relationship between institutions and audiences at the publishing, design, marketing and distribution level? Answer with specific reference to Assassin’s Creed and Double Fine Adventure

 
Double Fine Adventures is different from Assassin’s Creed 3 in the publishing of the game, their design, how they are marketed and how they are distributed and these differences have been influenced by crowd funding. Double Fine Adventures has been financed by Kickstarter giving more freedom to the game developers, while Assassin’s Creed 3 has had the backing of Ubisoft that will have influenced the game against the developers wishes. The two games differ greatly and they’re advantages and disadvantages to crowd funding.

 
Publishing is different for Assassin’s Creed 3 (AC3) compared with Double Fine Adventure (DFA). AC3 is a multi-genre game, that covers adventure, sci-fi, fantasy, sandbox and more, which means it appeals to a wide target audience which it has to do to make as much money as possible because the game cost much more to make than to DFA which is able to have a specific genre – point and click – that is becoming less popular of late because the cost to create the game is far less, so it doesn’t need a wide audience. Although the target audience of DFA is limited, it has managed to gain large support – over $3.5 million was donated by 87,000 people. The target amount of $400,000 was raised in 8 hours which shows how popular the genre is. Ubisoft have funded AC3 because it is part of a successful franchise that is growing with this new game while DFA was funded through kickstarter and donations from fans of the game genre in return for rewards and a copy of the game. This makes DFA different form AC3 because Ubisoft will have controlled some of the decisions and the direction the game took compared to DFA, which has been able to design the game how they want along with feedback from the people that donated to improve the game. AC3’s audience have no input to how the game is made and are therefore passive and only receive the final product.

 
Crowd funding also affects how the game is designed and developed. AC3 uses anvil next as its game engine. It is a modern game engine that is incredibly advanced and as well as producing better graphics, it can handle up to 2000 characters on screen, cycle weather patterns and cope with complex physics to make the game as realistic as possible. DFA uses Moai as its game engine and compared to anvil next it is far less advanced. It is 2D and has been chosen so the game developers can concentrate more on the actual game story and other aspects rather than complex programming. It is also far easier, meaning a smaller team can work on the game. Tech director Nathan Martz said, “We wanted to experiment with some 2D games, some mobile games, and as we looked around for solutions Moai jumped out at us as a really simple, lightweight, quick-to-get-into technology.” Crowd funding also has benefits when designing the game because there are less restrictions on the developers. AC3 would have been altered so that its characters, environments and story line are how Ubisoft want them to be. Crowd funding gives individual developers no restrictions and freedom to design the game how they want it to be. Another advantage of crowd funding is that the gamers that have pledged money towards the game have the opportunity to play the game and offer feedback. The consumer has an active role in how the game is made rather than being passive.

 
Crowd funding affects how the game is marketed. Without the backing of a large company such as Ubisoft DFA can’t afford a large marketing campaign. AC3, backed by Ubisoft, does have the financial capabilities for a large marketing campaign. They announced they would spend £4 million on which is the largest amount spent by a developer to market a game. It has to reach out to the widest audience possible to cover the huge costs of the production of the game. This money goes towards advertisements on the TV, magazine, radio and billboards. YouTube videos have also been uploaded that contain exclusive content and gain great interest. Crowd funding has enabled DFA to gain customers before the game was built by encouraging gamers,  that are interested in the point and click genre, to pledge money in return for the game. Another way that DFA has been marketed is by using YouTube and Tim Schafer as the face of the game. Tim himself has attracted interest because of his personality and successful previous games.  Other incentives to buy into DFA are exclusive game art etc.

 
Distribution is different for crowd funded games. AC3 has been distributed across many different platforms including Xbox-360, Playstation 3 and the all new PS Vita. This has enabled the game to be distributed on a much wider scale which allows customers to get hold of the game very easily. Examples of stores where AC3 can be purchased are Game, HMV and most supermarkets such as Asda or Sainsbury’s. The game can also be bought from online companies such as Amazon. AC3 is widely distributed to make as much money as possible to cover all the costs and to sell to the wide target audience. It is also a franchise that is becoming more popular so more stores are willing to stock the game if they have already done the same with previous games in the franchise. It could also be pre-ordered for extra content and be the first in the country to play the game. DFA on the other hand has a narrower distribution. It can be bought as a digital download available on Android, Linux, iOS, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. Because it isn’t available on the mainstream consoles it isn’t widely available for audiences.

 
The relationship between the institutions and audiences is greatly affected by crowd funding. In the publishing stage crowd funding can allow target audiences to be more specific and the genre less popular. The game design can actually be influenced by feedback from customers but often the funds mean that there is less money to create complex graphics. Marketing is less varied and costs far less. The distribution is much narrower. In conclusion crowd funding changes the way audiences receive, play and now have a say in designing games.

Assassins Creed 3 Study

Publishing

Target Audience

The franchise first attracted a younger audience with the first Assassin's Creed hence the rating was 15+ while Assassins Creed 3 is an 18+. The franchise has grown up along with the audience to maintain its faithful fans. This new game has been marketed as the perfect time to buy into the Assassins Creed franchise and has tried to widen its audience. You would expect the main audience to be teenage boys but the game is also popular with middle aged men that were the first generation to grow up with the gaming industry and experience all the changes from tetris all the way to this new Assassin's Creed.

The PSP version has the main character as a female. The target audience for this version is aimed more at females as they would be able to relate with this female. As a female it goes against the normal stereotype and instead the character is fighting and killing men. All the stereotypes are subverted unlike the other versions that follow the stereotypes. The game includes lots of different genres and because of this appeals to a wide audience. The new character is bigger, stronger and better at fighting which appeals to boys that are "obsessed" with war. Assassins Creed has captured the imagination of many people as the picture on the right shows.

The game will has been released along side other popular franchises such as Call of Duty, Halo and Forza Horizon all competing over the same target audience so by widening this audience with the PSP, online gameplay and multi-genre. These aspects make it competitive in the market against other games.

Narrative

                                      Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassin%27s_Creed_III

The story starts with Connor. After Charles Lee informs a young Connor that he wishes to speak to the elders of his village, he returns to find the village burning, causing the death of his mother. Later, a teenage Connor is told by a village elder that the reason no one is allowed to leave the valley is because they are there to protect the Temple. After showing the wise woman the symbol of the Assassins, she tells him to leave the valley, finding Achilles Davenport, an Assassin, and convinces the elder embittered fighter to train him.

After collecting supplies to rebuild the decaying homestead, Achilles presents Connor with the Aquila, a ship Connor can use to patrol the Eastern seaboard. Connor soon is taken to Boston, where he is finally dubbed Connor Kenway, after Achilles' son.

As Connor learns the art of being an assassin he is brought into the cities of Boston and New York as well as a large open area called The Frontier. After being made a full-fledged member of the Brotherhood by Achilles, Connor sets out to eliminate the Colonial Templars. William Johnson is first assassinated after he attempts to purchase the land in which Connor's people reside on. Connor next targets John Pitcairn, who leads the British forces at Bunker and Breed's Hills. After he is dealt with Connor next targets Thomas Hickey whom Connor discovers is plotting to assassinate George Washington.

Upon travelling to the Caribbean and pursuing a boat, Haytham and Connor find Church and kill him. The two then travel to meet Washington. Here, Haytham discovers a letter revealing that Washington has ordered the removal of all the Indigenous tribes from the land as a number of which have supported the British. One of the lands to be removed is Connor's own despite the tribe being completely neutral. Connor severs his ties with Haytham and Washington and takes off to protect his tribe's village. Connor finds the village safe, but the wise woman has dispatched several tribesmen to turn back the Colonials sent to purge the village. Connor neutralises them to avoid conflict, however he is forced to sacrifice a good friend mentally blinded by Lee.

Connor becomes torn in his mission to eliminate the Templars with the thought that he could possibly turn his father for good. Connor sets off to pursue Lee who has been disgraced by Washington and taken refuge in Fort George. Connor infiltrates the fort only to find Haytham. Haytham reveals Lee has escaped (with the medallion) again and he and Connor engage in battle. Now accepting that his father will not turn, Connor kills Haytham, who refuses to repent in the end.

As Desmond plays these events out in the Animus he is occasionally taken out in order to find power cells crucial in the process of exploring the temple. The efforts take Desmond to locations including Manhattan and Brazil. During these trips, he encounters Daniel Cross, an Assassin-turned Templar who was responsible for nearly wiping out the Assassins in 2000 by killing their Mentor. While exploring the temple Juno tells Desmond the events leading up to the first cataclysm. It is during one of these lectures that Desmond reveals that him killing Lucy was no accident and that he chose to after the Apple revealed to him that Lucy was a double-agent and intended to take the Apple to Abstergo.

Connor now pursues Lee again. After pursuing Lee into a burning ship the two come to a stalemate after falling through a section of the ship. Connor is impaled in his side by a piece of the ship. Lee asks him why he continues to persist even though the Templars only rise again and again. Connor replies, "Because no one else will", and shoots Lee in the chest. A mortally wounded Lee escapes in a ferry across the lake with a badly injured Connor in pursuit. Connor finds Lee in a pub taking one last drink and finishes the job by stabbing Lee in the chest.

Connor takes down the portraits of the Templar members in the secret basement and burns them, signifying the end of his journey. In addition, his return to his home village (shown before) is detailed further- upon arrival he spoke to a hunter that had been camping there, who revealed that the new U.S. Government had sold the land his village rested upon to settlers in order to settle war debts.

He also travels to the pier in New York, seeing the last of the British Redcoats leave America for good. However, at this same encounter, Connor sees the beginnings of the slave trade present in the newly formed nation- right next to the pier of citizens cheering at the departure of the British there is a stand where a slave trader is peddling three of his "wares".

Genre

Assassin's Creed 3 is very much a multi-genre game. Fantasy, adventure, strategy, beat em up, sandbox, sci-fi, puzzle, stealth and racing. This makes the game very immersive and allows the gamer to explore and spend many hours completing the missions, collecting or just enjoying this virtual world which in this new assassin's Creed is much larger than previous games. One minute you can be tearing apart some guards the next collecting collectibles. This makes the game incredibly varied and diverse. The game is mostly third person which means that the camera is behind the character.

My stupid joke

Not many games have this multi-genre so Assassin's Creed 3 doesn't have many competitors and is different from other popular franchises such as Call of Duty, Halo and Need for Speed. The multiplayer in the assassins creed has been included since Brotherhood and has been mostly successful. It is a different concept from the usual team deathmatch on most first person shooters and includes players hunting each other. The genre of the multiplayer is very much stealth and is popular for its inventiveness.

Development

 

From http://www.jacobsnewmediastudies.blogspot.co.uk/

Game engine - Anvil next;
Can do weather cycling (random weather), Create crowds of at most 2000 , the world changes over time to do things like growing plants or making damage to buildings permanent. The characters in the game have artificial intelligence. In the crowds each person has their own personality, wind and water simulation is so accurate you use the actual naval techniques to aim at the enemy, when the character walks through snow his footprints are remembered for the duration of the mission. This shows continuing sales figures because the player wants to see how the game improves via the small details like weather and crowds. An example of this is when people pass by the shop windows.

Game design

Characters - The characters have stayed quite similar. The protagonist in each is a healthy thin attractive man who kills men via some fluent fighting style. Also the women in each game are thin, big breasted and appealing to men. However the way in which the protagonist moves is more fluent and smooth compared to previous games, like in Assassins Creed where Altair would only run left after stopping running forward.
World – How one interacts with the surroundings and in the case of Assassin’s Creed 3 how the free running system works. This is evident when one runs free as Connor. Instead of the dilapidated buildings we start free running through trees and up cliffs. This makes the long time player want to continue playing as it shows the evolution of skills from the easy blocky buildings to the intricate branches. It also makes the player feel like they are achieving something as they have been playing through the evolution so they feel they have got better at controlling it.

Game Software

This is how the hardware is used. The software is the content of the game in its basics. This involves the graphics and how they improve. In Assassin’s Creed the graphics are ahead of its time but we focused more on the buildings and looks. Now in Assassins’ Creed 3 we focus more on the character and the background. An example of this is the first protagonist Haytham when he boards a boat. His face is uncovered unlike the previous games and we see how the better graphics affect his face. Also in the background there’s new motion (a sea moving or people passing windows). The long time players will wish to play the new game to see how the graphics have advanced. 

Marketing

From http://www.joe-cockburn-media.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/how-do-franchises-establish-and-develop.html

On 28th September 2012, Ubisoft announced that they were to spend £4million on marketing in anticipation of the release of Assassin's Creed 3. This is the largest spend on the promotion of a product by the developer, in a big push to up intake compared to the losses of the previous game, despite its 9 million sales.
This helps sales figures in an obvious way, the more people who see it across the TV, radio, advertising boards etc, the more people are aware of it, and then they look into it, find a large network of exciting "exclusive reveal" videos on the internet and get excited for the game, and want it when it comes out.

On Youtube, you can find a wide range of videos showing interviews and new features of the game. These helped build up anticipation for the game from fans, without revealing too much. This is a good way of promoting something as it comes at absolutely no cost whatsoever, but is a great way of building up excitement and draw in more people who preorder because they are watching the videos and want the game as a result. The videos have over 1 million hits each. As well as those, there are numerous trailers for different parts of the game, such as the new storyline, the new character "Connor", the new weapons and various others.

In total, across 4 consoles, there are 7 different editions of Assassin's Creed 3. The Standard Edition is available on Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita and PC. The Limited Edition, which includes various extras which come with the game disc, including a belt buckle and a large embroidered colonial flag, and is available on Xbox 360 and PS3. The Digital Deluxe Edition is available just on PC, but comes with various add-ons from past versions of the game, like favourite missions and a "Best Of" soundtrack. Available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC- the main 3 consoles the game is available on- are the Special Edition, the Join Or Die Edition, the Freedom Edition and the UbiWorkshop Edition. These each come with their own arrangements of extras, including exclusive lithographs, an encyclopedia and rare prints, among others.

This helps the franchise develop sales figures as collectors and "hardcore gamers" will buy a number of, or at least the most expensive edition. This helps bring in much more money to the frenchise, at little extra cost to them. It also helps the franchise establish itself as it shows the commitment from the developers and designers.

Distribution

 From http://www.bradmatt.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/assassins-creed-iii-research.html

http://www.gem.co.uk/

Assassins Creed III has been distributd across many different platforms including Xbox-360, Playstation 3 and the all new PS Vita. This has enabled the game to be distributed on  a much wider scale which allows customers to get hold of the game very easily. The marketing for the game shows an advertisement of the game and also advertises the fact that it is sold at the Game store.
 

The Game store itself has both a physical store and an online store. On the online store customers can order and even pre-order the game for bonus features. The physical store allows the exact same capabilities in both pre-ordering and buying the game directly.

With Assassins Creed III being a sequel in the popular Assassins Creed franchise, most local game stores and even some supermarkets now sell the game. Aswell as been sold widely throughout stores, The most common distribution for the game is online, not only can big retailers that have physical stores sell the game online, but companies like Amazon and Play.com are distributing the game widely because of their trusted customer base. This allows the game to be distributed on a huge scale for customers and shows how the game is getting to the audience.

When the game is ordered online the customer can either pick the game up from the store that they purchased it from or they can choose to have the game delivered directly to their home which allows the game to be sold to more and more people that can't get out to a physical store