The Video Game Industry is Changing

Recently new technology has forced changes within the video games industry. Mobile phones, tablets, facebook, apps have all altered not only the way we play games but the way they are produced. This link goes into further detail of the impact this has

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/video-game-industry-continues-shift-122000746.html

This link explains the impact this is having for the producers of the consoles such as the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3

http://beta.fool.com/tdalmoe/2012/06/06/changing-face-video-game-industry/5449/

The increase in portable gaming is clear and it has continued to grow since 2009 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Call Of Duty Black Ops 2

 

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is an upcoming first-person shooter video game, developed by Treyarch and published by Activision to be released on November 13, 2012. Black Ops II is the ninth game in the Call of Duty franchise of video games and a sequel to the 2010 game Call of Duty: Black Ops. Black Ops II is the first game in the Call of Duty franchise to feature future warfare technology and the first to present branching storylines driven by player choice, in which the player's choice affects both the current mission and in turn, the overall course of the story. Known as "Strike Force missions", these branching storylines will appear during the 2025 storyline and will feature permanent death. The success or failure of these missions can have ramifications for the wider campaign storyline. Choosing one of the missions locks out the others unless the player begins a fresh campaign

Zombies will make a return and is the third time for the Zombies mode to appear in a Call of Duty game, and the first time to have its own campaign along with the main story. Treyarch has also confirmed that Zombies will implement the multiplayer engine, allowing for a deeper community experience along with new game modes. It has also been confirmed that the Zombies mode will support 8 player co-op.

In developing Black Ops II, Treyarch introduced several revisions to the gameplay mechanics for online multiplayer that have been a hallmark of the Call of Duty franchise. These include the introduction of "multi-team" games that allow matches to host three or more teams of players, in counternance to the traditional two factions. Treyarch have also unveiled a matchmaking system designed to pair players up based on their skills within the game to ensure that online games are relatively equal in terms of player skill. They also announced what they termed "CODcasting", a form of live streaming that allows users to stream their games directly onto YouTube from their gaming console.

 

Top 5 most important computer games

Space Invaders

Space Invaders first burst onto the scene in 1976 and was a huge success. The inventor, Tomohiro Nishikado, had to create custom hardware to support the game. After the first few months following its release in Japan, the game became very popular.Speciality arcades opened with nothing but Space Invaders cabinets, and by the end of 1978, it had installed over 100,000 machines and grossed over $600 million in Japan alone. It was the best selling video game and highest grossing entertainment product of its time with comparisons made only to star wars, the highest grossing film of the time. It was so popular that there was a coin shortage.

 In 1980, the game was licensed  by Midway for production and use in the United States. The mania wasn’t quite as intense - no coin shortage - but Space Invaders was still a phenomenal success. The same year, it was released on the Atari 2600, making it the first ever home conversion of an arcade game. Several dozen thousands 2600 consoles were then sold only for playing Space Invaders Eventually Space invaders lost its arcade supremacy to give way to games such as pac man, asteroids and centipede but without Space invader it is likely that these games wouldn't exist.

Super Mario Bros

Released at the launch of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Mario is also largely responsible for the NES’ initial success. It was the best-selling game of all time for over two decades. It revived the industry at a time when it was struggling and Mario has gone on to become Nintendo’s flagship character with each new system they release.
Super Mario Bros. popularised the side-scrolling genre of video games and led to many sequels in the series that built upon the same basic premise the game has sold 40.24 million copies, making it the best-selling video game in the Mario series and the second best-selling game in the world.

Almost all of the game's aspects have been praised at one time or another, from its large cast of characters to a diverse set of levels. One of the most-praised aspects of the game is the precise controls. Mario is still going strong today with games such as Mario kart and remakes of the original.

 

The Sims

The Sims is a strategic life-simulation video game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. Its development was led by game designer Will Wright also known for developing SimCity. It is a simulation of the daily activities of one or more virtual persons in a suburban household near SimCity.The Sims was unlike any other game because there were no enemies to defeat, no game to win, and no high score to achieve. After being launched in 2000 the Sims became the best-selling PC game of all time in 2002 and by February 2005, the game has shipped 16 million copies worldwide.It was developed for use on games consoles in 2003. The Sims is one of the most heavily expanded computer game franchises ever, with a total of seven expansion packs produced each  generally adds new items, characters, and features.

Critics praised it with positive reviews. It has been a success in many ways by attracting casual gamers and female gamers that actually make up almost 60% of players. On May 25, 2007, it was announced that The Sims film rights had been purchased by 20th Century Fox It will be written by Brian Lynch, the writer of Angel: After The Fall. The film will be produced by John Davis, who has worked on films such as Norbit




Wii Sports

Wii Sports came packed with the Nintendo Wii console when released in 2006 and because of that it enjoys the status as being the best-selling video game of all time with over 75 million copies sold. But more importantly, Wii Sports became the greatest social video game, allowing friends and families to compete in sports. Wii Sports has bridged generations becoming the game to have a strong following among senior citizens. Wii Sports has thrived in retirement communities. It also became the game that resulted in the most player injuries due to its physical game play. It totally changed peoples views on gaming with the stereotype of gaming is only for teenage boys being proven wrong when your grandma gets up and beats you in a boxing match (I'll never bounce back)


Need for Speed

The Need for Speed was released in Japan in 1994 first released on the 3DO and ported to other systems, developed by Electronic Arts Canada and published by Electronic Arts. It is the first title released in the Need for Speed series. The premise of the game involves racing in sport cars, including several exotic models and Japanese imports. The game was noted for its realism and audio and video commentaries. Electronic Arts teamed up with automotive magazine Road & Track to match vehicle behaviour, including the mimicking of the sounds made by the vehicles' gear control levers. The game also contained precise vehicle data with spoken commentary, several magazine style images of each car interior and exterior and even short video clips highlighting the vehicles set to music.

It was the first "realistic" driving game which has lead to many more today which include the Forza motor sport series - my personal favourites
 

 Other important games include the call of duty series notably Call of duty 4 because of the online gameplay. Also the Pokemon games, tetris, world of warcraft and pac man

Structure of the Computer games Industry

The basic structure is as follows

1. Deveoper
2. Publisher
3. Marketer
4. Distributor
5. Hardware
6. Retail
7. Consumer

 The link explores each of these sections in more depth
 http://www.obscure.co.uk/articles-2/industry-overview/

This link goes into further detail about the developing stage of the process and the differnt roles within this part. http://ygd.bafta.org/working-in-the-games-industry/industry-overview

This structure produces the more typical computer games for games console such as Xbox and Playstation and most are vry well designed and can take yeas to produce and reach the consumer. Recetly, new technology and the popularity of social media has lead to changes in this structure for some games.

1. Developer
2. Facebook
3. Consumer

This structure is for far simpler games that are usually free. Apps also follow a simmular structure.

Improved paragraph of sexuality essay

Improvement

The use of non-diegetic sound (droning notes) when the man is attempting to kiss Miss Mord connotes that she is uncomfortable with this intimate moment with a man which suggests she is homosexual. There is a juxtapose next as this droning sound switches to a melody while the shot fades to the woman taking off her dress connoting that Miss Mord is comfortable and relaxed when in the presence of this woman again showing homosexuality. The voice over when the montage is shown on screen is in a soft tone connoting love and affection from Miss Mord to the woman shown beforehand. The use of the voice over also connotes that she has to keep all her feelings towards this woman secret.

How this is an improvement

This paragraph has improved through correct and increased use of terminology. The points have been communicated in a more coherent way with clear and specific evidence to back up my points. Before I improved the paragraph it was difficult for someone other than myself to understand the points I wanted to convey, this may have been because I was rushing to get it finished.

Terminology

Commentator - A voice (the person speaking may be either seen or unseen) commenting on the action of a film. A commentator, unlike a narrator, provides supposedly unbiased information, maintaining apparent perspective and distance from what occurs on the screen.

Composition - The placement of people or objects within the frame and the arrangements for actual movements within the frame or by the camera.

Continuity - The narrative growth of a film created through a combination of visuals and sound (resembling the "story" in print literature).


Crane Shot - A shot taken from a boom that can move both horizontally and vertically.

Cross-Cutting (parallel editing) - A method of editing in which the point of view (p.o.v.) switches alternately from events at one location to those of another related action. The action is ususlly simultaneous and used to create a dynamic tension

Cut - An individual strip of film consisting of a single shot; the separation of two pieces of action as a transition


Deep Focus - Keeping images close by and far away in sharp focus simultaneously.

Depth of Field - The area within which objects are in focus; a large depth of field allows a great range of objects to be in focus simultaneously, while a shallow depth of field offers a very limited area in focus. Depth of field normally depends on how far open a lens is (a lens works much like an eye, with the pupil opening or contracting to control light). An open lens creates a shallow depth of field while a stopped down (contracted) lens creates a large depth of field.


Dissolve (lap dissolve) - A method of making a transition from one shot to another by briefly superimposing one image upon another and then allowing the first image to disappear. A dissolve is a stronger form of transition than a cut and indicates a distinct separation in action.

Dolly Shot - A moving shot taken from a dolly. A Dolly-In moves the camera toward the subject, while a Dolly-Out moves the camera away from the subject. A dolly shot creates a sense of movement through space by capturing changes in perspective.

Double Exposure - Two distinct images appearing simultaneously with one superimposed upon the other.

Editing - The process of splicing individual shots together into a complete film. Editing (as opposed to Montage) puts shots together to create a smoothly flowing narrative in an order making obvious sense in terms of time and place.

Fade - A transitional device in which either an image gradually dims until the viewer sees only a black screen (Fade-Out) or an image slowly emerges from a black screen to a clear and bright picture (Fade-In). A fade provides a strong break in continuity, usually setting off sequences.

Fast Motion - (accelerated motion) Movements on the screen appearing more rapid than they would in actual life. For example, a man riding a bicycle will display legs pumping furiously while he flashes through city streets. A filmmaker achieves fast motion by running film through his camera at a speed slower than the standard 24 frames per second; subsequent projection of 24 frames per second speeds up the action.

Fill Light - Light used to control shadows by filling in"certain dark areas.

Filters - Transparent glass of gelatin placed in front of or behind a lens to control coloration; some filters cut out certain types of light (such as ultra- violet); others create a soft, hazy appearance, and still others provide a dominant color when used with color films.

Fine Cut - The final assembling of all the various audial and visual components of a film.

Fish-Eye - An extreme wide-angle lens taking in (and distorting) an immense area.

Flashback - A segment of film that breaks normal chronological order by shifting directly to time past. Flashback may be subjective (showing the thoughts and memory of a character) or objective (returning to earlier events to show their relationship to the present). Flash forwards areb the same but look into the future

Flashframe - A shot lasting only a few frames; the shortness of a flashframe makes its content difficult to assimilate. When many flashframes follow each other, they create a feeling of intense action and often visually resemble the effects of stroboscopic light; when used alone, flashframes usually act as flashbacks or Hash forwards.

Focal Length - The distance from the focal point of a lens to the plane of the film

Focus-Through (racking) - A change of the field in focus taking the viewer from one object to another that was previously out of focus.

Frame - A single photographic image imprinted on a length of film; also the perimeter of an image as seen when projected on a screen (a filmmaker sees the frame as the boundaries of his camera's view-finder). Freeze Frame A single frame repeated for an extended time, consequently looking like a still photograph.

High-Angle Shot - A shot taken from above a subject, creating a sense of "looking down" upon whatever is photographed.

Intercutting- The alternation between actions taking place at two distinct locations to make one composite scene. For example, cutting between two people involved in the same telephone conversation. The distinction between this and cross cutting is one of compression of time. The intercut can be used to speed up a scene and eliminate large pieces of time that would slow a story down.

Jump Cut - An instantaneous cut from one action to another, at first seemingly unrelated, action. Jump cuts will usually call attention to themselves because of the abrupt change in time and/or place.

Key Light - The primary source of illumination

High-Key - light brilliantly illuminates a set;

Low-Key - light provides dim lighting, usually with heavy, dark shadows.

Local Music - Music originating within a scene and audible to both the characters in the film and the audience.

Long Lens - Any lens with a focal length greater than normal; a normal focal length approximates the size relationships seen by the human eye, while a long focal length creates a narrower angle of vision, causing a larger image. A long lens alters perspective by flattening a subject into its background.

Low-Angle Shot - A shot taken from below a subject, creating a sense of looking up to whatever is photographed.

Mask - A device placed in front of a lens to reduce the horizontal or vertical size of the frame or to create a particular shape (for example, periscope eyepiece, binoculars, or gun-sight).

Match Cut - A cut intended to blend two shots together unobtrusively (opposed to a Jump Cut).

Mix - The process of combining all sounds at their proper levels from several tracks and placing them onto a master track.

Montage -  A method of putting shots together in such a way that dissimilar materials are juxtaposed to make a statement.

MOS - Any segment of film taken without sound.

Negative Image - An image with color value reversed from positive to negative, making white seem black and black appear white.

Neorealism - A film style using documentary techniques for fictional purposes. Most neorealist films rely on high-contrast black-and-white film, nonprofessional actors, and natural settings.

Nonsynchronous Sound - Sound that combines sounds from one source with visuals from another, such as intense argument with only a man walking alone visible

Objective Camera - The attempt to suggest that the camera acts only as a passive recorder of what happens in front of it. The use of objective camera relies on de-emphasis of technique, involving minimal camera movement and editing.

Pan - A shot in which a stationary camera turns horizontally, revealing new areas.

Perspective - The way objects appear to the eye in terms of their relative positions and distances.

Reaction Shot - A shot showing one or more characters reacting to an action or statement. Rear Projection (back projection) The process of projecting an image onto a translucent screen from the back side rather than over the heads of the viewers as is usually done.

Reverse Angle Shot - A shot of an object or person taken in the direction opposite that of the preceding shot .

Slow Motion - Movements on the screen appearing slower than they would in actual life.

Soft Focus - A slightly blurred effect achieved by using a special filter or lens, or by shooting with a normal lens slightly out of focus.

Still - A photograph taken with a still camera.

Swish Pan - A quick pan from one position to another caused by spinning the camera on its vertical axis and resulting in a blurring of details between the two points. Sometimes a swish pan is used as a transition by creating a blur and then ending the blur at an action in an entirely different place or time.

Synchronous Sound - Sound coordinated with and derived from a film's visuals.

Take - A single uninterrupted action of a camera as seen by a filmmaker. A take is unedited footage as taken from the camera, while a shot is the uninterrupted action left after editing.

Tilt Shot - A shot taken by angling a stationary camera up (tilt-up) or down (tilt-down).

Tracking Shot - Any shot using a mobile camera that follows (or moves toward or away from) the subject by moving on tracks or by being mounted on a vehicle.

Trucking Shot - Any moving shot with the camera on a mobile mounting, but chiefly a moving shot taken with a camera mounted on a truck.

Two Shot - A shot of two people, usually from the waist up.

Voice-Over - Any spoken language not seeming to come from images on the screen.

Wipe - A transitional device in which one image slowly replaces another by pushing the other out of the way.

Zoom Freeze - A zoom shot that ends in a freeze frame.

Zoom Shot - A shot accomplished with a lens capable of smoothly and continuously changing focal lengths from wide-angle to telephoto (zoom in) or telephoto to wide-angle (zoom out).

Improved essay question- Spartacus

The director uses a wide camera shot from behind bars which connotes that they are trapped and in an impossible situation. They are prisoners and therefore at the bottom of society. The camera shots continue to show the gladiators as being lower class such as when in battle-there is often a high angle shot looking down on them. Another camera shot the director uses is a low angle shot  looking up at the emperor and rich which connotes that they are of higher status and importance that the gladiators. In one specific shot the camera shot shows all the characters in this clip. When the door of the small hit opens it shows the gladiators in the dark hut at the bottom of the screen, above them are the soldiers and guards and at the top the rich. This shot connotes that the gladiators have the lowest status, the soldiers are in the middle and the rich have the highest status and class. The soldiers have command over the gladiators but the emperor has command over the soldiers and this shot connotes this.

 At the end of the clip the trident gladiator attempts to kill the emperor. He climbs up the wall which connotes him climbing up through society to get to the upper class when he is killed he falls which connotes that the upper class have power and that he has been put back in his place.
When the upper class are sown the camera shot is a wide angle which shows space and connotes power and wealth. The shot from within the hut is used to compare the the upper class way of life to the lower class. The voices appear to be relaxed even though two men are about to fight for their lives which connotes they don't care about the lower classes. This contrasts to the gladiators who are silent. The amount of dialogue the characters say connotes their status. For example the gladiators are the lowest and say nothing, the soldiers only bark order while the upper class have conversation and hold all the language.

The mise-en-scene used also shows representations of class and status. The gladiators are dressed in simple, colourless rags which connotes low status. This contrasts with the bright blues, yellows and reds that the people on the balcony wear which show wealth and status. In one shot the man is shown showing off his jewels which shows his status but also that he wants people to know that he is of a high class. The soldiers are shown carrying big swords and this is phallic symbolism connoting power, masculinity and power over the gladiators that only have small swords.  The exception to this is the gladiator that has the trident. He wins the battle which shows he has power over the other gladiators. He uses this power to attempt to destroy the upper class but fails. This connotes that the upper class have ultimate power over everyone-the emperor stabbing the gladiator to finish him of exaggerates this point. The gladiators are forced into the hut which connotes that the gladiators are animals and therefore lower class. Another use of mise-en-scene to connote status are the objects that the rich have. Their jewelry, clothes, chairs and a vase all connote status. This contrasts to the gladiators that have nothing therefore the rich are portrayed as far superior.This also adheres to the stereotype that the upper class care more for possessions than they do people. The gesture of thumbs down connotes power and status because it is an instruction that they expect he gladiator to follow.

The music used when the gladiators are fighting has a fast tempo and connotes danger. When the camera shows the upper class it is more mellow. This connotes that the upper class aren't interested in the fight and don't care about the gladiators. This adheres to the stereotype that the rich don't care for the lower classes but only themselves.

Throughout this scene the director contrasts the different classes. For example the intense battle shot then cuts to the wide shot of the upper class to show that they aren't interested in the fight and shows that they are self-centred and depicts them as the antagonists.