2)b) Jan 07 Practice Paper

Since the advancement of NMT's, young people's media consumption differs from the consumption of their parents.
Firstly, social networking has exploded in popularity and are connecting with images, widgets on their page, polls and comment on each other's page. Parents, generally are not up to speed, since the main users for the social networking are young people. However, not all consumption habits are different, namely with the i-pod. 150 million have been sold since its release, and the target demographic is wider with the older generation.
This is also true with mp3 players and portable music devices, they consume the media the same way young people do. Furthermore, the market for the mobile phone industry has been matched by the adults, even if the average teenager spends 10% of income on his/her phone. The growth of the industry sparked a huge popularity boost for the portability of it, and the convinence of being able to fit the phone into your pocket. Texting and buying new ringtones and features on your phone is also used by the older generation, maybe because more fit into hat demographic, but it isn;t just the teenagers who are 'wired in'.

Beware the Dark Side; the perils of NMT's

Why is consumerism a concept central to this unit?
Consumers keep buying into these products, motivating more advanced technology from the company. Because this technology becomes obsolete within 18 months, to the next best thing, consumers are constantly having to upgrade their electronic device because it cant keep up with the newest technology. Since the consumers are central to the revenue of the media institution, it has to keep the profits up so keep upgrading to help the revenue streams.

How do we often 'unwittingly give up our privacy?
Ever since Web 2.0 came in, the Internet spread, connecting billions of people into one gigantic network. However the time we spend on the Internet is monitored by the sites we use. Search engines like Google and shopping sites like Amazon see what you have searched and bought, and we can't buy anything now without having the 'recommendations' from Amazon, of similar items on sale.

How have NM T's criminalised audiences?
File sharing and downloading files have been a primary focus on 'criminalising' users, because of copyright issues. Billions of files of music, films and have been downloaded, and many have been caught and prosecuted by using sites like Kazaa, Limewire, and other file sharing to breach copyright law.

What health and environmental issues does NM T's pose?
Because consumers are constantly having to upgrade from obselete machines. 'E-waste'

Media Magazine Article Summary

Why should we studt digital games? Part 1&2
Andrew Burn, Diane Carr and Gareth Schott

Some Stats

• in Korea 80% of individuals aged 8-24 go online to play games (Net Profile Research, 2000)
• in all, 18 million PlayStation consoles were sold around the world between 2001 and 2002
• the UK now possesses the third biggest console market in the world (after the US and Japan)

At the heart of the distinction between digital games and other media, are these factors:

1. They are games – so they have rules, competition, scores, components to move, and elements of skill or chance.

2. They employ computer technology.

3. They are ‘interactive’.

Interactivity: The article explains that the difference of the user shows; when you control a character on a game, the style of play may be totally different compared to another person playing the same game. The use the example of Tomb Raider and say that Lara Croft might act differently when another person is at the controls, the user dictates how the 'hero' behaves.

Case Study Topic 3- Handheld Gaming Devices & Brain Training

Prediction:
I expect to find that the movability of the handheld gaming market is its main strength, one of the only things it has an edge compared to regular consoles, the wii etc. Furthermore, I expect the Brain Training games to offer the handheld for a wider target audience, with the older generation involved as well.

Background Research:
PSP: On the company website, an article about the PS3 and the PSP networking together to be able to view the content on the PS3, and have it saved and be able to view it anywhere, on the mobility of the PSP, also allowing for interent access through the PS3. With the PSP and the Go!Cam, users can take pictures and upload to the PS3, and access them through the PSP.
From Wikipedia, i found out that the launch of the PSP in Japan, was quite succesful in terms of sales, with the first shipment of 200,000 selling in just 2 days. However, there were problems with faulty pixels (discoloured squares), and discs ejecting abruptly because of 'twisted' systems.
Becuase of the large demand in North America upon the release there, the European release date was pushed back to 9 months after the Japanese release date.

Nintendo DS: Compared to the PSP, the launch of the DS was much more succesful. As opposed to the 200,000 sold in the 2 days of the launch, the DS sold more than 500,000 in the first week. The overall sales of the DS was 64.79 million, while the Playstation only saw sales of 20.25 million worldwide. The Nintendo Wi-Fi connection is included on the DS, which can support up to 8 players, from connecting with friends, people at the same skill level, people in the local area, or people from around the world, and the player choosing which of these options they would like to take. As same as the wii, players have to enter their friend codes where both sides must enter the other in order to communicate freely.

I read an article about the brain-training game Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain?, and how it has sold over 5 million copies.
Summary: Overall, the article outlined the brain activity beneficial for the mental agility of people. Also, it outlines the fact that the wider audience is now exposed and included into the gaming market, with more adults playing the games and widening the target demographic.
Furthermore, it mentions that it isn't just Nintendo developing brain training, and that mobile phones are now able to play the sort of games, more likely to be taken on the go than a ds or psp, which has also got involved, releasing Carol Vorderman's Sudoku game. It says that there will be a 'wider acceptance' of the psp and ds since more people are interested in the games, it will promote advancement of the technology.

I also read a review of the Nintendo DS Lite and about the consumer opinion to the Lite version.
Apparently, 10 handheld consoles have been released by Nintendo, and there are only four major ones; from the Game Boy, to the Colour, then from the Advance to the DS. The concern is about the almost pointless upgrades that consumers keep buying into, especially smaller versions. Consumer demand for these has increased the popularity of them, and have been widely accepted, bringing in huge sums of money for nintendo. Lastly, the demand for it in the US means that more systems in the future are expected from nintendo.

Handheld game consoles have allowed more flexibilty when playing games on these consoles. The DS and the PSP have widened the target demographic to the older generation, boosting sales and raising awareness. Users are allowed more interactivity because of the nintendo wi-fi connection, and the networking between the PSP and PS3 allows more freedom of movies, images, and other files which would not have been possible before.

Case study feedback #2

Alex - excellent approach to research on Wii. If you are this thorough on 3-4 areas of gaming you will be well prepared for the exam.

Well done
CF

Case Study Topic 2- Second Life

Prediction:
As I already know that 'Second Life' is a hugely popular online game, my prediction will be that the level of customisation for every person and the new capabilities that are unheard in other virtual worlds for the reason it is so popular.

Background Research:
Each user gets to create their own 'avatar', their own personal being, which can be either gender, have a wide variety of physical attributes and clothing, even being able to dress up into humanoid forms. Users can change how they look at any time, and at a click of a button, as they find or make new clothing.
Also, the virtual world of 'Second Life' is created and governed by its users, with anyone able to upload 'Linden Dollars', the currency in Second Life, with the exchange rate at around L$226 to US$1. There are two types of account; Basic and Premium, which are outlined;
http://secondlife.com/whatis/plans.php
On the 'Second Life' website, there is a showcase on different activities happening in Second Life; Culture, Music etc., so residents can find out when certain events are and attend. Also a blog and a 'tip of the week' is included, so users can try new things in the virtual world.
A 'Teen Second Life' is available for people under the age of 18, and can do everything that the residents in the 'Main Grid' are able to do; the land for 'Second Life'. However, the economy is dwarfed by the Adult version; there is not nearly as many residents, and L$ have much more value there.

I read an article from the guardian about Second Life;

Summary: The virtual world of 'Second Life' can explore new-found possiblities; 'the music scene is exploding', and smaller businesses are getting involved, with the bigger companies not as dominating as in the real world. Even though the possibilities are endless, there are problems. The quality needed for the graphics and moving; computers can crash and can be slow-moving, so not eveyone has a good quality of play. Also, at that time, there was not a million members yet, so the huge land was largely unpopulated.

Controversy:
The age verification and indentity procedures are not to standard; people are able to deceive people in order to gain acces to the Main Grid, lying about their age as opposed to joining the Teen Grid, which in comparison, is much smaller. The process of e-mail does not fully confirm age and identity restrictions so it is sketchy.
Also, a handful of cases of child pornography have been happening in-world, a news-commodity for tabloids. Lastly, a Gambling ban on all games of chance or sporting events.
Riots have also been happening in the virtual world; discrimination or prejudice because of race, religion or heritage have caused riots in 'Second Life'

Stats: IN MARCH 2008

• L$233,772,438 was spent.
• 506 residents spent more than L$1,000,000
• 165 residents had more than US$5,000 on the 'Second Life' system
• 86,379,072 square metres of Second Life land was sold
• 832 islands added to second life and 13693 were owned

Overall: 40% of all transactions in Second Life are buying designer clothes

Audiences are now able to customise themsleves, and with the convergence of all the companies investing in 'Second Life', the popularity and the virtual economy has exploded, with more than 13 million accounts registered (including accounts which aen't being used. Lastly, the residents owning land presents the advancement of the online society; people can throw private parties and prevent any uninvited people from entering, so the user chooses were they want to go, what to do, and how to do it, creating a level of interactivity and customisation never acheived before.

CF case study feedback #1

Well done - perceptive summary