What is an example of a vertically intergrated company?

A vertically intergrated company is a company which produces and manages the whole of a product from start to finish. One company who is famous to this approach of production is apple, however in the gaming industry Electronic Arts (EA Games) and Activision have famously been Vertically Intergrated.
In my case study of Guitar Hero, i have researched heavily into Nintendo. Nintendo are perhaps the most famous Vertically Intergrated company ever, completing the whole proccess from withtin the comapany.

What has the impact of increased internet connectivity been on the media production, distribution and marketing process?

The internet has had a huge effect on the way in which games are consumed, their are hundereds of games free to all online and many add on packages to established titles, such as Call Of Duty and FIFA 10. These packages can be downloaded from online market places designed by console makers. For example if you are signed into XBOX Live, you are automatically taken to the XBOX LIVE MARKETPLACE when you turn your console on. This desktop has titles of games, films and television programmes, all avaliable for download. Many full feature games can be downloaded from the marketplace directly to a hard-drive, this completely iradicates the need to go out and buy a hard copy of the console. Games almost on demand!
Games which are not complete can be advertised on these market places, stating a date of release or a countdown clock, and nearer the release of the game, a free downloadable demo may come out.
Many people shop online at websites such as Amazon and Play.com, this is a way in recent years which games have been ditributed through. Also, games can be pre-ordered from the official websites, however they often are distributed by online giants such as Amazon & HMV.
Many web-sites have advertisement bars, these bars switch ads every 10 seconds, these advertisments bars can be found on most web-sites, not just one's which are directly linked to the game and the gaming industry.
The internet has become a great place for company's to begin a whole new type of viral marketing, e.g Guitar hero's video which had no advertisments in it which showed a boy riding his bike and simulating a guitar hero experience, but on a bike. It was released under a fake name and account.