Super Mario 64 DS Casestudy

Production:
Information on the game, ie. what kind of game is it, i.e first person shooter.

Who made it? Developer, publisher
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo

How was it funded?
What new technology or key features?

Marketing:
What was the strategy, i.e. viral, conventional?

Strategy: Strategic positioning is ultimately a unique set of sustainable activities that use your company's valuable, rare and inimitable resources to change the rules of the game. Strategic positioning is about being different. Nintendo decided to uniquely devote its resources to expanding the game playing audience through two key things: 'strong community' and 'immersive games'. http://www.n-sider.com/contentview.php?contentid=331

What kind of audience are they trying to attract and how? i.e. look at the different ads.

Trailers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl9dGH0wuq4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaaplVmYv6A&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUTgBAB6Bj0&feature=related

Distribution:

Nintendo is also changing things up with its virtual library of NES, SNES and N64 games. This is a new and unique distribution model that has the potential for great success. Low cost hardware and software, a new intuitive game-play input and original game genres are a unique set of sustainable activities that, when combined, form Nintendo's strategic position. http://www.n-sider.com/contentview.php?contentid=331

How do you buy it?
Online and In-store, retailers such as play.com and Game.

How do you pay?
You can buy online by using PayPal, Visa Cards. Also in-store you can buy by using cash, connect debit/credit card and using vouchers/game cards/points cards.

How can you get hold of it?
You can get hold of it by going in-store and collection, pre-ordering/ordering online/in-store.

Consumption:
Is there any user generated content?
No.

Is it multi-player ?
Yes it is multiplayer, 1 to 4 people.

Is it online?
Yes you can play mini games online which are parts of the main game.
www.onlinesupermario.com/

Any points of interest, something that makes this game interesting?

What are some of the issues raised by Media ownership in the videogames industry?

Media Ownership is ownership of the rights of a concepts,property,idea - they can make money as other companies have to gain permission or license to that concept,property,idea. Issues of having Media Ownership include: companies having a similar idea, failure of the game content, one company using their power of the ownership to manipulate console companies.

One of the issues raised by Media Ownership in the video games industry, could be another company has a similar idea but it could go against the Media Ownership license of the other company. For example Rockstar's, Grand Theft Auto Vice City is similar in the idea of the game which involves violence, stealing and driving cars and tasks in Volition Inc.,Saints Row. This would be an issues as consumers could prefer Saints Row to GTA Vice City, so could separate consumers as some of them may only own one of the consoles but could only buy one of the games. Also because of the difference in release dates, people could say that Saints Row was incredibly similar to GTA Vice City which was release in 2002 whereas Saints Row was released in 2006. However there are enough differences to say Saints Row was not a copy of GTA Vice City, as the locations are different and also you can create your own character in the game Saints Row, which means the consumer can identify to the character as it may have the same characteristics as the consumer themselves.

An issue of Media Ownership is that it gives some game companies a lot of power over their game and who can gain license for the concept,property, idea. An example of this would be Rockstar previously gave Sony exclusivity to the GTA series, however when it came to the release of GTA IV Rockstar decided not to give Sony exclusivity. Also Rockstar used their Media Ownership of GTA IV to release the game on Sony, PlayStation, PSP and Microsoft Xbox. Rockstar then allowed Microsoft have a downloadable content for the Xbox, however this cost them $50 million to have for only 2 years.

Another issue of having Media Ownership of a concept,property, idea is that it does not always guarantee success in the video game that is produced. As E.T was a blockbuster film Atari believed it would be a good idea to get the rights of the film to make a game based on the narrative of E.T. However, the game did not get as much interest as Atari thought so the game failed in becoming as popular as the film. The reason the game was such a failure was because the negotiations between the original producer Steven Spielberg and Atari, took so long there development time was shortened which means the game was not to the full expectations of the audience, therefore Atari lost a lot of revenue as the consumers were sending the game back. This shows the Media Ownership of the rights of a concept sometimes do not fulfill expectations of what the consumers want, even though the company had exclusivity to the concept of E.T as a video game.

In conclusion, the main issue of Media Ownership in the video games industry is that one company can use the ownership to manipulate major console companies. This is the main issue as the company demand higher preferences for allowing other companies to have permission for either exclusivity or add-ons. The other issues are also important as they contribute to the success of the company that own the Media Ownership as failure of a game could lead to a negative perspective of the company.

Super Mario 64 DS Distribution

• What consoles is your game available on and was it released on any other console, if yes then was it at the same time or at a later date?
  -Initially the Super Mario 64 was released on the Nintendo 64 in 1996, the controller was designed specifically for this game, to be the perfect interface for controlling Mario's moves. The Super Mario 64 game is available on the Nintendo DS as it was released at the same time as that particular console.
  
• Why do you think it is available on that console? i.e. the Wii's interactivity is essential for the game experience.
  -Super Mario 64 is available on the Nintendo DS because it is sure to offer up plenty of challenges that you need help with. The Nintendo DS also means that you can play Super Mario 64 while travelling and moving around as the Nintendo DS is a portable handheld console. Also the Nintendo DS has a new style of control—touch control, that Mario can now be played on opposed to the platform console of Nintendo 64.
  
  
• After it's initial release was there any add-ons or downloads?
  -There were no add-ons or downloads, however after the Nintendo DS release soon after it the Nintendo DS Lite was distributed in 2006 which was smaller, lighter and brighter screens.
  
• What content is available online, where online (what websites) and why do you think that particular content is online? i.e. what makes it different, desirable for the gamer?
  -http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/bf6eff85-6d2e-47f5-aa88-842dd0998eaa
  This official Nintendo website offers the narrative of the game, how the console has advanced the game technology and the features of the game available on the Nintendo DS. This makes the games desirable as it gives the gamer more information about the game possibly before they purchase it to make sure it's the style of game they know would enjoy. The website is desirable also as you know the information can be trusted as it is the official Nintendo website.
  -http://uk.gamespot.com/ds/action/dssupermario4x4/index.html?tag=tabs%3Bsummary
  This website offers summary, reviews, news, hints and cheats, forums, images, previews and features, videos and answers. This website is desirable for the gamer as it offers plenty of information about the game and also hint that could help them if they got stuck on a particular part of the game. The images and previews are also desribale for the gamer as it shows the type of graphics and how the game will peform on the Nintendo DS.
  
  
• What websites are your game available on? i.e. XBox live
  -Online Retailers
  Many online retailers specialize in stocking older and used products.
  -Pawn Shops
  Pawn shops are an excellent place to find older products.
  -Garage Sales, Flea Markets, or Classified Ads
  You can often find great deals and games that can be difficult to find. Remember, cleaning before use is highly recommended.
  -Online Auction Sites. Online auction sites are often a good source of hard-to-find or discontinued products
  -Nintendo's Online Store (Accessories and Replacement Parts)
  
• Can you play your game with other people? i.e through bluetooth on the DS or on a multi-player mode on the Wii.
  Yes you can play Super Mario 64 in multiplayer via bluetooth on the DS.
  
• Were there any promotions for your game? i.e. like Coca-Cola and FiFA

Onlive Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages:
- Instant game so when you buy it is there, not like in a shop where you may have to wait for new stock.
- Less money needed to make the game, like for boxes or discs as not needed because of downloadable software.
- There would be space in homes as there would be no game cases around the house.
- Games would be cheaper as they wouldn't have to make the discs or packaging. Also making it more environmentally friendly.
- Can play on many different things like TV or entry-level PC or Mac offering different places to play all the games. Not just one game only available on computer or just television.

Disadvantages:
- Games software would take up too much hard drive space.
- Internet may disconnect during a game or when downloading.
- People in other console manufacturing and games retail shops will lose jobs because they won't need to distribute
- Many people could be trying to download the same game at the same time, so it could take longer for the game to download.
- The monthly service fee is currently $14.95, subject to change, for the Onlive's Games Service. And only the first 25,000 that successfully registered get the first 3 months free. OnLive’s Game Service including game demos, video profiles and community features, but does not include playing full versions of games, which are to be purchased or rented separately. So even game demos have to be paid for.

Analysis of Our Favourite Game Final Fantasy XIII

Do you think this is an effective advert? Why?
Yes this is an effective advert as it asked a rhetorical question at the beginning of the advert which gives you a challenge to want get and complete the game. Also the song 'My Hands' by Leona Lewis goes really well with the advert which helps sell it as it makes the game look really intense.

What type of audience is the game aimed at + and how can you tell from the advert?
The type of audience the game is aimed at is teenagers 16+, we can tell this from the advert as it shows a 16 certificate at the bottom. We can also tell the game is aimed at both genders as the characters used in it are both male and female therefore appealing to everyone.

Do you think it is a fair representation of the game?
Yes this is a fair representation of the game as it shows the game in action and is extremely similar to actual game play.

Super Mario 64 DS Marketing

The Super Mario 64 DS Game was not marketed online as much as the GTA4 new game. Due to the differences of the release date. Mario was released March 2005 and GTA4 released October 2009. From looking online there are not many trailers for Mario as there was released for GTA4.
The differences between GTA4 and Mario marketing shows how much it has changed in a short amount of time. However we could find a trailer for Mario although it was the Korean trailer.

Definitions

Marketing: The commercial processes involved in promoting and selling and distributing a product or service.

Viral Marketing: The marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message.

Guerrilla Marketing: Guerrilla marketing refers to highly aggressive marketing practices. It uses unconventional marketing intended to get maximum results from minimal resources.

Specialist Press: Uses strategic guerrilla print publishing and work with other competent leaders in their fields to deliver sensational custom publishing materials. Specialist press is a press that targets markets such as; magazines, online, direct mail and telemarketing to obtain the tailored research and insights you require, to optimize your approach and reach into the markets we serve.
'Merge' http://www.specialistpress.com/research

Mainstream Press:

Case Study - Super Mario 64 DS

Developer - Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development
Publishers - Nintendo
Designers - Shigery Myamoto
Series - Mario
Platform - Nintendo DS
Release Date - March 11th 2005
Models - Single/Multi Player

The Super Mario 64 DS was a remake of the original Super Mario 64 game. In addition to updated graphics the remake had new characters and minigames. It has the original plot where the game is centres on rescuing princess Peach from Bowser.

Development.
The game has a 3D engine which mirrors the visual effects used in the original game. The graphic changes include higher polygon count and the lack of texture filtering.
The game was released at the same time as the Nintendo DS, which meant it was one of the few games for the DS.

Zynga: Is a casual games developer. The company develops broswer based games that work both stand-alone and as application widgets on the social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace. It was founded in July 2007 by Mark Pincus, Michael Luxton, Eric Schiermeyer, Justin Waldron, Andrew Trader and Steve Schoettler. In July 2008 they worked with former Electronic Arts Chief Creative Officer Bing Gordon. At the time, they also bought YoVille, a large virtual world social network game where they had 60 million unique daily active users by December 2009. On 18th March 2010, Zynga confirmed that they will open a second international office in Ireland.

^Capcom:is an international developer and publisher of video games. It was founded in 1979 as Japan Capsule Computers, a company devoted to manufacturing and distribution of electronic machines."The name CAPCOM' is an abbreviation of CAPsule COMputer. This was a phrase symbolic of an internal company objective to create a new gaming experience that would exceed that of rival personal computers which had also been increasing in popularity during the same period". Over the years, Capcom has created some of the biggest and longest running franchises in video gaming history. The company released their first arcade game in 1984. Capcom develops products for all age groups and supports the programs and guidelines established by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).

Wideload Games: Is an American games developer. It was founded in 2003 by Alexander Seropian, they focus on a core team and many external developers in developing games. The aim was to counter react the cost of the current gaming industry. Their first poject was a 3D action-adventure game where the player takes control of the zombie Stubbs in a plot full of black humour. Wideload games was acquired by The Walt Disney company in 2009, under Disney Interactive name, Wideload will develop original video games properties for Disney.

Xbox Live Marketplace: is a virtual market designed for Microsoft's Xbox 360 Console which allows Xbox members to download purchases and promotional materials. The service was launched in USA on November 22, 2006 via Xbox Live. They use Microsoft Points as currency in the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Braid: is a platform and puzzle video game developed by independant software developer, Jonathon Blow. He came up with the concept of Braid in December 2004 then a year later a version of the game with the same number of worlds and puzzles as the final version but without the final artwork was completed. Braid was developed to promote a non-verbal communication to the player, explaining the fundamental rule of each world at its start and allow the player to interact with that rule throughout the world.

Development team for Grand Theft Auto 4

There were many different development teams like: art director, technical director, character artist. cutscene animator and in-game animator.

Cutscene, Voice, Associate producer, Executive Producer, Test team, Production team, Soundtrack supervision, technical analyst, technical manager, business development director, motion graphics, Rockstar publishing team, music producer, system programmer, prop artist and designer.

Development assistants, Production, Art, Animation and Dialogue.

The programmers were: graphics, Al/physics/animation, game, network, leads-cross platform, tools and RAGE.

RAGE is the Rockstar Advanced Games Engine.

Around 150 game developers worked on GTA4

The game is huge and is pushing the hardware platforms to their absolute limits.” and “Certain elements of development proved to be more time-intensive than expected, especially given the commitment for a simultaneous release on two very different platform

OnLive is launching the world's highest performance Games On Demand service, instantly delivering the latest high-end titles over home broadband Internet to the TV and entry-level PCs and Macintosh® computers.

Founded by noted technology entrepreneur Steve Perlman (WebTV, QuickTime) and incubated within the Rearden media and technology incubator, OnLive spent seven years in stealth development before officially unveiling in March 2009.

OnLive, together with its Mova subsidiary, lies directly at the nexus of several key trends, all of which are reshaping the way we think about and use digital media:

• The shift to cloud computing, displacing the limitations, cost and complexity of local computing;
• An explosion of consumer broadband connectivity, bringing fast bandwidth to the home;
• Unprecedented innovation, creativity and expansion within the video game market.

Pioneering the delivery of rich interactive media to the home, OnLive will change the way that entertainment applications are created, delivered and consumed.

The impact of the world's highest performance Games On Demand service is going to increase the amount of people that want to play games on or offline, as they are able to get them more easily and when ever they want to get them.

Rockstar Games

1. What did you like about the game?
2. Who is the game aimed at?
3. What do you think of the content/game experience?
4. I there ny potential issues?
5. Any references to any other media industry? ie music film
6. Similarities between the games?
7. Which Console? Why it was released on this?

Red Dead Revolver
1. Became enjoyable when got to shoot the enemy.
2. Males/ Young Adults 16+
3. It was quite slow at the beginning but then got more interesting when was able to shoot the enemy as a challenge.
4. It was not very clear what you had to do.
5. Western film, as it was full of cowboys/enemies and shootings.
7. Xbox, possibly released on it as the Xbox was a new console.

Table Tennis
1. Fairly simple and easy for all to play.
2. Young children, around 10years+
3. The game was good to play as two player, because you got to enjoy the game experience with someone else.
4. The game had slightly delayed reactions after pressing the controls to hit the ball.
5. No
7. Xbox 360, depending on when the game came out to whether it would be in competition with the Wii.

Midnight Club, Los Angeles
1. Became good when getting into a race as the game became challenging.
2. Teenager, 12yrs+.
3. Content when racing tasks came up was really good.
4. Wasn't clear at start that you had to find the yellow marks to do something else.
5. No, but similar to racing films like Tokyo Dirft.
7. Playstation 3, could have been released on this as had quite advanced 3D graphics which the PS3 can take.

Grand Theft Auto - Vice City
1. It was good/fun as there was many things to do like drive/fighting and gain money and cars.
2. 18yrs + and teenagers, as includes violence.
3. The content of being violent to gain money/weapons was good and the aspect of also being able to drive.
4. Some of the things take a long time to get like when trying to find a good car.
5. When driving the car there is a reference to music as you can change the radio to whichever style of music you like.
7. Playstation 2, the game was released around the same time as the PS2 so could have been promoted along with the console.

Canis Canem Edit
1. It wasn't very good at the beginning as it didn't seem to have an objective but became good when you discover things to do.
2. Young people/teenagers - 10yrs+ although it was recommended 15yrs
3. The content isn't too good so the game experience lacks interest so could be improved by having more to do.
4. It takes a while to discover things to do, so there is a possibility the game could become boring for the gamer.
5. No
7. Playstation , the game wasn't for a advanced console like the xbox.

6. All of the games accept Table tennis involved violence, and all the games became challenging in different ways whether that be shooting/racing or fighting. All of the games were generally aimed at males although you could argue that Table Tennis was more suited for females than the other games, even though every type of gamer could choose to play the games.

Video Games

What was the first ever game you played?
Catherine: GameBoy - Mario
Rachael: Super Mario on the Nintendo 64

What games did you used to enjoy playing and what did you like about them?
Catherine: Mario - Because it was easy and fun, and I enjoyed having the task of getting on different levels.

Rachael: Crash Bandicoot - I enjoyed the different levels that you had to unlock doing different tasks against the 'bad characters' and it was challenging.


Super Mario - I enjoyed playing this as it was a fairly simple game which I became good at, and also it was good to be able to collect coins as an achievement.



What games do you play now and what do you like about them?
Catherine: I play on the Wii, because it makes exercising fun and I also enjoy playing against different people on the game Wii Sports. I also like the variety of different things you can do, for example Kung Fu.

Rachael: I play on the Wii fit occasionally, I like the different areas that you can train on like 'Muscles', 'Aerobics', 'Balance' and 'Yoga' as it gives you a variety of enjoyable games to choose from. I also play games on Facebook like Cube Crash and Pearl Worm- which also offers a wide range of different games to suit all.

What consoles have you bought and why?
Catherine: GameBoy, at the time it was very popular as it was quite new.
Wii, it's very popular and something that I found would be a fun way of exercising - not just in a gym.
Rachael: Nintendo 64, because at the time it was the best console to buy, and the controls were really easy to use for all different gamers.

Do you play games online? If yes, what games and where do you play them?
Catherine: Yes, I play Tetris online, on a internet website found from searching google.

Rachael: I play games on the internet, like Pacman and Tetris just on internet websites found from searching on google. I also play games online via Facebook like Bouncing Balls and Snake.