RED DEAD REDEMPTION REVISION

This handout is to be used in conjunction with the Red Dead worksheets you filled out and the Red Dead Prezi that can be found here http://tinyurl.com/6axflzkIt’s not the complete answers or completely exhaustive but hopefully it should give you an idea what you should be talking about in you exam.What you must do is push yourself to think of the significance or consequence of each aspect of production and use of a concept.So don’t just say ‘Rockstar used RAGE to make Red Dead’ – think why is this significant. So ‘Rockstar used RAGE to make Red Dead which allowed them to make incredible looking graphics, which in turn help them market the game and make it stand out from the competition.’

TECHNOLOGY

Rockstar made use of:Playstation3, Xbox 360RAGEEuphoriaThe internet for gameplay, updates and for distribution (digital distribution only after the main release, however).Internet for marketing.Innovative way of creating and recording the music.Use of social media (Facebook) for the Gunslingers.

Technology not made use of by RockstarOnline streaming (OnLive, Gaikai). What would be the implications to the business model if they did?Mass online distribution. The main launch was still a packaged good.

If you get asked a question about digital media technology remember that video games are by their design a ‘digital technology’. However, the way they used to be distributed (in carts, on discs) or marketed in ways that weren’t digital.

MEDIA OWNERSHIP

Who owns what in videogames? Licenses, brands, technology, software, hardware, the intellectual property (IP). What effect does this have on the industry.

Rockstar are owned by Take Two. While Rockstar make the majority of their own budgetary and creative decisions it is Take Two’s stock price that is effected by the success of Rockstar’s games. Interesting fact that shows how dependent Take Two on Rockstar, 2010 is the first time Take Two recorded a profit in a year that a Grand Theft Auto wasn’t released – this was thanks to the performance of Red Dead.

Rockstar own the developers, Rockstar San Diego, so won’t have issues over who owns the Red Dead IP and who can make money from it.

Rockstar own the Red Dead brand (after purchasing the name and original game from Capcom) therefore they don’t have to pay any license fee to any other company to use their IP.

Rockstar have created all the content within the game therefore there is no issue regarding using other companies IP.

The technology Rockstar used to create the game was primarily RAGE, which is their own game engine. This mean they don’t have to pay to license this software off another company, however it would have cost them a lot of money to create RAGE in the first place.

As Rockstar created and own RAGE, they have the RAGE support staff in-house, therefore any technical problems can be solved quickly. This helps in development. If Rockstar had to wait for outside support this could cause delays.

Rockstar did use NaturalMotion’s Euphoria animation engine, so would have had to pay to license to use this software.

MARKETINGDuring the marketing phase Rockstar used their own website to continually update potential consumers about the various features of the game. The cost of this would have been relatively low unlike having to pay for coverage on other company’s sites.

DISTRIBUTIONRockstar do not own the consoles Red Dead is played on – the PS3 and the Xbox 360 - Sony and Microsoft do respectively. Rockstar have to pay these companies to use their systems to run their games. The actual cost isn’t known but it is between $3 to $10 per game sold. So if a game is sold for $40 the console manufacturers take a chunk of that.

EXCHANGERockstar own their own online shop so they don’t have to split any revenue earned from sales from that particular outlet. However, other retailers (HMV, Amazon) will usually buy each unit for approximately £30, but taking into account the cost of getting the product and point of sale marketing, the publishers will only see around £16 of this. That’s why digital downloads are so attractive to publishers as they take the retailer out of the equation.

CONSUMPTIONOnce it is in the customer’s hands you could argue that they now ‘own’ the product. However, they are not allowed to whatever they want to do to the product – for instance those gamers who hacked Red Dead and unlocked all the feature were banned from playing Red Dead online.

Consumers can claim ownership of the product in more theoretical sense by using it to create other experiences – this could be through using it as inspiration for fan art to creating Machinima movies with the game.

Some other issues with Media OwnershipPublishers have to pay for ‘licenses’ from other intellectual properties such as films (Bond, X-Men, Spider-Man), sports stars and events (FIFA, Tiger Woods), car designs (Gran Turismo), TV shows (X Factor), songs Guitar Hero. These all cost money – more you spend on licensing that may attract sales, the less you have for development.

Developers allow consumers to access their technological IP  - Valve who make Team Fortress and Half Life give fans access to their development tools so they can create their own maps and games.

Apple allows developer to get the Apps Software Development Kit (SDK) for free so they can make Iphone apps (but then take 30% of the revenue).

With OnLive or Gaikai publishers may not have to split the money with retailers as consumers will just stream their games over the net hoThere can be disputes between developers and publisher about who owns the IP. The developers may have created the game, but the publisher legally owns the rights to the ideas. E.g. Infinity Ward created COD: Modern Warfare, but the publishers Activision own the names and the game.  They recently had a falling out, the Infinity Ward wikipedia page explains it well.

 MEDIA CONVERGENCE

What happens when different types of media come together? What new experiences do we get? What are the advantages?

DEVELOPMENTRockstar created their own soundtrack for the game, one that used traditional instruments, but is unlike other types of music (soundtracks, pop music) as it is dynamic – changing tone and intensity depending what the games player gets the games characters to do.

Due to the convergence of games and the internet Rockstar had to create a multiplayer option for Red Dead Redemption. This means more work for the developers and the support teams to monitor the online servers, but creates more value for the consumer.

A positive for games and internet converging for the developer is that they can release new content and sell it to the fans enabling them to get more revenue rather basically the same game (see Red Dead’s DLC).

Media convergence affects the way producers and consumers interact – this can be seen in how Rockstar were able react to consumer grievances to the game by fixing problems with the game with numerous downloadable updates.

MARKETINGRockstar combined gaming and Social Networking to create their Gunslingers game, that used Facebook to spread word of their game.

The viral marketing used convergence so you had information on old media marketing (building mural, magazine articles) being spread by new media: fan blogs, websites and social networking.

Rockstar collaborated with Hollywood movie director John Hillcoat to create a 30 minute film that used the games engine from the game. This is movie expertise and storytelling, combined with videogame technology and eventually broadcast on TV.

CONSUMPTIONMedia convergence affects the way producers and consumers interact. Consumers can now create content from the game (mods, machinima) and share it with other consumers thanks to the internet – therefore becoming producers themselves.

Consumers can play against the developer (Rockstar) thanks to the Social Club events.

Great example of the power of cross media convergence – FarmvilleWhen games and social media meet you get games such as Cityville, Farmville etc.  And they can only exist because of media convergence as they are:Distributed via FacebookMarketed via Facebook (predominately through Facebook paid for ads and viral marketing)Consumed (played) on Facebook.The gameplay is also dictated by social networking as it’s all about showing off your farm to friends on Facebook. Proof that media convergence can change the industry.

SYNERGY

The interaction of two or more agents (media organisations or products) to ensure a larger effect than if they acted independently.Synergy is primarily a marketing strategy designed to maximise the amount of coverage and impact of any exposure the brand/product/game etc will get at specific time, but it can also be seen in terms of distribution and production.

PRODUCTIONRockstar had to develop two versions of the game – for the PS3 and Xbox360 – in order for a simultaneous release. That meant they had to tweaked their game to suit

two system and get approval for their from two companies (Sony, Microsoft), this would have created more work and cost more money than if they were making a game for one console at a time. Releasing games simultaneously on different formats is a costly process.

MARKETINGSynergy can be achieved in marketing by releasing information over a number of different media types simultaneously – to maximize the impact. So for the first look at Red Dead, Rockstar released a trailer, organized a weeks coverage with website IGN and did a feature in the magazine Game Informer. These three different types of coverage all came out at the same time.Then for each new trailer or update on the official website new images and art work allowing different news sources to produce coverage.

Rockstar used synergy by collaborating with other artist such as director John Hillcoat for the short film and music artists such as Jose Gonzalez for the music. By working together they both benefited – Rockstar get more ‘artistic credibility’ and Gonzalez and Hillcoat have their work exposed to new audience. Also the press coverage for the collaboration helps spread the word about Red Dead.

The short film was premiered on US and UK television at the time of the launch.

Rockstar used synergy with their marketing with the retailers, namely HMV, Amazon and the US retailer Gamestop. All the voting for extra content that consumers got for pre-ordering the game help promote not only the game itself but also the retailers. A perfect example of two agents coming together and both benefiting.

DISTRIBUTIONSimultaneous release means that the distributers have to organise discs and packaging for thousands of copies of the game, for the various formats. Logistically and financially, this is a big undertaking. If successfully done it can lead to a big opening weeks. If not it can lead to shortages (consumers frustration) or (if the game is unpopular) masses on unsold discs.(Because of this, digital distribution (downloads, OnLive) is an attractive option for publishers as they wouldn’t have to create as much boxed copies.)

At the time of the launch Rockstar also main other products available for launch.The official soundtrack was available to download from iTunes.Rockstar launched the Red Dead clothing (T-Shirts, shirts ) on their own website.

Other issues with synergyIf games are released to coincide with the release of a film/TV show, this brings its own problems: a strict deadline that can’t be avoided. You can’t have the Harry Potter game coming out six months after the film.Some examples of effective synergyThe Rio version of angry birds.Coke and FIFA collaboration for the 2010 World Cup (see marketing powerpoint).

 PROLIFERATION

What are the problems/positives of having loads of games and game machines?

Positives for institutionsLots of different consoles give chance for innovation (DS, Wii, etc) – make different type of games.The fact that you can play games on the phone and internet mean smaller companies can make different types of games and not compete with the console big boys.Games developers/publishers can create content for numerous different machines and so not controlled by the console manufacturers. (like they were by Nintendo in the 80s).

Negative for institutionsThey have to spend more on marketing and advertising – as there’s so much other similar content out there. (Just think of all the Call of Duty style games out there.) This is particularly a problem for social games and iphone games as there’s so much content out there.Pressure to sell means that it could result in less risk and less innovation (give the public what has sold before – just get loads of sequels).Have to create different types of games for the different machines (GTA4, GTA Chinatown War – also there’s over 9 different versions of FIFA 1, all have to be created)

Positive for consumersMore choice.Competition keeps the price down.Can play games wherever you want – phone, home, on the go, on Facebook.

Negatives for consumersConfusion – what console do I buy? Which motion controller do I get (Wii, Kinect, PS3 Motion)? This can lead to consumers losing interest. Have to buy several machines to get all the different games.

Issues for Rockstar and Red Dead RedemptionBecause Red Dead was such as big and technically complex game it could only be produced for the two most sophisticated consoles the PS3 and 360. This means they are not able to sell their product to a huge part of the games playing market (DS, Wii, PC, PSP etc owners).

An advantage for Rockstar was that there were very few (if any) cowboy games out there, therefore Red Dead stood out in terms of originality. However, the draw back was that this might suggest there wasn’t a demand or consumer appetite for a cowboy game.

 TECHNOLOGICAL CONVERGENCE

What is the significance of having digital devices/platforms that can play games and consoles that have other uses.

Lets look at the main three consoles:PS3 – DVD, Blu-Ray player, can store digital information (photos, music, films, TV), BBC Iplayer, web browser, PS Home, PS Store.360 – DVD, Xbox Live store (download, films, music, demos, new games), web browser, connect to friends through facebook, Last FM,Wii – Virtua Console (download old Nintendo games), online play, web browser, Iplayer.

All these machines are now ‘home entertainment centres’ as they can play different types of media this is significant: It opens up the market – consumers who might want a Blu-ray player might get the PS3 as you can also play games in, while otherwise they might not have invested in just a games machine.

It positions the games machine in the lounge (family room) rather than in the bedroom. Now the console is a family possession and encourages family to invest in family games (Mario Kart, Wii Sports, Singstar, Kinect).

The most significant part of technological convergence is fact that all these console are online which allows for:Online playOnline sharing of ideasDownloading new content and new games.Also it allows for most of the media convergence.

Now lets look at digital devices/platforms that now play games mainly i-Pod Touch, i-Pad and Smart Phone.This opens up a huge new market for games companies as there is a limited amount of people who would buy a handheld machine that only plays games (DS, PSP) but nearly everyone has a phone that can play games. Because of this technological convergence everyone who has a phone is a potential gamer.

As mobile games are often simple and cheap to make (compared with console games) this allows small, independent developers to make money from making games without the need for publisher funding or worrying about the cost of distribution. (This is much the same as developer creating content for Xbox Live Marketplace and the PS Store).  

CONSUMPTION

How have yours and others gaming habits changed due to the changes in the industry?

Where do you get your games?Still from the shop?Do you download?Stream online?Get them through piracy?Where you do play your games? In the bedroom? On the bus? In the lounge?Who do you play your games with? Your mates? Your mates online? Strangers online? With your family? On your own?What do you do you make the game your own (become a ‘prosumer’)? You could customise the game (costumes, levels, types of games played)? Do you create content and share it with others? Do you modify the game?

Other stuff to mentionMachinima – making films from games e.g. Red vs Blue, the contributions to Rockstar TV.Cos-Play – dressing up as games characters, role playing and using games to create fan fiction etc.Modification – modifying game code to create new types of games.Professional gaming – playing Starcraft has almost become a sport in Korea