Explain and illustrate the contractual, legal, ethical obligations and
professional bodies within the games industry.
Employment Contracts are rules set by the employers to make sure the applicant's job and what he/she will do is made clear. To avoid workers from doing unnecessary activities at work instead of doing what they were hired for. The contract makes clear what the employee will be doing in exchange of money, benefits etc. This is done to ensure that no people who are unsure of the job apply to it. Without a contractual agreement, the employees might get fed up one day and say this is not what the job was originally advertised as and this could be avoided by simply giving an employment contract at the interview.
Development agreements are like employment contracts but in this case, a publisher hires a developer to develop their game. Like other contracts, the job and hours are made clear. In a developer's agreement however, the publishers give set dead lines and the amount of work, coding and developing that needs to be done within the given time.
Terms- When the hirer (publisher) spells out how much the developer will be paid and if there are any royalties, they're explained.
The publisher has to make clear if it owns the IP being used by the developers and the developing company has to swear it will not use someone else's code as their own.
Licence agreement- When a publisher wants to make a game, film or anything about something already existing, they have to contact the IP owners to come to the agreement that sets any limits after the publishers have made clear what exactly they will use and how they will use it. The publishers also need to discuss about the territorial rights their game or film will have. Publishers want world wide rights but the owner of IP may modify this a bit and leave some restrictions depending on the published material itself.
An NDA is a legal contract between at least two
parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the
parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish to
restrict access to or by third parties. It is a contract through which the
parties agree not to disclose information covered by the agreement. An NDA
creates a confidential relationship between the parties to protect any type of
confidential and proprietary information or trade secrets. As such, an NDA
protects nonpublic
business information.
A collaboration agreement is an agreement between two or more
researchers that sets forth the nature of their working relationship in a
research project. The agreement may include provisions concerning the intent of
the parties to share data, research materials and facilities, and to publish
research findings.
In all indsutries there are levels of how good something is. For example in movies one can compare sounds, visuals, how good the cgi is, how good the acting is etc. To decide who gets an award for the best work done, there are awarding associations for every big industry. The national and more known ones are Ukie, Igda, Wigj, Bafta and Mef. Which are seperate associations for different industries. However those are just shortened versions of what they fully stand for.
Ukie, which is short for the association for UK interactive entertainament is the only trade body for the wider entertainment in UK. Its like the Baftas, it compares, nominates and awards the best work depending on the category it is in. WIdely used for gaming, Ukie recently started holding nominations for video games as it is technically a motion picture creation and classed as interactive media.
Idga, is short for the international games developers association. Founded 19 years ago in 1994 in America, is a completely non profit organisation that helps developers and helps them improve in any way possible. This applies to developers in particular. Idga connects their members (developers) connect to peers to promote professional development and focusing on issues that affect the developer community.
Wigj, short for women in games jobs. Women in games jobs is a non profit organisation that helps women get jobs in games industry. It makes sure it can do all it can to help encourage women into the industry and make it as easy as possible for them to enter the industry.
Bafta, The British academy of Film and Television Arts. The Bafta supports, promotes and develops the art of moving imagery in television, films and gaming. It evaluates all the different releases in the 3 different industries and awards the best one. They inspire and motivate the people in these industries to take risks, try new things and push themselves harder and create new higher standards.
MEF, Mobile Entertainment Forum. MEF Shapes the ongoing development of the industry
through its regulation and policy & initiatives activity. We work
globally with key stakeholders at a local level to advance a robust and
equitable business environment that protects members’ revenues and
facilitates growth.
A Copyright
gives the creators of a wide range of material, such as literature, art, music,
sound recordings, films and broadcasts, economic rights enabling them to
control use of their material in a number of ways, such as by making copies,
issuing copies to the public, performing in public, broadcasting and use
on-line. It also gives moral rights to be identified as the creator of certain
kinds of material, and to object to distortion or mutilation of it.
A trade mark is a sign which can distinguish your goods and services from those
of your competitors (you may refer to your trade mark as your
"brand"). It can be for example words, logos or a combination of
both.
A patent protects new inventions and covers how things work, what they do, how
they do it, what they are made of and how they are made. If a patent
application is granted, it gives the owner the ability to take a legal action
under civil law to try to stop others from making, using, importing or selling
the invention without permission. This may involve suing the alleged infringer
through the courts, which is costly and time consuming because it involves
expert legal advice.
A
Registered Design grants exclusive rights in the look and appearance of your
product. You can stop people making, offering, putting on the market,
importing, exporting, using or stocking for those purposes, a product to which
your design is applied.
Tuesday 10 September 2013
Task 5 Trends
Discuss the current market and industry trends
within the industry.
When the era of consoles came around, it was the big brands that made the big bucks. This of course meant they were now well known and famous and anything they release won't go unnoticed. Big brands knew gaming is getting bigger than ever so they started making their own games and their own titles. For example Microsoft has the Halo franchise going with the Xbox (to this day) and this meant that if the game (Halo) became popular and friends start to tell each other about how good it is, people will have to buy an xbox just to play the game. When we think gaming console, we don't go straight for something like the Ouya or an android based console or something else. Our minds are dominated by the big brands that have dominated the industry. When we think films, we think Hollywood. There are other types of course like Indies and other independent film making companies but we think Hollywood because it is what has dominated the film industry. The gaming industry in the same way, is dominated by the well known brands Microsoft, Nintendo and PlayStation. This has a massive impact when someone decides to buy their first console. When I bought my first console Sony was the famous brand that everyone was buying from and everyone around me used to talk about how good the new PlayStation 3 was and how it beat Microsoft's Xbox. This influenced me to buy a Sony console instead of an xbox. Being a big brand, you're bound to have competition and this meant that fans are going to split in two, xbox fans and Sony fans. When Sony announced their PS4 with full spec information, there were many xbox fans who were still saying Xbox was better. Facts being facts, the Ps4 did actually beat the xbox one. So instead of buying the better console Microsoft fans were buying the Xbox One instead purely because they've been Microsoft fans for as long as this war began. That is the impact a big brand can have on the mind of their consumers.
Intellectual Property:
After having an idea protected by the correct type of legal mark, it is now the protector's property. If someone wants to use this idea or a character you created, you will have to give them the permission with some limits. Your IP would now be called a franchised IP because the original idea is being used in other ways, ideas, settings and stories. Given the permissions the original character or idea may even be modified to look completely different. An example of this is Superman. The original idea of this character was introduced to the world in 1937 and shortly after it was sold to dc in 1938 where he made his first appearance in a comic in June 1938. Since then there have been many versions of Superman and his world. It kept changing for example his suit went from a tiny S on the chest and an unfit slightly chubby person to a bigger S and a fitter, stronger and well built Superman. This means different companies got permission from Dc (the owner of superman) to use him in films, pictures, comics etc.
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current suit 2013 - ONWARDS
Serialized IP
Serialised IP is IP that has been made from scratch meaning the idea and storyline, the story, character whatever the creation, was made from no previous concepts of it. An example of this can be Microsoft's new exclusive, Sunset Overdive the video game. Serialised IP can become franchised IP and all franchised IP begins as serialised IP.
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/sunset-overdrive/home#fbid=aRwf4MREady
When the era of consoles came around, it was the big brands that made the big bucks. This of course meant they were now well known and famous and anything they release won't go unnoticed. Big brands knew gaming is getting bigger than ever so they started making their own games and their own titles. For example Microsoft has the Halo franchise going with the Xbox (to this day) and this meant that if the game (Halo) became popular and friends start to tell each other about how good it is, people will have to buy an xbox just to play the game. When we think gaming console, we don't go straight for something like the Ouya or an android based console or something else. Our minds are dominated by the big brands that have dominated the industry. When we think films, we think Hollywood. There are other types of course like Indies and other independent film making companies but we think Hollywood because it is what has dominated the film industry. The gaming industry in the same way, is dominated by the well known brands Microsoft, Nintendo and PlayStation. This has a massive impact when someone decides to buy their first console. When I bought my first console Sony was the famous brand that everyone was buying from and everyone around me used to talk about how good the new PlayStation 3 was and how it beat Microsoft's Xbox. This influenced me to buy a Sony console instead of an xbox. Being a big brand, you're bound to have competition and this meant that fans are going to split in two, xbox fans and Sony fans. When Sony announced their PS4 with full spec information, there were many xbox fans who were still saying Xbox was better. Facts being facts, the Ps4 did actually beat the xbox one. So instead of buying the better console Microsoft fans were buying the Xbox One instead purely because they've been Microsoft fans for as long as this war began. That is the impact a big brand can have on the mind of their consumers.
Intellectual Property:
Intellectual property is not physical material, it is intellectual meaning it is of the mind. IP is tangible stuff that needs to be protected by it's creator. Commonly protected Ip is musical,
literary, and artistic works, discoveries and inventions, and words, phrases,
symbols, and designs. These 'creations' can be copyright protected, patented, trademarked and given industrial design rights.
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current suit 2013 - ONWARDS
Serialized IP
Serialised IP is IP that has been made from scratch meaning the idea and storyline, the story, character whatever the creation, was made from no previous concepts of it. An example of this can be Microsoft's new exclusive, Sunset Overdive the video game. Serialised IP can become franchised IP and all franchised IP begins as serialised IP.
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/sunset-overdrive/home#fbid=aRwf4MREady
Task 4 Financial Planning
Financial planning is very important in the gaming industry or any industry for a fact. The reason it is important is because in the gaming industry the goal is always to make profit. In the process of one selling their game to the public to make money comes the very important process of developing process. Without this the game would not be in existence and left a mere idea. Depending on how much budget one has, what softwares they plan on use, the people they hire and the time set to finish the project by, this can be very costly. As we know, there are many different skills and professions in the industry required to undertake the process of developing a game and making it available for the public to purchase or/and access. While planning the finance of the over all process of ultimately selling the game, all these professions are seen as numbers and their level of skill. For example, one must choose a project manager, digital artist, programmer etc to get the product made but in the search of finding one best for you, you're bound to have options to pick from. One developer might be more skilled than the other one however he/she might come with a greater cost. After deciding who to hire and how much they get, you're done for that part of financial planning.
To ensure the best chances of you making profit and not going into loss, you must create a budget.Your budget is broken into 3 sectors, variable costs, fixed costs and break even point. To make the best estimations and predictions for your sales and profit, it is compulsary that you know which one out of the two, variable cost or fixed cost applies to you.
Variable costs are things you buy for your product to make it purchasable. Depending on your product and how big/costly the get it packaged and ready for sale process is, the variable cost can be expensive. But in most cases it is relatively cheap. For example, a bread factory has to put the slices of bread in packaging and deliver them to stores for sale. The money gone into doing so is called a variable cost.
On the other hand fixed costs are costs that are not variable, these help sellers to make estimations of profit etc easily by taking out the risk of the costs of things like packaging changing. Online stores like Steam, Apple app store and Android playstore use fixed cost because they do not have to package the product or deliver it instead just make the file accessable and downloadable after the customer has bought the app. Just like it's name, fixed costs are fixed which makes estimations easier to make and a little more reliable and realistic.
Though it seems as easy as either making profit or losing it, there is another form of calculating such progress. It is known as the 'break even point'. The break even point in simple words is having made the same ammount of money you spent on delveloping or making it. For example if I made a game that took £10,000 to develop, the break even point would be when I make back 10,000 exactly by selling whatever ammount of copies it would take. In other words, variable costs and fixed cost reaching the same number resulting in neither loss or profit gives you the break even point.
The financial planning process is very important in every serious and well organised business, project or task. One could argue it is one the most important processes, others would disagree and say it is not so important. I think it is neither essential nor useless. I think every business, company or project that is very well organised and knows what to do and how to achieve their goals will definitely go through this process.
Task 3 Business Models
Explain the three business models of:
Arcade:
The arcade era was the beginning of gaming available for
public to play. Though there were prototypes of games before this era came,
this was what bought the prototypes and ideas for everyone to use and play. It
started off with arcade machines. Though the first ever interactive ‘game’ was
tennis for two, which’ business model was the same as consoles (introduced
later) but this cost these were big boxes with a monitor / visual output
device, connected to circuits that were programmed to boot up the interactive interface otherwise known as the game.
Box,
Ship and Done
The next era is the console era. At this point large and known companies wanted to make a console/Device that could play games made only for their specific consoles. For example, Sony made the Playstation and the Playstation would not be able to play Microsoft bound games. Likewise Microsoft and Nintendo also made their consoles and the games for these consoles were incompatible with each other. These companies wanted to make profits in a way that no other popular manufacturer would have a share in, and releasing consoles was the perfect way. This was a very revolutionary era for games as this meant gamers who spent time in arcades playing arcade games could buy a little console that would play the same games but at home! It is no surprise that companies involved in manufacturing consoles made a lot of money because the idea of having an arcade machine in a little box attached to your tv in your home was something everyone wanted. As consoles got more and more popular, games got restricted for example Nintendo was now making games exclusive to the Nintendo console(s) like Zelda or the Mario series. Unsurprisingly Microsoft also did this and started making exclusives only available to their console, the Xbox. Instead of having to put big arcade machines around town, manufacturers now had to box their console and ship it to retailers where the customers would (and still do) consume and that's it.
Observe, Measure and Modify.The next era is the console era. At this point large and known companies wanted to make a console/Device that could play games made only for their specific consoles. For example, Sony made the Playstation and the Playstation would not be able to play Microsoft bound games. Likewise Microsoft and Nintendo also made their consoles and the games for these consoles were incompatible with each other. These companies wanted to make profits in a way that no other popular manufacturer would have a share in, and releasing consoles was the perfect way. This was a very revolutionary era for games as this meant gamers who spent time in arcades playing arcade games could buy a little console that would play the same games but at home! It is no surprise that companies involved in manufacturing consoles made a lot of money because the idea of having an arcade machine in a little box attached to your tv in your home was something everyone wanted. As consoles got more and more popular, games got restricted for example Nintendo was now making games exclusive to the Nintendo console(s) like Zelda or the Mario series. Unsurprisingly Microsoft also did this and started making exclusives only available to their console, the Xbox. Instead of having to put big arcade machines around town, manufacturers now had to box their console and ship it to retailers where the customers would (and still do) consume and that's it.
As technology advances, our ways of consuming and the manufacturer's ways of retailing have changed. Going from having just one game on one computer to arcade machines around the city available for anyone to come and play to having those arcade machines in a little console in your house. The next way of distribution is digital distribution. Though this is still a fairly new concept for consoles, this has been used by PC gamers for a long time now.Digital distribution meant we would not have to get up to go to the shop to buy the game which has been the case for the past 30 years or so. As long as you had the right console, internet and time, you can download the game and content straight from servers meaning online transactions are made in exchange for a digital copy of material. This was widely and mainly used on Pcs with Microsoft's own online distribution service called Windows Live and the major distributor, Steam.com. Big competitive companies are as always, money hungry even with billions made. So slowly but surely, consoles caught up with digital distribution too. The Playstation started the Playstation Network (PSN). This way of distribution was (is) also enviormentally friendly meaning the game does not have to be written onto a disk, have a plastic box, then have the walk through and cover or shipped for retailers to put on shelfs over and over! The amount of digital copies sold or downloaded are not unknown because when someone buys a game online over a streaming service that gives you a download, that means they now have all the files required to play the game. Which is exactly how games are pirated and shared around on the internet without legitimately buying the game.It's also something that was definitely in the sales pitch when digital distribution was announced and is advertised.
Task 2 Job Roles
Profile each of the main job roles within the
industry.
Creative department:
Game desginer
A games designer's job is to define and create how the game is played, the physics, the looks etc.
This includes them having to develop the rules of the game, the setting story and characters, props such as weapons and vehicle and different ways the game may be played.
Lead programmer
The lead programmer is in charge of the project. It is up to him to decide dead lines, what aspects of the game stay (while in development) and what goes. He/she also picks what art concept should be used, sounds etc. The lead programmer can overall tweak aspects of the project. In a big project the lead programmer can also be referred to as the architect. The role of the lead programmer varies from project to project but mainly their job is to keep track of work being done and to make sure it meets deadlines (if given). A lead programmer also acts like a mentor to developers, programmers and other members in the project.
The programmer is also referred to as the program developer. In different roles there are different titles for the programmer. For example a software developer, web developer, mobile applications developer, embedded firmware developer and software engineer. The title depends on what one specializes in as a programmer for example someone who programs things for web, makes sites, codes sites etc is to be referred to as a web developer.
The programmer's job is to design, code, test and debug the game. This includes coding things varying from if an object can be interacted with, what it does when interacted to designing the physics of the game.
If there are any problems or bugs found the programmer's job is to fix them.
Lead Artist
The looks of the game lye in the hands of the lead artist. He/she are in charge of the how the game looks, backgrounds, objects, skins of players, textures and all mesh. Usually the lead artist designs their own art for the game known as concept art. there will be a lot of drawing so the lead artist has to pick the right softwares and equipment required for the project.The artist produces concepts like scenery, characters, foes, objects, weapons, the skins, mesh and backgrounds to be used and usually it is then showed to the lead programmer to make the decision of what is best out of the conecpts and that is then rendered into the game. This job requires members to be creative and without this aspect you can not go too far into job and have less success. Good software knowledge for example what to use to draw from endless software options out there is also essential because the right or wrong software used can have a massive impact on the looks of what they draw. If an artist is really good at what he/she does and use the wrong software, the end result can look bad and leave a bad image of the maker.
Technical artist
Artist
Audio engineer
Project manager
The project manager is in charge of dead lines and making sure the game meets the specifications and requirements given to the project team. The project manager has to make sure dead lines are met every week and check milestones (Make sure certain work is done by the set dead line). Usually the project manager has a timeline made for the team which shows how much and what work has to be done by the set dates.
Creative department:
Game desginer
A games designer's job is to define and create how the game is played, the physics, the looks etc.
This includes them having to develop the rules of the game, the setting story and characters, props such as weapons and vehicle and different ways the game may be played.
They work with programmers, artists, animators, producers and audio engineers to turn their original vision or someone else's, who has hired them's idea into a working game.
Games designers work around 35 hours a week, but they may need to work longer hours as deadlines approach. This means this role can get very stressful at times, depending on the target quality. They work in offices and spend long periods sitting at a desk using a computer.
Some of the main qualities and skills a games designer should have are being creative, imaginative and original, be fluent in a number of software packages, understand the market and target audience for computer games, have problem-solving skills and enjoy IT and playing computer games. The games designer over all has more control over the project than other roles so its not compulsary to be a good team player, but no one likes a stubborn, pushing around boss either. So its always good to be negotiative and open to suggestions.
Level Editor
The Level Editor creates interactive architecture for parts of a game, including the landscape, buildings, and objects. For example it is the level editor's job to make it interactive tin can on the floor interactive. Meaning, if someone walks into it, does it make a sound, does it move, does it get crushed or damaged etc. Making a tin can interatctive is farely easy compared to other parts of the job. Destructable enviorments are becoming a must have and trend in war games or destruction games recently. Destructable enviorments as the name refers, are enviorments that can be altered, deformed and destroyed if interacted with. For example a tank shoos a shell at a wall and the wall breaks, cracks or explodes. That only hapopens if the level editor scripted destructable enviorment in the game.
They must be true to the overall design specification, using the characters and story elements defined by the Game Designer, but they often have considerable scope to vary the specific look and feel of the level for which they are responsible.
Lead programmer
The lead programmer is in charge of the project. It is up to him to decide dead lines, what aspects of the game stay (while in development) and what goes. He/she also picks what art concept should be used, sounds etc. The lead programmer can overall tweak aspects of the project. In a big project the lead programmer can also be referred to as the architect. The role of the lead programmer varies from project to project but mainly their job is to keep track of work being done and to make sure it meets deadlines (if given). A lead programmer also acts like a mentor to developers, programmers and other members in the project.
Programmer
The programmer's job is to design, code, test and debug the game. This includes coding things varying from if an object can be interacted with, what it does when interacted to designing the physics of the game.
If there are any problems or bugs found the programmer's job is to fix them.
Lead Artist
The looks of the game lye in the hands of the lead artist. He/she are in charge of the how the game looks, backgrounds, objects, skins of players, textures and all mesh. Usually the lead artist designs their own art for the game known as concept art. there will be a lot of drawing so the lead artist has to pick the right softwares and equipment required for the project.The artist produces concepts like scenery, characters, foes, objects, weapons, the skins, mesh and backgrounds to be used and usually it is then showed to the lead programmer to make the decision of what is best out of the conecpts and that is then rendered into the game. This job requires members to be creative and without this aspect you can not go too far into job and have less success. Good software knowledge for example what to use to draw from endless software options out there is also essential because the right or wrong software used can have a massive impact on the looks of what they draw. If an artist is really good at what he/she does and use the wrong software, the end result can look bad and leave a bad image of the maker.
Technical artist
The main areas of responsibility for Technical Artists include setting up and maintaining the art production workflow as well as making decisions about which art packages and tools a studio should use.
Technical Artists are also charged with investigating new techniques and implementing them. The job often includes a teaching element, with the Technical Artist sharing their knowledge via training and mentoring sessions with other artists.One large part of the job involves keeping up to date in changes in technology, both in terms of console hardware, art packages and new techniques. The Technical Artist is expected to be able to create custom tools to improve the efficiency of their team. This is usually carried out using the scripting languages included in the main modelling and animation packages.
Artist
Artists work under the supervision of the Lead Artist. They create art for the game according to the requirements given and they're usually in charge of the assets they create.
The job itself has a few different roles for example an artist may specialize in designing characters or scenery and backgrounds others may specialize in mesh and textures.
The different types of artists are as follows:
Concept Artist usually using traditional materials (eg pen and paper) rather than computer software, the Concept Artist sketches ideas for the game worlds, characters, objects, vehicles, furniture, clothing and other content. They also suggest level designs, colour schemes, and the mood and feel of the game. They are usually very good at perspective drawing and architecture. Although not involved in creating the actual game art, their concept will determine the look of many aspects of the game.
3D Modeller builds the characters, objects and environments of the game, including life forms, scenery, vegetation, furniture, and vehicles, etc. They need to balance visual richness and detail with the constraints of the game's technology.
2D/Texture Artist creates and applies textures to characters, environments and game items, such as the surfaces of walls and floors of buildings. This is also a highly skilled area, which requires considerable knowledge of lighting, perspective, materials, and visual effects.
Animator
The animator's job is to bring the concept art of characters and objects to life. They lay a working skeletal structure and build on top of that. Building on top means putting on layers of the character mechanics, how the movements are operated and how certain parts and the whole structure itself reacts when interacted with.
a good example is the player (Steve) in minecraft. The movements of the character when viewed in 3rd person are quite limited. It can be argued the animators were lazy or maybe that is just how the character was always supposed to look. When the character is interacted with, compared to lets say a character for the GTA series, the legs stay stiff and the arms do too. The legs and arms move back and forth but very stiff and straight. This means the skeletal structure under the character skin is very basic.
One of the important roles of the animator is to lay a foundation under objects and characters and depending on how thorughly this is done, the object or character's movements can be either very limited or realistic (Gta characters and objects).
QA TESTER
A game tester's (Quality assurance) job is to test the game thoroughly before it gets released. This job requires good computing expertise, analytic competence and critical evaluation skills. As a QA tester you must play the game with a very open and crazy mind in order to find software defects (bugs) and document them so the developers can fix them. Bugs and defects need fixing asap because some can lead to cheating for example money glitches and bugs in GTA 5 meant people did not work hard to make money in GTA Online, they simply acquired a dns bug by changing their dns to a modified one and when they log into their console, they would have millions which would usually take months to make legit. In order for a fair game for everyone involved bugs such as thuis are usually fixed as soon the developers hear about them which usually happens rapidly nowadays due to the internet's large hacking and glitching community. The job of a qa tester has been seen down upon recently and it is said to be excessively strenuous and unrewarding, both financially and emotionally.
Audio engineer
The Audio Engineer creates the soundtrack for a game. This might include music; sound effects to support the game action, such as gunshots or explosions, character voices and other expressions, spoken instructions, and ambient effects, such as crowd noise, vehicles or rain.
The soundtrack helps to create a more immersive experience for the player by reinforcing the mood of the game. It can also enhance game play by affecting the tempo and adding emotional depth.
Poor sound can affect the gameplay and the player's opinion on the game.
Audio Engineers work for development studios, both independent and publisher-owned. The size of the audio department depends on the company, but can consist of just one or two people who are sometimes required to work very long hours, particularly as launch dates approach.
Project manager
The project manager is in charge of dead lines and making sure the game meets the specifications and requirements given to the project team. The project manager has to make sure dead lines are met every week and check milestones (Make sure certain work is done by the set dead line). Usually the project manager has a timeline made for the team which shows how much and what work has to be done by the set dates.
Task 1 Structure – The Value Chain
A video game developer is a who specializes in video game development specifically. A game developer can be a single person who undertakes all tasks him/herself or a large group of people who are developers but specialise in a specific department of the development process. with responsibilities split between them, such as programming, design, art, testing, the job is made much more easier than it would be for a single person (depending on the target and the quality aimed for as an ending result). Depending on the developer, the game (ending product) can be made available for people to access either online or as hard copy. People such as Indie developers give out their games for free! And the way they distribute their games is through the internet! Most Indie developers upload their games to a website which have the download option that can be accessed by anyone. On the other hand a developer (most of them) sell their games for money. These devs can use the same websites like steam etc and the same way that is used for the free ones however these ones would have a price. The other alternative to online downloading and cloud games (as explained above) is hard copies (Disks, dvds, blurays etc). This alternative is mostly used by wellknown and big developer companies owned by Playstation, Microsoft, NaughtyDog, Ubisoft etc
Publisher
Publishers are companies who come in the scene when a game developer wants their game to be advertised or available to the public in the context of the developer's choice. Depending on what publisher is hired, the game can be successful even if its not good! For example, if 2kgames publish a game that was enjoyed and loved by many and became a success, people are likely to buy the next game they publish purely because they expect good material to be published by this company considering the success of their previous publishes. Some publishers give a better sales estimate than others, this is because some are more well known and have more followers and fans than others. For example, EA (Electronic Arts) sells as many as 1.5 millions copies of fifa (on average) per year. Compared to less major and smaller publisher, EA is bound to sell at least a 100 copies of a game no matter how bad it is purely because out of 1.5 million of fifa fans, at least a few will try this game purely because they have been with EA for a while or are loyal fans. Whereas the smaller company does not have this many fans or followers so the sales estimate is bound to be lower. This of course means that EA will be a lot more expensive compared to this other company. Each year publishers try their best to make the most revenue to finish on top of the top publishers' list. Here is a list of this year, and last year's list: http://www.metacritic.com/feature/game-publisher-rankings-for-2012-releases
Mobile Platform- Softwares used in mobile phones. Eg Pc’s use windows, Macs have Linux installed etc. For all devices softwares are most likely different. Mobile phones stared off with using Java as the software/base for the interface used by users. Nowadays things have evolved to a whole new level. Now the two most known mobile platforms are IOS (Used by Apple) and Android (Universal, can be used by anyone) and the recently released windows phones that use special Microsoft os. The evolution of going from Java to the IOS and Android has enabled us to do things people couldn’t dream to be able to do on phones. In the games industry this is also a very big aspect because gaming on phones, tablets etc. is becoming very popular.
Linkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_operating_system
Mobile Platform- Softwares used in mobile phones. Eg Pc’s use windows, Macs have Linux installed etc. For all devices softwares are most likely different. Mobile phones stared off with using Java as the software/base for the interface used by users. Nowadays things have evolved to a whole new level. Now the two most known mobile platforms are IOS (Used by Apple) and Android (Universal, can be used by anyone) and the recently released windows phones that use special Microsoft os. The evolution of going from Java to the IOS and Android has enabled us to do things people couldn’t dream to be able to do on phones. In the games industry this is also a very big aspect because gaming on phones, tablets etc. is becoming very popular.
Linkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_operating_system
Distribution and Retail
The sellers. For game companies to make money they want the buyers to easily be able to purchase their product and to do so, they need distributers and retailers. Distrisbutors and retailers make this possible by making the game accessable for potential customers. Some distribbutors are well known than others which means they get more traffic. And this is exactly what a developer wants! As mant people considering to buy his/her game as possible.
Outsourcing companies
These are services that enable us to hire people with skills in different roles. Roles like animators, artists, musicians, developers etc. These services are carried and these people are hired for a few different reasons. For example someone can contact an outsourcing company in order to get some sound effects, graphics, character models and landscaping designed. The company (or person if he/she is a freelancer) Do all the work for you. However not all of the examples given would be covered by one person. For each one there would be a different specialist for example for graphics you would want a good artist and someone with good knowledge of the softwares involved and for sound effects it is not logical to use the artist because his/her specialty is different to the sound aspect.
Press and Media
Press and media include giving us news, Q&A’s, feedback, release dates etc on games and any gaming related events.
The press and media in this industry has the power to make or break a game. Because it is us
(the media) who decide whether we like something or not, the press and media
hired or established for certain companies want to know what we want, what we
think, what we don’t like etc. So they have ideas about what to make next. And if it is up to our liking's we let rate it good, if its not, we rate it bad! Which shows how we have the power to shape the opinion of someone who hasn't played the game just by leaving bad or good reviews!
Another part of press and media in this industry is like in any other industry, to cover events and make them available for us to view, read or listen to.
First Party Publisher
A first party publisher is a part of a video game console manufacturing company.They do not own the console manufacturing or the whole company itself however they can be very important (Depending on their success) For example God of War is published by a first party publisher working for sony and because their product was so successful, they are an important part of the company. First party publishers are also allowed to use the company's name.
A first party publisher is a part of a video game console manufacturing company.They do not own the console manufacturing or the whole company itself however they can be very important (Depending on their success) For example God of War is published by a first party publisher working for sony and because their product was so successful, they are an important part of the company. First party publishers are also allowed to use the company's name.
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