Submission Form

HA3 - Task 1 - Structure (The Value Chain)

In the process of games deign in companies there is a chain/order that the game must go through first before being completely finished.
First is the developers who are the people who actually make the game with teams of programmers, artists, sound editors, etc. They turn an idea into an actual working operation documenting their findings along the way and it is also their job to ensure that the game leaves the studio with the least amount of problems possible. Shigeru Miyamoto is one of the most famous game developers know as he is the one that created Mario and everything in the Mario universe.

Next in the chain would be publishers who are the people that release the game to the public when the game developers say that the game is ready to be sold to the mass market. They are responsible for the manufacturing and for the marketing of the game by securing TV ads, billboards and conferences. 

Next in the game designs chain would be the console manufacturers/first party publishers. Companies such as Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo who will pay for the license to sell a certain game on their console if they feel that the sales would go well. However they are also first party publishers which means that they create and publish their own games. Nintendo with the Mario games, Microsoft with the Halo series and Sony with the Uncharted series. 

After this is distribution and retail which is the people who distribute the game to the stores and shops that will be selling the game on the release date. They are in charge of making sure that the product reaches the store undamaged with the right amount of units that have been paid for and if the store isn't to the correct satisfaction then these are the people who would also have to deal with this situation.

Next is the outsourcing companies are the companies that obtain goods or offer services to other companies for specialized services. In this case the outsourcing companies will be stores like Game, Asda, Tesco, etc. Their job is to sell the companies game for retail price until the are told when tey can lower the price to a certain amount.

Finally is the press and media which is the companies like IGN and Gamestop who create reviews and opinions on the game which they then share with the entire community which could easily make or break a game as these companies are well trusted by many people around the world, however these reviews aren't always trustworthy as they will sometimes be paid off by the companies producing the game to say good things about the game.      

HA3 - Task 2 - Job Roles Presentation

Creative Development

Game Designer:

The games designer as the job of creating all the core elements of the game which will be built upon and modified during the rest of the process in other departments. They input how the game will be actually be played weather it be a RPG (role playing game) or a MMO (mass multiplayer online). It is their creative imaginations that get the ball rolling when they think of a new game or the possibilities that a certain game could have had if it changed in such a way.

Level Editor:

The level editor has the job of creating the environment which the player will move through and explore. This could be an entire world or just one level/map that will be included among a larger number but when creating these levels these are the people who make sure the structures and aesthetics are realistic and suit there purpose. They also look at the finer details with things you would never even notice but they will check every section of the map to ensure a highest of quality.

 Lead Artist:

The lead artist is the person in charge of all the other artists, giving them certain jobs to best suit the person doing them. This person must know each team members strengths and weaknesses and use this knowledge to make sure that the game design process goes smoothly. They must also make snap decisions and must choose the one that most suits the profile that they were given to base their ideas off.  

Technical Artist:

A technical artist is the person who takes the final art concepts off the artists and puts them into the game quickly and easily. They must know how to create shaders, shadows, textures, UV mapping and other basic techniques to make the character or object look as good as possible. 

Artist:

The artists job is to create many different concepts based around one design brief. They must have a good imagination as they would need to start drawing/sketching as soon as possible to give as many ideas as possible to the lead artist so that he can then take forward the ones that meet the design brief.

Animator:

The animator is the person who takes the artwork and then creates scenes with the character or the object to bring to to life and give it motion. For a character this could include running, jumping, punching, etc or for an object this could include flames, leaves in the wind, etc. Animators are crucial unless you want a boring, still and lifeless game to have your name on it.  

Audio Engineer:

The audio engineer is the person who is in charge of creating and timing of the audio that will go into the games weather that be the online multiplayer, single player or cut scenes. They will need to research what a certain thing sounds like so that the audio is realistic and doesn't seem out of place or just really silly. They will also coordinate with the animators so that the player movement and speech is timed perfectly so that is doesn't seem dubbed over or hysterically bad.

   Technical Development

Game Programmer:

The games programmer is the person that designs and implements all the code that actually makes the game function with a keyboard or a controller for example. They also put the code in for enemies, AI, NPC's, etc. Without the game programmers the character wouldn't move when a certain button is pressed or do anything besides just stand there in the game world.

Lead Game Programmer:

The lead game programmer is basically the same but this is the person that tell the others game programmers which section they will be working on so that everything gets done and finished around the same time. This person will also deal with the other sections of the games design process such as the games designers as they will know what they want there character to do combined with their choice of controls. They will also give reports to higher up to show that progress is being made and if they are falling behind on the programming then they would need to discuss solutions to thee problems.

Project Implementation

Project Manager/Producer:

The project manager is in charge of the overall project itself and this is the person that all the lead people will report to so that they know everything is going as planned with no set backs or if there is problems. They give down all the orders of how they want things to be done and will do everything to ensure that the project runs as smooth as possible.

Assistant Producer:

The assistant producer will work with the staff personally to make sure that deadlines and timing are met but their job role can change during the process depending on which areas are failing and which are not.

External Producer:

The external producer will be a person from a different company or from an "external" source so that the process of making the game is successful in every aspect but will most likely work away from this company and come in on certain intervals of the process for updates on everything.

Creative Director:

The role of the creative director is to assure that the company and the game are being visually represented to the highest of standards so that neither of them can be put in a negative light in away way for their logo, slogan or game covers being offensive or rude. If this person didn't do their job right then a game could go onto the market with something on the cover which could be quite offensive and cost the company a lot of money.

Quality Assurance

Quality assurance is usually shortened down to QA tester. This group of people are hired to test the game before it even goes into alpha so that the game doesn't get released broken, unfinished or have anything in there that could cause legal or ethical issues. Some companies don't like to pay extra money to bring these QA testers in so they would usually skip this part out and the games that those companies release are usually badly broken which makes sales in general go down.

Business Development

Public Relations Manager:

A public relations manager is a member of the team that talks directly to the community on the forums or by using social media sites to see what the community are saying about the game or to see what they are asking for. This person also informs the community on updates made to the game and upcoming events. They will them report back to the development team so they can consider the suggestions and implement hem into the game in future updates. An example of a pubic relations manager is DEEJ who works for Bungie and he patrols the Bungie forums, readings posts, commenting on posts, answering questions, posting update patch notes.

Product Manager:

The role of the product manager is varied but mainly consists of overseeing the entire production of the companies product. In this case they will make sure that the finished product is up to the correct standards that were meant to be met from the start.

Marketing Executive:

The main role of the marketing executive is pretty straight forward. They are the people who think of all the possible ways in which the game could be advertised, which ones best suit that company and as much advertising within the financial limits that they have been given.They will look at posters, TV ads, billboards, YouTube ads and gaming events.

Marketing Manager:

A marketing manager is in control of the overall marketing and has the final say on how the game will be advertised on release and how it will be advertised in the future until the advertisements finally stop.  

  

HA3 - Task 3 - Current Financial Issues

Current Finical Issues:

The games industry is going through financial issues at the moment with many companies shutting down from simply not having enough money to even start a new project.

One reason why it is going through financial issues is because publishers are removing their funds from companies projects because the game is either not what they expected on is on route to miss the deadline so the publishers don't want to waste anymore money on this particular project as they wouldn't benefit from it. This means the company has to stop the project due to insufficient funds or they have to try and find another publishing company to fund the project. However if this keeps happening time after time then the company will eventually run out of money and be forced to close or sell the studio they own.

Another reason why the games industry is going through financial issues is because companies are rushing the games so that they can get put on the shelves as fast as possible instead of properly testing them and removing all the bugs/glitches in the game. Examples of games released too early are Battlefield 4, Assassins Creed Unity, Red Dead Redemption, Halo: Master Chief Collection and Fallout: New Vegas. These games are all main titles with big, famous companies behind them but they still fail to release a fixed game because that particular company may be running low on money so they just see this as getting a boost of money while people buy this game during the first week of release before realizing how broke the game actually is. Often when the company gets many complaints about the game being broke they will give their customers a free gift (Ubisoft gave everyone who bought Assassins Creed Unity the game Limbo for free) and they soon after release patches to do what they should have already done.

One more reason why the games industry is plummeting is due to substantial companies creating free to play games as they are incredibly cheap to make but they then add in-app purchases that may give a certain player an advantage over other players or many extra lives/moves which generates a lot of money over time for that company such as Candy Crush which allows players to buy extra lives so that they can continue to play and as this is an addictive game, a lot of people often fall into this trap and continuously spend money to get more lives just so they can advance to the next level. Games like this (pay to win) are currently ruining the industry in my opinion as they are basically forcing people to buy things to advance or give an advantage which makes the game less fun for those who don't spend money as is isn't a level playing field.

Games Companies Which Have Shut Down:

There are a number of games companies which have been such down over the years due to insufficient funds or just being bought out by other companies and then shut down after as they cost too much to maintain.

Red Octane: This company was the creators of the series Guitar Hero which was a popular series that I personally enjoyed myself but this company was bought out by Activision in 2010 and shut down shortly after.

Kaos Studios and THQ: Kaos Studios only made two full games (Fuel Of War and Homefront) while THQ made a total of 18 games (most famous for the Darksiders series and Saints Row). After the poor first week sales of Homefront Kaos studios were shut down by their owners which happened to be THQ and shortly after this closure THQ went bankrupt themselves and had to shut down themselves.

LucasArts:  This company is was very popular and had many memorable games, they were mostly known for their LEGO games and they are responsible for many of the Star Wars games that are out their. However in 2013 the games company was shut down however Disney bought the rights to the Star Wars franchise and new games are currently in development.

Why Is Finical Planning Important?

Having a finical plan is extremely important as you don't want your company to run out of money before the project you have been asked to do is complete. There are many ways in which you can set up a finical plan, you can see the total amount of money you have and dedicate certain percentages to each section so that when you get to that step you don't over spend on one aspect which leaves you to not have enough for another aspect. Doing this also allows you to see the big picture and see the end product and create long-term plans instead of making quick decisions as you could possibly make the wrong choice which will lead to failure. You should set milestones for yourself and your team so that when you reach a milestone, everyone meets up for a review to ensure that everything is going as planned and if their are setbacks then you will need to address them in the best way possible.
  

HA3 - Task 4 - Industry And Market Trends

Each generation of gaming goes through it's own trends which then floods the market with a certain type of game or games that have similar aspects to them. The trends of this generation have both good and bad points with some trends being a positive on the community and further expanding the games industry while some cause a negative effect sending the games industry spiralling downwards.

Current Trends (2014):

The current trends at the moment are:

• Virtual Reality
• Free To Play
• E-Sports
• Mobile Apps
• Simulation Games
• Clones

Virtual Reality:

Virtual reality became extremely popular with the release of the Oculus rift which was a headset that allowed the player to become even more immersed with the game as this granted the ability for full 360 degrees of view left and right with 90 degrees up and down. This technology created a boom in the industry as you could make super realistic games from a fully first person experience. Games for this would even give some people motion sickness if there was a vehicle involved. The Oculus rift has had a very large positive impact on the games industry.      

Image Source: http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/14/oculus-rift-shares-developer-hardware-sales-data/

Free To Play (F2P):

However free to play games are creating a negative effect on the games industry as these companies are cheaply making games that they put on the store for free download which isn't the problem but the in-app purchases are the problem as they charge people money for an extra life, a new character or for better equipment. For example the game candy crush is free to play however to advance to the next stage you either have to wait 24 hours or pay to advance imminently. Also if you don't complete the level then you have the option to pay for more lives. This is happening because big companies see this as an easy way to make money and is turning the games industry into a negative thing.
Image Source: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.king.candycrushsaga

E-Sports:

E-Sports has become massively popular over the years with games such as League Of Legends and Counter-Strike: GO being two of the most watched and supported games. Companies like Twitch often stream these events when they are on with hundreds ad thousands of views. E-Sports has become good for advertising as teams are sponsored by big companies such as Razor and Monster and the main events are hugely invested in making the prize money a large sum. Some game developers often try to make their game perfect for E-Sports in the hope that it gets incredibly popular however nothing has yet taken League Of  Legends from the top spot. This is a positive as it is getting gaming recognized as a serious thing to millions of people however can have a negative effect by putting the community in a bad light with trash talk that gets out of hand (toxic community). 

 Image Source: http://driverlayer.com/img/lol%20esports/20/any

Mobile Apps:

Mobile games have always been around but have very recently become popular with game developers and customers due to the portability and addiction that they can cause. Game developers usually find it easier to create a cost effective mobile app rather than get too ambitious with a triple AAA title game that could put their company into the ground. It is also a lot quicker to create mobile apps which means that the same company could release a big amount of games in a small period of time that don't even have to be too different to each other. Mobile games are having a positive effect on the game industry as it gives people who are just starting out to get their games on the market for the public to download, play and review. Another advantage is that big named games are beginning to use mobile apps to support them such as Destiny with the Destiny Companion app were you can browse the forums and look at new, etc. However he negative only due to the free to play games/pay to win games.       

Image Source: http://www.gameinformer.com/blogs/members/b/will_sora_layton_blog/archive/2014/12/20/365-365-day-354-why-i-don-39-t-play-mobile-games.aspx

Simulation Games:

Simulation games became widely popular with the release of goat simulator and surgeon simulator which were both popular games due to things such as YouTube with many prominent youtubers playing these. Simulation games were entertaining at first and was good to see all the ideas that people would create. However these types of games soon became obnoxious when people would create games such as "Grass Simulator" and "Rock Simulator" just because that genre was popular so people like this would exploit this to just earn a bit of money.

Image Source: http://coffeestainstudios.com/games/goat-simulator  

Clones:

Creating clones of popular games has always been around but became popular with the game "Flappy Bird" being a extremely successful game which was also addictive and after being taken off the market many, many clones were created to try and steal the limelight and fame off the original game. This can have a negative effect on the games industry as it takes out the creativity side as you as just copying another game but changing a few factors which floods the industry with just essentially just one game.

Image Source: http://arcadesushi.com/best-flappy-bird-clones/

HA3 - Task 5 - Contracts of Employment

When in the games industry you will have to agree to or sign contracts for the company that you work for whether that be long term or short term as the companies need to make sure that no stones are left un-turned. The 5 main contracts are Employment, Development, License, NDA and Collaboration. It is important to understand these contracts so that you do not break them as this could lead to being black listed in the industry.

Employment:

This contract is just a basic overview of the whole time that you will be with the company stating what the company has actually told you to do so that you don't begin to do something that you aren't meant to. It will also say the deadlines that the company has give you for each part/task ta you have been given to do in an overall time frame and if the deadline isn't met then the company can take whatever action they see to be necessary because you haven't met the terms and broke the contracted agreement. This contract will also have clauses which contains other information saying the benefits you will gain while working for this company and when you will stop reviving these benefits as soon as you stop working for that company or shortly after. It will also have a brief description about confidentiality stating what you can and can't talk about outside of the company to second or third parties as it could give away information which the company didn't want to release. Finally, there will be a section about inventions and not competing with the company whilst working for them or shorty after working for them so you couldn't just take the idea they had and go to another company with it trying to claim it as your own.

Development Agreements:

When going through the process of making and developing a game. Game publishers will most often hire professional game developers to make their games for them and they will both sign this contract which will be split into three main sections. The first will be the overall terms such as how much the publisher will pay the developer once the game is completed to a high standard, it will also have the deadlines that the publisher has set for the game developer to have the game at a certain stage at a certain point in time and if the developer falls behind schedule they will have to tell the publisher why and how they will get back on track. The terms will also tell the developer if they will receive any royalties from this game once it is released and what  the rate is for these specific royalties (Gets a small percentage of the money from each single game or unit sold.) Next will be the section about ownership of the IP which is important to specify as when creating the game and when putting name on the credits of ownership then if the wrong person is stated then the company could be sued for a lot of money.Finally will be the section about warranties which is in favour of both the company and the developer as the developers have to promise that they won't use any other companies engines or source codes than the company they are working for and the publishers must promise that they will explicitly state which type of game they want to be created so that there is no confusion about the game that will be created.

 Licence Agreements:

If a publisher wanted to make a game based off a movie, a set of books, etc. They will have to sign a licence agreement contract with the owner of that specific IP and this will include the overall terms of the licence that they will be given. Firstly stated will be what is actually being licensed to the publishers from the IP owner such as characters and environments, if the publisher was to use things that they haven't bought the license to the the IP owner will be able to sue the publishing company for a lot of money. Next will state which consoles the license gives permission for such as the game can only be made to work on Xbox One and PC but no others as the IP owner doesn't want the other companies to have access to this product. Following this will be the territory section which states parts of the world that the publisher has the rights to sell this certain game in. Publishers will always try to ensure that their game goes worldwide but this costs a lot more money to buy.

NDA And Confidentiality Agreements:

NDA stands for non-disclosure agreement which are more or less the same as a confidentiality agreement which states that when two or more companies are working together on a new game or piece of technology that hasn't been publicly announced by an official member of one of these companies. If this agreement is broken then the other company can sue their partners for a lot of money as they legally said that they wouldn't discuss the information with anybody else, these contracts only last for a certain period of time (e.g. until the game is publicly announced then you have the freedom to talk about it after the contract has ended). When going to work at a company you will most likely have to sign one of these so that you don't give any information away about a game you are currently working on but if you do then the consequences will be serious. You can be sued for tons of money and black listed in the games industry meaning that you will never be able to work for any other company again. These contracts will usually last until you stop working at the company and may continue for a certain period of time after you stop working for them as you will know what games they currently have in development.

Collaboration Agreements:

This contract is rarely used with big game companies and mainly used between smaller companies such as indie developers as these contracts generally wrap everything up into one. Stating how the project will proceed, managed, who actually owns the IP, how the money is handed and shared between the developers and anyone else involved. These are some of the terms that are decided before development of the game even begins and makes it easy for these developers to come to an agreement and begin making the game straight away. Even though these contracts are used for smaller companies, the consequences are the exact same as they would be for the larger companies which could cause a lot of debt and trouble for whoever breaks the contract.

Contractual:

A contractual agreement is basically the document that the company, it's workers or another company will sign outlining what is going to happen during the duration of the contract. It also outlines rules such as confidentiality (what you can and can't discus). If this is broken by one of the companies then the contract will be over and they can be sued for a large sum of money and won't be able to deny the charges or that they are even working with that company due to the signature of the contract itself. If a employee breaks a contract then it will be much worse for them as it will more than likely just end their career in the games industry forever and can also be sued for a large sum of money.

       

HA 3 -Task 6 - Legal and Ethical Obligations

When working in the games industry there are legal and ethical obligations that you must be aware of to avoid making mistakes that could cripple your career before it has even started.

Legal: 

There are 4 main legal obligations which are copyright, trademark, patent and registered designs.

Copyright:

Copyright is a law that protects your original ideas such as characters or maybe even a game concept that has been illustrated though drawings or a written piece. For a copyright to be official there must have been some skill involved meaning that you don't just take someone else's work or template and just slightly change it. There must also be labour meaning that you have actually put time and effort into this project to create a completely finished and detailed illustration not just a couple scribbles on a page or a few notes/ideas write down on a page. To claim copyright against someone else who you think is stealing your idea you must have proof that the idea is yours with the piece of illustration and the date that illustration was recorded.

Trademark:

A trademark is basically where people legally claim a word or words to belong to them so that other companies don't use them in the title of their games. Personally I feel that trademark is an outdated law that needs to be re-thought because it is outrageous that someone can own a word that is in the English dictionary to stop other people from using it. A recent example of this is that a YouTuber named CaptinSparklez decided to make is own can to release and the community decided on the name "Fortress Fallout" and he begun development with this name in mind but recently revived a cease and desist letter from the company Bethesda as they legally own the word "Fallout" and claimed that his game would cause confusion with the Fallout series of games.

Patent:

A patent is when a business or company protects how something works such as a new technology or a game engine that they have created by themselves without any outside help. Having a patent means that nobody can use your technology or develop it further to use in their own products. This system is quite broke as you get these people known as "patent trolls" who create a very basic piece of technology with no plans to develop it or even use it but when a bigger company has a really good idea but they can't make it without this basic tech so they have to pay loads of money to the other company for this patent.

Registered Design:

A registered design protects how something looks weather that be a console, a game title, etc. This means that another company couldn't create a similar product to yours so that people get confused about which is which, the Xbox console design is a registered design.

Ethical: 

Violence:

Violence has also been frowned upon in the industry as violent games get blamed for mass murders or for horrific events that have occurred. Games are allowed to be violent but not to extreme where its too graphic or non-stop killing. Examples of games that have gone overboard with violence is Manhunt which was banned due to its violent nature at the time and also Hatred which was recently banned for being sold in the USA because the government felt that it would have a negative effect on the country overall. However, violence isn't always a bad thing as people can see it as a release for their frustration instead of taking it out on a friend or a loved one but violence in video games will never be accepted by everyone.

Rating: 

Video games will always have a rating on them as it is a legal requirement so that children underage aren't exposed to games that are designed for adults. However this doesn't always work as parents will often buy their children a game rated 16+ because they really wanted it which is an issue as children of a young age shouldn't have violent images going into their mind or have to listen to people use foul language over the mic when online. The rating system starts with "3" which basically means that the game is suitable for children of all ages with comical violence, nothing that could scare them, nudity, bad language, etc. Next is "7" is basically the same as "3" except there may be some nudity but not in sexual context and may have images that some would find frightening. The next rating is "12" which means the game could have more graphic violence, a bit more graphic nudity and foul language that must be mild and not include any sexual references. After this is the rating "16" which basically is worse language, promotes the use of drugs and crime, violence and sexual activity which looks the same as real life. Finally is the rating of "18" which is a step up from "16" meaning that the level of violence is high and graphic and should make some people feel repulsive and also more graphical sexual activity so genitals may be shown.

Education:

Educational games must follow a set of rules depending on what they are actually trying to teach to the public and weather it is for a young audience or for an older audience. For example educational games wouldn't be able to use guns or drugs to help teach as those things especially are mostly illegal in this country, they also couldn't involve such things as racism and discrimination as those are things which we are trying to avoid teaching to young children as we want everyone to be treated equally.

Stereotyping: 

Stereotyping certain groups has become an issue in games as companies will often do this as a joke but not everybody finds this funny but hurtful instead. I feel that the biggest issue currently is sexism/stereotyping women in games with such characters as Laura Croft who is a tomb raider but has this perfect body and big boobs and wearing clothes that aren't practical but just to  appeal more to the male audience. Also in video games racism is not allowed in any games as we should be teaching to treat everyone as equals instead of putting people into different groups.

Addiction:

Addicting video games isn't a big as a problem as people make it out to be as people think that all teenagers will drop out of college or miss school just so they can play a certain game which isn't the truth, well not for everyone. The issues with addiction is lack of sleep because people will often stay up extremely late because they just can't stop playing that game which leads to a lack of concentration the next day in school, college or work which could have negative effects. Also kids and teenagers could consume too many energy drinks just to keep them awake for longer which could cause health issues in the future for them.