The Sims CSP - Audience and Ind
Read this App Store description and the customer reviews for The Sims FreePlay and answer the following questions:
1) What game information is provided on this page? Pick out three elements you think are important in terms of making the game appeal to an audience?
The three elements that make a game appeal to an audience. Story, Characters and gameplay.
2) How does the game information on this page reflect the strong element of participatory culture in The Sims?
It allows the gamer to mod their game. Introducing completely new and different elements into the video game.
3) Read a few of the user reviews. What do they suggest about the audience pleasures of the game?
The fanbase and community that the game has.
Participatory culture7
Read this academic journal article - The Sims: A Participatory Culture 14 Years On. Answer the following questions:
1) What did The Sims designer Will Wright describe the game as?
The player creates virtual people called "Sims", places them in houses, and helps direct their moods and satisfy their desires
2) Why was development company Maxis initially not interested in The Sims?
It targeted the female audience.
3) What is ‘modding’? How does ‘modding’ link to Henry Jenkins’ idea of ‘textual poaching’?
By adding a component that is not part of the game. It repurposes a new and unique idea into the Sims game which leads to endless possiblities.
4) Look specifically at p136. Note down key quotes from Jenkins, Pearce and Wright on this page.
5) What examples of intertextuality are discussed in relation to The Sims? (Look for “replicating works from popular culture”)
Real life. Incorporating TV programs like Hells kitchen.
6) What is ‘transmedia storytelling’ and how does The Sims allow players to create it?
Ur allowed to create many of the Sims avatar and control their stories at the same time.
7) How have Sims online communities developed over the last 20 years?
It has surprisingly grew with the addition of new updates and mods the fanbase is still alive and kicking.
8) What does the writer suggest The Sims will be remembered for?
Its ability to successfully target the female audience and break the stereotype that girls don't play video games.
Read this Henry Jenkins interview with James Paul Gee, writer of Woman as Gamers: The Sims and 21st Century Learning (2010).
1) Why does James Paul Gee see The Sims as an important game?
The ability to mix real life societal problems in a game aswell as make girls and women be more innovative in the video game industry.
2) What does the designer of The Sims, Will Wright, want players to do with the game?
Use it more to explore their imagination and create their own unique experiences.
3) Do you agree with the view that The Sims is not a game – but something else entirely?
I somewhat agree the game has some conventional aspects of a game but the way its been made to play makes it different to a traditional video game like Mario Kart or Pac man.
Industries
Electronic Arts & Sims FreePlay industries focus
Read this Pocket Gamer interview with EA’s Amanda Schofield, Senior Producer on The Sims FreePlay at EA's Melbourne-based Firemonkeys studio. Answer the following questions:
1) How has The Sims FreePlay evolved since launch?
At its initial release, The Sims FreePlay allowed you to control 16 Sims, have a pet dog and a career and that was most of the game. Five years later, however, you can get married, have children, buy more clothes, decorate your house in an infinite amount of ways, pets now range from puppies and kittens to dragons and fairies and the world is full of interesting places for Sims to go.
2) Why does Amanda Schofield suggest ‘games aren’t products any more’?
She suggests that they are ' services built in a partnership with our players.' and this is because customer support and community management are a critical part of the game development process and must be embedded within the game teams so they not only know what their players are saying about the newest update, but they also can quickly respond to any problems that arise. It also allows the developers to gain feedback on the game so they can continue to make updates and changes that the players want and will make them happy.
3) What does she say about The Sims gaming community?
She states that they are 'very active and always hungry to see more features and content in the game.'
4) How has EA kept the game fresh and maintained the active player base?
EA has kept the game fresh and maintained the active player base by adding new professions to the game, making build mode more creative by adding features like balconies and pools and adding new ages (like babies, toddlers and children)
5) How many times has the game been installed and how much game time in years have players spent playing the game? These could be great introductory statistics in an exam essay on this topic.
- There have been 200 million installs of The Sims FreePlay to date
- 78,000 is the amount of game time in years players have spent in the game
Read this blog on how EA is ruining the franchise (or not) due to its downloadable content. Answer the following questions:
- Being able to create virtual humans with personalities and ambitions and take complete control of their lives
- Experiment with architecture, decoration and landscaping
2) What examples of downloadable content are presented?
New clothing or furniture as well as DLC content based on movies (Star Wars Battlefront II)
3) How did Electronic Arts enrage The Sims online communities with expansion packs and DLC?
They locked several iconic characters and powerful multiplayer abilities behind DLC in “Star Wars Battlefront II.”
4) What innovations have appeared in various versions of The Sims over the years?
Over the years, The Sims has come up with many innovations. These range from 'Seasons' to 'University life' to 'Pets' to 'Get famous'. It is interesting to note that these are all things part of normal everyday real life but when The Sims create an expansion or game pack related to these, they receive massive support and gamers love them. This can be linked to postmodernism and hyper-reality.
5) In your opinion, do expansion packs like these exploit a loyal audience or is it simply EA responding to customer demand?
I personally think that while EA does respond to customer demand and want their players to be happy, they are ultimately a major conglomerate whose aim is to make a profit. Therefore, they often end up releasing new DLC that disappoint their customers. An example of this was “The Sims 4: My First Pet Stuff.” This is a new stuff pack released by EA for The Sims 4 and it angered many players because, not only did it require a previous expansion pack to be played, but it also felt like a scam because its contents should have been offered in 'The Sims 4 Cats and Dogs' expansion pack.
The ‘Freemium’ gaming model
Read this Business Insider feature on freemium gaming and multiplayer games. Answer the following questions:
1) Note the key statistics in the first paragraph.
- "freemium" games and their in-app purchases account for about 70-80% of the $10 billion or more in iOS revenue each year.
2) Why does the freemium model incentivise game developers to create better and longer games?
Developers want their players to keep playing their game and not get bored so they make sure they are regularly updating their game and adding new customisability. This encourages players to invest more in the game, bringing in more profit for developers through in-game purchases.
3) What does the article suggest regarding the possibilities and risks to the freemium model in future?
Some risks of the freemium model include people complaining that a certain game has led to them spending too much money (some players — as evidenced by this League of Legends subreddit — complain of spending more than $2,000 on the game over the course of several years) or lawsuits from people who claim they had no knowledge that a free game could charge you later on. For example, In 2013, Apple settled a class-action lawsuit for parents who alleged that Apple didn't make it clear that free apps could charge money.
Regulation – PEGI
Research the following using the Games Rating Authority website - look at the videos and FAQ section.
1) How does the PEGI ratings system work and how does it link to UK law?
The criteria under which we rate games have been developed using input from experts in child development and protection. The criteria evolve and change with time as we listen to the concerns of parents and young people.
2) What are the age ratings and what content guidance do they include?
PG then PG13 then RATED R etc.
3) What is the PEGI process for rating a game?
Violence, language or Sexual content are some of the ways PEGI rate a game.
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