This document discusses the various institutions involved in the video game industry, including platform holders, developers, publishers, and retailers. It then provides examples of specific companies that fall into each category, such as Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo as the major platform holders. The document emphasizes that all of these institutions work together to deliver video games to consumers. It also notes the increasing role of digital distribution compared to solely physical distribution of video games.

1. Institutions and Audiences

2. Some terminology
There are a number of institutions working together in the
videogames industry and we may not realise the work that
goes into the game on the shelf.

3. Platform Holders
 Platform holders
manufacture the
hardware on which
videogames run. The
three main companies
at present are Sony
who manufacture the
PlayStation series,
Microsoft who produce
the Xbox series, and
Nintendo who produce
the Wii, GameCube,
Game Boy and
Nintendo DS.

4. Developers
 The teams that create the
videogames (the software
that runs on consoles, PCs
and handhelds).
 Developers may be ‘first
party’ (directly owned by a
platform holder),
 ‘second party’ where there
is some platform holder
support or funding, or
 ‘third party’ who are
unaffiliated with the
platform holder.

5. Publishers
 Publishers provide money and
support for the development
teams who create
videogames.
 Ubisoft and SCI
(incorporating Eidos) in the
UK, as well as Sony Computer
Entertainment, Microsoft,
Nintendo and Electronic Arts
are among the larger
videogame publishers.

6. Distributors
and Retailers
 The role of the distributor is to get
videogames to retailers in order to
sell to consumers. As the majority of
videogames are currently distributed
in physical form (ie on CD, DVD or
cartridge), this means getting game
boxes onto retailers’ shelves or to
warehouses.
 However, recent moves within the
industry have pointed to the
increased use of digital distribution
with extra levels or even whole
games being downloadable. (DLC =
Downloadable Content)

7. Think of any game you might
have played
 Find out the following and post it as a Blogpost if you’ve set
it up, otherwise paper is fine.
 Game title: (Include an image of the coverart)
 Available on what platform holders:
 Developer:
 Publisher:
 How much did it cost to make?
 How is it distributed – physical? Digital? Where could you get
it from? Price?

8. Crazy Taxi
 Game title: Crazy Taxi
 Available on what platform holders: Originally in
arcades, then ported to Dreamcast (2000), then PS2,
Gamecube, Windows PCs then Xbox Live Arcade in 2010
 Developer: Hitmaker, then Sega Studios developed the
PS3 and Xbox 360 ports
 Publisher: Sega
 How much did it cost to make?
 How is it distributed – physical? Digital? Where
could you get it from? Price? CD/DVD Roms, Digital
download, cloud computing – Available in shops, online
retail, Xbox Live Marketplace for XBLA game

9. For homework/if you finish
this exercise, then try and
find out about the institutions
behind Grand Theft Auto 4
 Find out the following and post it as a Blogpost if you’ve
set it up, otherwise paper is fine.
 Game title: (Include an image of the coverart)
 Available on what platform holders:
 Developer:
 Publisher:
 How much did it cost to make?
 How is it distributed – physical? Digital? Where could
you get it from? Price?

10. Convergence
 Media institutions in the 21st century
produce and distribute their
products across several media
platforms: e.g. The Guardian has a
paper edition, an online edition,
podcasts and an iPhone / Android
app.
 In regards to our industry, the
three main platform holders
Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony are
examples of convergence

11. Convergence
 Another example would be Warner Brothers making Harry Potter
the film and then releasing Harry Potter the video game.
 When this happens it is called cross-media convergence.
 With video-game convergence, it has become part of the synergy
of marketing for many children’s films that a tie-in game is
released in the run up to the cinema release – compared to many
other games they are usually rushed and use the IP (Intellectual
Property) of the film and combine it with an existing game
engine.
 Synergy: Using more than section of the media to aid the
promotion and sale of a product
 There are few critically acclaimed movie tie-in games. The classic
examples many gamers my age mention is Goldeneye on the N64
– However, this came out two years after the Bond film! It shows
that sometimes it is good to wait!
 Sometimes it can happen the other way round: Films that
are adapted from videogames – to varied success!

12. Technological
Convergence
 When technologies come together to
perform more than one function e.g:
 a mobile phone taking photos and videos
 Internet TV
In the early 90s, when I was recalling my
NES and SNES adventures last lesson,
they could only do 1 function – Can you
note down all the functions that the most
recent computer consoles can do?

13. Why audiences are
important
 Shops and businesses are accountable
to their customers – if they don’t give
them what they want, they won’t buy
products and make any money
 Audiences are exactly the same – they
control the flow of money
 Audiences have changed over time,
and tracing this change helps us to
understand why a modern-day
audience is important

14. How do you think audiences
have changed?
1980s Audience 2012 Audience