Video Game History and Industry

A level Component 1: Section B
Media Products, Industries and Audiences
Video Games/Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation

Name the Game Platform by Controller

A Brief History of Video Games

What’s this?
The very first home video
game console. Released
in 1972, the Odyssey was
a simple and crude device
that generated shapes on
the television that could
be controlled and
interacted with.

1st Gen consoles
1972-1980
2nd Gen Consoles
1975-1992
“Golden age of
arcade video
games” 1978–1982

2nd Gen Consoles 1975-1992
ATARI 2600, ATARI 5200
1982 saw launch of ZX
spectrum (Sinclair) and the
Commodore 64; two popular
8-bit home computers that
were also used for games.

3rd Gen Consoles 1983-2003 AKA “8 bit era”
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), SEGA Master System
Atari 7800, Atari XEGS. Games on cartridges

4th Gen Consoles 1987-2004 AKA “16bit era”
SEGA Mega drive, Super NES (SNES)
Game boy (Nintendo)
Game gear (SEGA)
5th Gen Consoles 1993-2005 AKA “32bit era”,
“64 bit era” and/or “3D era”
Atari Jaguar, Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64, Sony
Playstation, Apple Pippin.
Games on ‘optical discs (DVD/CD rom)
6th Gen Consoles 1998-2013 AKA “128bit era”,
“64 bit era” and/or “3D era”
Sony Playstation 2, Sega Dreamcast,
Nintendo Gamecube, X-box (Microsoft)
Gameboy Advance

6th Gen Consoles 1998-2013
AKA “128bit era”, “64 bit era” and/or “3D era”
Sony Playstation 2, Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo Gamecube
X-box (Microsoft), Gameboy Advance

Mobile gaming (on
phones) took off in ‘97
with Snake on the Nokia.
Since then, as phones
have been more
sophisticated, so have the
games you can play on
them
7th Gen Consoles 2005-2017
X Box 360, Playstation 3, Wii (Nintendo), Nintendo DS, Playstaion Portable (PSP)
Touch screen, motion sensing, HD video (blu-ray)
8th Gen Consoles 2012-present
X-Box One, Playstation 4, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo
Switch, Playstation Vita
Focus on connectivity – ‘sharing’, Augmented Reality

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
https://www.preceden.com/t
imelines/191578-history-of-
video-game-consoles
https://www.did.ie/content/
blog/history-of-video-game-
consoles

In recent years there has
been a major growth in
“mobile gaming” and “casual
gamers”

Quick Quiz
Biggest selling Video Games Console ever?
Biggest selling video game of all time?
Most played video game of all-time (by player count)?
Highest Grossing Video Game Franchise?

Quiz
Biggest selling Video Games Console ever?
Playstation 2

Quiz
Biggest selling video game of all time? Minecraft

Quiz
Most played video game of all-time (by player count)? Crossfire

Quiz
Highest Grossing Video Game Franchise?

Biggest Video Game territories are UK/Europe, USA & Japan

https://ukie.org.uk/researchhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=Renyr3vt7Is&feature=emb_logo

The Video Games Industry Today

UK - Industry
• In 2012 two physical games sold over 1 million units: Call of Duty Black Ops II
and FIFA 13.
• In 2013 the chart was dominated by The Last of Us, a zombie survival game for
the PS3. In its opening weekend it sold more than 1.3 million copies and made
more money than the new superman film.
• Its critically acclaimed for its narrative, its themes that are seen as more
mature and emotional than those usually seen in this genre.
• This game is sound evidence that the computer games industry is developing
in response to the demands of an audience who want to be both surprised
and challenged.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQWD5W3fpPM

Industry Facts: USA in 2013
• In 2013: 58% of Americans play video games.
• Consumers spent $20.77 billion on video games, hardware, and accessories in 2012.
• Purchase of digital content, including games, add-on content, mobile apps,
subscriptions, and social networking games, accounted for 40% of game sales in 2012.
• The average game player is 30 years old and has been playing for 13 years.
• The average age of the most frequent game purchaser is 35 years old.
• 45% of game players are women. Women over the age of 18 represent a significantly
greater portion of the game-playing population (31%) than boys age 17 or younger
(19%)
• 51% of US households own a dedicated game console, and those that do own an
average of two.
• 36% of gamers play on their smartphone, and 25% play games on their wireless
device.
• Parents are present when games are purchased or rented 89% of the time.

Gaming future?
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51400135

Game terminology
Define the following Games Industry terms
• 1st person
• AAA
• AR
• Cloud gaming
• DLC
• Engine
• Franchise
• In-app purchase
• Microtransaction
• MMORPG
• PEGI
• Sand box
• Skin
• VR

Ubisoft is a French video game company headquartered in
Montreuil(Paris) with several development studios across the world.
Revenue (2018): €1.732 billion (approx. £1.46 billion)
As of March 2018, Ubisoft is the fourth largest publicly traded game
company in the Americas and Europe in terms of revenue and market
capitalization, after Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Take-Two
Interactive (Rockstar)

Ubisoft is a French video game company headquartered in Montreuil(Paris) with
several development studios across the world.
Founded in March 1986 by the Guillemot brothers
Since its establishment, Ubisoft has become one of the largest video game
publishers, and it has the largest in-house development team, with more than
14,000 employees working in over 40 studios.
Revenue (2018): €1.732 billion (approx. £1.46 billion)
As of March 2018, Ubisoft is the fourth largest publicly traded game company in
the Americas and Europe in terms of revenue and market capitalization, after
Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Take-Two Interactive (Rockstar)

As a publisher and developer of video games, Ubisoft is able to release and sell
(publish) its own games that it has created (developed) ‘in house’.
It has numerous in house developing studios around the world: Ubisoft Montreal,
Toronto, Quebec, Paris, Halifax (UK), San Francisco.
It has also acquired several other studios such as Massive Entertainment (Sweden), Red
Storm Entertainment (USA), Reflections Interactive (Newcastle, UK) and
FreeStyleGames (Leamington Spa, UK – since rebranded as Ubisoft Leamington)
These are now subsidiaries of Ubisoft

https://ubistatic-
a.akamaihd.net/0090/PROD/ubigroup/PressKit/20180
611/2019_06_Press_Kit_Facts_Figures-EN.pdf

What other Ubisoft
titles/franchises have
you heard of?

What other Ubisoft titles/franchises have you heard of?

What other Ubisoft titles/franchises have you heard of?
Titles include
• FarCry (13)
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six (22), Ghost Recon (16),
Splinter Cell (7)
• Watchdogs (3)
• Just Dance (26)
• Hungry Shark (6)
• Rayman

Assassin’s Creed Franchise
• One of Ubisoft’s longest lasting and most successful titles.
• An action-adventure stealth video game franchise
• Uses the game engine Anvil and its more advanced derivatives.
• Depicts a centuries-old struggle, now and then, between the Assassins, who fight for peace
with free will, and the Templars, who desire peace through control.
• The series features historical fiction, science fiction and characters, intertwined with real-world
historical events and figures.
• For the majority of time players would control an Assassin in the past history, while they also
play as Desmond Miles or an Assassin Initiate in the present day, who hunt down their Templar
targets.
• A new story and time period are introduced in each entry, and gameplay elements evolve from
the previous one. There are three story arcs in the series.
• For the first five main games, the framing story is set in 2012 and features series protagonist
Desmond Miles who uses a machine called the Animus and relives the memories of his
ancestors to find a way to avert the 2012 apocalypse.

Assassin’s Creed Franchise
• As of start of 2020* ranked 32nd highest grossing video game.
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_video_game_franchises
• Below: Mario, Pokemon, Call of Duty, Pac man, Fifa, Final Fantasy, GTA,
Candy Crush, Dragon Quest, Clas of Clans, Donkey Kong. Sonic The
Hedgehog Star Wars, Halo, The Sims and Fortnite
• Above Need foir Speed, Gran Turismo, Resident Evil, Legend of Zerlda,
Super Smash Bros, Minexraft, Metal Gear, Guitar Hero, Tetris, Harry Potter,
The Elder Scrolls, Gears of War
• * Not all data on list appears up to date!

(This is the one we will be studying)

Between 2007-18, 22 editions have been released.
8 were before AC3: Liberation’s release in 2012

Franchise extensions
• Film
• Comics
• Merchandise
• Soundtrack Album
• Anime TV series (in
production/Netflix)

Assassin’s Creed III Liberation
Focuses on the life of African-French Assassin Aveline de Grandpré.
She is the series' first female (and black) protagonist
This may be seen as an attempt to broaden the audience beyond typical white
males.
Also may be seen as a response to feminist critics who have complained about
the underrepresentation and misrepresentation of women in the Video Game
Industry.
What other female protagonists can you think of from video games?

Focuses on the life of African-French Assassin Aveline de Grandpré.
She is the series' first female (and black) protagonist
This may be seen as an attempt to broaden the audience beyond typical white
males.
Also may be seen as a response to feminist critics who have complained about
the underrepresentation and misrepresentation of women in the Video Game
Industry.
What other female protagonists can you think of from video games?
https://www.gamesradar.com/20-most-inspirational-female-characters-games/

Aveline de Grandpré frees slaves while attempting to stop the Templars gaining
control over 18th century New Orleans towards the end of the French and Indian
War.
The game takes place within an open world and is presented from the third-
person perspective with a primary focus on using combat and stealth abilities to
complete missions and optional tasks
Set between 1765 and 1777 (Colonial era)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1rizB4vF18&list=PLUPxD
OG-YGRDm4aLdvqYavfH4wn5Rz-fV&index=1

Assassin’s Creed III Liberation: Platform
The game was released on the PSVita, Sony’s handheld games console

Assassin’s Creed III Liberation: Platform
The game was released on the PSVita, Sony’s 8th Generation handheld games console.
In recent years there has been a growing trend for mobile gaming spurred by
Smartphones, Tablets, and Apple’s iPad/Touch.
Console makers have sought to combat this trend releasing their own mobile
gaming devices (e.g. Nintendo DS/3DS and Switch.)
These allow for ‘going on the go’ and attract more ‘casual’ gamers.

Watch this 2011 PSvita advert and make notes on the handheld console’s features
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIaJHh60hQY&list=PLUPxDOG-YGRDm4aLdvqYavfH4wn5Rz-fV&index=24

Watch this 2017 PSvita video and make notes on the ‘5 reasons’ for owning one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_YXjl6vcQs&list=PLUPxDOG-YGRDm4aLdvqYavfH4wn5Rz-fV&index=25

Portability – on
the go – for
casual gamers
Link to PS3/PS4
– use Vita as an
additional
gamepad
group chat and
messaging apps
Take photos
and download
content from
PS Store
Fans of original title
will be enticed to play
the game as well as
the casual gamers
Features (video 1)
• Dual analogue sticks
• OLED Screen
• Microphone
• Wifi/3G
• Motion Sensor (gyroscope)
• Front & Rear cameras
• Front & Rear Multitouch
screens
5 Reasons to own (Video 2)
• Affordability
• Remote Play
• Playstation Plus
• Community
• The Games

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation retains the "franchise's trademark open world and
gameplay", while making use of the PlayStation Vita’s exclusive features such
as:
• Touchscreen
• rear touch pad,
• cameras and
• Gyroscope (motion sensor).
These include Chain Kill combat, and the ability to pickpocket people.
The multiplayer, exclusive to the original Vita version, consists of players tapping
nodes on a map, using characters (represented with static portraits) to capture
bases and collect supplies, among other things.
This differs from the series usual competitive multiplayer which had players
assassinating each other for sport

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation: Release
• Assassin's Creed III: Liberation was released on October 30, 2012, the
same day as Assassin's Creed III (separate game with different
characters available on consoles like Playstation 3).

The game is available in a PS Vita bundle pack with a new crystal white
Wi-Fi Vita and a 4GB memory card.
In Japan it was released under the title
Assassin's Creed III: Lady Liberty.

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation HD
• It was announced on September 10, 2013, that the game would be
re-released as Assassin's Creed: Liberation HD for PlayStation 3,
Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows via the PlayStation Network,
Xbox Live Arcade and Steam, respectively, in 2014.
• The game features visuals closer to ACIII as well as updated audio,
AI and facial animations.
• Additional missions have been added and some of the Vita-
specific touch screen missions have been removed, as well as the
nodes multiplayer and a minor Quick Time Event minigame.
• The game was released on the PlayStation 3 on January 14, 2014
in North America and January 15, 2014 in Europe. The Microsoft
Windows and Xbox 360 versions were released worldwide on
January 15, 2014.

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation HD
• In March 2019 Assassin’s Creed III Remastered
was released.
• Assassin's Creed III Remastered was announced
to include all of its original DLC and a remastered
version of Assassin's Creed III Liberation.
• It was also included in the Assassin's Creed:
Odyssey ‘season pass’.

• The game on PSvita can also link to Assassin’s Creed III
(separate game) on the Playstation 3 or 4.
• By linking the game to Assassin's Creed III, the player
receives an in-game version of Connor's tomahawk, an
exclusive character skin, a character and a complete
upgrade of all ammunition pouches.
• The game uses the same engine that runs Assassin's Creed
III, allowing for the same gameplay experience as a console
release. Also minimising production costs.

Purchasing Assassin's Creed III for the PlayStation 3 gives the player the
ability to connect Liberation and receive an exclusive mission to play in
Liberation as Connor or Aveline, a Multiplayer Skin and an Ammunition
Pouch.
There was also a promotional DLC, titled Mysteries of the Bayou pack,
that came with pre-orders of the game in PAL regions.
It included an exclusive weapon, an alligator hunting hat, a Multiplayer
Skin and Ammunition Pouches for smoke bombs and poison darts.
These all feature in the HD remaster, save for the multiplayer skin, as
that feature was removed.

AC3L Product Context: Summary
• Released 2012 by Ubisoft, global games conglomerate – vertically and
horizontally integrated (developer/publisher with subsidaries in bot
areas)
• Part of long running successful Assassin’s Creed franchise
• Initially released only on PSvita in response to growth in mobile gaming
• Featured exclusive content using PSvita features and could also link with
AC3 on PS3/PS4 via “Remote Play”
• Multiple further editions released including AC3L HD (2014) on PS3 and
as part of “AC3 remastered” bundle (2019).

Product Context: Summary
• Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, part of the very successful games
franchise, was developed by Ubisoft and released on October 30
2012, along with Assassin’s Creed III.
• The game was originally exclusive to the PS Vita but was later (2014)
released in a modified HD version across a large range of consoles and
platforms (including PS3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows).
• Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation offers familiar pleasures to existing
fans (narrative situation of the Assassins v the Templars, open world
gameplay etc.) along with new elements to target a wider audience
(e.g. the use of a strong female protagonist).

Video Game Regulation
• Video Game regulation differs around the world but is becoming standardised across
many European countries. In the UK until July 2012 video games had been regulated
by the BBFC.
• Today they are largely regulated by the Video Standards Council (VSC)
• The VSC apply the PEGI system (Pan European Game Information).
• Why do video games need regulation? What are the reasons for
regulating video games?

Media Regulation: Rationale
• Protect the public from harmful or offensive content: sex, violence, etc
• Protect the public from harmful or offensive media practices: invasion of privacy,
libel, etc
• Ensure fair competition between media producers: copyright infringement
• Ensure fair market for media consumers: fair prices, range of products, etc

Video Game Regulation: Process
• VSC use the PEGI standards to award video games age ratings, based
upon their perceived suitability for different age audiences.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJDhP0YjzH8

Video Game Regulation: Effectiveness?
• http://www.digitaljournal.com/tech-and-science/technology/evidence-
that-video-game-ratings-really-work/article/486872
• https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2019/10/09/a-new-public-body-is-necessary-
to-effectively-regulate-the-uk-video-game-industry/

Assassin’s Creed III Liberation: Regulation
• Go onto the VSC website and look up Assassin’s Creed III Liberation
to find out what age rating it was awarded and why.

Assassin’s Creed III Liberation: Regulation
• Go onto the VSC website and look up Assassin’s Creed Liberation to
find out what age rating it was awarded and why.

A2 Only – Regulation – Livingstone & Lunt
• There is an underlying struggle in recent UK regulation policy
between the need to further the interests of citizens (by offering
protection from harmful or offensive material), and the need to
further the interests of consumers (by ensuring choice, value for
money, and market competition)
• The increasing power of global media corporations, together with the
rise of convergent media technologies and transformations in the
production, distribution and marketing of digital media, have placed
traditional approaches to media regulation at risk
CONSIDER: How might these ideas apply to AC3L?

(A2 Only) – Regulation – Livingstone & Lunt
• Questions that might be discussed in relation to Livingstone and Lunt
include:
• Is current Video game regulation effective/successful?
• Should regulation be more flexible?
• Should industries self-regulate?
• Should individuals be empowered to make their own decisions?
• Should individuals be expected to develop ‘media literacy’ and make
informed decisions for themselves?

Power and media industries - Curran and Seaton
• The media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by
the logic of profit and power
• Media concentration generally limits or inhibits variety, creativity and
quality
• More socially diverse patterns of ownership help to create the conditions for
more varied and adventurous media productions.
Consider
• Is AC3L produced by a major or indie media production company?
• What other media properties do they own/are they linked to?
• Look at their portfolio of media productions. Is there any indication of limited
variety/creativity?

(A2 Only) The Culture Industries & David Hesmondhalgh
• Cultural industry companies try to minimise risk and maximise
audiences through vertical and horizontal integration, and by
formatting their cultural products (e.g. through the use of stars,
genres, franchises and serials)
• The largest companies or conglomerates now operate across a
number of different cultural industries
• The radical potential of the internet has been contained to some
extent by its partial incorporation into a large, profit-orientated set
of cultural industries
• CONSIDER: How might these ideas apply to AC3L?

• Cultural industry companies try to minimise risk and maximise audiences
through vertical and horizontal integration, and by formatting their cultural
products (e.g. through the use of stars, genres, and serials)
• The largest companies or conglomerates now operate across a number of
different cultural industries
Is there any evidence of horizontal/vertical integration by the companies
involved in the game's production and distribution?
Is there any evidence of synergy or convergence within the companies involved
in the game's production and distribution?
Is there any evidence the companies involved in the game's production and
distribution operate across a number of cultural industries?
Is there any evidence that the companies involved try to minimise risk/maximise
audiences by formatting their cultural products?

• The game is part of an established franchise with a large fan-base.
Producers are clearly attempting to harness the popularity of this
franchise to encourage sales both of the game itself and the hand-
held device the PS Vita.
• The video game industry offers many comparable examples of
attempts to use software (games) to sell hardware (games systems
and platforms).

• Producers of video games actively seek to cater for new groups of
users in order to expand their market and ensure financial success,
for example Assassin's Creed III: Liberation features the series' first
female protagonist to appeal to female gamers
• The graphics, sound, interactive and gameplay features are designed
to provide an immersive and engaging experience, which players are
willing to pay for.

• The development of a successful franchise by Ubisoft: Assassin’s Creed as a hugely successful
brand with an existing, pre-sold audience for new products.
• The franchise is known for high production values and the new game reflects this to fulfil
expectations.
• As with any genre product, Liberation combined familiar elements relating to character, narrative
and action with new features and a female protagonist. This provides existing viewers with
expected pleasures and gratifications but also attracts new audiences, increasing the chance of
financial success
• The release on the PS Vita, a handheld device, to tap into the trend towards mobile gaming and
offer features familiar from smartphones and tablets,
• The release alongside Assassin’s Creed III on the PlayStation 3 creating a ‘buzz’ for new products
and allowing the company to market and potentially sell different products together
• Release of the soundtrack album of the game at the same time creating cross-promotional
possibilities to support both products. The later release of Liberation on different platforms
potentially allowed the product to reach a wider audience.

Target Audience
• Who do you think that the game is targeted at?
• How is it made to appeal to them?
Consider the following
• Demographics
• Psychographics
• Types of gamer

Audience: Target Audience
Who plays video games?
• Consider demographics (age, gender, social economic status,
ethnicity,etc)
• Consider psychographics (VALs, Y&R’s 4Cs)
Who would play AC3:L?
• Consider demographics (age, gender, social economic status,
ethnicity,etc)
• Consider psychographics (VALs, Y&R’s 4Cs)

• https://medium.com/the-nerd-castle/debunked-the-gamer-stereotype-69be0e4ee0d7

Women and Video Games
• Despite their increasing proportion among video gamers, women are
still often underrepresented in video games themselves.
• Most characters are male. And when they are female they are often
highly sexualized images for ‘the male gaze’.
• Feminist critic and vlogger

Women and Video Games
• Feminist critic and vlogger Anita Sarkeesian has
made many videos about this issue on her
channel Feminist Frequency under the theme of
“Tropes vs Women in Video Games”

• https://www.dailydot.com/parsec/gaming/lack-of-women-assassins-creed/
• https://www.digitalspy.com/videogames/assassins-creed/a576942/assassins-creed-unity-explains-lack-of-female-assassins/
• https://www.pcgamer.com/ac-op-ed/
• https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/assassins-creed-unity-in-trouble-over-excluding-female-killers-ubisoft-responds-9531623.html

Audience: how producers target, attract, reach,
address and potentially construct audiences:
The game is for a hand held device.
• This may imply it is aimed at a more casual or mobile gamer (a discussion
here about “on the go” gamers playing mobile games versus traditional
console and PC gamers may be useful).
The game features a female protagonist.
• This is unusual in the franchise and may be considered in terms of appealing
to a different demographic (possibly linked to the “on the go” gamers
discussion above). The existence of a female protagonist may also be
discussed in terms of constructing audiences by asking whether this game
might offer a platform for female gamer identification.

The interrelationship between media technologies
and patterns of consumption and response:
• The game is linked to a more traditional console version and which was
simultaneously released with this game. This might be considered as an
attempt to draw gamers from different platforms to purchase additional
hardware and adopt new gaming habits.
• The two versions of the game are also linked in terms of downloadable
content and special features. This relates to changing patterns of
consumption.
• Gamers might be being encouraged to have a more complete or satisfying
experience by using a range of interlinked products that offer exclusive
downloadable content. This is only made possible through convergent
technology and gamer “buy- in” to the value of the exclusive content.

Audience Media Effects & Albert Bandura
• The media can implant ideas in the mind of the audience directly
• Audiences acquire attitudes, emotional responses and new styles of conduct
through modelling
• Media representations of transgressive behaviour, such as violence or physical
aggression, can lead audience members to imitate those forms of behaviour.
Is there any "transgressive behaviour" that could be imitated through modelling?
Is there any evidence that audiences for this game have modelled their behaviour
on the game?
If transgressive behaviour is a problem, what has been/could be done about it?

• The game received an 18 rating from
• PEGI due largely to violent content.
• Consider audience response to violent video games in terms of Bandura’s
arguments about observation and imitation and vicarious consequences. Explore
the “Bobo Doll Experiment” and discuss how relevant this is to the audiences
targeted by the game.
• Are audiences likely to imitate the behaviours portrayed in the game?
• What might be imitated?
• A useful discussion might be had in relation to the active role adopted by a player
of video games.
• Question whether Bandura’s conclusions are invalidated or made more relevant if
audiences are choosing to commit acts of violence in a video game rather than
watching/imitating violent acts.

• How is (the consumption of) transgressive behaviour in a video game
different to in a film or on TV?
• How might this make a difference to its ability to impact upon the
audience?
“Video games make their audiences more likely to be violent”
• Consider the arguments for and against this idea.

Assassin’s Creed & Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory
• Exposure to repeated patterns of representation over long periods of
time can shape and influence the way in which people perceive the
world around them (i.e. cultivating particular views and opinions)
• Cultivation reinforces mainstream values (dominant ideologies).
• What repeated patterns of representation might AC3L contribute to?
• What mainstream values could be cultivated/subverted?

Assassin’s Creed & Hall’s Reception Theory
• Communication is a process involving encoding by producers and decoding
by audiences
• There are three hypothetical positions from which messages and
meanings may be decoded:
• the dominant-hegemonic position: the encoder’s intended meaning (the preferred
reading) is fully understood and accepted
• the negotiated position: the legitimacy of the encoder’s message is acknowledged in
general terms, although the message is adapted or negotiated to better fit the
decoder’s own individual experiences or context
• the oppositional position: the encoder’s message is understood, but the decoder
disagrees with it, reading it in a contrary or oppositional way.
• Explain how and why people might respond to this product in different
ways

(A2 Only) Assassin’s Creed & Shirky’s ‘End of
Audience’ Theory
The Internet and digital technologies have had a profound effect on the relations between media and
individuals
The conceptualisation of audience members as passive consumers of mass media content is no longer tenable
in the age of the Internet, as media consumers have now become producers who ‘speak back to’ the media in
various ways, as well as creating and sharing content with one another.
Related ideas/terms: Active vs passive audiences, audience positioning,
Video games are an examples of an interactive media product. Explain 4 ways in which audiences can interact
with or "speak back to" the product.
1
2
3
4
How else might users of this product create and share content?

Assassin’s Creed & Fandoms (A2 Only)
• Henry Jenkins: Fandom
• Fans are active participants in the construction and circulation of
textual meanings
• šFans appropriate texts and read them in ways that are not fully
authorised by the media producers (‘textual poaching’)
• šFans construct their social and cultural identities through borrowing
and inflecting mass culture images, and are part of a participatory
culture that has a vital social dimension
• What examples of fan culture associated with AC3L can you find?
• Are there any examples of "textual poaching"?

(A2 Only) Audience: Fandom & Henry Jenkins
• Discuss the significance of fan culture (and in particular online fan
communities) when exploring the success of video games. This
discussion may focus on the way video games have evolved closely
alongside the internet. Video games offer social experiences (online
multiplayer options) as well as communities outside of the core game
experience. Fans may be passionate exponents of a game or the
harshest critics and can often impact the development of games
directly.
• The Assassin’s Creed franchise has a strong, well developed fan-base
that could be researched and discussed in relation to Jenkins’ ideas.

(A2 Only) Audience: Fandom & Henry Jenkins

Example questions: Industry (A2)

Example questions: Audience (A2)

Sources/Useful links/further reading
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassin%27s_Creed_III:_Liberation
https://www.technobezz.com/best/20-best-selling-video-games-of-all-time/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-violent-videogame-has-made-more-money-
than-any-movie-ever-2018-04-06
https://culturedvultures.com/uplay-plus-launched-today-already-has-issues/
https://ukie.org.uk/research
https://www.statista.com/topics/868/video-games/

Video Game History and Industry

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