Tuesday 27 February 2018

Minecraft "Notch" article


Why is Minecraft successful?

Video game: A game played by electronically manipulating images produced by a computer program on a monitor or other display.

Types of Video games: 
- RPG
-Sports
-Strategy
-Action/adventure
-Puzzle solving
-Construction
-FPS
-Simulation
-Horror
-Children's

Examples:
- Fortnite                                        -Cooking Mama                      -Sims
-Nintendogs                                   -Dinner Dash                           -Far Cry
-Fifa                                               -Big Brain academy                 -Rainbow 6 Siege
-GTA                                             -Sky Rim                                  -Fable
-NBA                                             -Mario Sonic                            -WWE
-UFC                                              -F1                                           -Assassin's Creed
-Wii Fit                                          -Just Dance                              -Wii Sports resort
-Crash Bandicoot                           -Rachet and Clank                   -We Sing
-Moshi Monsters                            -Guitar Hero                            -Monkey Ball
-Call of Duty                                  -Watch Dogs                            -Battlefield

Terminology:
-Games Consoles - A unit accommodating a set of controls for electronic or mechanical equipment.
-Sandbox Game - Construction; building from scratch. Changing roles of the 'look down generation.' Collaboration through gaming; multi-player
-Microsoft - Institution which owns videogames; Xbox and Minecraft
-Platforms - Different levels of gaming. Online Vs Moving images Vs Audio. Ways you can play (App, physically etc.). Multi-Platform - More than one way of playing; more platforms = wider variety.
-Servers - How the games run, where info is kept, enables games to be played.

Minecraft 

- Minecraft development - from 'online Lego'
- Multi - platform =  more available
- Open Sandbox - no limit
- Started as an 'indie'
- Critically and commercially successful
- From independent to mainstream - 125 million copies sold.

-Minecraft was created by Marcus 'Notch' Persson and developed by Mojang.
-These were independent, separate to and not financed by a big commercial company.
-But, as small independent products become successful, it is usual for larger organisations/owners to want to buy them.

Reasons for success...

-Not much competition
-Allows for creativity to be the main aim of the game
-Continuous game, no limits
-Appeals to all age groups
-Mass marketing
-Forging relationships, might help social skills, teamwork

1. Literal Sandbox with infinite replay ability
2. Strong community, players creations are Minecraft's own marketing campaign
3. Platform agnostic
4.Co opted by children
5.Not limited to genre
6.Fulfills our human instinct too bring order to chaotic wilderness

Video Games Terminology

Group powerpoint about Minecraft





Friday 23 February 2018

Timeline of the development of Minecraft


Timeline of the development of Minecraft

2009

April 29- Infinnier is released, a game by Zachtronics Industries, whose concept mainly inspired Notch of Minecraft. It was regularly updates and became open-source less than a month later
May 14- Java: "Cave Game" renamed to "Minecraft: Order of the Stone" after a suggestion by RinkuHero from The Independent Games Wiki on an IRC with Notch, "Minecraft" being an analogy to the famous real-time strategy game StarCraft
May 16 – Java: Early private testing, among TIGSource members
May 17 – First release of the game. Game name shortened to simply "Minecraft".
May 21 – Accounts can now be registered.
May 24 – An official Minecraft Forum is opened.
June 1 – Java: First Multiplayer test. Notch starts his new job at Jalbum
June 8 – Java: Multiplayer released
August 4 – Java: First elements of Survival
August 18 – Java: Introduction of Health
August 9 – Passwords can now be changed.
August 20 – Beginning of SURVIVAL TEST
December 22 – Hayden Scott-Baron becomes the Minecraft Artist.

2010
January 13- Minecraft passes 100,000 registered users
Jan 21- Minecraft can now gifted to non-premium players
Feb 5- Hayden Scott- Baron leaves Minecraft development
Jun 1 – Notch gets back to work 100% on Minecraft after a pause after having left his job at Jalbum a few weeks before.
Jun 17 – Minecraft passes 20,000 sales
Aug 4- First release of survival Multiplayer
Oct 16- Mojang is founded

2011
Jan 12- Minecraft surpasses 1 million sales
Jun 1- Minecraft pocket edition is first shown on Youtube
Jun 6- Microsoft reveal Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition at the E3 conference
Jul 30- Minecraft passes 10 million registered users
Aug 5 – Notch receives a 15-page letter from Bethesda Soft works, threatening him with a lawsuit if he doesn't change the name "Scrolls" (which is too close to "The Elder Scrolls", according to Bethesda) for his next game

2012
Feb 24 – LEGO announces that the LEGO Minecraft project has passed the 10,000 required votes
May 9 – Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition TU1 officially released
Apr 5- Minecraft for Java surpasses 10 million sales
Jul 31- Minecon 2013 tickets went on sale
Sep 2- Minecraft for Java surpasses 12 million sales
May 6 – Minecraft Realms is launched in more countries in Asia and Europe.
May 9 – Minecraft Realms is launched in the Oceania region.
May 19 – Minecraft Realms is launched globally in all remaining countries
Dec 7- Minecraft announced for the Wii U

2016
Jan 19- Minecraft: Education Edition announced
June 2- Minecraft is sold for all platform 100 million times and makes the second best-selling games
Oct 27- 27 – Apple CEO Tim Cook announced an edition of Minecraft for the Apple TV, featuring cross-play between that platform and iOS devices, to be released by the end of year 2016

2017

Jan 13- Minecraft announced for Nintendo Switch
Jan 27- Minecraft: New Nintendo 3DS Edition officially released
Nov 7-9 - Minecraft: Story Mode - Season Two: Episode 4 - Below the Bedrock released.
Nov 18 - MineCon Earth event.
Dec ?- Minecraft hits 74 million active players and 144 million total sales

Wednesday 21 February 2018

Why do you think Minecraft has been a commercial and critical success?

Minecraft is a sandbox computer game created and designed by Swedish programmer Marcus 'Notch' Persson in 2009 and fully published by Mojang. Minecraft offers several different modes of play, with the 2 most popular being survival and creation. In survival mode, you begin with nothing and must collect and create all your tools, weapons, armour and other resources from scratch in order to progress. Creation mode differs in that you are given unlimited resources from the beginning and are able to create and wear whatever you want when you want. A key to Minecraft's success and popularity is this ability to create and customise which is really only limited by the player's imagination. I think one of the main reasons that Minecraft is such a success is because the possibilities go as far as your imagination does.

A month after the game was made, he charged people 10 euros to download the game and sold 40 copies in the first weekend. The games was released with no instructions so it got people talking about it, if a person was able to figure out how to make a kitchen -for example- then they could share how they created something with their fellow players therefore creating a hype for the game through sharing ideas. Persson also created the game as an alpha meaning that the core gameplay was established but the game was incomplete. Persson would then update the game every Friday, adding new features and tools which would mean that players would want to play the game at least once a week to see all the new things that have been made. This made sales raise dramatically. Persson had also always been an active member on the TIGSource discussions and now he can communicate with the early players of Minecraft to see consumer reviews and add parts to the game that people wanted.

Minecraft computer alone has sold more than 121 million copies of the game sold (Feb 2017). The player base is huge, therefore increasing marketability in the sense where those 121 million people tell their friends to buy it. An estimated 55 million people play the game every month. Coming after Tetris, it is the best selling game of all time. Minecraft was bought by Microsoft from Mojang in 2014 approx. £1.9 billion. Minecraft has since spread to many different platforms including Microsoft's own Xbox, Windows 10 and Windows phones. Spin-off games have also been published including Minecraft: Education Edition, created by Telltale games and Minecraft: Education Edition, created to be used in education facilities globally. This is then expanding their marketing and creating more hype for the game and making it more successful.

Minecraft has influenced popular culture due to social media. Minecraft video channels on YouTube have huge following as people can watch them and add to their constructions. On top of this the game has received millions of dollars in merchandise revenue from T-shirts to toys, and spawned its own convention, Minecon, which began just 2 years after the game was created. The convention has taken place in Las Vegas, Disneyland Paris, California, London and Orlando which expands their global marketing and attracts even more customers to get involved.

I think the reason Minecraft is so successful is that a video game with no story line sells very well because you can do whatever your heart desires.

Sunday 18 February 2018

Radio Production and Distribution Homework

The Radio 1 Playlist can make or break bands and musicians, it plays a big part in what gets played on one of the world's most influential music radio stations.

Chris Price is head of music for Radio 1 and 1Xtra, he's responsible for all the music across both stations, his main focus is on the playlist. After 7pm Radio 1 goes specialist and the music is picked by the DJs and show teams. The Radio 1 Playlist makes up the majority of the songs that are played before that in the daytime. Most radio stations have a set playlist, however Chris Price says Radio 1's is unique because it introduces brand new artists right alongside established pop acts.
When picking songs as part of the playlist the team will research and look into the YouTube views, Soundcloud hits, Shazam ratings, Twitter followers and Facebook likes to evaluate the popularity and success. They sometimes feel they need to play certain 'upcoming bands' music as they otherwise feel they are "pulling the carpet from under their feet". However Radio 1 has a lot of power when helping artists break through by giving them the exposure they need.
Artists that the station has been late to play, such as Drake has been " because their songs are not suitable for daytime radio play", although for the younger demographic this he is one of the biggest trends. In the late 2000s the 'BBC Trust' criticised the station for having too old an audience and said it must focus on getting the average age down to under 30. The Trust promised to monitor Radio 1's listening figures among the 15-29-year-old demographic over the coming years. But despite introducing younger presenters, the average age of a Radio 1 listener is still 32. "Today's 30- to 50-year-olds have lived through just about every genre of music that's ever existed, from the most hardcore metal to hip-hop to dance and house."

The playlists are broken down into 3 categories A-list, B-list and C-list. Current artists in the A-list include Bruno Mars, Camila Cabello and Craig David. In the B-list are CLiQ, Fall-out boy and George Ezra and finally in the C-list there is B Young, Demi Lovato and The Hunna. These artist's songs are in these categories not the artist themselves and the category that an artist is in decides how many times the song gets played in a week. 
In order for Radio 1 to know what to play for 15-29 year olds: "We've got a panel of thousands of young people from the age of 12 to 29 in our overall research group, and we pay a research company to test 400 of them every week. We play them the hooks of 25 current songs, most of which we've played over 100 times, and they tell us which they relate to.
From 6am-10am Nick Grimshaws breakfast show includes special guests which are current and up to date swell as the latest charts music and prizes to win. This is aimed at the younger demographic to keep them interested on their way to school or work. From 10am-12am is the 'live lounge' which includes more urban 'rap' music which is shown to be played when younger children are in school grabbing a different audience. 12am-1pm is the newsbeat show aimed at an older audience which is usually around the time they are on lunch break at work. Throughout the day the schedule changes to suit the demographic listening at that moment based around their everyday lifestyle.

Saturday 17 February 2018

BBC Radio 1 Facts

FACTS

-Radio remains resilient
- 90% adults tune in on a weekly basis
-Time spent listening to radio has increased since 2015
-UK adults spend majority of time spent listening to any audio is accounted for by live radio (71%)
- 16 to 24 year olds spend similar amounts of time with live radio (29%), personal digital audio (26%) and streaming services (25%)
-Overall commercial stations increased their revenue in 2015, with overall growth to 1.4% to £519 million, as national advertising offset overall declines in local advertising revenue
-In 2015, over 40% of all reported radio listening was via a digital device
-A second national DAB network of transmitters was switched on in March 2016, bringing 15 unique radio services to 75% of the UKs population

NEW TECHNOLOGY

-New technology has helped the radio industry evolve and increase in popularity
-A huge increase in the number of people downloading podcasts and streaming internet radio
-Studio webcams and social media have changed the audience relationship with radio by making listeners feel more connected to the presenters
-This type of media convergence is achieved through the use of blogs and forums on radio websites
-BBC u.s.p is introducing new brands
-Highest paid: breakfast show/ afternoon drive

PSB broadcasters have to achieve a mix of education, information and entertainment

Different remits for different channels
-The BBC has 100% PSB remit
-ITV has a smaller PSB remit
-Channel 4 has a large,but slightly different PSB remit (mostly tackled through its enforced aim of showing lots of niche programming
-Channel 5 has a tiny PSB remit (basically news) and all digital channels have no PSB remit

OFCOM is in charge of ensuring broadcasters keep to their PSB remit

RAJAR is how they regulate to the audience and market figures

BBC MISSION AND VALUES

Our mission- to enrich people's lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain

Our vision- to be the most creative organisation in the world

Our values
- Trust in the foundation of the BBC
-Audience is at the heart of everything
-Quality and value for money
-Creativity
-Respect each other/celebrate our diversity
-Great things happen when we work together

The BBC provides high quality news, current affairs and factual programming to engage its viewers and listeners.

Monday 5 February 2018

BBC Radio Research


1. Tony Blackburn 
From 30th September 1967 to 1st June 1973

2.
- Noel Edmunds
-Dave Lee Travis
-Mike Read
-Mike Smith
-Simon Mayo
-Mark Goodifer
-Steve Wright
-Chris Evans

3. Nick Grimshaw is 33 years old and is from Manchester. He started the show on the 24th September 2012 and so far has presented for 5 years.

4. there was still a 10.5 million weekly listenership across the station and that Radio 1 had 9.4 million subscribers on social media, with an additional five million on YouTube.

5. Ben Cooper

6. Its work is funded principally by an annual television licence fee which is charged to all British households, companies, and organisations using any type of equipment to receive or record live television broadcasts and iPlayer catch-up.

7.It should offer a range of new music, support emerging artists - especially those from the UK - and provide a platform for live music. News, documentaries and advice campaigns should cover areas of relevance to young adult

8.One major difference between commercial and BBC stations is that the BBC is much stricter when it comes to brand mentions. BBCs are only allowed one brand mention during the course of an interview and they preferably need the spokesperson to be strategic, and to naturally incorporate the brand name into the story.

Jungle Book Marketing Podcast


Daily Mail Recreation Evaluation

MY RECREATION

1) What was the task you were given and who was your target audience?
We were given the task to recreate a Daily Mail front cover for a C1,D,E audience

 2) What research did you undertake and what did you find were some of the typical conventions of a Daily Mail front cover - layout, types of stories, fonts
I researched previous Daily Mail front covers and found one that I followed the layout of in order to get mine as realistic as possible. I noticed in all the front covers that they have a large advert at the top of the page that related to a competition inside the paper to intrigue readers. Each page has a headline that didn't link to the picture that was on the front page and there was multiple stories within the page. Also the headline font was big and bold and filled the page.

3) Which Daily Mail cover did you use as your main source? Insert. What are your observations from this source?
My observations are that the '£10,000 premium bonds' advert is very large and eye-catching due to the colours used. Also the headline only relates to the small written section on the lower left of the cover.
4) Which areas did you find most challenging? 
Finding the right font which complemented the cover and looked realistic was very hard as it is imperative to get it right. Also I found it challenging to line up all of the individual parts of the cover so they were symmetrical and have equal proportion.

 5) What was you initial feedback? What did others say about your production? How successful was do you think it is?
My initial teacher feedback was that on the 'Cheryl' part of the cover, the writing seeped  over the edge so I changed that in order for it to look correct. I was told that the font I had finally chosen was close to the original and that it looked quite realistic.

 6) Identify what went well and with hindsight what you do to improve/do differently.
I think the small articles at the bottom of the screen went well and the article I had written was interesting and inviting. Also once I had gotten the correct font I felt that it brought the whole piece together. I feel as though the advert could be improved as the colour is slightly brighter than the original and some of the wording needs to be a bit bolder.

 7) In the exam you will be analysing newspaper front covers. In producing this cover, are there any areas that you hadn't noticed before? What have you learnt from completing this task?
I noticed that in the majority of the articles, the headline filled the page and that the picture that is included in the article is not what the headline is stating, in most cases. Also, I found out that the cover used multiple different fonts to ensure their newspaper is different to all the other ones.


PSB remit for BBC radio programmes


Which programmes are most clearly fulfilling their PSB remit?
Radio 1 claim to 100% fulfil their PSB remit as within their 'shows' they cover all 3 purposes that public- service broadcasting radios have to cover ( to entertain, to inform and to educate)
Radio 2: entertains, informs and educates
Radio 3: informs and educates with a smaller amount of entertainment
Radio 4: entertains with its use of readings and factual programmes however is more educational and informative
Radio 5: inform and educate
Radio 6: entertaining

What range of programmes are offered?

Radio 1: Mix of contemporary music and speech
 
Radio 2: distinctive mixed music and speech service
Radio 3:  mix of music and cultural programming
Radio 4: mixed speech service, offering in-depth news and current affairs and a wide range of other speech output
Radio 5: provide live news and sports coverage
Radio 6: entertain lovers of popular music with a service that celebrates the alternative spirit in popular music
Which audiences are being targeted?
Radio 1: 15-29 yr olds

Radio 2: over 35

Radio 3: over 35

Radio 4: Adults

Radio 5: Middle age to elderly

Radio: over 20
 
Which one of the 3 principles are most in evidence in which programmes?

Radio 1: entertain

Radio 2: inform

Radio 3: educate

Radio 4: inform

Radio 5: educate

Radio 6: entertain









Production and Distribution of Radio 1 Breakfast show

  • What are the different responsibilities of presenters and producers?
Producer- thinking ahead, what will be done in the next link, being the most prepared for the next link. Briefing guests (ie. don't swear/ mention these brands etc.)
Presenter- create a show that is interesting for the public to listen to. Make the show appear natural and inclusive and be someone that the public would want to go for a drink for (an element of comradery with the public)

What preparation that goes into each programme?
When asking questions with celebrities, to make sure you have the best set of questions for the public.
-Briefing the guests to make sure that they sound the best they can
- Finding celebrities
- TV guides to get guests booked

What's most challenging and most enjoyable about working on the show?
Enjoyable
-Meeting celebrities
- Creating relationships with guests and the team
-Flexibility of the show 
-Playing games and fun quizzes
Challenging
- Having to get up at 4.00am, sleeping patterns out of sync
-Food eating patterns
-Preparing for the next show
-Keeping the show as exciting as possible

What are the team dynamics like?
Everyone checks each other in order to make sure that everyone sounds good and can be creating the best show possible for the public. Hearing everyone's new ideas. Therefore makes show appear inclusive and natural. Natural chemistry between the presenters/ producers. Trust each other.

How can you break into radio?
Directly approaching people in the industry and ask to get involved. Be persistent. Don't give up and keep at it. Jobs are varied so try lots of different jobs.
Presenter- Get as much experience as possible. Student radio. Figure our what it is you like about other presenters. Be yourself. Find out what you want to talk about and be confident in what you're saying.

Thursday 1 February 2018

Jungle Book Fact Sheet

           

Industry Key Word Research

BARB - The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board is the organisation that compiles audience measurement and television ratings in the United Kingdom.

 WEBCASTING LICENSE - If you operate a service that streams sound recordings online, then you will need a Webcasting Licence; Allows you to webcast as a service.

TECHNOLOGICAL CONVERGENCE - Technological convergence is the tendency that as technology changes, different technological system sometimes evolve toward performing similar tasks.

 WEB 3.O OR SEMANTIC WEB - a proposed development of the World Wide Web in which data in web pages is structured and tagged in such a way that it can be read directly by computers.

 INTERNET OF THINGS - The Internet of things is the network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity which enables these objects to connect and exchange data.

 BINGE-VIEWING - watch multiple episodes of (a television programme) in rapid succession, typically by means of DVDs or digital streaming.

 DAB - Digital audio broadcasting is a digital radio standard for broadcasting digital audio radio services, used in countries across Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.

  TRADITIONAL MEDIA - television, radio, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, tax press and other print publications.

 GOOGLE ANALYTICS - a freemium web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic.

  RAJAR - stands for Radio Joint Audience Research and is the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK. It is jointly owned by the BBC and the Radiocentre on behalf of the commercial sector.

NRS - The National Readership Survey is a joint venture company in the UK between the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, the Newspaper Publishers Association and the Periodical Publishers Association.

 MIDAS - Midas Media is a digital marketing agency that focuses on content marketing, search engine optimization, social media marketing

 CULTURAL IMPERIALISM - Cultural imperialism comprises the cultural aspects of imperialism. Imperialism here refers to the creation and maintenance of unequal relationships between civilizations, favoring the more powerful civilization.

 DEMOCRATISATION OF THE MASS MEDIA - the introduction of a democratic system or democratic principles in the mass media.

 EFFECTS OF PIRACY – the effects of the unauthorized use or reproduction of another's work.

HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION - Horizontal integration is the process of a company increasing production of goods or services at the same part of the supply chain. A company may do this via internal expansion, acquisition or merger.

 VERTICAL INTEGRATION - the combination in one firm of two or more stages of production normally operated by separate firms.

 DIVERSIFICATION - the action of making or becoming more diverse or varied.

 ALTERNATIVE MEDIA - Alternative media are media that differ from established or dominant types of media in terms of their content, production, or distribution.

  CONGLOMERATE - a thing consisting of a number of different and distinct parts or items that are grouped together

 GRA - Games Rating Authority

  PEGI - Pan European Game Information is a European video game content rating system established to help European consumers make informed decisions when buying video games or apps through the use of age recommendations and content descriptors.

 MEDIAWATCH UK - formerly known as the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association (National VALA or NVLA), is a pressure group in the United Kingdom, which campaigns against the publication and broadcast of media content that it views as harmful and offensive, such as violence, profanity, sex, homosexuality and blasphemy.

 IPSO - Independent Press Standards Organisation.

 WATERSHED - an event or period marking a turning point in a situation.

  OFCOM - The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the UK government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.

   MEDIAWATCH - is a media monitoring organization

 BBC CHARTER - The BBC Charter established the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). An accompanying Agreement recognises its editorial independence and sets out its public obligations in detail. Each Charter has run for ten years.

  SYNERGY - the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.

PSB - public service broadcasting refers to broadcasting intended for public benefit rather than to serve purely commercial interests

BROADCAST CODE - was a set of ethical standards adopted by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) for television.

IWF - The Internet Watch Foundation is a registered charity based in Cambridgeshire, England. It states that its remit is "to minimise the availability of 'potentially criminal' Internet content.