Industries
Audiences
01 – Minecraft
MINECRAFT – VIDEOGAMES – EVOLVING MEDIA
- Your ability to construct, explore, gather resources, engage in combat
When first beginning to play the game, I became very confused over the controls. I also started on Survival – a game more that is more challenging. I found it hard to navigate myself around the ‘world’, frequently getting lost. I also found the shift from day to night was very quick, and I struggled to gather enough resources to build a shelter to protect myself from beasts in the night. As I was preoccupied with attempting to gather resources to create shelter in the evening, I did not pay much attention to the combat element of the game, and so died and regenerated multiple times. I did not like how, once you die, you lose all of your resources. I did enjoy the ability to kill animals as a resource, and exploring different types of resources from dirt, to different types of wood, rock and flowers. But after playing for more than 20 minutes my eyes began to hurt and I started getting a headache. My overall experience of playing Minecraft was frustrating and exhausting, as I felt I was going round in circles attempting to establish some kind of territory or home, however kept dying. Although, I can appreciate how the creative element of the game is appealing, as players can create their own entire universe, protect it from others attempting to raid it for resources, and build an inventory and sense of achievement through their activities.
- The range of gameplay modes – start thinking whether they appeal to different users or audiences. – https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Gameplay
- Survival – In the survival mode, players have to gather all their materials to build, craft items and tools and gain experience points. In the there is a hunger and armour bar, an inventory and when underwater an oxygen bar. If one of the bars become low and the player eventually dies, they go back to their spawn point. I struggled to play in survival mode as I had not established the necessary skills and knowledge to successfully build an inventory or settlement. This gameplay mode would most likely appeal to more experienced players who seek a challenge – perhaps who are older or have played more hours of the game.
- Adventure – The adventure mode allows players to interact with objects such as levers and buttons, they can also interacts with mobs. This would most likely appeal to intermediate level players, who are perhaps younger and have less hours gameplay experience, but still seek a challenge as they have the chance to interact with other elements of the game which threaten their ‘life’ in the game. This may make it more exciting and captivating.
- Creative – In the creative mode, the player has an infinite amount of all blocks and items available, and can destroy them instantly. In this mode players are invulnerable as they do not have health, armour or hunger bars, they can also fly, which makes endless possibilities. This may appeal to the younger audience who have little or no experience of the game. It is far more relaxed as your ‘life’ is unlimited and not threatened by creepers or monsters, or others within the game. It also may appeal to more creative types – those who find architecture and creating things far more interesting than combat with others.
- Research the platforms the game is available on: Minecraft is constantly near the top of the i-Tunes top-100 apps list; the Minecraft XBox One was released in September 2017.
Minecraft is available on a variety of different devices, such as mobile, tablet, PC, and videogame consoles such as PlayStation and Xbox. Recently, Microsoft introduced the cross-platform update, where all of these platforms and devices are linked with the ‘Better Together’ update. This is introduced for Microsoft mobile devices, Windows 10 PCs and the Xbox One. This update takes different versions of Minecraft and consolidated them into one master version. This master version has the same features, functionality and content no matter where you play or on which devise. One advantage of this is that cross-play will be available across all varieties of Minecraft games. This is the first time any videogame has offered cross-play across all platforms, making Minecaft an innovative and established title. In the iTunes charts, Minecraft is 3rd in the ‘top paid games’ category, and has consistently maintained a spot in the top 10.
- What does Realms add to the way audiences can play the game?
https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Realms
Minecraft realms is an official subscription-based server hosting service that allows players to create and manage their own private Minecraft servers. Realms provide with an easy and fast way to create servers and allow the owner to manage them from inside the game, without prior knowledge of the concepts for hosting on the internet. Realms are not designed for large public servers, but intended for groups of friends or family servers, which makes the audiences interact more with one another. You must be aged 13 years or older to join the Minecraft realms community, suggesting that it is suitable for young teenagers. This means that Minecraft has been made a game that is not just single-player, but whole-community based – families and friends can play together, and acts as a form of socialising among peers.
- Investigate the role of the modding community in the development and nature of Minecraft (look at Minecraft Marketplace)
MODS = (short for modifications) are anything that changes Minecraft’s game content from what it originally was. Most mods add content to the game to alter gameplay, change the creative feel, or give the player more options in how they interact with the Minecraft world.
This opens up unlimited possibilities and means there are likely millions of variations of ways to play the game. Server mods or plugins mainly give server admins more options and ease of use, and most mods for single-player have a server version that allows or optimizes the mod in multiplayer.
The role of modding adds a further element to gameplay – a new role as mod administrator has been created. This is most likely targeted to very experienced and established Minecraft players, and opens up a whole community for these players to create and interact with each other.
- How has the game changed over time? (timeline to illustrate this)
https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Timeline_of_events
2009- Minecraft first released with registered accounts and the opening of an official Minecraft forum. Survival test mode first released later on that year
2010– Minecraft passed 100.,000 registered users, crafting system as well as finite water and infinte maps were introduced. The first release of survival in multiplayer mode in august. The price raised from 5 dollars to 15 dollars at the end of that year
2011– Minecraft surpasses 1 million sales and passes 10 million registered users, Minecraft merchandise is made available (t-shirts), Minecraft Pocked Edition officially released in August. Price raised to 20 dollars.
2012– Xbox 360 edition of Minecraft officially released, ‘micro world’, the first Lego Minecraft set made available on the online Lego shop, minecraft gift cards available at shops in the US, Minecon is held in Disneyland Paris
2013– Minecraft for Java surpasses 12 million sales, Minecraft is released for the PlayStation console, various packs with new textures and skins released, another Minecon is held in Orlando, Florida, Minecraft Realms beta was launched
2014– Minecraft PlayStation 4 and Xbox one editions officially released, Mojang and Minecraft are acquired by Microsoft for 2.5 billion dollars. Minecraft pocket edition is released for windows phone
2015– Minecraft wins a Kid’s Choice Award for ‘most addicting game’, Minecon takes place in London, Minecon receives the Guinness world record for largest convention for a single video game, the pocket edition is released for the universal Windows 10 platform, Minecraft Wii U edition is officially released
2016– an adaptation of Minecraft: pocket edition is released for the Samsung Gear VR, price raised to 23 dollars, Minecraft is sold for all platforms 100 million times and makes the second best-selling game, Minecon takes place in Anaheim, California, Minecraft education edition is officially released, Apple TV and Fire TV both release Minecraft pocket edition
2017– The official Minecraft Marketplace announced for pocket and windows 10 edition, a feature for players to buy community-made content directly in-game, Minecraft Nintendo Switch edition is officially released, Minecraft ‘Better Together’ is released by Bedrock, Minecon earth takes place (an interactive live show that can be accessed by anyone for free)
2018– Minecraft hits 74 million active players and 144 million total sales, Netflix is revealed to add Minecraft story mode to its service later that year, Minecon earth event takes place again.
- Look at the relationship between the game and other Microsoft products. Consider the economics of vertical integration.
Vertical Integration – a structure where a company owns the supply chain for its product, typically one or two companies involved in different stages of production.
Mojang Studios – the original creator of Minecraft. It was bought by Microsoft Studios, and is not a division of the parent company, Microsoft. It was in Microsoft’s interest to invest $2.5 billion to purchase Mojang for long term revenue, as there is a loyal fan base of Minecraft and PC gamers. This is because Microsoft knew that Minecraft would have a very successful and profitable life-span, with millions of users around the world. It would have cost more in the long run to continue paying Mojang Studios as an outside, independent organisation, to develop different versions of Minecraft. Therefore it was cheaper in the long run to buy Mojang up front, so that Microsoft could minimise the cost to produce and develop the game as it is all in-house – maximising profit. Buying Mojang also meant that as the game increased in popularity, Microsoft avoided rising prices of hiring Mojang when other companies might fight to invest in Mojang, raising the price as demand increases.
Other collaborations with game developers include Telltale Games who helped to develop Minecraft: Story Mode in 2015. Microsoft also collaborated with 4J studios to develop the PlayStation versions of Minecraft.
- Consider distribution –pull your findings together as a focus and look at other specific means of (and issues with) distribution. How has technology influenced distribution?
Originally, most players logged in to play Minecraft on their devices, not requiring a hard copy of the game. It has continued to stay this way, with users encouraged to download digital versions of the game from online servers, allowing for versions of the same game across the entire Windows 10 operating system, including PlayStation and Xbox versions, to promote the Microsoft brand (a form of 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). Another reason why users were encouraged to download digital versions is to reduce the cost of distribution – digital versions are much cheaper than hard copies as it doesn’t require the physical materials. Hard copies are still released, however this is usually 6 months or so after the digital version – probably to reduce the impact of illegal piracy and hacking (which would reduce profit as individuals acquiring Minecraft through these methods do not pay for it).
Minecraft is a fantastic example of a game that was created using readily available, open and common source software within the gaming community (e.g. using Java), giving it the advantage of being cross-platform (Java functions on Windows, Mac and Linux). Other videogames often require special software or devices to play the game, which increases the cost to the player as they most likely need to purchase the game and the software/device to play it on (e.g. most PlayStation games cannot be played on Xbox, and some games are released only on certain devices and software systems). This means that Minecraft is available to all audiences who own any type of device. It also means that the production and development of Minecraft is cheaper as it runs on one simple programme/software (Java).
Minecraft has been implemented in a variety of ways other than just for recreational or leisure use. For example, working with non-profit projects, such as the UN’s Block by Block project, which encourages communities around the world to redesign their neighbourhoods using Minecraft. It has also been implemented educationally, with an educational version – MinecraftEdu – being developed in 2012, which has several applications to help teach subjects and develop a culture of computer programming amongst digital natives.
- How is Minecraft marketed? Look at traditional advertising, but also consider Minecon, for example, and merchandising. How have YouTube players affected the popularity of the game? Show examples
Marketing – the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising. Various versions of Minecraft have been marketed and distributed towards a variety of audiences, to increase audience diversity and therefore profit. These versions include story modes, spectator modes and multiplayer functionality across Minecraft Realms. A marketing strategy to engage younger audiences is the partnership with Lego – e.g. releasing Minecraft Lego sets. Furthermore, in order to gain profit and visibility, a wide range of merchandise has been released – e.g. clothes, phone cases, books, bonus etc – which is a form of marketing as those wearing the merchandise is practically advertising Minecraft through wearing and using the merchandise in public spaces – suggesting this game is good, and others should buy it and play. There is also a scheme where buying more versions of Minecraft across platforms means the individual gets bonus content they wouldn’t otherwise gain access to.
Minecraft is a internationally known and established house-hold name, and so it is often marketed and advertised via intertextuality. For example, other game developers and studios using intertextual references, as well as intertextuality in other forms of media – e.g. Lady Gaga, South Park and The Simpsons creating parodies of Minecraft. Such intertextuality is a huge benefit for the game as it heightens its exposure to audiences. In 2019, there will be a joint venture with Warner Brothers to release Minecraft the movie. This is anticipated to have as much commercial success at The Lego Movie (also Warner Bros.).
- What are its main competitors – how is Minecraft distinctive?
Minecraft is not the second most searched topic on YouTube – Minecraft’s open sandbox design and huge variety of modpacks is the perfect tool for youtubers looking to create unique gaming content. This relationship is two-way – Minecraft has directed many players to Youtube, who look for content from YouTube’s prolific and popular community of gaming creators who create content such as tutorials. In return, these YouTube content creators have driven millions of downloads of Minecraft with their videos.
One Minecraft competitor is Minetest – a direct ‘rip off’ of the original Minecraft game, featuring very similar if not identical early Minecraft features. Minetest runs on older computer operating systems and is free to download – this has the potential to attract different ranges of audiences that Minecraft does not necessarily reach i.e. those with older technology and those who cannot afford to buy the real game.
- Investigate the different PEGI classifications relating to the game
https://www.igdb.com/games/minecraft/age_rating
The content of this game is suitable for persons aged 7 years and over only. It contains: Non realistic looking violence towards fantasy characters – Violence that is set in a cartoon, slapstick or child like setting that could be upsetting to very young children – Pictures or sounds likely to be scary to young children – Non realistic looking violence towards characters which although human are not very detailed. This game allows the player to interact with other players ONLINE.
- Minecraft is also used in schools. What are the advantages to schools and Microsoft?
Minecraft has been transformed into an educational tool. It is being used in schools internationally. The ability to modify the game (modding) allows teachers to adapt and create Minecraft worlds suitable for the classroom – giving them the ability to write assignments, create boundaries, and guide their students to create together, encouraging group work. . As game-based learning expert Alan Gershenfeld says in a recent issue of Scientific American, “not only is Minecraft immersive and creative, but it is an excellent platform for making almost any subject area more engaging.”
Georgia Sullivan 