Pandemic, protests and identity

 The gaming population in the UK increased by 63% during COVID 19. 

popularity:

AC:NH - reasons why people would want to play animal crossing; it was released recently, it was very immersive, universal player accesibility, very inclusive for all ages, identity through island creation, real time clock- extended play sessions, visit eachothers islands, socialise with npcs (villagers) 

MACRO - boredom, lack of social engagement, a way to escape, loads of time, identity i.e self expression. 

David Gauntlett

His theory is that our identity is shaped by the media we consume. For example if all you see are old fashioned women's magazines about cleaning for your husband you will also believe these stereotypical views and feel the need to do the same for your husband. Older representations tend to be more binary for example; good vs evil, women and men, hero and damsel. However, now media is much more diverse within gender and indentity. Interactive media helps people to express themselves. 

 

Identity and Animal crossing 

people gain a self of identity through being able to communicate with diverse villagers for example one otter villager was gay on animal crossing, Since you can customise your character, you can change their identity. In mine craft, users have expressed themselves through means of a protest, a group of people made an uncensored library which contains all banned books from oppressive countries, meaning these books are accessibly to read for all. 

As for the creativity in Animal crossing people have created pixals that can be worn or hung up, for example flags can be hung, pride and BLM flags or clothing have been seen. 

 

Character Creations 

"please choose your style" instead of gender. Very left wing take. However they have censored this for countries who's majority beliefs are that there should only be 2 genders. They are censored in countries such as Japan in order to appeal to their audiences, which is very controversial given that they celebrate pride for america but not for those other countries. Players are able to create their own personal identity such as a prosthetic leg but they have to find ways to customize it, its not yet an option ( this was promoted by Gillette.) 

 

Digital Convergence 

digital convergence can lead to negative sharability such as the Last of Us 2 being leaked. Contrarily, there can still be positive sharability such as your content going viral, for example all the protesting on animal crossing. 

Our Question:

How do media organisations, including through marketing, maintain a variety of audiences nationally and globally? Refer to animal crossing to support your answer. 

Planning 

• age ratings 
• movitation factors 
• animal crossing- hugh quaity single purchase 
• doom vs animal crossing 
• downloadable content. Happy hokes paradise DLC
• exclusive 
• apprealing to different types of players ( casual, core gamer, hardcore )
• target a niche 
• -appeal to mass audiences 
• how are they maintaining audiences:
• -through streamers 
• -creative advertising 
• -collaborations
• -merchandise 
• -franchises
• -DLC downloadable content = happy home paradise 
• -good competition 
• -low age ratings 
• -loot boxes 
• -seasonal updates
• -franchise collaborations (Lego fortnite) 
• -memes = viral word of mouth marketing 
• -e sports (competition)
• -high quality games (seal of quality)