New Independant Case-Study

Name of game: Grand Theft Auto

Release date: 2013

Institutions behind the game (game studio/publisher): Playstation 3, X-box 360

Amount sold: 32.5 million copies sold

Print

• What print adverts were used to advertise the game? Find examples and post them on your blog.

The print adverts such as billboards and stands inside of the shops.

• What key conventions of print adverts can you find on the example you have chosen? Product name? Font? Slogan? Central image? Colour?

The name of the product is bold and stands out more which goes along with the central images. Also in the photo above we notice how the name of the game is in the middle.

• Find three reviews for your game that were originally published in video-game magazines. Are they positive or negative about the game? Copy and paste one quote from each review.

"Nobody makes an open world quite like Rockstar. Others may be bigger, moodier, or crazier, but between Rockstar's obsessive attention to detail and its anarchic approach to gameplay, something emerges that's deeply memorable and filled with a constant sense of discovery." this is a review on the offical xbox website it is positive as is most of the reviews

"Gorgeous graphics. Fun to play. Engaging storyline. Open-world mayhem. Lets you switch between the three major characters on the fly. Fantastic music." this is also a positive review which tells us how to consumer feels when playing the game which may influence others into buying it

"And all of this is open to you from the very start of the game – there’s no waiting for bridges to be made passable or areas to be freed from lockdown. Any location can be visited in any order and in any vehicle, right from the minute you first set eyes on sun-drenched San Andreas." this is from another magazine website where the review compliemnts the game, we can see there is a consistant success rate based on the reviews alone.

• Did your game feature on any videogame magazine front covers? Find examples and explain why a front cover feature is so successful in promoting a game to its target audience.

This magazine wasnt realised in the uk, yet it was published abroad which tells you how the game is viral.

Broadcast

• Did your chosen game use a TV advert to promote the game? Embed it from YouTube if it did and explain how it fits the key conventions of a TV advert.

This meets the key conventions as it has a voice over which informs us about the name of the game, it also has an engaging background music so we are on out toes whilst watching it rather than lacking interest.

• Can you find any other broadcast features on the game - interviews, launch party events, video reviews, clips of the gameplay on YouTube etc. Write about how they effectively promote the game to its target audience.

The video above shows an interview about grand theft auto, it gives an insight of what target auidence gta is for, from what we consume its for young men and teenagers as the majority seen to fit into this category 


E-media

The offical game website

• Visit your chosen game's official website. How does it attract and maintain the interest of its target audience?
• Are there any creative or interesting aspects to the game's official website?
• Does the game have a YouTube channel?
• Can you find any examples of user-generated content on YouTube that players have created and uploaded from the game? Embed any examples on your blog.
• How does user-generated content such as gameplay videos help to promote the game?
• How many 'likes' has your chosen game's Facebook wall had?
• Choose five of the posts on the Facebook page's wall, screengrab them and explain how they appeal to the game's target audience.
• What is your chosen game's Twitter hashtag?
• How did the campaign use Twitter to promote the game?
• Can you find any other creative uses of e-media to promote the game? This might include hashtags, competitions, Instagram, user-generated campaigns or anything else that is designed to draw attention to the game.

Pre- and post-release

• What was the game's release date?
• What is the earliest reference you can find to the game before the release date? Was it announced at a gaming conference (such as E3)? How did the publisher get a potential audience excited about the forthcoming game?
• How did the institution promote the game after it was released? 
• Does the game have any way of making the publisher additional income post-release (such as in-game purchases)?
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• Other
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• Who do you think is the target audience for this game? Make up a potential target audience demographic and explain why you think it fits the game. What psychographic groups would be attracted to this game?
• What else can you find from the marketing and promotion of your chosen game? A launch event? Stories appearing in newspapers? Celebrity endorsement? Scandal or controversy?
• How does the campaign make an emotional connection with the audience? What is the audience appeal of the advertising campaign?
• Can you find any images of how the game was promoted in-store - displays, point-of-sale promotions, window displays etc.?
• Write down anything else of interest at the end of your case study blogpost
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