C1- Video Games Flashcards
Who publishes Assassins creed?
Ubisoft
What was special about the launch of Assassin’s Creed III : Liberation
It was initially released on the PS Vita, a handheld gaming console, contrary to other games in the franchise, which were released on console game platforms, such as the Xbox and PlayStation.
Regulation of video games
Different country to country: was regulated in the u
UK by the BBFC until 2012 when this moved to the Video Standards Council (VSC) applying the PEGI system which was established in 2003
How was convergence used with Assassins Creed III and Assassins Creed III: Liberation?
Both games were released at the same time, on the console platforms and the PS Vita respectively. If you brought both copies, you could link them together to unlock extra bonus material.
What theories can be linked to the Franchise?
Livingstone and Lunt (Regulation)- consider the impact of convergence and diversification in media on regulatory practises. New technology opens up new opportunities and arguable new risks that complicate regulation.
David Hesmondhalgh (Industry)- the video game industry is designed to make a profit, they operate in a competitive market. One of the ways they minimise risk is through genre-formatting, this is evident in the Assassins Creed franchise. The marketing of a new game uses audience recognition of the game and the brand as part of the franchise.
Bandura (effects of media)- several games in the franchise have received an 18 rating from PEGI due to largely violent content.
Henry Jenkins (fandom)- video games offer social experiences as well as communities outside of the core gaming experience. The developments in video games technology have expanded the ways in which fans can interact with games producers and the fan community, creating a participatory culture.
Clay Shirky (end of audience)- argued the concept of audiences as passive, argued by Bandura and Gerbner is no longer true, as we now have the technology to “speak back” and create our own media products.
PS Vita
-Was released as part of the 8th generation of video game consoles
-sold over 6 million units worldwide
- Assassins Creed III:Liberation was the first game in the Assassins Creed franchise to use handheld devices.
How does Assassins Creed III: Liberations representation of women differ from other video games?
-There is a female protagonist, the first in the Assassins Creed franchise.
- she is wearing historical military clothes, with a matching hat, which shows her seriousness and how she wants to be taken seriously.
-she is not sexualised or dressed in provocative clothing, like many other video games have done with their female characters, such as lollipop chainsaw, tomb raider and wet.
What is the genre of the Assassins Creed franchise?
historical action-adventure
When was the first and most recent games released?
the first game was released in 2007, the most recent instalment being released in 2023
What perspective are the games set in?
third person
What are the main overarching storylines of the series?
-Desmond Miles, who descends from assassins, and uses a machine to relive his anscetors memories
-various Abstergo employees (a facade for modern templars- the enemies of Desmond and his ancestors) who record genetic memories using software
-Layla Hassan, who used to work for Abstergo, who decides to do her own mission to save humanity for any future disasters.
Other products related to the franchise
a movies titled, Assassins Creed, was released in 2016.
Context for Assassins Creed
-The franchise is published by Ubisoft and encompasses currently 13 incarnations of the game, plus spin offs.
-It is an action-adventure, open world game, played from a third person perspective; each game is set in a historical setting with a new story and time period.
-In 2021, the franchise record sales of 155m units since it’s introduction in 2007. This was helped by the launch of Assassins Creed: Valhalla in 2020 which sold more units in its first week than any other game in the series. However, games in the back catalogue of the franchise continue to be popular.
Industries for Assassins Creed
-Video games are a relitavely new media form.
-Video games are culturally and financially
significant across three major territories (Japan,
Europe and the USA).
-Release of new gaming technology can be major economic events ($106B for PS5 in 4 years)
-In 2021 the value of the global video games
market was estimated to be $138.4 billion, increasing from nine years prior.
Audiences for Assassins Creed
-Have now had a female protagonist (changing attitudes to the gaming demographic)
