Task 2 – Job Roles

Creative Development The creative director is responsible for the overall vision of the product: game play, visual style, story, audio assets, cinematic, and marketing materials. This person is often the creator of the game concept, and may serve as the primary designer. He or she works under the supervision of the producer and is tasked with managing the teams of artists, designers, and programmers, interacting directly with senior supervisors. Game Designer Game Designers devise what a game consists of and how it plays, defining all the core elements. They work on the setting of the games story, the characters and the flow of the story. Level Editor Level Editors define and create interactive architecture for a segment of a game, including the landscape, buildings and objects Lead Artist Lead Artists are responsible for the overall look of a game and review the elements that have been applied and tell the editors what is needed. Technical Artist Technical Artists act as a bridge between the Artists and Programmers working on the game. The technical artist is the person that makes sure the assets are involved with the game without there being any issues for when the game is released. Artist Games Artists create the visual elements of a game, such as characters, scenery, objects, vehicles, surface textures and clothing. Animator  Games Animators are responsible for the portrayal of movement and behavior within a game. Audio Engineer  Games Audio Engineers create the soundtrack for a game, including music, sound effects, character voices and spoken instructions Technical Development Game Programmer The game programmers are the people that write, construct an programme the games. They are the people that put everything together and make sure everything runs and controls. Lead Game Programmer The lead programmer is the person that is in control of the programmers and is the person that makes sure everything is coded and programmed correctly before it the game is released Project Implementation Project Manager/Producer The project manager is the person that is in charge of the delivery of the game between all the different stores and the project manager is also the person that controls the budget. Assistant Producer The assistant producer is the person that works with the games production staff and are given a specific job within the industry this is either working in art , design or programming External Producer The External producer is the person that is in charge on making sure there is a successful delivery with the games. Creative Director The creative director is the person that while in development they make sure the game plays ,looks and sounds as it should and has every aspect in the game. Quality Assurance QA Tester QA Testers test, tune and debug a game and suggest refinements that ensure its quality and play ability, assuring quality in a game and finding all its flaws before it goes public Business Development Public Relations Manage As a Public Relations manager your job is to manage the companies image and reputation. This job is good if you like daily challenges. In this job you would need great communication skills as you will be talking to a great range of different people. Product Manager The product manager is the person that keeps the games alive and is the person that works on the franchise, when the game has been released. Marketing Executive The marketing executive is the person that shows off and promotes the employers products and ideas, they show off all there skills and advertise the game throughout the media. Marketing Manager A marketing manager is a person that promotes the products and its companies brand.A Marketing Manager must be fully well organised and well prepared for the outcomes and challenges.

Task 3 – Financial, Industry and Market trends.

There’s no denying that Android and iOS gaming have become quite popular over the last few years, and gaming PCs are now strong enough to outclass Sony or Microsoft’s next consoles. This means that if the three major console makers hope to succeed this coming generation, they will have to learn to adapt in a rapidly changing market. The current generation of consoles saw the beginning of this transition. Applications for Netflix, along with Xbox music and other media apps, have turned gaming consoles into media centers. Even though consoles cannot be upgraded like PC’s and will inevitably become outdated, they are still very important to the gaming industry. One of the biggest features and draws of video game consoles are the exclusive games. This being said most major games are tailored to run on video game consoles. Since most major games are built to run on consoles then video game consoles are really setting the standard for what systems all video games are being built for. Having new consoles not only affects the capabilities of the consoles themselves but it also affects the types of games that are released on PC as well. Sony and Xbox do plan to release their next generation consoles i.e PlayStation 5 and what ever xbox come up with next , respectively. So, I think this would be a huge advantage for the Console companies because people are definitely going to buy and experience something new that the console companies promise to provide.Unlike generations past, consoles no longer compare to high-end gaming PCs. With it being impossible to keep up in terms of power, consoles must continue to focus on their unique features. But some of the major aspects that give the consoles an extra edge are the motion sensors (Xbox Kinnect, PlayStation Move etc). They have revolutionised the gaming experience but according to personal opinion, they have not enhanced or made the gameplay experience better that much. Regardless.The latest piece of hardware at the moment is VR with oculus releasing pretty early for PC owners now and with the release of the HTC vive early 2016 and with both Sony and Microsoft announcing something to do with VR there will probably be a battle about that in the coming years. For years games developers are assigned to 1 console like the makers of Halo is assigned to Microsoft and Naughty Dog only make games for sonys consoles, this has been a big argument for quite a while and this is so people who enjoy Halo will buy the Xbox consoles and people who like Naughty Dogs games will buy Sony's consoles, there will always be a game assigned to one console even if it is something like the Fifa games, These games have been out every year and from the start of Fifa 15 Electronic Arts announced Legend's for there ultimate team however you may only get these legends on Xbox only. Another example is the Call of Duty franchise, for years Call of Duty has announced that there DLC map packs will be available 30 days on Xbox than Playstation so people who really enjoyed that series will buy that console so they dont have to wait an extra month to play the new maps however with the release of Black Ops 3 the 30 day exclusivity has gone over to Playstation this has caused a lot of people to purchase a playstation console.  

Task 4 – Contracts, Legal and Ethical Obligations.

In the games industry there are contactual, legal and ethical obligations.

contractual

Employment

An Employment contract is an agreement between the employer and employee. the contract of employment denotes a relationship of economic dependence and social subordination, for example an employer will agree to pay a certain wage, as well as treat the employee with proper respect and fairness, while the employee will agree to complete their given tasks to the extent of the contractual agreement as well as treat their employer with respect.

Development

Within the Games industry, it is common for publishers to hire game developers to create games.When this happens, the two companies form a development agreement in the form of a contract. This agreement states the terms, ownership and warranties regarding the game in development.

For example, within the terms, it will be decided how much the publisher will pay the developer to create the game and whether or not their will be royalties or what the rate of royalties will be.

Ownership: who owns the IP (Intellectual property) the developers or the publishers? This can be essential to both parties. If the IP is successful, ownership can be an asset to both parties, as the party with ownership of the IP will then be able to continue producing related merchandise without input from, or payment to the other party.

Warranties: This is an agreement which binds the developers to using only the source code which they have created, while also binding the publishers to only asking the developers to create a game which they have the rights to.

License

When a publisher wishes to have a game made about a movie, tv show, toys, etc.. The publisher and the owner of the IP make up a contract which specifies the details of the license.
These details spell out what the publisher can and can't do with the IP. For example, the publisher may only be able to use certain characters or locations from the IP within their game.

However, it can also affect which platforms the IP owner is willing to allow the game to be published on, PS Vita, Wii U, etc..

The territories in which the game is released can also be part of the license, for example: The game could be released within Europe, but not the USA.

There is also a term for how long the contract will last. They don't normally run longer than five years. After this term has ended, the license holder no longer has the right to produce merchandise related to the licensed

NDA

An NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) is designed to ensure that confidential information is not leaked to the public by a second party. For example, if a developer were to outsource another development studio, an NDA would have to be agreed upon by this second development studio in order to ensure that they do not divulge confidential information to the public, Gameplay systems, the games story or even the games title are good examples.

This is also true in the case of a Closed Beta. A Closed Beta is a portion of a video game which a game developer or publisher has released to a select few in order to test out a video game, reveal bugs and generally ensure that it is fun. These tests are essential to the development of a video game, but could be catastrophic for the games financial success if information is leaked so early.

Anyone caught breaking an NDA could face dire consequences in a court of Law. IP.

Collaboration

A collaboration agreement would be used in a situation which involves an indie developer, or someone who creates games as a hobby. It is used to figure out the ownership and compensation involved in creating a game.

A collaboration agreement is designed to clearly state who owns the IP, who does what, who gets what, the way the IP will be used, and how the project will end.

Legal 

IP

IP (Intellectual Property) is a term used to describe many different types of creations originating from a persons imagination. 

Under intellectual law, owners of IP's are granted exclusive rights to intangible assets such as, Music, literacy and art, etc.. 

Within the gaming industry an IP can range from being a single piece of artwork to an entire franchise, therefore the ownership of an IP can be everything to a publisher. It is not uncommon for IP's to be sold on to other publishers or developers, this has happened with many popular IP's such as, "Crash Bandicoot" and "Spyro the Dragon".

Sometimes after an IP has been out for a while they tend to reboot the game. This meaning they make new concept artwork and redesign all the characters. A good example for would be Devil May Cry, With devil may cry they redesigned there main character and redesigned all there enemies.

Copyright

A copyright is used to protect an authors work from use by another person or company.
A copyright can protect numerous things, from titles, characters, music and the list goes on.

For example, we all know about "Sonic the Hedgehog" the little guy from Sega who runs fast, collects gold rings and spends his time ruining the evil plots of Doctor Eggman. Let's say I created a game called Speedy the porcupine, who runs quick, collects ruby rings and spends his time ruining the dastardly plans of Mr. Manegg,

Trademark 

A trademark is the mark which identifies a product, they can take their form in names, logo's slogans, etc..
Trademarks are regsitered for specific products within certain classes, that's not to say trademarks can't be similar to one another. As long as it is different in some way, it is usually ok.

Patent 

A patent is basically the function of a product, in the gaming industry this could be related to a publishers/developers game play mechanics.

Without the permission of the patent inventor, others can not recreate and then sell on a product of the same function, it would need to have notable differences to set it apart from the original patent.

However much like an IP, patents can be sold on or rented out. This can lead to many variations of the same patent across the market.

Within the Gaming industry, a good example of this would be the "Unreal Engine" This is a game engine which many developers have used to make various games, however despite this, these games can still be easily set apart.

Registered Design

Registered designs are the eye candy of the whole IP package, they can be the promotional artwork for the game, the box art or any related art work.

Registered Designs allow publishers/developers to give the consumer or even a developer an idea of how they envision the game, this allows the consumer to summarise for themselves what the game will be like from these designs, while also inspiring the developer who is creating the game.

Ethical

Violence

Violence is a common part of video games today. Many people believe that by playing violent games, the player can also become influenced by it and therefore become violent themselves.

Violence is demonstrated in many forms within video games, from the firearm based battles of "Call of Duty" to the stealthy assassination style of "Assassins Creed". It is not uncommon for certain individuals to blame their behaviour on something which they have seen in a game. In fact, there was a case on the release day of "Grand Theft Auto V" in which a gang of youths attacked and stole from another youth in order to gain his copy of "Grand Theft Auto V". Their reasoning behind the attack? "It's what the main character from Grand Theft Auto would have done."

Rating - PEGI 

PEGI (Pan European Game Information) ratings are used to aid parents/guardians in picking an appropriate video game for their children. It does this via a range of age listings and icons which represent the content of the game. These days it is now illegal to sell a video games to children who are not old enough to meet the PEGI rating of said game.

Despite the PEGI rating system, it is not uncommon for those who do not meet the PEGI ratings to acquire video games which are deemed inappropriate towards their age group. In many cases, parents themselves will purchase these games for their children, thus it isn't uncommon to hear a 7 year old during an online multiplayer match of "Call of Duty" an 18+ rated game.

Stereotyping

Gaming is generally stereotyped as being a guy thing, therefore it is quite common for most video games to be aimed at a male audience.

However in today's age of gaming there is a wide range of developers, both male and female who are creating games for all sorts of people regardless of their age, ethcic or gender.

Therefore despite games such as "God of War", "Assassins Creed" and "Call of Duty" being aimed at a male audience, it is not uncommon for a female audience to be present, and vice versa.. Games such as "Viva Piñata", "Dance Central" and "Little Big Planet" which are aimed towards a female audience, a male audience is also present.

Addiction

Like many things, playing video games has become an addiction for many people. For some the chance to escape the real world and engulf themselves within a world where effort and patience will always result in progression is irresistible. 

A video game addiction, like most addictions is not a good thing. It can cause people to lose out on more important things, such as social activities, relationships and even work.

Education

Education can also be found within video games. In a subtle manner from things such as the settings of video games, "Assassins Creed II - The Italian Renaissance" Then there are games which are directed towards providing an education, "Brain Training". These are the positives of education from video games, however, there are also negatives..

These are inherently covered by the PEGI rating system, but can include drugs, bad language and violence. All things which can be learnt about from certain video games.

Task 5 - Professional Bodies Supporting the Industry

Professional Bodies

UKIE

This is one of the only trade bodies for the Uk,s games and wider entertainment industry they are a non-profit company that focus on growing and supporting games company’s in the UK they do this by making sure they have they have the right economic, cultural, political and social environment needed to make a business grow they help small teams and company’s by giving them advice

IGDA

The IGDA is very similar to UKIE in that they are here to help brig small and large companies together and help the indie companies and AAA studios work in hand to make better games and keep the ideas flowing, the main difference is that this company operates internationally this means that rather than just the UK it’s the whole world they try to bring over 90 companies together in big conferences to boost business and awareness of both bigger and smaller companies  

Women in Games

This is a group created to make games and game companies alike feature and use women rather than all male this mean helping women get jobs in the industry and try to get games to feature women characters whether they are just NPC or the main character itself they want toaddress the games industry's gender imbalance and help fix it and give women a voice in the industry this is slowly working and more and more games are starting to take notice and are starting to include women into the making of the game and making sure that the game is as fair to men and women at the same time

BAFTA

This group used to focus on T.V and films only awarding actors, actresses, directors and writers for their work in making TV shows and films but in recent times they have started to give games industry a chance and have given it its own segment and awards show this helps boost the awareness and ego of the games company’s and integrate members like the CEO and people who work on the games as well as games them self this has help make the industry to be seen as an art form and an important part of the entertainment world

MEF

This is a group that makes documentary’s and talk to all manner of game companies and representatives to help those who are new to the industry understand the way that it works and much more there goal is to help customers or even people wanting to start a career in the industry lean the rules and basics it is an amazing learning resource and is very helpful for those looking to teach or to learn they help understand the political and cultural needs of the mass media world