The Sims FreePlay CSP - Audience and Industries
Audience
Read this App Store description and the customer reviews for The Sims FreePlay and answer the following questions:
1) What game information is provided on this page? Pick out three elements you think are important in terms of making the game appeal to an audience.
It states in language of the game can be played in English as well as 11 more, which enables it to have this global element.
It is 13+ which allows a wider range of audience.
And phone software compatibility is very important to make sure as many people can play the game as possible.
2) How does the game information on this page reflect the strong element of participatory culture in The Sims?
It is described as a simulation in the category section, allowing each player to create what they envision, it also updates the new additions to the app in the apple store even before purchase, making potential players feel included before they purchase.
3) Read a few of the user reviews. What do they suggest about the audience pleasures of the game?
Personal identity - reviewer said "I love taking more dog to the park" and that they wished their sims could do the same for their pets
Diversion and entertainment - every reviewer said they loved the game
Voyeuristic pleasure - love watching their sims lives
Vicarious pleasure - Experiencing events or emotions indirectly through the characters in a story.
Participatory culture
Read this academic journal article - The Sims: A Participatory Culture 14 Years On. Answer the following questions:
1) What did The Sims designer Will Wright describe the game as?
Akin to ‘a train set or a doll’s house where each person comes to it with their own interest and picks their own goals’ (Wright 1999).
2) Why was development company Maxis initially not interested in The Sims?
When Wright pitched his latest game concept to development company Maxis, using the descriptor of ‘doll house’, he was met with little enthusiasm. The board of directors thought that ‘doll houses were for girls, and girls didn’t play video games’ (Seabrook 2006). Luckily for Wright – and for Maxis in general – publisher Electronic Arts (which had bought Maxis in 1997) saw potential in the idea – something that would appeal to both boys and girls, and men and women alike.
3) What is ‘modding’? How does ‘modding’ link to Henry Jenkins’ idea of ‘textual poaching’?
Modding - players are able to modify game assets by manipulating the game code.
Textual poaching - describes an aspect of fandom where the consumers and audience contribute to the product through activities ranging from writing fanfiction to drawing fanart, from cosplaying
to even penning simple gaming reviews.
4) Look specifically at p136. Note down key quotes from Jenkins, Pearce and Wright on this page.
Pearce noted, ‘The original Sims series has the most vibrant emergent fan culture of a single-player game in history’ (2009: 272).
Even before the first game was released, Jenkins notes, ‘there were already more than fifty fan Web sites dedicated to The Sims. Today, there are thousands’ (2006b: 166).
Wright saying: ‘We were probably responsible for the first million or so units sold but it was the community which really brought it to the next level’.
5) What examples of intertextuality are discussed in relation to The Sims? (Look for “replicating works from popular culture”)
Star Trek, Star Wars, The X-Files and Japanese anime and manga were extremely popular.
6) What is ‘transmedia storytelling’ and how does The Sims allow players to create it?
A process wherein the primary text encoded in an official commercial product could be dispersed over multiple media, both digital and analogue in form (Jenkins 2007).
7) How have Sims online communities developed over the last 20 years?
There are mentors and mentees for the game where the mentors encourage creativity and productivity.
8) What does the writer suggest The Sims will be remembered for?
It will be remembered for the cult following that it engendered well beyond the usual lifespan of a popular computer game; and also for the culture of digital production it helped to pioneer, one that remains such a staple of fan and game modding communities today.
Read this Henry Jenkins interview with James Paul Gee, writer of Woman as Gamers: The Sims and 21st Century Learning (2010).
1) Why does James Paul Gee see The Sims as an important game?
He believes that it is "cutting edge" and it is an important game that is meant to take people "beyond gaming"
2) What does the designer of The Sims, Will Wright, want players to do with the game?
He wants to empower p;layers to be like designers, to learn new skills that are expressed beyond the game and express creativity
3) Do you agree with the view that The Sims is not a game – but something else entirely?
I agree with this statement, as the game - as most art does - mimics life, although it is a life of fantasy to whatever capacity the player is willing to go. It has taken the antisocial stereotype out of the gaming world, whereby players are still able to connect with the real world.
Industries
Electronic Arts & Sims FreePlay industries focus
Read this Pocket Gamer interview with EA’s Amanda Schofield, Senior Producer on The Sims FreePlay at EA's Melbourne-based Firemonkeys studio. Answer the following questions:
1) How has The Sims FreePlay evolved since launch?
When it started you could only control 16 sims, have a pet dog and a career, now its this rich world that covers ever aspect of the Sims' lives.
2) Why does Amanda Schofield suggest ‘games aren’t products any more’?
It is more than a product but a service built in partnership with our players, as they take feedback from them and improve as quickly as possible.
3) What does she say about The Sims gaming community?
It is very active and always hungry to see more features and content in the game
4) How has EA kept the game fresh and maintained the active player base?
When something is particularly exciting to the players they build on it and put more effort into that section so that they can enjoy it.
5) How many times has the game been installed and how much game time in years have players spent playing the game? These could be great introductory statistics in an exam essay on this topic.
There have been over 200 million installs and players have spent 78,000 years in game time in Sims.
Read this blog on how EA is ruining the franchise (or not) due to its downloadable content. Answer the following questions:
Voyeuristic pleasures, diversion/entertainment and Vicarious pleasures
2) What examples of downloadable content are presented?
Expansion packs and stuff packs ie. new clothing or furniture options, without expanding on the game mechanics
3) How did Electronic Arts enrage The Sims online communities with expansion packs and DLC?
Made them pay $9.99 for expansion packs and DLC which the players argued was something that should be apart of the game anyways, EA were accused as trying to grab extra cash out of their customers.
4) What innovations have appeared in various versions of The Sims over the years?
Pets and iconic star wars characters
5) In your opinion, do expansion packs like these exploit a loyal audience or is it simply EA responding to customer demand?
I think at some point they do exploit their customers as their should not be add-ons for fundamental things your sim needs to progress. However the reason their are add-ons is because their is a high demand for it.
The ‘Freemium’ gaming model
Read this Business Insider feature on freemium gaming and multiplayer games. Answer the following questions:
1) Note the key statistics in the first paragraph.
Some players — as evidenced by this League of Legends subreddit — complain of spending more than $2,000 on the game over the course of several years.
The singer of the Sex Pistols, John Lyndon, claimed last year that he spent over $15,000 on iPad apps.
2) Why does the freemium model incentivise game developers to create better and longer games?
The more add-ons the longer people want to play the games, there also needs to be an incentive to these additions to make it worth it for the player
3) What does the article suggest regarding the possibilities and risks to the freemium model in future?
The “freemium” model has proven itself to be incredibly profitable. The question now is how game developers use it to grow without alienating a large share of the gaming community.
Regulation – PEGI
Research the following using the Games Rating Authority website - look at the videos and FAQ section.
1) How does the PEGI ratings system work and how does it link to UK law?
8 content descriptors to help parents determine if a game is appropriate for their child and the rating system is legally enforceable for physical game sales. Making it illegal for retailers to sell or hire rated games to underage customers, doing so can result in a fine and even persecution.
2) What are the age ratings and what content guidance do they include?
Five tier rating system: 3,7,12,16,18
3) What is the PEGI process for rating a game?
There are clear guidelines on sex, bad language and violence that they follow developed by experts in child welfare and protection, and by experts in media regulation. They also listen to the views of parents and young people to ensure the ratings remain up-to-date and reflect current views about what's appropriate for children of different ages to play. The guidelines are kept under constant review in case changes are needed.
A/A* extension tasks
Read this New York Times feature on freemium gaming - you may need to create a free account to access this. Think about the influence of Temple Run and why the bigger gaming studios like Electronic Arts used to avoid the freemium model. Why are they now embracing it?
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