14th November

                                                           Essay comparing Assassin’s Creed 3

 with Double Fine Adventure

 

Introduction

The games Assassins Creed 3 (AC3) and Double Fine Adventure (DFA) are both video games, however they are funded differently and have a lot of differences. Some of these differences are things like the way the games are published, who publishes them, the game design, who designs them, the way the game is marketed, how are they marketed, and the way the games are distributed, how are they distributed and we can make comparisons between the two and how successful each game will be with the differences that they have.

Publishing

Both of these games are published differently, for example Assassins Creed 3 (AC3) id published by Ubisoft which is an established publishing company, an advantage of using such a well known company for publishing is that because everyone knows the company, the games audience trusts that using Ubisoft, the game AC3 will be a success. However, using such a well known publisher can have a backfiring effect on the game, for example AC2 used Ubisoft as its publisher and i think it lost the AC franchise 52 million dollars even though the AC game sold 29 million units. Having a big name publisher can have other bad effects on the game for example the publisher decides the target audience for the game and also the genre of the game so the publisher is likely to choose a ‘trendy’ game genre in order to make money and this can take some of the originality out of the games being created. Also the audience of the game is just fed the finished version of the product and have no say in how the game is created or the storyline.  With Crowd Funding including the game Double Fine Adventure (DFA) the game creators have full control of the game so they can choose the genre of the game and what the target audience for the game is, and whilst the game is being created, the people who funded it are kept up to date on the website page via videos and blogs, the funders are also involved in the game and have a say in the storyline, characters etc. However, using crowd funding can have negative effects in that the idea for the game may not raise enough funds needed to create the game.



Design

The design for the two games is different also, with the two games having different genres in some respects but also being the same in some ways. For example, AC3 is a multi genre game consisting of most genres such as sandbox, action, adventure and fantasy. DFA has an adventure genre as it is a point and click game and both of these genres have been chosen by the creators and designers to suit their target audience. AC3, being the huge gaming franchise that it is, used 1,300 people to help design the game over the development period which although it would cost a lot more, makes AC3 a much more in depth and in detail game. AC3 is a 3D game which contrasts with the 2D point and click game of DFA. DFA used only 30 people to make the design for the game and even though that means the game will probably not be as in depth and detailed as AC3, it will have cost a lot less to make so both games have their advantages and disadvantages when designing their game, however even though it will have cost a lot more to do, AC3 will have a much better game design as it is 3D.

 


Marketing

 
With crowdfunding, DFA will not have to spend a lot of money at all to get people to be attracted to their product as they already have their audience of 87,142 people before the game has even been produced, also all of their marketing has been done on either Kickstarter or Youtube which has cost the game designers nothing. DFA can be confident that their game will be a success even though they are not paying anything for marketing because even though the designers asked for $400,000 to make the game, they received $9m in the first 9 hours. AC3 are using Ubisoft which will cost them a lot of money to do but it should pay off as it should appeal to lot of people. AC3 will be advertising on TV, radio and with posters etc. Which although it will cost a lot more than DFA cost of $0, it will bring in more money as more people will know about it and AC3 has already sold just over 3.5 million copies.


 Distribution

Both of the games are distributed differently in some ways, for example AC3 will be released in shops for people to buy or will be available for people to buy online, this will cost the designers of the game money to put their game in the shops. Because of this, AC3 will get more publicity so more people will probably want to buy it making the game designers more money. DFA is different because it will not be released in shops, instead it will be available to download or buy online and because to help make the game random people pledged money to make the game better, the people that pledged money will receive a reward for their help, for example if a person pledged $15 or more, they will receive the finished game free on PC, Mac, and Linux, or via Steam for PC and Mac, exclusive access to the Beta on Steam, access to the video series, and access the private discussion community so people have already got incentives to buy the game and these rewards go all the way up to $10,000 or more and the people that pledged this much money or more get to have lunch with Tim Schafer and receive all of the rewards between this amount of money and $15

Conclusion

In conclusion, the two games have so much difference to them even though they are both video games, AC3 is a big franchise with a lot of money so you would expect the franchise to make the designers a lot of money however the publishing, marketing and distribution will cost them a lot of money, especially using a big name publisher Ubisoft. DFA on the other hand, is not expected to be as much of a hit as AC3 but the fact that the designers of this game will save money on publishing, marketing and distribution means that the designers can focus on selling their products. However, even with the costs of marketing, publishing and distribution you would still expect AC3 to be a much more successful game than DFA because it is a well known franchise with expert game designers.

 

 

5th November 2012

Assassins Creed III development

Game Design- the game design has changed from the other games from the series because there is a different main character named Connor as oppose to Ezio. The storyline is basically the same as any other modern day hero game, Connor has to save the world which has been prophesied in the Revelations game. Connor is a half native, half british assassin in the 18th century which is more modern than the other games. The storyline is probably the games strongest point when we start with Connor getting accused of killing his own father, we go through Connor's life from being a scared young boy and turning into a fearsome assassin.

Game Engine- AnvilNext http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSM5B2Fz2jw

Gameplay- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZrklEy9ohQ

PUBLISHING

Target Audience - The target audience is 18+ due to the 18 rated certificate. However, in reality   

we know it is aimed at 12 - 40+ as Ubisoft know that parents will buy this game as a gift for christmas or birthdays for their sons who are under the age of 18. Though Ubisoft will not admit they aim at younger than 18.

Genre - Assassins Creed III is a multi-genre game unlike most other games. It's genre's are:

                                                                                                                    Sandbox

                                                                                                                    Beat em up

                                                                                                                    Platform

                                                                                                                    Adventure

                                                                                                                    3rd Person

                                                                                                                    Stealth

                                                                                                                    Puzzle/Strategy

This sort of multi-genre game play makes the game experience a lot more immersive and enjoyable. The mixture of genre's makes it less tedious and makes the gamer enjoy playing it more as it is not just a simple beat em up boring game anymore.

Narrative - Considering under 30 people created the narrative for this game it is extremely well done. 

Muskets, starving wolves, waist-high snowdrifts and a little something called the American Revolution are but a fraction of the perils Conor will face in the new world. But there is an even bigger challenge he will have to overcome, the shadow of Ezio Auditore, the beloved Italian assassin who terrorized Templars some 200 years before Connor took his first breath. Events throughout lead to him becoming an assassin and transform him into who of the most efficient killers at this side of the Atlantic. 

How do franchises establish and develop continuing sales figures ?

One of the ways companies such as ubisoft ensure their game will sell, is through the use of marketing. We now live in the 'digital age' as a consequence most adverts we see are on digital formats ie. TV or on the internet. However companies still use magazines and non-digital formats to get the message spread.

When a new game is released one of the first major glimpses we get of the game is a short cinematic style animation. This doesn't use any or much game play footage, as its not developed by this point, however it gives the viewer a taste if the narrative and what they'll be getting up to. For example the following link is to a trailer released by ubisoft regarding their latest release Assassins Creed 3. It contains a narrator who gives you an insight into who the character is and what he believes in. It also focuses heavily on the hand to hand combat, a main feature of the assassins creed franchise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32U_KOUuQ74&feature=fvwrel

Later on once the game has been developed further, companies will release actual game play footage in order to stir excitement in the gaming community. This can often be found online on sites such as YouTube  They again show the main features if the game that people who have bought previous copies love so dearly. Which in Assassins Creeds case is the hand to hand combat and the free running mixed with stealth and strategy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZrklEy9ohQ

This is an example of the kind of trailer that gets advertised on the television. it contains a mix of game play and animation edited together to show as many aspects of the game off as possible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6DnfH0Uc3I

However in this day and age its important not to forget about the other areas where games will be advertised. for example thousands of people buy and subscribe to gaming magazines every year, purely to read reviews and gain knowledge about up and coming releases. The creators of Assassins Creed 3 also exploited this area when advertising their new game. 

Distribution: Companies use many methods in order to get the game to the people. They Sell the games in bulk to stores such as GAME, Game-station  Amazon, HMV etc. These are the places where people will go in order to get their copy. Many copies are in fact shipped around the world to countries all over the map. And each establishment will then do their own advertising in order to shift their copies and make a profit.

Sales:
On March 30, 2012, Ubisoft stated that in the three weeks since the game's pre-order campaign began, numbers had already surpassed the total US pre-order numbers of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and exceeded 10 times more than the pre-orders Assassin's Creed: Revelations attracted in a comparable time frame. On October 25, 2012, Ubisoft announced that the game is the most pre-ordered game in the company's history, more than doubling pre-orders for Revelations, the previous record holder.
Assassin's Creed III was the best selling game in the United Kingdom in the week of its release, with the best sales of the series to date. It was the biggest launch in publisher Ubisoft's history and the second biggest launch of any game in the UK in 2012 (behind FIFA 13). It doubled the launch week sales of Assassin's Creed II, and beat 2011's Revelations by over 117,000 copies.
Ubisoft announced that sales for Assassin's Creed III in the first week were estimated to be 3.5 million, which represents a 100 percent year-over-year increase from Revelations (taken from wikipedia)

Multiplayer
The multiplayer mode features over 12 modes, one of which is Domination where players hold certain points on the map. You will be able to play as the British military and the mode is "run" by Abstergo, as with previous games. Game mechanics from the single player will be carried over to the multiplayer, therefore requiring players to utilise stealth and advance assassination techniques. Finally, female assassins will be included. Assassin's Creed III also features a new co-operative multiplayer mode called 'Wolf Pack'. The mode allows players to form teams of up to 4 people and work collectively to eliminate NPC assassination targets, known as 'Moles'. There are a total of 25 sequences, or 'waves' to complete, with each wave increasing in difficulty (taken from wikipedia)

After watching videos of the game on Youtube, I dont think I personally would enjoy the game because it seems a bit complicated and i play video games simply to chill out. However, for someone that enjoys the franchise it looks like it would be a very enjoyable game to play if you want to play the single player mode, after watching an online multiplayer game of domination it looks a bit boring, i'm not sure whether it is just that game mode or not but it didnt look very exciting as there were very few confrontations with enemies to kill.


Below are two pictures from the online multiplayer game modes: