Evolving Media - Animal Crossing

Evolving Media - Animal Crossing

● Animal Crossing
● Radio One Breakfast Show
● Shang-Chi

Module Overview

There are three main stages of making media, they are production, distribution and exhibition /  consumption /  exchange.

Production is making the product.

Distribution is marketing the product to the outside world.

Exhibition / consumption / exchange is the consumer buying and utilizing the product.

(Extra Detail

Production: All Phases of designing, developing and making the media product.

Distribution: This refers to all processes linked to delivering the media product to audiences both through tangible and digital media.

Consumption: Explores the way in which the media product is used by audiences for pleasure but also explores the rise of user generated content across several platforms.

Franchise: It is common for games and films to create a series of games linked by character, theme or even multiverse.)

Making a film

Name: Five Nights at Benny's

● Comedy / Horror
● A security guard is being chases by animatronics but halfway through they team up against a greater threat.

Distribution - Marketing a film

We can market the film on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Ryan Reynolds, FNAB game, billboards, TV, posters and websites.

Animal Crossing - Basic Context

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is part of a franchise by Nintendo; the series has been running since 2001. It is a social simulation game, emulating aspects of real life such as making friends and doing hobbies. It was conceptualized and created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. Animal Crossing: New Horizons was announced in 2018, but released in March 2020. It became the first console game to reach 5 million sales in a month thanks to Covid-19.

It won Best Family Game at The Game Awards 2020. New Horizons eclipsed the lifetime sales of all past instalments within its first six weeks of release; it became the second best selling game on the Switch with 42.79 million sales. New Horizons grossed an estimated $2 billion in its first year, the fifth highest first-year revenue for any game.

Henry Jenkins - Fandom Theory

"If it doesn't spread, it's dead."
 
Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing both released in March 2020, and both contributed to each others success. Their popularity was boosted by prosumers who make memes about the games contrasting styles.
 
New media was accelerated 'participatory culture'; the consumers are now the prosumers.
 
Bo Burnham's song about the internet suggests that the internet has absolutely everything you could ever think of, with some things being good, with a lot of things being bad. Not all content is positive on the internet, and there is little restriction on what is able to be posted. The advancement of technology has allowed media to be shared in a widespread manner; digital convergence has allowed media to be spreadable.
 
Nintendo and Animal Crossing Industry Context
 
● Nintendo is a Japanese company.
● It has sold 5.5 billion games and 800,000 hardware units.
● Estimated value of $55 billion.
● Animal Crossing is the 13th highest selling game of all time
● It released to critical acclaim, averaging a 90/100 review score.
 
Monetization

● Mario Kart Tour was the first time Nintendo tested the free to play model. This is new to Nintendo. Nintendo have since removed loot boxes from the game after its release.

● Animal Crossing Pocket Camp has an in game currency, that can be bought with real life money.

● Nintendo always does the classic model, in which they produce high quality games, and sell them for a high price; they are very traditional. (A switch game typically goes for £50!)

● Unlike Steam for PC, and Microsoft, Sony etcetera, where games can be discounted for 90%+, Nintendo games depreciate slowly in value. Discounts are rarely higher than 20%.

● You can get DOOM: Eternal for £3 in discounted sales, as it is old and has depreciated in value. You can get Animal Crossing: New Horizons for £49.99; it has not depreciated once (Both games released at the same time).

● Games can offer DLC for their game (downloadable content), which is a bitesize bit of content that can be free or bought to add onto a game. It offers certain aspects of a game which were not available before.

● Nintendo originally resisted industry developments in monetization, avoiding the lucrative allure of 'loot boxes' and excessive DLC. Instead, Nintendo generally focused on releasing high quality, bug-free releases.

● However, recently Nintendo has capitalized on the industry monetization trends, they now charge £17.99 for Nintendo Online, allowing users to visit others online.

Console Wars

● Nintendo has escaped the console wars, and now Sony and Microsoft want to do the same. They escaped it as they began to target a different audience and did their own thing.

● The Console Wars is the rivalry and race for better technology (graphics, processing etcetera) that is (or was) between Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft.

● Nintendo doesn't compete on console power, they compete on games instead.

● First-party games appeal to broad audiences more than second-party games. Nintendo's switch is family friendly, which invites families to buy the product.

● Splatoon sold 3.5 million copies in only three days; a game which is family friendly just like the switch.

● "If it's not fun, why bother?" - Nintendo's US president.

● "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad." - Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Mario.

Digital Convergence

● The Switch design is two-in-one. It is the absolute definition of convergence.

● The design of the Switch is very backwards (traditional); some of the most popular apps, such as Netflix, are not accessible on the Switch.

● In Japan, handheld and hybrid devices are king. The people of Japan love them so much thanks to their work culture and long commutes. 

● Nintendo consistently outsells Sony and Microsoft in Japan; Nintendo has the home turf advantage.

● Animal Crossing Pocket Camp released in 2017 and was a huge risk for Nintendo, bringing an established franchise to mobile phones rather than Nintendo hardware.

● Digital convergence on mobile devices means that a lot of audience members who may never own a console of handheld were introduced to the franchise.

Consumers as Prosumers

● Prosumers are proactive, and create content. They are originally passive. Types of content they can create can be (but is not limited to) lets plays, tutorials and mods.

● Nintendo had a poor relationship with the hardcore gaming community. They are known for copyright striking creators; they are typically seen as a villain in this sense. 

● Nintendo do not like mods / modified Switches. 

Synergy with other products
 
As of the weekend, Lego now has sets based around Animal Crossing. This is the same for Monopoly, who have an edition based around Animal Crossing. Nintendo is getting other sources of money by selling some rights to the game to other companies, in return for some money.
 
Amiibo
 
Amiibos are figurines that can be bought as physical items in real life, but can give digital items in the respective game (in this game, Animal Crossing: New Horizons).