Pandemic, protest and identity

 the pandemic has a huge negative economic impact on the UK, with industries such as catering and hospitality suffering most.

however, the video games industry thrived throughout the pandemic. the gaming population in the uk has increased by 63 percent during the covid 19 pandemic in 2020

Nintendo stock origonally dipped by 3 percent when they delayed the game from 2019-2020. the decision paid off- extra development time improved the game quality and the release window couldnt be more perfect 

Animal crossing new horizons:

immersion 

online mode

time consuming game with real life clock

a break from real life stresses of covid, released in 2020 

Island creation 

Visit islands

Macro:

Socializing 

Time to play games

Bored

Identity, self expression 

Escapism 

David Gauntlet:

• Identity theory
• our identity is shaped by the  media we watch 
• Audiences gain a sense of identity from the media products e.g. old fashion women's magazines that perpetuated the stereotype of women being housewife's and mothers.
• Older representations like snow white tend to be more binary 
• Now representations are much more diverse, particularly in relation to gender and sexuality.
• online interactive media gives people help with self expression through participation and creation. 

Identity and animal crossing. 

People can gain a sense of identity through the characters, CJ the gay fisherman. 

players can create custom patterns 

Used to celebrate pride and BLM

Luigi Mangione costumes 

Hong Kong Protests 

In Minecraft user express themselves by creating the uncensored library where people have collectively put books that are banned in certain countries so people can read them on Minecraft

Character creation:

• "choose your style" "this can change later" lets people experiment with gender
• while in some countries it was choose your style, in some it was censored to say choose your gender, this is Nintendo way of gaining a bigger audience by accommodating for all beliefs. The game was censored in Japan the country it was created in 
• Players are able to make their own diversity in the game which Nintendo didn't originally include such a prosthetics and vitiligo 

Video game assessment:

writing about animal crossing in an exam

1. Digital convergence
2. leads to leaks, the last of us, death threats 
3. consumers can spread opinions on the media 
4. people want to buy more digitally convergent consoles such as the ps2 

How do media organisations, including through marketing, maintain a variety of audiences nationally and globally. refer to animal crossing to support your answer.

macro

age rating, PEGI

censorship/localisation. gender in animal crossing in some counties such as Japan

dlcs 

niche vs mass audiences smaller budget- hearts of iron 4, niche audience, extended play sessions 

types of gamers, cusual,core,hardcore

motivation model 

lower price point can attract wider audiences

E3 and gamin convenions- generates hype, super smash bros 

ACNH

Competitors with other gammes - doom vs animal crossing 

1. Action- Scorpion/Tarantula attacks 
2. Make friends/socialise - Animal crossing new horizon has an online mode and was released during covid 
3. Challenge/strategy/mastery- Golden tools if your the best 
4. Achievements - Catch all the fishes in animal crossing .
5. Escapism/Immersion- Creating your own world within the game with endless different designs, real time clock and covid release 
6. Creativity/imagination - Build world/ houses especially in DLC happy home designer 

Nintendo direct events