5 video games: Grand Theft Auto V, FIFA 15, LittleBigPlanet 3, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and The Last of Us
Grand Theft Auto V
Developer: Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Release date: 17th September 2013 (PS3 Xbox 360) then an enhanced version was released on the 18th November 2014 (PS4 Xbox one)
Genres: Action and adventure
Narrative: Three protagonists: Michael, Franklin and Trevor are criminals who "risk everything in a series of daring and dangerous heists that could set them up for life". It is set in the fictional state of San Andreas, which is based upon Southern California, in our current time period.
Representation: There is a negative representation of women because they are either shown as prostitutes, strippers or housewives and they are portrayed as incapable and weak as they are never show handling weapons and there are constant sexist remarks throughout the game.
Iconography: There are guns, knifes, vicious dogs and police cars/sirens which are typical of a crime based game which represents how GTA is violent as the characters are constantly 'breaking the law'.
Target audience and popularity: Those above the age of 18 however, the game mainly attracts males from the ages of 15-25 as they are likely to enjoy the violence within it and the criminal based narrative will appeal to them. The game has a huge popularity and within 24 hours of its release, it made more than $800 million in worldwide revenue.
FIFA 15
Developer: EA Canada
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release date: 26th September 2014 in the UK for a variety of consoles including PS4 and Xbox 1
Genres: Sports and football simulation
Representation: There are no female players in the game, only males which makes it clear that the game is aimed at males. There are no negative representations and the game features a variety of football teams across different ethnicities.
Iconography: Football kits, footballs, playing fields, referees etc show that the developers tried to make the game as life-like as possible in order to create a realistic experience for those playing the game.
Target audience and popularity: The audience is mainly from the ages 8-22 and those who are fans of sports, football in particular. It has proved very popular and has good reviews, for example: GameRankings provided FIFA 15 with an average rating of 81.57% for the PS4 version. However, some users have complained that their version of the game suffers from lagging and general gameplay bugs.
LittleBigPlanet 3
Developer: Sumo Digital
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Release date: It was released worldwide through the November and December of 2014 for the PlayStation 3 and 4.
Genre: Puzzle-platformer
Narrative: The narrative is set in a fictional world and it revolves around three new protagonists: Oddsock, Toggle and Swoop who all have their own unique traits and abilities and along with the original character, SackBoy, they have to prevent a creator called 'Newton' from destroying their creative paradise. The characters are all animated and extremely fictional.
Target audience and popularity: The game targets a younger audience, both male and female, from the ages of 7 plus and it may also attract adults who enjoy creative concepts like those in LittleBigPlanet. It has received fairly good reviews and GameRankings gave it a score of 80.78% and it was given a 7/10 from Eurogamer.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Developer: Sledgehammer games (Microsoft, PS4, Xbox 1) and High Moon Studios (PS3 Xbox 360)
Publisher: Activision
Release date: November 4th, 2014
Genre: First-person shooter
Narrative: The single player story follows private Jack Mitchell of the United States Marine Corps and it focuses on his interaction with a private military corporation, Atlas. He has to complete a variety of missions and the player has the option of using different weapons including Rifles, Shotguns, Machine guns, Pistols and more.
Representation: Although the protagonist, Mitchell is male, there is still a strong female character within the game. Her name is Ilona and she is a part of the Atlas organization. She is presented as the highest skilled marksman in that organization and she is also portrayed as one of the smartest and most talented field agents. It is quite rare to see a positive representation of women in games like COD and the game goes to show that women can play a strong role in a 'military power fantasy' world and it is not just men who display importance.
Target audience and popularity: The target audience is around 10 plus and although the game has been rated an 18, I think it targets people below that age because they are likely to have experienced other first-person shooting games so will be familiar with the violence and probably mature enough to understand not to repeat the behaviour they see in the game in real life. The game has a high popularity and GameRankings awarded it 83.50% for the PS4 version and it was given an 8/10 from GameSpot.
The Last of Us
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Release date: 14th June 2013 (PS3) 1st August 2014- UK (PS4)
Genres: Action-adventure and survival horror
Narrative: It is based in a post-apocalyptic world and set in the United States. It follows a male and female protagonist, Joel and Ellie in which the player controls Joel who escorts Ellie across the US. The player uses a variety of weapons including: Rifles, Shotguns and Flame Throwers in order to defend himself and Ellie from hostile humans and zombies who have been 'infected by a mutated strain of the Cordyceps fungus'.
Representation: There is a good gender balance within The Last of Us and there is not an unfair representation of males or females. We see the dominant ideology come through within the game as both protagonists are white, straight and fairly young and this applys to most of the games I have spoken about which represents a race inequality.
Iconography: The overall mise-en-scene of the game is realistic as to what a 'post-apocalyptic' world would look like based on peoples perceptions of what it should look like- torn down, isolated atmosphere, lack of supplies etc, The actual supernatural creatures within the game (zombies) fit in with the genre of survival horror as they are gory looking so symbolise the violence within the game and possibly the idea that certain parts may be scary,
Target audience and popularity: I believe the target audience is those aged 12- 25 as they are likely to understand the post-apocalyptic themed narrative and may have had experience with similar games or even TV shows such as The Walking Dead. I also think it is aimed at males and females due to there being a male and female protagonist, making the game relateable for everyone. The game received very high ratings, GameRankings gave it 95% (PS3) and 96% (PS4) and it was given a 10/10 from Eurogamer.
Radio Stations
5 radio stations: Capital FM, Classic FM, Xfm, Heart, BBC Radio 4
Capital FM
Broadcast area: United Kingdom
Owners: Global Radio and Communicorp
Genres: Speech and music based
Target audience and popularity: It targets people in the age group of 14-34, those who enjoy popular, mainly pop music and those who are fans of the presenters on the show. It is very popular and has 7.1 million listeners.
Type of music it plays: Capital is constantly updating its playlist with up-to-date music which is popular among its target audience. For example: 'Don't' by Ed Sheeran and 'Love Me Like You Do' by Ellie Goulding are often played. I noticed that Capital often repeats a series of songs every two hours which means I do not listen to it for a long period of time as it gets very repetitive and I feel that at times, it lacks originality.
Other features of the station: The presenters of the Capital breakfast show are Dave Berry and Lisa Snowdon. Other presenters include: Will Cozens, Greg Burns and Marvin Humes. They have phone-ins for audience interactivity, competitions again for more involvement with their audience, outside broadcasts, live concerts including 'The Summertime Ball' and the very popular 'Vodafone Big Top 40'.
Classic FM
Broadcast area: United Kingdom
Owner: Global Radio
Genres: Speech and music based
Target audience and popularity: Classic FM targets an older, possibly more sophisticated audience ranging from 35 plus. It will also attract fans of classical music and of the presenters on the station. It has 5.6 million listeners every week, 70% of whom are in the ABC1 bracket.
Type of music it plays: The station plays a wide range of classical music and it has increased the popularity of classical music by providing a refreshing approach to it and it has been claimed that Classic FM has influenced the music choices of other radio stations such as BBC radio 3. The current head of music is Sam Jackson and a variety of old and new pieces of music are played, including tracks from films and video games. For example: Lord of the Rings- The Council of Elrond.
Other features of the station: Classic FM has many presenters including: Alexander Armstrong, Charlotte Green and Nick Bailey. The presenters each have their own scheduled time slot in order to appeal to different audiences at different times of the day, for example: Charlotte Green has a 'culture club' on Sunday's from 3-5pm in which she speaks to special guests from the world of the arts.
Xfm
Broadcast area: United Kingdom
Owner: Global radio
Genres: Music and speech based
Target audience and popularity: Xfm targets an older audience ranging from 15 plus who enjoy alternative music from a variety of 'indie' bands and singers. It will also appeal to those who are fans of the DJ's and those who listen to Xfm may be fans of gigs and live events. Xfm has 941,000 listeners each week, 67% of whom are in the ABC1 bracket.
Type of music it plays: Xfm plays alternative music, most of which is indie rock. The bands and singers featured include: Imagine Dragons, Ben Howard, Milky Chance and Foo Fighters. Songs played include: 'I bet my life', 'Keep Your Head Up', 'Stolen Dance' and 'Congregation'. Personally, I really enjoy listening to this radio station as I like the genres of music it plays and they play bands and artists that I am a fan of.
Other features of the station: They have a variety of presenters including: Matt Dyson, Jo Good and Ian Camfield. They are involved in festivals such as Benicassim and they have competitions such as to win concert tickets. Also, they have shows such as 'The Xfm Breakfast Show' in which Jon Holmes hosts from 6am-10am every weekday and he plays music, has special guests etc.
Heart
Broadcast area: United Kingdom
Owner: Global Radio
Genres: Music and speech based
Target audience and popularity: Heart targets an audience between the ages of 25-44, 59% of which are female. It has 9 million listeners every week and these listeners are likely to enjoy a variety of music genres and also may be fans of the DJs.
Type of music it plays: Heart plays both new and updated music and older songs in order to attract and appeal to a wider range of people. Newer songs it has played include: 'Thinking Out Loud' by Ed Sheeran and 'Uptown Funk' by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars. Older songs it has played include ones from the band 'Abba'.
Other features of the station: There are many DJ's for heart including: Toby Anstis, Mark Wright and Emma Bunton. They have phone-ins, competitions and weekly shows such as: 'The Wind Down With Jenny Francis' from 10pm-1am Sunday to Thursday in which she plays relaxing, wind down music. There is also the Vodafone Big Top 40 with Marvin Humes on Sundays 4-7pm and 'All 80's with Jason Donovan' every Sunday from 7pm.
BBC Radio 4
Broadcast area: United Kingdom
Owner: BBC
Genre: Speech based
Target audience and popularity: BBC Radio 4 targets the older demographic, those who are sophisticated and like factual information and discussions on serious or important topics. The station has 10.9 million listeners a week who are most likely to mainly consist of the ABC1 bracket and the purpose of the radio station is to inform, educate and entertain them.
Features of the station: Unlike the other radio stations I have discussed, Radio 4 is not music-based and is primarily speech based. The different aspects to this station include: in-depth news, current affairs, drama, readings, discussions, comedy, factual and magazine programmes. The typical schedule for Radio 4 is as follows (taken from wikipedia) "Book of the Week at 09:45, Woman's Hour at 10:00, You and Yours at 12:00, The World at One and a repeat of the previous day's The Archers at 14:00, the Afternoon Drama at 14:15. At 17:00 another current affairs programme, PM, is broadcast. At 18:30 there is a regular comedy 'slot', The Archers at 19:00, Front Row at 19:15 and a repeat of 15 Minute Drama at 19:45. The World Tonight airs at 22:00, followed by Book at Bedtime at 22:45. At weekends the schedule is different, with 'fixtures' at various times".
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