Reflecting on the presentation

To conclude this module - we had to create a 15 minute presentation that could potentially be chosen to be viewed by Rebel play. As a group, we decided to use Prezi as we felt this program would help give our presentation a profession look.

What would I do differently next time?
Although I was happy with the presentation, I felt there was definitely room for improvement if I was ever to present it again. I think making more use of the wiki's could have been beneficial as a group rather than social media. At the beginning of the module, I did not think there was much of a difference between blogger and wiki - but now I realise the wiki's would have helped our group if we made more use of it by uploading our work, and keeping more in contact to have a broader idea on the topics we would all be discussing on the presentation. I think I supplied some strong answers throughout the presentation that could have been explained better and in more depth, which I feel could have been shown more If we had rehearsed over our script more.

Overall, I was happy with our groups achievement after the presentation. I felt the group put in some great secure answers. I feel my research techniques have improved with primary and secondary sources and I have learnt more about companies and there markets.

You can view our final presentation here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqDeMQAA04Y&feature=youtu.be

Questionnaire Results and Feedback

I received my questionnaire back from Alsop High School after handing it out to 20 female Media Studies second year sixth form students. Once handed out I asked the student’s if they could leave me feedback after they had filled in the questionnaire.

1)      Do you own a console?
Yes: 6
No:  14

2)      How old are you?
20/20 students ticked the 18 – 22 box.

3)      Do you play the following games?
Grand Theft Auto – 0
The Sims – 7
Modern Warfare - 0
None – 13

4)      Does the violence in games put you off?
Yes - 18
No – 0
Does not bother me – 2

5)      Do you have siblings?

       Yes - 13

       No – 7

6)      If so, what gender?

       Male - 6

       Female -  2

       Both – 9

(3 student’s were only childs)

7)      Does the shape or design of a console persuade you to buy?
Yes - 14

       No - 2

       Does not bother me – 4

8)      Do you think there is a lack of female dominance/representation in games?

        Yes - 20

        No – 0

9)      Would you rather:

       Play a console - 1

       Watch a reality TV show (I.E The X Factor) – 19

              Extra comments:

“My family have had an influence on my gaming experience as my siblings are all male” – Suzanne Kahl

“I’d prefer to watch reality TV such as The X Factor and Big Brother as it’s good to just watch the competition instead of being in it” – Anonymous

“I’ve played grand theft auto when I was younger but not for the purpose of doing missions, just to drive around.” – Amy Roberts

“I don’t play on the X box or Playstation they just do not phase me, I play on the Wii sometimes with my friends as it has more participatory in it and games that involve more exercise and life style changes” – Amy Hitchmough

Interview: Role Models

Watch as I interview and discuss the issues of role models in gaming and society with Hayley McGroarty.

Filmed by Laura Harrington

Short Interview with Natasha Singh and Georgina Anderton

With a brilliant interview from Melissa Craig - I wanted to get answers to some of the question's I had asked her in a bit more depth. I done a simple recording using my iPhone 4 and I picked out a few question's that I still wanted more information on, that would hopefully back up some of my previous research. I asked Natasha and Georgina the following:

What are your favorite games?

What consoles do you prefare to play?

Do you think gaming companies aim more towards men?

Could creating more social styled games that we see on Facebook be an answer to catching the female audience? Watch as Georgina and Natasha tell us their favorite all round games, virtually and socially.

Female Representation on Television: Little Mix win X Factor 2011

I had recently wrote about a case study I was doing - using ITV's X Factor. Like gaming companys, the X Factor's purpose is to create and sell a product to an audience. Little Mix - a manufactured girlband put together by the judge's, are now the latest winners of X Factor. But how did they succeed were other girl bands failed?

It was interesting to watch how week after week - the judge's stressing about how these girls are 'normal girls' who 'would not go out and steal your boy friend'.

How did Little Mix beat the 'curse of the girl bands'?

Year after year - girl bands have entered the X Factor and been voted off with in the first and second week of the live shows. In 2008, we said goodbye to Bad Lashes as they became the first act of the final 12 to be voted out by the public. Just one week later, the public chose to vote out the second and last standing girlband in the competition, named 'Girlband'. With the live show's starting with a strong line up in 2009 - De Ja Vu occured when 'Kandy Rain' became the first act voted out by the great British public in the first week. Unlike Little Mix, they sold all three girl bands on sex appeal instead of talent.

Girlband

Bad Lashes

Kandy Rain

And finally, Little Mix - who unlike the above, dress what could be stereotyped as 'normal' for girls. Instead of dressing how they possibly could on a night out.

Although individual female singers are aimed towards a male and female audience (Amy Winehouse, Adele, Florence and the Machine) Girl groups are aimed mainly towards the female gender. I was lucky in my case-study to learn about the advertising techniques they did with Little Mix to distribute them as a product towards female, with the positive criticism they recieved by the judge's towards young females. The comment's they gave Little Mix, sold them to a targeted audience and helped them become the X Factor winners 2011.

The tactics used to sell Little Mix to an audience could be vital in selling games towards the female gender. The X Factor targeted what was missing from the market and researched what the female audience wanted; Something that was not unrealistic, but relateable.

Advertising games to an audience

During our lecture with the guys at Rebel play, they said that the Nintendo Wii had sold a lot to a female audience - so I began some research on advertising using YouTube - could the advertising of the Nintendo Wii be considering women more?

The first advert I found was by girls-favorite boy band JLS. The advert was simple, showing the lads having fun playing the game. Although it features men only - it has female appeal. It had no sign of violence or male domination.

So how are the creators of the Nintendo Wii still managing to keep hold of a male audience whilst focusing on building a female audience?

The video below shows ex-Liverpool football player Jamie Redknapp and Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp participating in Wii games - this video could also be targeting a family audience as it shows participation from singer Louis Redknapp - more adverts also feature on YouTube of the Redknapp's playing the game with their children.

It could be argued that the Nintendo Wii are catering towards different lifestyle's aswell as sex's which is allowing them to build a secure base. The fact that Nintendo are distributing the console and games more towards families could arguably be a solution for parents to get involved and allow there children to have the chance. It is vital that parents get involved in family gaming - as they're the one's who will be buying the game's for there children for birthday and christmas.

Finally, the last advert featuring household name celebrities Ant and Dec reaches out towards a different audience as they advertise the game and console in a weight watchers class.  

Gaming companies could benefit more from breaking down target audience's and finding a niche for a product to sell as Nintendo Wii have done with the difference of advert's they produce. Most games advertised for the X-Box or the Playstation are distributed towards the male species - however games such as Just Dance for the Wii also target towards parents and children - as a family activity.

SURVEY: Media Platforms

Please take a look and fill in our survey created by Laura involving questions about gaming and genres.