Videogames case study 2: Kim Kardashian Hollywood

Our second videogames, online and participatory media Close-Study Product is another phone/tablet game: Kim Kardashian Hollywood.

Again, this is an in-depth topic so we need to make sure we have studied this product across media language, audience, industry and representation. Although it may seem strange to be studying Kim Kardashian for a GCSE exam, it's actually a great opportunity to explore important topics such as the influence of celebrity, the representation of women and what effect videogames have on those who play them. Here's a lesson video to take you through the key points for this CSP:



Kim Kardashian Hollywood: notes

Language

Gameplay

The gameplay for Kim Kardashian: Hollywood is explained in detail in the app store or Google Play store:

Join KIM KARDASHIAN on a red carpet adventure in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood! Create your own aspiring celebrity and rise to fame and fortune! 

CREATE YOUR OWN STAR and customize your look with hundreds of style options, including Kim Kardashian’s personal picks!

⋆ STAR in a huge interactive adventure as you encounter other celebs, dedicated fans, persistent paparazzi… and even hang out with Kim herself!

⋆ RULE THE RED CARPET as an A-list movie actor, cover model, fashion designer and more – what you do is up to you!

⋆ TAKE OVER L.A. in a virtual world complete with exclusive clubs, upscale boutiques, and luxury homes! Travel to New York City and Miami!

⋆ DATE AND DUMP CELEBS at the best parties and hottest clubs! Flirt and become the next huge celebrity power-couple!

⋆ BRING YOUR FRIENDS ALONG FOR THE RIDE using Game Center and Facebook – help each other rise to fame, compare styles, send gifts, and see who can be the biggest star!

Game trailer:



Gameplay example:



Kim Kardashian: Hollywood - Narrative and objectives

The aim of Kim Kardashian Hollywood is to work your way  up the celebrity scale from Z-List to A-List.  As you play you will interact with a range of real and fictional characters in the United States and around many of the world’s most glamourous and famous locations.  As you progress, there are collectibles and missions that will allow you to develop the status of your customisable character. Your ranking is determined by your position on the Top Stars list in Hollywood. They are sorted into six different lists, Unlisted being the lowest rank to the A-list being the highest rank. You rise up in ranks by gaining fans. The goal of Kim Kardashian: Hollywood is to gain as many fans as possible by doing well on projects, getting attention from Starnews, and dating to get to the A-list.

Characters

Characters are NPCs (Non-Playable Characters) that appear in goals or locations and the storyline as you progress in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. These exclude NPCs you meet in the game that you can date or network with. These types of contacts are randomly generated according to each individual game.

The characters in Kim Kardashian Hollywood are a mixture of real VIP characters and fictional characters. There are 100s – you can see a few opposite.

In your pursuit of celebrity some of the fictional characters work with you and some actively try to ruin your journey by beating you to A-List.

Settings

There are a range of locations in the game that try to mirror the stereotype of the celebrity lifestyle of an A-lister:

Narrative: special events

Special Events are temporary goal arcs that are available only during Weekend Events in the game. By completing them, players can not only earn Cash Cash, XP XP, Energy Energy and Star Stars, but also Special Event stars.  These regularly happen and keep the game fresh.  It also means established players keep coming back to the game to see what the latest updated events are.

By collecting Special Event stars, players can unlock exclusive rewards and Kustomize items. The Kustomize screen, also known as your wardrobe, is the screen where you can customize your character to your liking. You can purchase tops, dresses, pants, skirts, shoes, hairstyles, facial features, nail colours and fashion accessories like bags, jewellery, and tattoos.

You can change your look whenever you like. The game encourages players to "keep on top of current fashion to maximise your fans!"

Audience

Kim Kardashian: Hollywood is incredibly popular. It has been  downloaded over 50 million times and generated $200 million plus.

Why do audiences like it?

One way of understanding why audiences choose certain media texts is Blumler & Katz's Uses and Gratification Theory.

Uses and Gratification Theory states that audiences consume media products/texts for at least one of the following reasons:

1. Diversion, escapism or entertainment – escaping from normal life.
2. Personal relationships – fulfils their need for companionship. This is particularly true of social media products, online gaming and online communities. It can also apply to audiences developing an affection for certain stars or characters.  
3. Personal identity - seeing your own lifestyle, interests or ambitions reflected in a media product; reinforcing your own identity.
4. Surveillance – using media to find out about the world around them.

Which of these apply to Kim Kardashian: Hollywood?

Watch this video of Buzzfeed staff trying to play the game:

Representation

There are some key questions we need to consider regarding representation in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood:

• How are women represented?
• How is celebrity represented?
• How is race/ethnicity represented?

Kim Kardashian: Hollywood contains quite controversial representations of women, celebrity and race/ethnicity.

It has been criticised for offering a representation of women focusing on appearance, modelling and dating as a way to be successful. Similarly, celebrity is represented as something to aspire to even without an obvious talent or ability.

On a more positive note, the game has been praised for its representation of race, ethnicity and sexuality – with the game offering a diverse range of characters.

Industries

Kim Kardashian: Hollywood was developed by Glu Mobile, a highly successful mobile game developer and publisher. It was released in June 2014 and was marketed heavily using the Kim Kardashian brand.

With social media promotion, the game quickly shot to the top of download lists and iTunes app store charts.

Media convergence

The game design means that there is a great deal of media convergence.  Media convergence is the merging of different media texts. How does Kim Kardashian Hollywood involve media convergence?

The game: TV Show and social media channels are referenced in game.  Player encouraged to engage online and gain bonus items for sharing on Facebook etc.

Social media: Game appears on Kim’s actual social media platforms. Also, need to tweet in game.

TV Show: Game appears on Keeping Up with the Kardashians episodes.  TV Show is also referenced in game.

Marketing and promotion

Watch this TV advert for the game:



Glu: monetising Kim Kardashian: Hollywood

The game is free to download but makes huge amounts of money from in-app purchases and subscriptions. Players need to buy energy to complete tasks (or wait 30 minutes for energy to replenish). They can also buy subscriptions:

• Gold: 49.99 USD / month (or local equivalent)
• Silver: 19.99 USD / month (or local equivalent)
• Bronze: 4.99 USD / month (or local equivalent)

Small print

Due to the addictive nature of the game and the potential to spend huge amounts of money on in-app purchases, the developers place warnings in the app store before purchase:

PLEASE NOTE: - This game is free to play, but you can choose to pay real money for some extra items, which will charge your iTunes account. You can disable in-app purchasing by adjusting your device settings. - This game is not intended for children. - Please buy carefully. - Advertising appears in this game. - This game may permit users to interact with one another (e.g., chat rooms, player to player chat, messaging) depending on the availability of these features. Linking to social networking sites are not intended for persons in violation of the applicable rules of such social networking sites.

Videogames case study 2 - Kim Kardashian: Hollywood blog tasks

Create a blogpost called 'Kim Kardashian Hollywood CSP case study' and complete all the following questions under the subheadings Language, Representation, Industries and Audience.

Language

1) What is the objective when playing the Kim Kardashian: Hollywood game?

2) What is an A-list celebrity? Why is it important in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood?

3) How do you download the Kim Kardashian: Hollywood game?

4) What is the narrative or storyline of Kim Kardashian: Hollywood? Where is it set?

5) What characters can you play as? What characters appear in the game?

Audience

1) What audience pleasures are provided by the game? Use Blumler & Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory.

2) Why is the game so addictive for audiences?

3) Applying Stuart Hall's Reception theory, what is the preferred reading for Kim Kardashian Hollywood - how do the producers want the audience to react to the game? For the oppositional reading, why might someone dislike Kim Kardashian Hollywood?

Read this article from Forbes on why the Kim Kardashian game is so successful. If the website is blocked, you can access the text of the article here.

4) Why does James Liu think Kim Kardashian: Hollywood is so successful?

5) What does James Liu suggest is the reason players keep coming back to the game?


Representations

1) What representations of women can be found in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood?

2) What representations of race, ethnicity or sexuality can be found in the game?

3) How does the game both reinforce and subvert stereotypes in the media?

4) What does the game suggest regarding modern perceptions of celebrity and how to get famous?

5) How might someone criticise the representation of celebrity in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood?

Industries

1) How much does Kim Kardashian: Hollywood cost?

2) How does the game make money?

3) What subscriptions are available to Kim Kardashian: Hollywood?

4) How was Kim Kardashian: Hollywood marketed and promoted?

5) How does Kim Kardashian: Hollywood use media convergence to cross-promote the game and the Kardashian brand?


Grade 8/9 extension tasks: reading and response

Read this Independent article on the Kardashians and celebrity culture. Why does the academic Dr Meredith Jones think the Kardashians are important to study?

Read this Stylecaster article on 5 things we learned playing Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. How does the game encourage players so spend real money on in-app purchases?

Read this article on Glu Mobile, the game developer behind Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. What does the article say about targeting female gamers and using celebrity to sell the game?

Read this Guardian article on a Kardashian controversy regarding promoting products on Instagram. Why do some people regard Kardashian as a "toxic influence"? 

Due: next Monday 

Videogames case study 1: Lara Croft Go

Our first videogames Close-Study Product is phone/tablet game Lara Croft Go.

This is an in-depth topic so we need to make sure we have studied this product across media language, audience, industry and representation. Here's a video introducing your first OSP & Videogames CSP and giving you an outline of what we need to know for each key concept of media:



Lara Croft Go: notes

Lara Croft: history

Lara Croft first appeared in 1996 Eidos Playstation game Tomb Raider and was the first computer game to feature a female character as the protagonist rather than a supporting role or a secondary character.

The narrative of Tomb Raider was influenced by Indiana Jones and featured the daughter of a Lord (later a famous archaeologist), called Lara Croft on various missions through settings such as jungles, tombs and jungles. The genre is action-adventure and involves many conventions of this genre such as fighting villains using weaponry.

Evolution of Tomb Raider:




Lara Croft: beyond a videogame character

Lara Croft has featured in films (the first starring Angelina Jolie; 2018 version rebooted the character). She has appeared on magazine covers more times than any supermodel.

There have been advertising tie-ins, merchandise, comic books and  spin-offs featuring the character. The franchise has had numerous incarnations before Lara Croft Go in 2015. 

Lara Croft has been credited with bringing success on the Play Station for the games’ creators (selling 7 million copies world wide) and launching the female protagonist in games. She has also been widely thought of as a sex symbol. 

Lara Croft Go 

Lara Croft Go explores the ruins of an ancient civilization in the Amazon Jungle while fighting menacing enemies, overcome dangerous obstacles and traps, and ultimately, uncover the myth of the Queen of Venom.  There is no specific timescale – but is modern-day in Lara’s weaponry.

This concept of action adventure exploring and uncovering relics from ancient civilisations is not new and there is some intertextuality here with the Indiana Jones movies, original Tomb Raider games, Tomb Raider films and more.

Watch this online review of Lara Croft Go:



What are the features of the Lara Croft Go game?

In many ways, there are traditional Action Adventure elements to this game (she moves, she shoots, she avoids hazards).  However, this game is a ‘turn-based puzzle’ which involves by-passing enemies and unlocking paths in a sequential manner which suits the ‘short timespan’ that people can sometimes commit to mobile gaming. It faithfully preserves element of original Tomb Raider game and brings the original adventure up to date. 

The game also involves collecting items that unlock special powers and tools that help your progress through the game.  On the image to the left you can see many of the opponents that Lara comes across (Lizards, Snakes, Spiders) and some of the collectables. There are not many different enemies as memory is key.  

The three-act narrative structure proceeds from an orientation stage through various complications and blockages to a simple resolution.

Evolution of the character of Lara Croft

• Lara is depicted as athletic with brown eyes and hair, frequently tied back in a plait or ponytail.
• Her costume is usually a blue tank top, light brown shorts, calf high boots and long socks. 
• Accessories / Props include gloves, a backpack, a utility belt with holsters and two pistols. 
• Her original back story was that she was the daughter of an aristocrat who had a plane crash in the Himalayas, causing her to re-evaluate her life and seek adventure, leading her to become a thief and mercenary, living outside the law. The second era changed the narrative to her father being an archaeologist and her wanting to discover the reason for her mother’s disappearance. A third era focused more on both her parents being archaeologists and her mother disappearing and her father dying.
• All three narratives feature her transition from a vulnerable girl to an independent, fierce adventurer (hero).
• Most stories feature her being stranded on a mysterious, far away island although the location of this changes. 

Audience

We need to think about the following for the audience key concept:

• Audience pleasures
• Target audience for Lara Croft Go – and whether videogame audiences are changing

What is the appeal of Lara Croft Go?

“Acrobatics and platforming are key features of a Tomb Raider adventure, and we quickly realized that Lara had to be fully animated. Our animator did an amazing job of quickly producing a first batch of short animations for Lara, and immediately everything felt better. Again, we looked back at Lara’s classic animations from the first Tomb Raider and they fit right in with our turn-based game.”

– Square Enix

Audience pleasures: Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratifications Theory

Remember that audiences consume media products for a variety of reasons (from Blumler and Katz: Uses and Gratification Theory)

1. The need to be INFORMED and EDUCATED about the world in which we live (Surveillance) 
2. The need to IDENTIFY personally with characters and situations in order to learn more about themselves (Personal Identity)
3. The need to be ENTERTAINED (Diversion) and escape daily life. 
4. The need for SOCIAL INTERACTION (Personal Relationships)

Which of these apply to Lara Croft Go?

Target audience

Who is the target audience for Tomb Raider / Lara Croft games?  They fall into various groups and may be a mixture of all three:

1. Those interested in the quality of the innovative gameplay.
2. Those with brand loyalty to the Hitman Go series.
3. Those with brand loyalty based on the feminine empowerment displayed.
4. Those with brand loyalty based on nostalgia or even the sexualisation of Lara Croft (especially if they played older Croft games when at a formative age)

Representation

Does Lara Croft reinforce female stereotypes in the media?

Yes (reinforces traditional stereotype):

• Object of sexual desire. Her body features were particularly exaggerated in early versions of games.
• Scantily-clad designed for male audience. Would a male character be designed like this?  
• Is Lara Croft is designed to be attractive to the male audience as she basically acquires all the features that some men would describe as perfect.

 No (subverts female stereotype):

• She is an action hero – traditionally a male stereotype in gaming.
• She is empowered female heroine – rare in gaming industry at the time.  “The heroine, Lara Croft, is an intelligent, butt-kicking, gun-wielding, sexpot, ready to take on whatever comes her way.” Katherine Walker, Portrayal of Women in Media (Video Games)

Industry

We need to learn about two distinct areas for the industries key concept:

• Videogame regulation
• The companies/franchises behind the game

Regulation: PEGI

PEGI stands for Pan European Game Information and is a European video game rating system established to help consumers make informed decisions when buying video games or apps through the use of age recommendations and content descriptors.

PEGI was set up by the ISFE* – an independent group that represents European software companies. Important: this is an example of self-regulation, not government.

Lara Croft Go: companies and franchises

Lara Croft Go is the combination of two successful franchises – Lara Croft Tomb Raider and the Hitman Go mobile game.

Tomb Raider is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, it is now controlled by Square Enix after their acquisition of Eidos in 2009. 

Square Enix developed Hitman Go in 2014 based on the successful Hitman game franchise.

Videogames case study 1: Lara Croft Go blog tasks

Create a blogpost called 'Lara Croft Go CSP case study' and complete all the following questions under the subheadings Language, Representation, Industries and Audience. 

Language

1) Who is Lara Croft and when did she first appear in a videogame?

2) What classic films influenced the creation of Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider games?

3) How has Lara Croft and Tomb Raider moved beyond just being a videogame?

4) What devices can you play Lara Croft Go on?

5) What type of game is Lara Croft Go?

6) How does Lara Croft Go use narrative (storyline)?

7) What iconography can be found in Lara Croft Go? How does this help communicate the sub-genre of videogame?

8) What other characters or enemies feature in the game?

9) What is the setting for Lara Croft Go? How does this compare to previous Lara Croft or Tomb Raider games?

10) Read this BBC article on the history of Lara Croft and Tomb Raider. How has the character of Lara Croft evolved over the last 20 years?  


Audience

1) Why might an audience enjoy playing Lara Croft Go?

2) Where and when might an audience play a game like Lara Croft Go? Think about the device it is played on and the times of the day someone might want to play the game.

3) How did Square Enix design Lara Croft to make it appealing to an audience?

4) Which of Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory might apply to Lara Croft Go?

5) Who is the target audience for Lara Croft Go? How does brand loyalty contribute to this target audience?


Representation

1) How are women usually represented in videogames?

2) How does the character of Lara Croft reinforce female stereotypes in the media?

3) How does the character of Lara Croft subvert female stereotypes in the media?

4) Why do some people believe the videogames industry is sexist and needs to change?

5) Do you think Lara Croft is an empowering feminist icon or just another objectified woman designed to appeal to male gamers?

Industries

1) What does PEGI stand for?

2) What is PEGI's job?

3) Which company created Lara Croft Go?

4) What two popular videogame franchises were combined to create Lara Croft Go?

5) What else is part of the Lara Croft/Tomb Raider franchise?




Grade 8/9 extension tasks


Exam practice extension task:

“Videogames are increasingly played and enjoyed by a wider and more diverse audience." 

Does your study of Lara Croft Go support this view?

Write a detailed three-paragraph answer to this question using the information you have learned in this case study.

Language
1) Watch some Lara Croft Go gameplay online or, even better, play the game yourself. How is the game constructed to attract and maintain the engagement of an audience?

2) How is narrative, character, iconography and setting used to create intertextuality? (Links to other genres and media texts)

Representation
1) Read this NME feature on the history of the Lara Croft character. Do you agree that she is now a 'feminist icon' rather than a 'trapezoid-boobed pinup'? What do these terms mean?

2) Have later versions of the Tomb Raider/Lara Croft franchise featured a less-sexualised version of the character? Does this suggest society is changing in its attitude towards women?

Industries
1) Why do videogame producers prefer the self-regulation of PEGI to government regulation? Why is videogame regulation increasingly important in the 21st century?

2) Watch the full lecture embedded above: Distilling a franchise - the making of Lara Croft Go. How did the designers make conscious decisions based on previous franchises to create a successful game?

Audience
1) How has the marketing of Lara Croft/Tomb Raider franchise changed over the last 20 years and how might an audience respond to this? Think about reception theory - preferred and oppositional readings. 

2) Does Lara Croft Go target a female audience? Why do you think female gamers dominate the phone/tablet market?



Due: next Monday

OSP & Videogames: An introduction

Our new media topic is called Online, Social, Participatory media and Videogames - an in-depth area of study on new and digital media with three Close-Study Products.

Here's a short video updating where we are and what we are studying this half-term:





Over the next half-term, we need to study the following CSPs:

Lara Croft GO
Kim Kardashian: Hollywood
Zoella (YouTube channel link - a quick video about Zoella's background is here)

We need to study these products using all four key concepts: Language, Industry, Audience and Representation. We will start with videogames as Lara Croft GO and Kim Kardashian: Hollywood are both good examples of the changing nature of the videogames industry.

However, this week we will simply be introducing the videogames topic by learning about the history of videogames and how this type of media has developed hugely in the last 40 years.

A brief history of videogames: blog task

Watch this YouTube video outlining the history of the videogames industry from the 1970s to the 2010s. Now answer the following questions:

1) What were the first videogames like?

2) How have videogames changed over time?

3) What do the most successful games have in common? Answer this in as much detail as you can. Think about audience pleasures - what do people like about playing videogames?

4) What criticisms have been made towards videogames over the years? Here's a good article on the impact of videogames on players that might be helpful.

Read this Guardian feature from about the sensationally popular videogame Fortnite: Battle Royale and watch the original trailer below.




Now answer the following questions:

1) How many Fortnite players are there worldwide? Here's an updated article with recent figures for you.

2) Why is it so popular? What are the audience pleasures of the game?

3) Why might some people criticise Fortnite?

4) Copy and paste two comments from 'below the line' of the Guardian article - these are comments written by Guardian readers in response to the feature. Select one comment you agree with and one you disagree with and explain why.

Grade 8/9 extension tasks

Read this news story reporting that Prince Harry has called for Fortnite to be banned. Why does the Prince think Fortnite producer Epic Games is irresponsible?

Due: next Monday