Q 4-8

4. is the size of the audience any different now than before the impact of new and digital media (or has the pattern of usage changed)?

Gaming is now reaching out to a wider audience due to its various facilities. Unlike the ps2 the ps3 offers more to the audience than just gaming from watching blu-ray films to communicating with your friends online.  There is also the availability to use the video streaming service of Netflix which has recently become available on the console. Stats showing usage beyond gaming for ps3 reveal 51% use it to watch movies, 43% use it to listen to music and 15% use it to watch videos on demand/streaming services. Although all there Is a variety of things to do on the ps3 it has been outsold by the ps2 in recent previous months there has been a decline in worldwide video game sales.

5.Who are the primary target audience now and has this changed?  Who was it before and how do you know?

TEXT	CURRENT TARGET AUDIENCE	ORIGINAL TARGET	HOW DO YOU KNOW?
PS2	12+	15+	Originally the target audience would have been higher but with the ease of the console a lot of the younger audience was capable of playing it. [ME, PS3 12]
PS3	16+	15+	This console is a lot more complicated than the previous model hence the current target would be higher than the original. However, it wouldn’t be too much higher as games are still targeted to a relatively young audience plus the age of the average gamer is 34.

6.How have the audience responded to the changes?  Is there more customer choice?  Is there evidence of a more pluralistic model?  What evidence do you have to support this?

New and digital media has provided a lot more consumer choice. The PS3 now offers a variety of opportunities in which the audience can choose what to do. There has become more to consoles than just gaming. Consumers can now listen to music or watch movies and here is also the availability to use the video streaming service of Netflix which has recently become available on the console. Stats showing usage beyond gaming for ps3 reveal 21% use it to watch movies, 23% use it to listen to music and 23% use it to watch videos on demand/streaming services. Although all there Is a variety of things to do on the ps3 it has been outsold by the ps2 in recent previous months there has been a decline in worldwide video game sales.

7.What concerns/ considerations are there (if any) for the media institutions involved in your case study as a result of the impact of new and digital media? (e.g. deskilling or multi-skilling of the workforce/ decline in workforce etc)

New and digital media has allowed consumers to buy games without the need of retailers which could be a factor for the recent bad performances of game retailers. Last March Game Group went into administration similar to HMV in 2013. It may not be the biggest reason however, it may be one of the many factors of why these institutions have gone in to administration. This is supported by the increase in revenues of the PSN over the last few years and has question the role of the game retailers. New and digital media has also caused Sony problems, over 2 years ago PSN was hacked and the details of 1 million users were exposed which goes to show because of new and digital media they also not in complete control. The potential costs of the attacks, according to analysts, are up to $24 billion and the cost of prevention would have been £10,000.

8.What are the political and social implications of the new technologies and the methods of their consumption?  E.g. moral panics etc?

Both directly and indirectly video games can enhance the social relationship of youngsters, the ability of using the online feature to play with your friends is the direct way video games have done this and the indirect way would be that the following day or sometime soon after users discuss events that occurred whilst they was playing video games. Playing video games is seen to improve visual-spatial ability which is the ability to mentally manipulate two- and three dimensional objects .Hence it is clear that there is a causal relationship between video game playing and enhanced visual attention skills .Video games have taken aboard Blumler and Katz theory of uses and gratifications by providing escapism for the user, this is supported by Professor Talmadge Wright of Loyola University who had this to say "It gives people an option of actively participating in some kind of fantasy role they could not do in real life that allows them to play with their own feelings". There is also the stereotypical argument which is most commonly used by parents that playing video games makes you perform worse in education and there could be some truth behind that saying as excessive gaming creates attention deficits, which in turn can lead to poorer school performance. It is also believed that video game addicts argue a lot with their teachers, fight a lot with their friends, and score lower grades than others who play video games less often, which is supported by a study conducted by the Minneapolis-based National Institute for Media and the Family. Not just violent video games but any ordinary video games have been recognised to have a negative impact on users.  One of the negatives from any video game would be, those who spend more time playing video games subsequently have more attention problems as well as games can confuse reality and fantasy.