The Sims: Industries

NOTE: As of 2020, The SIMS franchise is 20 years old! Therefore some of the ideologies and original narratives have changed over the past two decades and some of the observations within the articles are outdated.

Regulation – PEGI

What is the VSC and how does it link to UK law?

• The VSC is an administrator of the PEGI rating board that is used throughout Europe. In 2012, PEGI Age ratings became enforceable by law and games could not be sold to people below the respective age ratings. 

Note down the key statistics on the homepage.

• 13938+ games rated
• 15141+ apps rated
• 30 years in operation
• 1702 number of member outlets

What is the purpose of PEGI?

• PEGI's purpose is to provide appropriate and helpful information about video games and supply the consumer with content information through their ratings. 

Click on the PEGI Rating tab in the top menu. What are the age ratings and what do they include?

• 3- Content that does not warrant a content warning at any degree.
• 7- A game that does not warrant any content warnings, as above, but may include some frightening scenes inappropriate to younger consumers.
• 12- Includes realistic, detailed violence against fantasy characters- but only if non-trivial injuries are portrayed unrealistically. Sexual innuendo, Sexual Posturing, Minor Expletives Instruction for Casino Gambling and horror content are also permitted. 
• !- Non-Numerical rating- a parental guidance recommendation on non-curated and unregulated materials and apps such as Social Media platforms like Twitter.
• 16- Content perhaps including realistic andmature violence against human characters and references to death and human injury. Sexual content is also permitted but only without graphic displays of genitalia but erotic nudity is permitted. Severe expletives and drug use such as tobacco and class A drugs could also appear- the glamorisation of crime is prevalent. 
• 18- The content must have a graphic, realistic, major depiction of violence towards humans including blood or gore, detailed instruction of criminal activity and encouragement of legal drug pursuits as well as glamorisation of illegal drug use. Graphic sexual content can also be included with visible genitalia being permitted. 

Scroll down to look at the ‘How games are examined’ infographic. What is the PEGI process for rating a game?

• Content Declaration Assessment, Submission Materials, Video Footage Assessment, Game Examination and finally, receiving the PEGI License.

The ‘Freemium’ gaming model

How does the freemium model work?

• The initial download is free, however the game offers in-app purchases in order to access premium aspects of the game. 

Why do some gamers believe freemium is ruining games?

• The players become frustrated as it feels like the developers are only implementing this technique in order to make more profits and derail the quality of the gameplay greatly. 

What are the positives of the freemium model for gaming?

• It places focus on longevity- which is attractive to consumers as well as the initial free price tag making it more accessible to people with less disposable income. The promise of improvement and excelling within the game is also an audience pleasure. 

Business Insider feature

Note the key statistics in the first paragraph.

• Freemium games and their 'in-app purchases' account for 70-80% of the $10+ Billion in IOS revenue

Why does the freemium model incentivise game developers to create better and longer games?

• There is a monetary incentive, as players are constantly investing into games therefore game developers want to invest and improve their games to encourage players consistent investments. 

What does the article suggest regarding the possibilities and risks to the freemium model in future?

• The freemium model is undeniably profitable however as it garners criticism through the media it might begin to alienate a large portion of it's audience and discourage them from indulging in micropayments. 

New York Times feature

Why did Temple Run use the freemium model?

• The game began to lose traction after it's initial success due to the price tag- they decided to use the freemium model and rebrand the game with wild success and lead to a peak of 14 million players. 

The bigger gaming studios like Electronic Arts used to avoid the freemium model. Why are they now embracing it?

• The success of the freemium model eliminated some of the apprehension that came with the original risk- Nick Earl, senior vice president of Electronic Arts said 'Generally Speaking, there has been a critical mass of quality products at freemium.. the audience have responded in ways that have been incredibly obvious to game makers such as electronic arts' 

Why does Peter Farago suggest independent game makers benefit more from the freemium model than the major publishers like EA?

• Major publishers may find it difficult to convince their loyal audiences that their 'change of makeup' is just as reliable as their pay and go content.

Electronic Arts

How has The Sims FreePlay evolved since launch?

• When it started you could only control 16 Sims, have a dog and a career but as it evolved the possibilities within the Sims: Freeplay became more limitless.

Why does Amanda Schofield suggest ‘games aren’t products any more’?

• Developers and Players have more open communication, relating to Shirky's end of audience models, allowing players to communicate improvements for the game and the developers to fix these and encourage more gameplay. 

What does she say about The Sims gaming community?

• The gaming community are almost 'involved in the development' as they suggest content they would like to see implemented into the game and characteristics they'd like provided which creates a pseudo equal relationship between the consumers and developers. 

How has EA kept the game fresh and maintained the active player base?

• EA has consistent development, with introduction to different expansion packs and MODS as well as constant improvements being made to encourage players to continue playing the game. The living vicariously through the sim aspect is also hugely addictive and adds to the appeal to consistently interact with the game. 

How many times has the game been installed and how much game time in years have players spent playing the game? These could be great introductory statistics in an exam essay on this topic.

• Installed 200 Million times with around 78,000 hours of game play over the years. 

EA Blog

What audience pleasures for The Sims are discussed at the beginning of the blog?

• Diversion due to the escapist perspective, the idyllic lifestyle aims to provide an escape to audiences, Personal relationships due to the emotional attachment formed with the avatars and lastly, Personal Identity you can create and construct a world made up of your own ideologies and desires therefore relating to your sim in some way or other. 

What examples of downloadable content are presented?

• Expansion packs, 'Stuff Packs' - simply new items that can be purchased alongside the free content. Downloadable content can be defined as new content provided for the game as an addition to the default content. 

How did Electronic Arts enrage The Sims online communities with expansion packs and DLC?

• Many Sims Fans believed the content should be provided in the game 'in the first place' rather than cost extra money or gameplay in order to unlock. 

What innovations have appeared in various versions of The Sims over the years?

• 'Generations' in which players can have families that are multi-generational, gender, racial and sexuality additives and opportunities as well as the ability to travel between neighbourhoods and download other players avatars through the 'Gallery' addition all for free. 

In your opinion, do expansion packs like these exploit a loyal audience or is it simply EA responding to customer demand?

• I think that it can plausibly be argued on both sides however as a loyal The Sims player I do believe that EA is just responding to customer demand, and improving the game with progressive updates and opportunities however it is arguably an exploitation of loyal players as they are more likely to spend the extortionate amount of money over time due to FOMO [Fear of Missing Out] and the want to better construct the idyllic life with the realism that some of the expansion packs promise such as the ability to go to University before getting a job. I think that it is definitely the utilisation of customer demand for commercial success due to the lack of economic risk within the development costs and the promotion some of the expansion packs can garner through social media leading to more downloads.