Video games 6: Repetition and difference

Repetition and difference, and the importance of genre

"genres are instances of repetition and difference...difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre" (Steve Neale, Genre, 1980)

 Media product according to neale will need to have repetition in order to create a sense of familiarity for the audience as then they will understand the product but then will need to be able t be differentiated as otherwise audiences won't want to buy the product as they have products like it. curran and seaton's theory applies to this game as ubisoft structure their enterprises.

It makes inter textual links to other successful games

The game clearly has things such as that work in popular games as to make sure that the audience like the game, like having the players be first person characters. Ubisoft can be seen to use things like setting to make sure that audiences will want to buy the game as many other games like The Witcher and the other games in the assassins creed saga have the story line based in medieval villages with clear settings like mountains and forests that are covered in ice. The Nordic setting references games like the Witcher as well as they are fan favorites. 

It demonstrates generic fluidity

Assassins creed odyssey can be seen to have an open world and this links to Steve Neales genre theory as loads of other games with in the historical adventure genre include an open world that players can walk freely through and will be able to explore through varied story lines or mini adventures with in the game. The game has multiplayer elements as so many other games have successful sales as the game can be played many times over with different options if the players play with friends online, games like fortnight and dark souls have seen a rise in popularity as they are online based.  

It will repeat what made previous Assassin's Creed games popular meaning that audiences will be familiar with the game play options so they will enjoy the game as it reminds them of similar games they have enjoyed previously. Having the same kind of game play throughout a game saga can mean that the fans of the other games will always be able to find games that they can enjoy because all the games are similar but not enough to mean that the audience will get bored of the same kind of games.

Niche fans and hardcore fans really can appreciate the historically accurate worlds of the assassins creeds saga with props and settings as realistic as they can be while still having some artistic licence for the game play itself. The game was so accurate in its research that after the cathedral at notre dame had been burnt down, the architects and builders used the research of the game in order to figure out how the building should look historically in order to restore it. This level f historical accuracy allows Ubisoft to target a niche market of history buffs who play the game to look at the setting and the accurate game play options as the game play might symbolize what life was almost like back in that time. 

It will come out on the next generation consoles and current generation meaning that not only can people still play the games they love on older consoles that might be more affordable for the working class players but the newer gaming audience can learn to love the games on the newest technology. For example Sony released different consoles thus making the certain game chips obsolete for avid gamers making them more rare and wanted for future generations, making games obsolete is great for companies like Ubisoft as then the fans of those games will want to make sure they can play the original games they want on the original consoles meaning that companies can then remaster those older games later on to a new target market of new gamers that might want to play the older classic games. Making new consoles means that audiences will need to fork out to buy the new console in order to play new games and this means that Ubisoft and companies like Xbox can make loads of money on selling the consoles at a higher retail price because audiences will pay higher as it is new.