The Sims Freeplay Part 1 - Language & Audience

Videogames: The Sims FreePlay part 1 - Language & Audience

Our final videogames CSP is The Sims FreePlay (2011).

This is another in-depth CSP so will require significant work and research across three blogposts to complete your case study.

Background: mobile gaming

• The videogames industry has changed massively since the emergence of the smart phone and app store distribution model.
• Mobile gaming has changed the audience demographics for gaming and brought the industry into the mainstream.
• The app store model means tech giants such as Apple and Google are making significant sums from mobile gaming but mobile hits can still earn developers millions.
• Angry Birds made developer Rovio $200m in 2012 and broke 2 billion downloads in 2014.

The Sims FreePlay

• The Sims FreePlay is a spin-off from the hugely successful Sims franchise first published by Electronic Arts (EA) in 2000.
• The game is a strategic life simulation game (also known as the sandbox genre). 
• The Sims FreePlay takes the game on to phones and tablets and uses the ‘freemium’ model that makes money via in-app purchases.
• The game has seen 200 million downloads since 2011 – remarkable success.

The Sims FreePlay: Audience

• The Sims franchise has demonstrated there is a strong and lucrative market in female gamers.
• When The Sims was first pitched by creator Will Wright he described it as a ‘doll house’. 
• The development company Maxis weren’t keen because ‘doll houses were for girls, and girls didn’t play videogames’. EA then bought Maxis, saw potential in the idea and one of the most successful ever videogame franchises was born.
• Expansion packs available for The Sims FreePlay reinforce the view that the target audience is predominantly female.

Participatory culture

• The Sims franchise is one of the best examples of Henry Jenkins’ concept of participatory culture.
• Since the very first game in the franchise, online communities have created, suggested and shared content for the game.
• ‘Modding’ – short for modifications – is a huge part of the appeal of the game. Modding changes aspects of the gameplay – anything from the strength of coffee to incorporating ghosts or even sexual content.

The Sims FreePlay - Language & Audience blog tasks

Create a new blogpost called 'The Sims FreePlay case study part 1 - Language & Audience' and complete the following in-depth tasks.

Language / Gameplay analysis

Watch The Sims: FreePlay trailer and answer the following questions:

1) What elements of gameplay are shown?

Autonomy- the gamer has complete control over what they do.

2) What audience is the trailer targeting?

Targeting more of a younger female audience.

3) What audience pleasures are suggested by the trailer?

Diversion from their everyday day to day life.
Personal identity as the game may reflect their life in some ways. 

Now watch this walk-through of the beginning of The Sims FreePlay and answer the following questions:

1) How is the game constructed?

Tutorials are given to them.

2) What audience is this game targeting?

Young female audiences.

3) What audience pleasures does the game provide?

Personal identity as it may allow them to see some reflection from their own life.

4) How does the game encourage in-app purchases?

Crystals used to speed up the process for the gamer.

Audience

Read this App Store description and the customer reviews for The Sims FreePlay and answer the following questions:  

1) What critics reviews are included in the game information section?

"10/10.. one of the most addictive and highly polished games available and there's no excuse for anyone to not download it; especially since it is free to play" (148Apps)

2) What do the reviews suggest regarding the audience pleasures of The Sims FreePlay?

A lot of diversification for the audience.

3) How do the reviews reflect the strong element of participatory culture in The Sims?

Reviews can actually shape the content of the game.

Participatory culture

Read this academic journal article - The Sims: A Participatory Culture 14 Years On. Answer the following questions:

1) What did The Sims designer Will Wright describe the game as?

' train set or doll's house where each person comes to it with their own interests and picks their own goals" (1999)

2) Why was development company Maxis initially not interested in The Sims?

 Maxis, was not initially interested in the Sims due to the thought that the "doll house" concept of the game appealed to younger girls and that 'girls didn't play video games'

3) What is ‘modding’?

Modding is when modifications are offered for the games so that people can shape the game even further beyond what the official game play has to offer.

4) How does ‘modding’ link to Henry Jenkins’ idea of ‘textual poaching’?

Modding links to 'textual poaching' as it allows audiences to interact with the game and connect with other fans.

5) Look specifically at p136. Note down key quotes from Jenkins, Pearce and Wright on this page.

• "Today, there are thousands" of fan websites dedicated to the sims -Jenkins
• "It was the community that really brought the game to the next level"- Wright
• "Most vibrant emergent fan culture of a single-player game in history"- Pearce  

6) What examples of intertextuality are discussed in relation to The Sims? (Look for “replicating works from popular culture”)

Sims enabled gamers to make their own fandoms within the sims fandom.

7) What is ‘transmedia storytelling’ and how does The Sims allow players to create it?

Transmedia storytelling is when the primary text encoded in an official commercial product that could be dispersed over multiple media platforms.

8) How have Sims online communities developed over the last 20 years?

Different mods has created more divisions within the Sims fandom to develop.  

9) Why have conflicts sometimes developed within The Sims online communities?

Due to 'hierarchies conflict has developed.

10) What does the writer suggest The Sims will be remembered for?

Will be remembered for its collaborative community and fandom. 

Read this Henry Jenkins interview with James Paul Gee, writer of Woman as Gamers: The Sims and 21st Century Learning (2010).

1) How is ‘modding’ used in The Sims?

• meeting the desires of niches 
• Builds 'technical, social and emotional skills for the player' 

2) Why does James Paul Gee see The Sims as an important game?

Women typically play games and design things is not mainstream but its 'cutting edge'. 

3) What does the designer of The Sims, Will Wright, want players to do with the game?

Wright wants the gamers to be more active and to think like designers.

4) Do you agree with the view that The Sims is not a game – but something else entirely?

I do not agree with this because the game is just styled differently.