This week I am going to discuss IT involvement in the entertainment industry. Some of the entertainment aspects I am going to discuss this week are:
Catch-up T.V services on the internet e.g. BBC I player
MMORGP games on the internet e.g. second life
A short introduction
The catch-up T.V service has become quite large in recent years with an estimated 44% of people between 15-34 using BBC I player. Most interestingly in particular BBC I player is expanding into the console gaming industry by allowing online members to access content through its service. The service itself is quite appealing; particularly for people that work long shifts and miss TV programmes that they would of like to have watched. The MMORPG franchise seems to be on the rise in popularity with the soon to be released MMORPG game: Star Wars the Old Republic which was favoured more than a 3rd instalment of its Xbox counterpart. What this piece of evidence tells you is that the MMORPG series is becoming very popular.
Advantages of Catch-up T.V services
Fewer advertisements – You may notice that sometimes at regular intervals the annoying advertisements come up when you are watching a T.V programme. With internet T.V, at the start of the programme an advertisement will come up that will last approximately 3 minutes or so. The advertisements will only come up in this period, which is a major benefit for the consumer because they can watch the programme throughout without interruption creating a more enjoyable environment in which they watch T.V.
Watching TV when you want to-
The biggest advantage with internet T.V is you can watch TV when you want to. People now seem to be using internet capabilities of watching TV through systems like 4OD or ITV player. We will usually have problems with recording; however internet TV changes this because it has already been recorded for us to watch instantly.
Watch shows you have never heard of-
Another advantage of Internet TV is the ability to watch shows that you may never have heard of. You will notice that you can type in a search criteria, and listening will come up which you can choose from. Adding on from that shows can be re-watched even after they have been around for quite a long time which is great if you happen to be bored of something to watch.
Bills- You as the consumer have an advantage in that you can access great T.V shows for free. You can use sites such as BBC I player to catch-up with TV shows for free so you don’t really need to have a large bill on your T.V service if you are getting this service. However latter I will discuss why this may not necessarily be the case.
Disadvantages of internet T.V
Quality of internet T.V- The biggest disadvantage is the quality of internet T.V programs. I have noticed that on BBC I player for example the quality compared to normal T.V drops quite significantly which is a worry as the aim of internet T.V is to make consumers enjoy their T.V experience. The quality for me resembles one like pirate copies of films so can a person enjoy their T.V experience when the quality its self is poor? In my experience I have seen very poor quality catch-p programs from BBC I player so having a catch-up T.V service on your computer may be better.
Range of what you can watch- Not every T.V channel has a catch-up T.V service. This is fai8rly annoying because you may find that recording directly from your T.V is the only way to catch-up on that particular program. In addition to that recording can have its problems such as accidently turning of the T.V box for example, so overall internet T.V is great for the popular channels but not good if the program you wish to watch doesn’t have an internet catch-up service available.
Subscriptions- I have noticed that Sky’s catch-up T.V service requires a subscription particularly on Xbox Live where you need two subscriptions: from Sky and Microsoft. For Sky and Microsoft this is an advantage because they make money out of subscriptions, however it is not good for the consumer when they have to pay too access the content which can be off –putting for people wanting to catch-up on T.V.
Broadband access- To be able to stream content you need to have broadband access with minimum speeds of 256kbps. The biggest disadvantage with this is that slower speeds lead to more dissatisfaction with lag periods in the streaming of content and random faults. Also you will have to pay for broadband so in a sense internet T.V is not free because you have to pay initial charges anyway to access it.
My experiences of internet T.V- Overall my experience has been good, there were periods of lag in the watching of shows which was annoying. The quality of the T.V could have been better because there were periods of pixilation in the steaming of the content. On the plus side there were barely any adverts involved which improved my experience of using it, so overall I recommend using it in the future.
MMORPG games
Advantages of MMORPG games
Teamwork- MMORPG games promote communication and teamwork between other gamers. These games welcome others into the community allowing players to socially connect with other people around the globe, increasing confidence skills in communication. Most MMORPG will have clans/groups which allow users to communicate better and more enjoyably feel powerful in being part of a group. Most MMORPG will also allow formation and tactic goals which means teamwork is even more important and increases communication and strategy skills for learning.
Goal setting-MMORPG offer gamers themselves many pre-set goals for the players such as completing quests and reaching new levels. Quests generally require players to collect certain items, explore new areas to level up. Experience points help the gamer to reach the next level. These Pre-set goals allow gamers to set themselves a challenge and go out of their comfort zone.
Self confidence- MMORPG offer the biggest advantage of all that will be stated self-confidence. When players complete quests they are rewarded with experience points as well as in-game currency and/or an item they can use. When they reach new levels they have access to better equipment for example to complete harder quests faster. Completing harder quests is great and boosts self-confidence because it gives them a sense of achieving something. Teachers have been known to use it to boost confidence of their students.
Relieving stress /tension- One of the biggest advantages is the stress relieves that MMORPG’s offer. Taking anger out on creatures for example after a hard day is better than venting their frustration on family/friends where arguments can be created. MMORPG offer a controlled environment for them to do this and in most cases works as people are able to do hard quest with a bit of aggression from the person playing the game.
Disadvantages
Leaked information- database information on the system always has the potential to be leaked, which means you information can be accessed by hackers. You should always look to make sure that the information you are giving to the database is not your real information, make it up because it is a lot safer than giving your real information.
Unknown people- you should always take a degree of care when talking to individuals you don’t know because, you have no clue about what they are capable of and who they are exactly. It is best that you don’t communicate at all with other people and just play the game your own way just for safety reasons.
Online broadband/connection- the main disadvantage is that you will have to have internet connection in order to be able to access MMORPG games. Broadband /internet connect is not free and will require a cost along with other equipment you will need to be able to play MMORPG games online.
My experiences of MMORPG- I like MMORPG games because they are fun and you can be anyone you like in the world designed. Creating hostile clans in the world is good because it presents other people with a challenge to beat these people. Overall they have bad points which I have discussed however the new Star Wars MMORPG is highly anticipated among people as it is seen as the revival for MMORPG games. I recommend them if you are bored and have nothing to do.
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