Todays Global Videogames Industry - Essay Example

 What is the Significance of the Concepts of "Convergence" and "Localisation" for Understanding Today's Global Videogames Industry? As with other sectors of the global economy, the video game industry is subject to the influence of globalization especially in the context of the increased global market integration. This market integration, however, does not mean a universal approach in the development and sales of video games across the world. The corpus of literature in strategic management, does not offer a uniform answer in regard to the question about which strategy video game developers should be adopted in order to tap the humungous population found in the global market. For example, there are numerous principles at work in the strategic management of multinational corporations that emphasize the role of technology as well as country-specific cultural, social and political variables. This paper will explore two of these, namely, localisation and convergence. What this paper aims to accomplish is to outline how both of the seemingly opposing concepts could work together in order sell video games in the four corners of the world. Convergence Convergence belongs to the wider or more general discourse of globalization. To put it another way, it is one of the narratives of this phenomenon as it pertains to the synergy of various forces, mainly driven by technology, in such a way that revolutionizes the characteristics of the consumer. The idea is that industrialization, modernization, and technology are expected to bring a universal civilization. This process is supposedly geared towards a kind of cultural homogeneity brought about by the Westernization of the world. According to Mooiji, this suggests that Western companies with their global brands force Western lifestyles on consumers in other parts of the world. (p. 7) This supposed homogenization contributes to the theory of convergence, particularly that one, which is economic in nature. Two of the important factors that make convergence possible are the media and technology. The first one is more powerful in the context of convergence because it is a one-way interaction. The audience does not have a choice but to ingest the kind of information that is being transmitted. Because of this, American television such as CNN and MTV became the global standard channels. The effects of the media on consumers are very powerful and wide ranging. It became the primary tool for the Westernization of the world because Western cultural goods dominate the media messages. The media argument, wrote Suarez-Orozco and Qin-Hilliard, blurs the distinction of at least four forms of power – economic (the ability to produce and distribute cultural goods), cultural (the ability to produce and circulate forms and meanings), political (the ability to impose ideologies), and psychological (the ability to shape desire, fantasy, and identity). (p. 118) Technology is also central to the convergence concept. The Internet is the most effective demonstration of this fact. It contributes further to the convergence of the consumers into one homogenous population because of the ease and speed in the access of its contents. Technology also allowed for the combination of the media, from the traditional television, radio and newspaper to the new media such as the Internet, enabling a concentrated platform for marketing as they work together, overwhelming the consumer with the message a product wants to deliver. Now, how can this convergence principle be applied in the video-game industry? As a product of techno-capitalist global economy, the video-game industry must use the principle of convergence in order to reach as much consumer as possible. One sees this in the American video game industry. According to Perron and Barker, American video games are exemplary cases of globalization since they do not offer transparent representations of, or even permit much space for, the expression of national cultures. (p. 112) Instead, American video-game companies are renowned for recuperating anything from the popular to the cultural themes and icons to the formal and aesthetic structures of any media and art forms in order to sell their games. It must also be underscored that the video-game industry relies on international distribution for its products. Relying on a specific cultural theme or subject leads to a greater risk of alienating global consumers. Banking on the dominance of the Western culture in the globalized market, convergence becomes an unprecedented opportunity for the video-game industry. Localisation There is a school of thought in globalization that argues that the phenomenon does not necessarily lead to a homogenous or uniform civilization. The reason for this is that because of the increased integration of the global market and the “eradication” of the national borders, then, further reinforced by technology, there is now a multidirectional flow of cultural goods around the world. (Silcock, Heider and Rogus, p. 117) This rejects the position that globalization means the domination of the West in the global market. Here, globalization embraces cultural difference and that local communities are reinforced by the opportunity of being heard and recognized in a world where communication disregards time and geographical distance. Diversity among cultures were not entirely erased by globalization, instead it is being reinforced in order to better sell products. In the case of video games, for instance, let us use the way video games are produced and marketed to the Japanese market. Here a French or American video game maker could add traditional and cinematographic iconographies to an existing game currently being sold in the international market. For example, the Fatal Frame video game has been inserted with many Japanese icons that serve as backgrounds such as feudal Japan, legends and folktales, ghosts, monsters, and film stars. According to Perron and Barker, this case is not merely aimed at representing a nation, but that it serves as a marketing device used to sell product specifically in Japan, which needs the Japanese signature in order to sell well. (p. 113) The legal issue is also an important aspect in localisation. According to Lynch, national attachment to historically developed laws and legal practices persist and survive even in the face of powerful globalizing pressures to converge. (p. 305) This is aspect further emphasize the crosscutting or paradoxical tendencies of globalization and nationalism that calls for national features and characteristics in global commodities such as video games. From a different perspective, localisation has its own downside in globalization. Tailoring a video game to serve a specific cultural market means that the game cannot be sold elsewhere in the world. This case is roughly with the concept of “niche market” wherein a product is developed to be marketed in a specific group. In localisation, the principles at work are the same, except that it deals with a larger and more complex variables that define a nation. Intense regionalism of certain games such as the game, The Once Chanbara series renders it inappropriate to other regions. The games developed by the Korean video-game company, Gravity, are also cases in point. Patches, updates and expansion packs of games such as Ragnarok and ROSE Online differ according the country it was released. Gravity also partners with local distributors who are given sufficient leeway to modify their games in order to better suit the requirements of the domestic gaming public. The work of Jayemenne also explores the process of translation from English to a local language. (2009) These underscore the value of partnership for international video-game developers. The elements relationship from this partnership saves developers the rigorous initiatives of setting up an infrastructure and marketing campaign in an unknown cultural territory. Local partners ensure that video games are sellable because they know the local market landscape. The video game – as a product of the cultural industry – often encourages contradictory contents and that within the context of its nature as a capitalist commodity, the video game industry plays up different parts of its multidimensional nature in order to cater to different audiences. Technological, commercial and sometimes, political imperatives help produce and constitute localisation tailored according to national needs or signatures. In this perspective, the cultural stereotyping is the emphasis of strategy. Conclusion Convergence and localisation, again, are seemingly opposing concepts. The first falls within the discourse of uniformity and homogenization brought about by globalization and that from its perspective, the highly integrated international market equates to an opportunity that is waiting be tapped and exploited. On the other hand, localisation emphasizes the diversity of cultures and nations especially in the context of product development, marketing and sales. However, this does not mean that both cannot work together within a global strategy. One sees this in the case of the video game industry. As a cultural commodity it must rely on localisation in order to be marketed and sold well. Even those games with neutral contents and diverge from country specific themes must use localisation in their distribution internationally. Convergence here serves as backdrop, platform, tool and facilitator that complements localisation. The media and technology, particularly, are now fundamental in the processes of video game development and distribution. All in all, globalization is characterized by both increased integration and similarity as well as by diversity and fragmentation. Managers from video game industry could take advantage of these factors by using convergence and localisation in their overall strategy in selling video games. With convergence, video game companies could take advantage of the global standardization, centralization and coordination. With localisation, a video game is more n the position to be accepted by the market because of its recognition of diversity. A strategy that includes these two elements means value creation for video games brought about by synergy of resources and flexibility and responsiveness. References Jayemanne, D 2003, Generations and Game Localisation: An Interview with Alexander O. Smith, Steven Anderson and Matthew Alt. Eludamos Journal for Computer Game Culture. 2009; 3 (2): 135-147, http://www.eludamos.org/index.php/eludamos/article/view/64/123  Lynch, K 2003, The forces of economic globalization. Kluwer Law International. Mooiji, M 2009, Global Marketing and Advertising: Understanding Cultural Paradoxes. SAGE. Perron, B and Barker, C 2009, Horror Video Games: Essays on the Fusion of Fear and Play. McFarland. Silcock, W, Heider, D and Rogus, M 2006, Managing television news: a handbook for ethical and effective producing. Routledge. Suarez-Orozco, M and Qin-Hilliard, D 2004, Globalization: Culture and Education for a New Millennium. University of California Press. Read More