Franchise Study of Assassins Creed 3

Development-

Game Engine. For the game engine used in assassin’s creed 3 Ubisoft thought that they should use a new game engine called Anvil Next. This is a new games engine that is capable of new interactions in the game that previous engines were not able to. One of these is the weather cycling system. This means that the weather in the games changes over time and does so randomly (like real life). This itself is not new but it has never been done on a game with a high quality of graphics. For some scenes in the game armies are having a full on war against each other. This requires the game engine to create a huge amount of interactive people. Thankfully Anvil Next has the ability to create 2000 npc’s who the character can interact with in one scene. Not with assassin’s creed 3 but with anvil next, future games will have npc’s who remember your actions. This means that if  you bump into a guy on the first level he may not save your life in the last. Probably the thing most like this in Assassin’s Creed 3 is that one can actually witness plants grow in the game and if they come into damage then the plants re grow. This shows continuing sales figures because the player wants to see how the game improves via the small details. I was personally amazed when in a shop I could see randomly generated npc’s pass the window and still see the slight reflection of myself (like real life).

Gameplay images.

These images tease the long time players because they show small differences in the games to the old ones and thus make the players want to play the game.

Game design.

Characters. The characters over all have stayed rather similar. The protagonist in each game is a healthy, attractive and physically active man who kills men via some unbelievable fighting style. Also the women in each game are thin, big breasted and in general appealing to men. However the

protagonist in Assassin’s Creed 3 (Connor) is designed to be a bigger and bulkier hero. His movements however are actually more fluent. This is evident by the way you can run diagonally whilst facing forward. In previous games Altair or Ezio have had to face diagonally to run that way, thus making the running slower.

World.   How one interacts with the surroundings and in the case of Assassin’s Creed 3 how the free running system works. This is evident when one is exploring the world as Connor. Instead of the dilapidated buildings that we are used to with this series we start free running through trees and up cliffs. This makes the long time player want to continue playing as it shows the evolution of skills from the easy blocky buildings to the intricate branches. It also makes the player feel like they are achieving something as they have been playing through the evolution so they feel they have got better at controlling it.

Game Software- This is how the hardware is used. The software is the content of the game in its basics. This involves the graphics and how they improve. In Assassin’s Creed the graphics are ahead of its time but we focused more on the buildings and looks. Now in assassin’s creed 3 we focus more on the character and the background. An example of this is the first protagonist Haytham when he boards a boat. His face is uncovered unlike the previous games and we see how the better graphics affect his face. Also in the background there’s new motion (a sea moving or people passing windows). The long time players will wish to play the new game to see how the graphics have advanced.

Distribution (this is an adaption of Brad Matthew’s bradmatt.blogspot.co.uk)

Assassin’s Creed III has been distributed across many different platforms including Xbox-360, Play station 3 and the all new PS Vita. This means that the game can be bought by many people. Game players tend to have a certain console which they prefer; this means that if the game was on only one or two consoles there would not be as many sales. The marketing for the game shows an advertisement of the game and also advertises the fact that it is sold at the videogame shop franchise “Game”. The Game store itself has both a physical store and an online store. On the online store customers can order and even pre-order the game for bonus features. These bonus features are split into various forms of features varying from a figurine to an extra weapon in the game. A long time player might collect these items and thus keep buying the games. The physical store allows the exact same capabilities in both pre-ordering and buying the game directly. With Assassin’s Creed III been a sequel in the popular Assassin’s Creed franchise, most local game stores and even some supermarkets now sell the game. Having the game at a local supermarket is a lot easier than going into a specialist game shop, and any person who does shopping could walk past it and buy it not just a person who goes into a game shop. This distribution allows the game to be received by customers in a wide variety of locations without an effort to find it.

As well as been sold widely throughout stores, The most common distribution for the game is online, not only can big retailers that have physical stores sell the game online, but companies like Amazon and Play.com are distributing the game widely because of their trusted customer base. This game due to the internet has become Ubisoft’s most pre ordered game of all time. This allows the game to be distributed on a huge scale for customers and shows how the game is getting to the audience. When the game is ordered online the customer can either pick the game up from the store that they purchased it from or they can choose to have the game delivered directly to their home which allows the game to be sold to more and more people that can't get out to a physical store.

Publishing (this is an adaption off Adam Lewis’ blog adam-lewis-media.blogspot.co.uk)

The franchise first attracted a younger audience with the first Assassin's Creed hence the rating was 15+ while Assassins Creed 3 is an 18+. The franchise has grown up along with the audience to maintain its faithful fans. This new game has been marketed as the perfect time to buy into the Assassins Creed franchise and has tried to widen its audience. You would expect the main audience to be teenage boys but the game is also popular with middle aged men that were the first generation to grow up with the gaming industry and experience all the changes from tetris all the way to this new Assassin's Creed.

The PSP version has the main character as a female. The target audience for this version is aimed more at females as they would be able to relate with this female. As a female it goes against the normal stereotype and instead the character is fighting and killing men. All the stereotypes are subverted unlike the other versions that follow the stereotypes. The game includes lots of different genres and because of this appeals to a wide audience. The new character is bigger, stronger and better at fighting which appeals to boys that are "obsessed" with war. Assassins Creed has captured the imagination of many people as the picture on the right shows.

The game will has been released alongside other popular franchises such as Call of Duty, Halo and Forza Horison all competing over the same target audience so by widening this audience with the PSP, online gameplay and multi-genre. These aspects make it competitive in the market against other games. Narrative (this area is copy and pasted from Wikipedia)

The story starts with Connor. After Charles Lee informs a young Connor that he wishes to speak to the elders of his village, he returns to find the village burning, causing the death of his mother. Later, a teenage Connor is told by a village elder that the reason no one is allowed to leave the valley is because they are there to protect the Temple. After showing the wise woman the symbol of the Assassins, she tells him to leave the valley, finding Achilles Davenport, an Assassin, and convinces the elder embittered fighter to train him.

After collecting supplies to rebuild the decaying homestead, Achilles presents Connor with the Aquila, a ship Connor can use to patrol the Eastern seaboard. Connor soon is taken to Boston, where he is finally dubbed Connor Kenway, after Achilles' son.

As Connor learns the art of being an assassin he is brought into the cities of Boston and New York as well as a large open area called The Frontier. After being made a full-fledged member of the Brotherhood by Achilles, Connor sets out to eliminate the Colonial Templars. William Johnson is first assassinated after he attempts to purchase the land in which Connor's people reside on. Connor next targets John Pitcairn, who leads the British forces at Bunker and Breed's Hills. After he is dealt with Connor next targets Thomas Hickey whom Connor discovers is plotting to assassinate George Washington.

Upon travelling to the Caribbean and pursuing a boat, Haytham and Connor find Church and kill him. The two then travel to meet Washington. Here, Haytham discovers a letter revealing that Washington has ordered the removal of all the Indigenous tribes from the land as a number of which have supported the British. One of the lands to be removed is Connor's own despite the tribe being completely neutral. Connor severs his ties with Haytham and Washington and takes off to protect his tribe's village. Connor finds the village safe, but the wise woman has dispatched several tribesmen to turn back the Colonials sent to purge the village. Connor neutralizes them to avoid conflict, however he is forced to sacrifice a good friend mentally blinded by Lee.

Connor becomes torn in his mission to eliminate the Templars with the thought that he could possibly turn his father for good. Connor sets off to pursue Lee who has been disgraced by Washington and taken refuge in Fort George. Connor infiltrates the fort only to find Haytham. Haytham reveals Lee has escaped (with the medallion) again and he and Connor engage in battle. Now accepting that his father will not turn, Connor kills Haytham, who refuses to repent in the end.

As Desmond plays these events out in the Animus he is occasionally taken out in order to find power cells crucial in the process of exploring the temple. The efforts take Desmond to locations including Manhattan and Brazil. During these trips, he encounters Daniel Cross, an Assassin-turned Templar who was responsible for nearly wiping out the Assassins in 2000 by killing their Mentor. While exploring the temple Juno tells Desmond the events leading up to the first cataclysm. It is during one of these lectures that Desmond reveals that he killing Lucy was no accident and that he chose to after the Apple revealed to him that Lucy was a double-agent and intended to take the Apple to Abstergo.

Connor now pursues Lee again. After pursuing Lee into a burning ship the two come to a stalemate after falling through a section of the ship. Connor is impaled in his side by a piece of the ship. Lee asks him why he continues to persist even though the Templars only rise again and again. Connor replies, "Because no one else will", and shoots Lee in the chest. A mortally wounded Lee escapes in a ferry across the lake with a badly injured Connor in pursuit. Connor finds Lee in a pub taking one last drink and finishes the job by stabbing Lee in the chest.

Connor takes down the portraits of the Templar members in the secret basement and burns them, signifying the end of his journey. In addition, his return to his home village (shown before) is detailed further- upon arrival he spoke to a hunter that had been camping there, who revealed that the new U.S. Government had sold the land his village rested upon to settlers in order to settle war debts. He also travels to the pier in New York, seeing the last of the British Redcoats leave America for good. However, at this same encounter, Connor sees the beginnings of the slave trade present in the newly formed nation- right next to the pier of citizens cheering at the departure of the British there is a stand where a slave trader is peddling three of his "wares".

Genre. Assassin's Creed 3 is very much a multi-genre game. Fantasy, adventure, strategy, beat em up, sandbox, sci-fi, puzzle, stealth and racing. This makes the game very immersive and allows the gamer to explore and spend many hours completing the missions, collecting or just enjoying this virtual world which in this new assassin's. One minute you can be tearing apart some guards the next collecting collectibles. This makes the game incredibly varied and diverse. The game is mostly third person which means that the camera is behind the character.

Not many games have this multi-genre so assassin's creed 3 doesn't have many competitors and is different from other popular franchises such as Call of Duty, Halo and Need for Speed. The multiplayer in Assassins Creed has been included since Brotherhood and has been mostly successful. It is a different concept from the usual team death match on most first person shooters and includes players hunting each other. The genre of the multiplayer is very much stealth and is popular for its inventiveness.

Marketing (This is an adaption from Joe Cockburn’s joe-cockburn-media.blogspot.co.uk

On 28th September 2012, Ubisoft announced that they were to spend £4million on marketing in anticipation of the release of Assassin's Creed 3. This is the largest spend on the promotion of a product by the developer, in a big push to up intake compared to the losses of the previous game, despite its 9 million sales.
This helps sales figures in an obvious way, the more people who see it across the TV, radio, advertising boards etc, the more people are aware of it, and then they look into it, find a large network of exciting "exclusive reveal" videos on the internet and get excited for the game, and want it when it comes out.

On Youtube, you can find a wide range of videos showing interviews and new features of the game. These helped build up anticipation for the game from fans, without revealing too much. This is a good way of promoting something as it comes at absolutely no cost whatsoever, but is a great way of building up excitement and draw in more people who preorder because they are watching the videos and want the game as a result. The videos have over 1 million hits each. As well as those, there are numerous trailers for different parts of the game, such as the new storyline, the new character "Connor", the new weapons and various others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GOLU5L072tg

In total, across 4 consoles, there are 7 different editions of Assassin's Creed 3. The Standard Edition is available on Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita and PC. The Limited Edition, which includes various extras which come with the game disc, including a belt buckle and a large embroidered colonial flag, and is available on Xbox 360 and PS3. The Digital Deluxe Edition is available just on PC, but comes with various add-ons from past versions of the game, like favourite missions and a "Best Of" soundtrack. Available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC- the main 3 consoles the game is available on- are the Special Edition, the Join Or Die Edition, the Freedom Edition and the UbiWorkshop Edition. These each come with their own arrangements of extras, including exclusive lithographs, an encyclopedia and rare prints, among others.
This helps the franchise develop sales figures as collectors and "hardcore gamers" will buy a number of, or at least the most expensive edition. This helps bring in much more money to the frenchise, at little extra cost to them. It also helps the franchise establish itself as it shows the commitment from the developers and designers.