Controlling the Masses

With 40% of world economic value controlled by 147 Transnational Corporations, it is no surprise that a corporation ultimately controls the Call of Duty franchise (Petray, 2013). Patel (2007) discusses how food corporations manipulate the consumers’ choice by selecting what the options are (p. 2). I can see how this concept can be applied to my virtual network. The primary company, Activision, works with two supplementary companies to produce particular game categories biennially; Infinity Ward creates the Modern Warfare games, whilst Treyarch designs the Black Ops series. The continuous development, production, and marketing of these games allow the primary company to release consecutive games, whilst maintaining a maximum development time in each category. By using this strategy, Activision has maximised its potential revenue, marketing avenues, and consumers, thus creating a monopoly of power over other game producers within the same genre.

                                                                 

Each time a game is released to the public, it incorporates something ‘new’ that the previous game lacked, giving a “fictitious sense of authenticity” (Kuttainen, 2013, p. 6). Atkins & Bowler (2001) observe how consumers want to experience foreign cuisine but want it to reflect their personal perception of taste (p. 277). The Call of Duty games also adopt this notion of perception. Activision adapts future games to both reflect and accommodate the interests of consumer expectations and technological advancement. Every game is different in some aspect (graphics or online capability) yet they maintain the same concept of gameplay. I personally know that I have become nostalgic for the earlier games and often go back to playing them for a short while. Then I remember why I stopped playing them – I want a holistic experience however, the continuous providing of ‘new’ games effectively outdates the old games, forcing gamers to upgrade for lack of accessibility, thus changing my ‘taste’ of the same concept.

References

Atkins, P. & Bowler, I. (2001). 'The Origins of Taste', in Food In Society: Economy, Culture, Geography, pp.272-295. London, UK: Hodder Headline Group. Retrieved from: http://learnjcu.edu.au

Kuttainen, V. (2013). BA1002: Our Space, Networks, Narrative and the Making of Place, Lecture 7: Food Networks ‘A Case of Rum’ [Power Point Slides]. Retrieved from: http://learnjcu.edu.au

Patel, R. (2009). 'Introduction', in Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World’s Food System, pp. 1-19. Toronto, Canada: Harper Perennial. Retrieved from: http://learnjcu.edu.au

Petray, T. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives and the Making of Place, Lecture 3, Maps: Seeing and Representing the World. [Power Point Slides] Retrieved from http://www.learnjcu.edu.au

Image Credit

Ziganto, L. (2010). Wishful Thinking [Web Log Post]. Retrieved from: http://www.newsrealblog.com/2010/08/27/palin-media-bias-rears-its-head-in-hilarious-wishful-thinking/