| barpaia1 | Melvin tries to trap the Tooth Fairy. |
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Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
House Synopsis
House
Bobbin is a young girl playing at the local playground when suddenly she collapses. Nearby babysitter brings her to the hospital. She is diagnosed with a stroke. House and the rest of the doctors are trying to figure out why such a young child suffered from a stroke. They keep her for observation and when the symptoms don’t get any better they question the parents about her health. After a few days she still isn’t getting any better so they perform more tests. Later on in the day she falls into a coma. The medical team panics suspecting foul play from the parents. With Dr. Cuddy distracting the mother and father at the hospital, Dr. Foreman and Dr. Cameron head over to the child’s home to investigate. The doctors find nothing all throughout the house until they look in the older sibling’s room. In there they find vials of a powder that they suspect may be involved. Once back at the hospital, it is discovered that the substance is mercury and Bobbin has been exposed to higher levels of it than normal. It was mercury poisoning.
Bobbin is a young girl playing at the local playground when suddenly she collapses. Nearby babysitter brings her to the hospital. She is diagnosed with a stroke. House and the rest of the doctors are trying to figure out why such a young child suffered from a stroke. They keep her for observation and when the symptoms don’t get any better they question the parents about her health. After a few days she still isn’t getting any better so they perform more tests. Later on in the day she falls into a coma. The medical team panics suspecting foul play from the parents. With Dr. Cuddy distracting the mother and father at the hospital, Dr. Foreman and Dr. Cameron head over to the child’s home to investigate. The doctors find nothing all throughout the house until they look in the older sibling’s room. In there they find vials of a powder that they suspect may be involved. Once back at the hospital, it is discovered that the substance is mercury and Bobbin has been exposed to higher levels of it than normal. It was mercury poisoning.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Portfolio
Query Letter
Dear Mr. or Mrs. Agent,
I would like to introduce you to my most recent story, #######.
My first published work was a poem titled A Scary Driver, in The National Poem Anthology. This story, ######, is a detective story of a young boy on the hunt for the Tooth Fairy. With his manipulative sister telling him lies of the Tooth Fairy's evil plan to steal the young boy's teeth, he sets out on a mission to set up traps catching the Tooth Fairy in the act. Once he realizes the truth behind the Tooth Fairy, he sets his sights on bigger and better things; revenge on his deceptive sister. An action packed story in the eyes of a seven year old, the view of the young boy's world is wharped from that of its actuality.
Dear Mr. or Mrs. Agent,
I would like to introduce you to my most recent story, #######.
My first published work was a poem titled A Scary Driver, in The National Poem Anthology. This story, ######, is a detective story of a young boy on the hunt for the Tooth Fairy. With his manipulative sister telling him lies of the Tooth Fairy's evil plan to steal the young boy's teeth, he sets out on a mission to set up traps catching the Tooth Fairy in the act. Once he realizes the truth behind the Tooth Fairy, he sets his sights on bigger and better things; revenge on his deceptive sister. An action packed story in the eyes of a seven year old, the view of the young boy's world is wharped from that of its actuality.
A story with the sense of humor that will reach a market similar to Shrek with a storyline somewhere between Calvin and Hobbes and Rugrats. However, the boy in this story has the ability to become invisible, or so he thinks. When he puts the "magic" street cone over his head (he's small enough to hide underneath it), he can walk around without blowing his cover.
###### is every young boy's fantasy and every young parent's reality. The idea of invisibility captivates kids and at the same time, reminds parents of their children's young ignorance. With the young boy believing the Tooth Fairy is out to steal his teeth, he'll stop at nothing to stop her. But revenge will be ever so sweet upon his evil sister.
I am a young writer from New Jersey and, considering your location in New York City, believe we would make for a perfect match based on our proximity. I have seen what you have done for John Smith and believe you can do the same for me.
I wanna thank you and appreciate you taking the time to read this as I'm sure you are extremely busy. I look forward to speaking with you further about the direction we may be able to take this.
Sincerely,
Brian Arpaia
First Creative Work (TV Scene)
Obvious David Hasselhoff Impersonator: Well, I had a guest appearance on Boy Meets World playing Mr. Feeney's brother-in-law. Other than that, I had a brief stint on Moesha playing the stereotypical white guy from Germany.
Gary: And what do you have planned for St. Patty's Day?
Obvious David Hasselhoff Impersonator: I plan on taking my kids here to the beach and showing them how to perfect the slow motion run. (Pans out to show young children that are obviously not this person's kids)
Second Creative Work (Short Story)
Finally, the cheerleader decided to call both the girl and the running back to come to her dorm room at the same time without either one knowing. There, they would try to debate over which one would get the girl. The cheerleader stopped the both of them and explained that she could not choose between the two of them and that she had other plans. Before getting into an X-rated script we'll just say all three of them lived happily ever after...especially the guy.
Third Creative Work (Treatment)
The story begins with a 7 year old boy who pretends to be a detective. This boy is not like all the other moves you have seen however, because this little guy is not as polite and friendly as you would imagine. He actually is more of a mix between Eric Cartman and Dennis the Menace. The boy believes that he has the superpower of being invisible to others. This is obviously not true. This special power is only available though when he puts on his (object still up in the air...perhaps sunglasses...perhaps a cape...not sure yet).
First Commentary (Extraordinary Appeal of Screen Media)
Second, and this is a problem I have with most reading I am given in the classroom, the author(s) would use bigger words when they were unnecessary. For example, one sentence reads, "...however passingly, ameliorates this noxious circumstance." Why? Why do they need to use these words? It's just one of those things that really chaps my ass that I had to get off my chest before moving forward with this entry.
Second Commentary (Transmedia Storytelling)
In short, you fight all the remaining players that you didn't choose and then finish it with the "boss" as gamers call them (I would've put gamer in quotes but I didn't want to have two words in quotes right next to each other but in reality, anyone who considers themselves a gamer is considered a tool in my book). It doesn't have much of a story line to the game unless you watch the extra movie parts (which I never did since all I wanted to do was kick some ass). In fact, I never understood why the game was such a hit whereas Shaq Fu, a game based around the great basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, was more pathetic than the Average Homeboy.
Third Commentary (Reaction to the WGA Strike)
They state that 50% of the writers in their union earned less than $104,000 last year. THAT MEANS %50 EARNED MORE! There are people around the country earning $20,000 a year doing much harder work than writing useless ideas onto a piece of paper. The XFL lasted longer than most of the television shows today because they are garbage. And don't get me started on the movies that have come out lately (i.e. Cloverfield...harder to watch than Paula Abdul's music video with the cartoon cat). The writers that are most successful will make the most money, whereas the ones who make garbage movies such as Speed 2 will not make good money.
First Creative Work (TV Scene)
Obvious David Hasselhoff Impersonator: Well, I had a guest appearance on Boy Meets World playing Mr. Feeney's brother-in-law. Other than that, I had a brief stint on Moesha playing the stereotypical white guy from Germany.
Gary: And what do you have planned for St. Patty's Day?
Obvious David Hasselhoff Impersonator: I plan on taking my kids here to the beach and showing them how to perfect the slow motion run. (Pans out to show young children that are obviously not this person's kids)
Second Creative Work (Short Story)
Finally, the cheerleader decided to call both the girl and the running back to come to her dorm room at the same time without either one knowing. There, they would try to debate over which one would get the girl. The cheerleader stopped the both of them and explained that she could not choose between the two of them and that she had other plans. Before getting into an X-rated script we'll just say all three of them lived happily ever after...especially the guy.
Third Creative Work (Treatment)
The story begins with a 7 year old boy who pretends to be a detective. This boy is not like all the other moves you have seen however, because this little guy is not as polite and friendly as you would imagine. He actually is more of a mix between Eric Cartman and Dennis the Menace. The boy believes that he has the superpower of being invisible to others. This is obviously not true. This special power is only available though when he puts on his (object still up in the air...perhaps sunglasses...perhaps a cape...not sure yet).
First Commentary (Extraordinary Appeal of Screen Media)
Second, and this is a problem I have with most reading I am given in the classroom, the author(s) would use bigger words when they were unnecessary. For example, one sentence reads, "...however passingly, ameliorates this noxious circumstance." Why? Why do they need to use these words? It's just one of those things that really chaps my ass that I had to get off my chest before moving forward with this entry.
Second Commentary (Transmedia Storytelling)
In short, you fight all the remaining players that you didn't choose and then finish it with the "boss" as gamers call them (I would've put gamer in quotes but I didn't want to have two words in quotes right next to each other but in reality, anyone who considers themselves a gamer is considered a tool in my book). It doesn't have much of a story line to the game unless you watch the extra movie parts (which I never did since all I wanted to do was kick some ass). In fact, I never understood why the game was such a hit whereas Shaq Fu, a game based around the great basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, was more pathetic than the Average Homeboy.
Third Commentary (Reaction to the WGA Strike)
They state that 50% of the writers in their union earned less than $104,000 last year. THAT MEANS %50 EARNED MORE! There are people around the country earning $20,000 a year doing much harder work than writing useless ideas onto a piece of paper. The XFL lasted longer than most of the television shows today because they are garbage. And don't get me started on the movies that have come out lately (i.e. Cloverfield...harder to watch than Paula Abdul's music video with the cartoon cat). The writers that are most successful will make the most money, whereas the ones who make garbage movies such as Speed 2 will not make good money.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Video Game Story
Melvin, the 7 year old wannabe detective, begins the game in the backyard on an adventure to find all the teeth he can in order to redeem them for money so he can purchase a spy-kit. Armed with only a slingshot, he must search the backyard and house for objects that will help him defeat his evil sister Martha, who has made it her goal to prevent him from purchasing the spy-kit. The levels are the backyard, basement, kitchen, attic, and the final battle against his sister in her room. These levels will have mosquitoes in the backyard, spiders in the basement, mice in the kitchen, and bats in the attic. There will also be power ups of candy for sugar rushes and vegetables as power downs. At the end of each level, Melvin must defeat Martha and is rewarded with a tooth. Each battle with the sister gets harder as she gets bigger and scarier. He can get extra lives as well by finding toys along the way. After beating Martha in the final battle, Melvin takes all the teeth he has gained and places them under his pillow so that the tooth fairy will give him money. The final scene will be Melvin using his newly purchased spy kit to spy on his sister.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Treatment
The story begins with a 7 year old boy who pretends to be a detective. This boy is not like all the other moves you have seen however, because this little guy is not as polite and friendly as you would imagine. He actually is more of a mix between Eric Cartman and Dennis the Menace. The boy believes that he has the superpower of being invisible to others. This is obviously not true. This special power is only available though when he puts on his (object still up in the air...perhaps sunglasses...perhaps a cape...not sure yet). His older sister, around the age of 11-12, is always setting the detective boy up with missions that seem to him to be of importance but are really just pranks that an older child would know is false. A couple examples of cases that the boy will be given to solve is the mystery of the Tooth Fairy. He is in charge of trapping and catching this infamous Tooth Fairy before he can steal anymore teeth. Another example is the mystery of his grandparents' teeth. He is under the impression that they have his grandparents under their control and that without the teeth, his grandparents lose the ability to speak and eat. The last example would be that disgusting Mystery Meat found in lunchrooms across the country. He is in charge of finding out what it actually is after being informed by his sister that it is actually made from bad children who are given detention.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Back To You
Setting: On Set
Marsh: The Nittany Lions are undefeated through five games. And that's all for sports so mash the potatoes, tickle your neighbor, and high five the priest.
Chuck: OK thank you for that Marsh. And now we go live to Gary who is enjoying St. Patty's Day in Germany right now. Gary?
Gary: Uh yeah. Hi Chuck. There's not much going on here. As a matter of fact, I don't think anyone even knows that today is a holiday. However, I did run into David Hasselhoff. David, what have you been doing since Baywatch?
Obvious David Hasselhoff Impersonator: Well, I had a guest appearance on Boy Meets World playing Mr. Feeney's brother-in-law. Other than that, I had a brief stint on Moesha playing the stereotypical white guy from Germany.
Gary: That's interesting. And I hear now you're giving polotics a try. Is this true?
Obvious David Hasselhoff Impersonator: Actually, I'm trying to get back into the acting business now. I am preparing for a role playing the Prime Minister of Switzerland so I am running for President here in Germany. Who would've thought I'd be the leading candidate.
Gary: And what do you have planned for St. Patty's Day?
Obvious David Hasselhoff Impersonator: I plan on taking my kids here to the beach and showing them how to perfect the slow motion run. (Pans out to show young children that are obviously not this person's kids)
Gary: Well good luck to you. Chuck, this is just enriching stuff over here. Back to you in the studio.
Chuck: Say, Gary. Are you sure that was David Hasselhoff? He looks a littler different than normal.
Gary: Sure it is. You believe this guy David. He thinks your an imposter.
Obvious David Hasselhoff Impersonator #2: I like pizza.
Gary: Yes, don't we all.
Chuck: And there you have it folks. Special reports like that which make us the number three news team in the city. I'm Chuck Darling. You stay classy Buffalo.
BOOM SON
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
One Lucky Guy
Setting: College Football dorm and cheerleader's dorm.
The freshman starting Running Back for the perennial powerhouse USC Trojans is dating the new freshman cheerleader. They're high school sweethearts. She is a dime piece. Their sex life is phenomenal; real experimental if you catch my drift. The Running Back is very happy. The cheerleader is very committed after being together with him for so long but feels like she is missing something in her life.
During one of the cheerleader initiation meetings, the cheerleaders decide to make the freshmen attend a gay and lesbian coming out party at the campus center. At the meeting, the freshman cheerleader runs into a friend of hers that she has class with. Because the initiation's intent was for the cheerleaders to pretend that they are gay, the freshman cheerleader must convince her friend that she is a lesbian. The friend has no trouble believing this since they were at a gay and lesbian coming out party. After they get to talking, they decide to leave and go to a party. Upon arrival, the freshman cheerleader realizes this is another party with lesbians. Because of her fear of losing her lesbian friend for lying as well as facing the consequences of not playing the role of a lesbian, she reluctantly goes on.
Drinks start going down like water and body shots are now the center of attention. About the same time she begins seeing double, the lesbian friend asks if she'd like to head back to her place for a night capper. The drunken freshman sees no harm in this, forgetting about the "mask" she's been wearing all night.
Back at the lesbian girl's dorm, the two enjoy buttery nipples. Not literally, but the shots. Then, the lesbian made her move, sliding a little closer on the bed to the cheerleader before brushing the hair out from in front of her face to go in for the kiss. The cheerleader, taken by complete surprise of the sudden move, instinctually slapped her and stood up. The two stood speechless, staring each other down as if in an old western shoot out. Then the cheerleader pounced on the lesbian and did the hibbidy dibbidy.
The next day, leaving the girl's dorm in the morning, the cheerleader was seen by some of her older cheerleader peers. Being jealous of the freshman for dating the star running back, they quickly ran to him with the gossip. As the story unfolded, the running back was clearly filling with anger. He realized he could never hit a girl but revenge was inevitable. Being a big, tough, football player, the running back went straight to the editor of the school paper. He gave him an article he wrote and told him the consequences would be severe should this not end up in tomorrow's paper.
The article explained how the lesbian had three STDs, was an illegal immigrant, and cheated in all her classes by sleeping with the female professors. The girl's reputation was ruined. It was published on the front page with a big picture under the heading "Wouldn't Touch It with a 10 Ft. Pole."
The girl, seeking revenge on the running back, decided to publish a story of her own. Her story told of the running back's use of steroids, Viagra, and sexually experimenting with men. With this news, the running back's career was ended due to violation of NCAA regulations and he was ridiculed all through campus.
Finally, the cheerleader decided to call both the girl and the running back to come to her dorm room at the same time without either one knowing. There, they would try to debate over which one would get the girl. The cheerleader stopped the both of them and explained that she could not choose between the two of them and that she had other plans. Before getting into an X-rated script we'll just say all three of them lived happily ever after...especially the guy.
The End.
As far as the article on short story rules goes, I can dig it. It leaves a very simple outline of what you should look to accomplish when writing a story. For the amateur writer, following these rules would be a very good starting point. What I like most about them is that among the rules is a rule to break the rules. This leaves everything open to experimentation. This is the rule that separates the elite writers from the average. The ability to effectively break the rules while keeping the reader's interest is where it's at.
BOOM SON!
The freshman starting Running Back for the perennial powerhouse USC Trojans is dating the new freshman cheerleader. They're high school sweethearts. She is a dime piece. Their sex life is phenomenal; real experimental if you catch my drift. The Running Back is very happy. The cheerleader is very committed after being together with him for so long but feels like she is missing something in her life.
During one of the cheerleader initiation meetings, the cheerleaders decide to make the freshmen attend a gay and lesbian coming out party at the campus center. At the meeting, the freshman cheerleader runs into a friend of hers that she has class with. Because the initiation's intent was for the cheerleaders to pretend that they are gay, the freshman cheerleader must convince her friend that she is a lesbian. The friend has no trouble believing this since they were at a gay and lesbian coming out party. After they get to talking, they decide to leave and go to a party. Upon arrival, the freshman cheerleader realizes this is another party with lesbians. Because of her fear of losing her lesbian friend for lying as well as facing the consequences of not playing the role of a lesbian, she reluctantly goes on.
Drinks start going down like water and body shots are now the center of attention. About the same time she begins seeing double, the lesbian friend asks if she'd like to head back to her place for a night capper. The drunken freshman sees no harm in this, forgetting about the "mask" she's been wearing all night.
Back at the lesbian girl's dorm, the two enjoy buttery nipples. Not literally, but the shots. Then, the lesbian made her move, sliding a little closer on the bed to the cheerleader before brushing the hair out from in front of her face to go in for the kiss. The cheerleader, taken by complete surprise of the sudden move, instinctually slapped her and stood up. The two stood speechless, staring each other down as if in an old western shoot out. Then the cheerleader pounced on the lesbian and did the hibbidy dibbidy.
The next day, leaving the girl's dorm in the morning, the cheerleader was seen by some of her older cheerleader peers. Being jealous of the freshman for dating the star running back, they quickly ran to him with the gossip. As the story unfolded, the running back was clearly filling with anger. He realized he could never hit a girl but revenge was inevitable. Being a big, tough, football player, the running back went straight to the editor of the school paper. He gave him an article he wrote and told him the consequences would be severe should this not end up in tomorrow's paper.
The article explained how the lesbian had three STDs, was an illegal immigrant, and cheated in all her classes by sleeping with the female professors. The girl's reputation was ruined. It was published on the front page with a big picture under the heading "Wouldn't Touch It with a 10 Ft. Pole."
The girl, seeking revenge on the running back, decided to publish a story of her own. Her story told of the running back's use of steroids, Viagra, and sexually experimenting with men. With this news, the running back's career was ended due to violation of NCAA regulations and he was ridiculed all through campus.
Finally, the cheerleader decided to call both the girl and the running back to come to her dorm room at the same time without either one knowing. There, they would try to debate over which one would get the girl. The cheerleader stopped the both of them and explained that she could not choose between the two of them and that she had other plans. Before getting into an X-rated script we'll just say all three of them lived happily ever after...especially the guy.
The End.
As far as the article on short story rules goes, I can dig it. It leaves a very simple outline of what you should look to accomplish when writing a story. For the amateur writer, following these rules would be a very good starting point. What I like most about them is that among the rules is a rule to break the rules. This leaves everything open to experimentation. This is the rule that separates the elite writers from the average. The ability to effectively break the rules while keeping the reader's interest is where it's at.
BOOM SON!
Monday, February 18, 2008
The Extraordinary Appeal of Screen Media
This past week I was given an assignment to read over a thirty-six page packet. The title was "The Extraordinary Appeal of Screen Media." After reading through it and highlighting certain things that seemed to me as if they were important and would be worth going back to for this blog, I realized that I'm not even completely clear on what the author(s) were trying to accomplish by writing this. For one, it was very hard to read because of all the citing they were doing. It felt as if every sentence was shorter in length than the source that was cited at the end of it. Second, and this is a problem I have with most reading I am given in the classroom, the author(s) would use bigger words when they were unnecessary. For example, one sentence reads, "...however passingly, ameliorates this noxious circumstance." Why? Why do they need to use these words? It's just one of those things that really chaps my ass that I had to get off my chest before moving forward with this entry.
For the most part, at least from what I could understand, this packet was describing the role that television plays in people’s lives, how people watch it, and what they would do if they weren’t watching. For example, they explain that there are two ways to watch television; Ritualistic and Instrumental. Ritualistic viewing refers to the exposure of television whereas instrumental viewing refers to the content. They argue that children’s viewing is considered ritualistic until about the age of 6 which is when they begin noticing the narrative in television shows such as the Teletubbies. They go on to claim that there are three motives for viewing television: escape, surveying characters in order to evaluate personal attributes, and keeping abreast of the world.
Later in the packet they describe what happens when television is introduced into a community and what changes occur. There were three towns, creatively referred to as “No-TV Town, Low-TV Town, and High-TV Town.” The No-TV Town was not given the opportunity to watch any television. The Low-TV town was given one channel to watch with a third of the programming being educational to be shown in schools. The High-TV town was given two channels; the educational channel and a channel that offered entertainment, sports, and news. The findings in this study showed that there was a significant decline for spectator and participant sports along with other outdoor activities and for certain media such as comic books and radio listening in the two towns with television as opposed to the community without television.
Basically, what this packet is trying to explain to the readers is that television is similar to one of the robots from I, Robot. It is taking over our lives and soon enough we will be prisoners in our own homes handcuffed (figuratively speaking) to our couches parked in front of the television sets. We must destroy all televisions and go back to the time when radio was the main form of entertainment. Yikes. Screw that. BOOM SON!
For the most part, at least from what I could understand, this packet was describing the role that television plays in people’s lives, how people watch it, and what they would do if they weren’t watching. For example, they explain that there are two ways to watch television; Ritualistic and Instrumental. Ritualistic viewing refers to the exposure of television whereas instrumental viewing refers to the content. They argue that children’s viewing is considered ritualistic until about the age of 6 which is when they begin noticing the narrative in television shows such as the Teletubbies. They go on to claim that there are three motives for viewing television: escape, surveying characters in order to evaluate personal attributes, and keeping abreast of the world.
Later in the packet they describe what happens when television is introduced into a community and what changes occur. There were three towns, creatively referred to as “No-TV Town, Low-TV Town, and High-TV Town.” The No-TV Town was not given the opportunity to watch any television. The Low-TV town was given one channel to watch with a third of the programming being educational to be shown in schools. The High-TV town was given two channels; the educational channel and a channel that offered entertainment, sports, and news. The findings in this study showed that there was a significant decline for spectator and participant sports along with other outdoor activities and for certain media such as comic books and radio listening in the two towns with television as opposed to the community without television.
Basically, what this packet is trying to explain to the readers is that television is similar to one of the robots from I, Robot. It is taking over our lives and soon enough we will be prisoners in our own homes handcuffed (figuratively speaking) to our couches parked in front of the television sets. We must destroy all televisions and go back to the time when radio was the main form of entertainment. Yikes. Screw that. BOOM SON!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Nintendo SWOT Analysis
Company Overview
Nintendo is a Japanese based corporation founded in 1989. It’s original purpose was producing handmade hanafuda cards. After failed attempts at changing the direction of the company, it found success in the interactive entertainment systems and software industry. It changed its name from Nintendo Playing Card Company to Nintendo Company, Ltd. in 1963. Since then, Nintendo Co. has been creating video games and gaming systems that have become tops in their respective categories. In the early 1980’s, Donkey Kong was introduced to the markets and became an instant classic. This was followed a couple years later with Super Mario Brothers and Legend of Zelda. All three of these games are recognizable by most people. After these games were introduced on Nintendo’s original game system, Nintendo introduced an upgraded version of their original gaming system and called it Super Nintendo. This 16-bit console enjoyed instant success in both the Japan and American markets. Five years later another upgrade was introduced called Nintendo 64. Since then, Nintendo has introduced Nintendo Gamecube and Nintendo Wii. Both systems, along with the previous consoles, have enjoyed much success along with the software (games) that they also create. Today, Nintendo is still enjoying an increase in sales with their Nintendo Wii console and games. Although Nintendo only works in the Video Games industry, the company is also the majority owner of the Seattle Mariners in Major League Baseball as well as a partial owner of the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA.
Strengths
According to Datamonitor’s company profile on Nintendo, published on September 17, 2007, Nintendo has four main strengths: A strong brand name, high returns, high employee efficiency, and debt free status. ‘
Nintendo’s strong brand name comes from about twenty-five years experience in the video gaming business. Not only do they have a strong presence in the console market but they are the leader in the handheld console market. They pioneered this market in 1989 with the original Game Boy. Since then, they have upgraded to create Game Boy Advanced and Nintendo DS, which sold 79.5 million units and 40.3 million units, respectively, in fiscal 2007. The Nintendo Wii, which is their most updated console, sold 5.84 million units in the first five months in its launch alone. This system consists of motion sensors attached to the end of the controllers as well as the console, which makes the games more interactive. A high percentage of the people that play video games in today’s day are college students. Being part of that percentage, I know that I think highly of Nintendo based mainly on the fact that they created regular Nintendo. If I could choose today between playing the most technologically advanced gaming console and the original Legend of Zelda, I would play Legend of Zelda for hours.
Nintendo has also been very successful in investing their resources in profitable companies and ideas. This would include their ownership in the Seattle Mariners and the Atlanta Hawks. It also refers to their high return on assets and equity when compared with other companies in the same industry.
Nintendo also has high employee efficiency. According to Datamonitor, “revenue per employee was about $206,960 in fiscal year 2007, significantly higher compared to the industry average of about $3,684 during the same period.”
Nintendo’s biggest strength in my opinion is their ability to stay debt free. Their most recent debt to equity ratio was zero compared to the industry’s average of 11.9%. This not only shows that they are able to efficiently finance its’ operations but also enjoys a lot of financial flexibility.
Weaknesses
Nintendo’s two biggest weaknesses are having a dependence on contract manufacturers as well as having low earnings per share. In regards to the dependence on contract manufacturers, Nintendo reaches out to companies to produce the key components of their consoles as well as assembling the finished products. The problem is, the new Nintendo Wii console is under such high demand that the manufacturers are not able to supply the key components or assemble the products fast enough creating a lack of finished products to be sold. It is assumed that this shortage will have a sizeable affect on the company’s overall revenue.
Low earnings per share is calculated by dividing profit by the weighted average common shares. “Nintendo recorded a 12.6% decline in its earnings per share for five year period, from 2003 to 2007, significantly lower compared to the corresponding industry average of 43.9%.” This is important to note because it may affect the investors in the company negatively by lowering their confidence.
A third weakness is the lack of games produced for Nintendo consoles. In my personal opinion, I have steered away from recent Nintendo products such as Gamecube and Wii because of the lack of games so far. Regular Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Gameboy, and Nintendo 64 all had a wide variety of games. Gamecube and Wii, however, have been overshadowed by other systems with many more games such as Playstation 2, Xbox, and Xbox360. It seems as if Nintendo is always so anxious to get their gaming systems out that they never wait to have enough games to satisfy their customers.
Opportunities
Nintendo has a few different opportunities. For starters, the United States game software market is soaring right now. Video games and consoles are some of the most sold items, especially during the holiday season. Because of their reasonable prices, games can be given as gifts by pretty much anyone. The video game market is also soaring as is evident by the $8 billion dollars in revenues in 2006 in addition to the consoles market generating $6.6 billion dollars in revenues during the same year. These figures are expected to increase as well over the next couple years to reach up to $10.3 billion dollars at the end of 2011.
Another grand opportunity that Nintendo is planning on attacking is the Indian console market. Although the revenues are not nearly as much as the American market, the Indian market for consoles is expected to skyrocket to $120 million by 2010 from just $13.3 million in 2006. Because of Nintendo’s great brand image, as discussed under strengths, Nintendo will succeed in these new markets.
The greatest opportunity, however, is in the online gaming market. The world is continuing to become more computer oriented in such that computers are now about as normal household item as a television set. Because of this, and the generation of children growing up in this kind of environment, the market of online gaming is become increasingly large. In 2006, only 46 million people were using broadband connections to play video games online. That number is expected to jump up to 413 million users by the year 2010. Nintendo has taken steps to attract this audience by setting up their Wii system to be internet accessible and have the ability to update content, including up to date weather services and news feeds.
Threats
There are a handful of threats that go along with all of these opportunities and strengths, however. For one, Nintendo products are often very pricey. This allows other products with similar or slightly lesser quality to steal customers by pricing their respective consoles and games to make them more affordable.
Another knock on the Nintendo products is their short lifecycle. In the video game industry, products “lose their flavor” after approximately nine months, at which point a different product will come out that seems to be more updated and technologically advanced. Because of this, Nintendo will have to make sure to release all products on time and be able to meet the demand of their products with their supply. Leaving stores sold out of products will result in loss of sales in the long run due to the short lifecycle that each product will enjoy.
The last threat to Nintendo products is their poor durability. The Nintendo Wii controllers have had the most significant problems when it comes to this. In many circumstances, the Wii controllers have not been properly designed resulting in the controller flying from the user’s hands and into televisions sets. Having problems such as these results in recalls, which is a very lengthy and expensive process. To prevent this, Nintendo must confirm that all products are being properly designed and manufactured prior to release.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Nintendo has done a great job at creating a good brand image within the video game industry. With the disappointing failure of the Playstation 3, a console expected to rival the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo has been able to enjoy much success with their Wii. Interesting enough, the high prices did not steer consumers away from the console. Instead, during the holiday season, many retail stores were sold out. For the time being it seems as if the Wii will continue to enjoy success by introducing new games to the system. Having a unique system with controls that actually have sensors in which you have to move around to control game has captured everyone’s interest.
For the future, I would like to say that Nintendo should begin the planning and preparing process for the release of systems and games sooner so that there is not a higher demand than the supply. However, for some reason or another, Nintendo has done this with most of their products, and with the word-of-mouth marketing, and high product quality, Nintendo has been able to keep their “flavor of the month” status for longer than most other companies. It can be comparable to the Tickle-Me-Elmo dolls. When they were hard to get, everyone wanted one and would pay thousands of dollars on Ebay just to get one. As soon as they filled the stores though, nobody had any interest anymore.
I believe Nintendo will succeed in the new digital media environment because they seem to be a company that can adjust to the market. Also, the president of Nintendo has not rules out the idea of creating a Nintendo phone that will be able to play games as well. In my opinion, these are two booming markets right now and to combine one product to do it all would be even bigger than the iPhone.
Works Cited
"Nintendo Co., Ltd. SWOT Analysis." (2007): 1-9. Business Source Premier. Ithaca College. 11 Feb. 2008.
"Nintendo." Wikipedia. 11 Feb. 2008. 11 Feb. 2008.
"Sharp Corporation SWOT Analysis." (2005): 1-6. Business Source Premier. Ithaca College. 11 Feb. 2008.
Nintendo is a Japanese based corporation founded in 1989. It’s original purpose was producing handmade hanafuda cards. After failed attempts at changing the direction of the company, it found success in the interactive entertainment systems and software industry. It changed its name from Nintendo Playing Card Company to Nintendo Company, Ltd. in 1963. Since then, Nintendo Co. has been creating video games and gaming systems that have become tops in their respective categories. In the early 1980’s, Donkey Kong was introduced to the markets and became an instant classic. This was followed a couple years later with Super Mario Brothers and Legend of Zelda. All three of these games are recognizable by most people. After these games were introduced on Nintendo’s original game system, Nintendo introduced an upgraded version of their original gaming system and called it Super Nintendo. This 16-bit console enjoyed instant success in both the Japan and American markets. Five years later another upgrade was introduced called Nintendo 64. Since then, Nintendo has introduced Nintendo Gamecube and Nintendo Wii. Both systems, along with the previous consoles, have enjoyed much success along with the software (games) that they also create. Today, Nintendo is still enjoying an increase in sales with their Nintendo Wii console and games. Although Nintendo only works in the Video Games industry, the company is also the majority owner of the Seattle Mariners in Major League Baseball as well as a partial owner of the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA.
Strengths
According to Datamonitor’s company profile on Nintendo, published on September 17, 2007, Nintendo has four main strengths: A strong brand name, high returns, high employee efficiency, and debt free status. ‘
Nintendo’s strong brand name comes from about twenty-five years experience in the video gaming business. Not only do they have a strong presence in the console market but they are the leader in the handheld console market. They pioneered this market in 1989 with the original Game Boy. Since then, they have upgraded to create Game Boy Advanced and Nintendo DS, which sold 79.5 million units and 40.3 million units, respectively, in fiscal 2007. The Nintendo Wii, which is their most updated console, sold 5.84 million units in the first five months in its launch alone. This system consists of motion sensors attached to the end of the controllers as well as the console, which makes the games more interactive. A high percentage of the people that play video games in today’s day are college students. Being part of that percentage, I know that I think highly of Nintendo based mainly on the fact that they created regular Nintendo. If I could choose today between playing the most technologically advanced gaming console and the original Legend of Zelda, I would play Legend of Zelda for hours.
Nintendo has also been very successful in investing their resources in profitable companies and ideas. This would include their ownership in the Seattle Mariners and the Atlanta Hawks. It also refers to their high return on assets and equity when compared with other companies in the same industry.
Nintendo also has high employee efficiency. According to Datamonitor, “revenue per employee was about $206,960 in fiscal year 2007, significantly higher compared to the industry average of about $3,684 during the same period.”
Nintendo’s biggest strength in my opinion is their ability to stay debt free. Their most recent debt to equity ratio was zero compared to the industry’s average of 11.9%. This not only shows that they are able to efficiently finance its’ operations but also enjoys a lot of financial flexibility.
Weaknesses
Nintendo’s two biggest weaknesses are having a dependence on contract manufacturers as well as having low earnings per share. In regards to the dependence on contract manufacturers, Nintendo reaches out to companies to produce the key components of their consoles as well as assembling the finished products. The problem is, the new Nintendo Wii console is under such high demand that the manufacturers are not able to supply the key components or assemble the products fast enough creating a lack of finished products to be sold. It is assumed that this shortage will have a sizeable affect on the company’s overall revenue.
Low earnings per share is calculated by dividing profit by the weighted average common shares. “Nintendo recorded a 12.6% decline in its earnings per share for five year period, from 2003 to 2007, significantly lower compared to the corresponding industry average of 43.9%.” This is important to note because it may affect the investors in the company negatively by lowering their confidence.
A third weakness is the lack of games produced for Nintendo consoles. In my personal opinion, I have steered away from recent Nintendo products such as Gamecube and Wii because of the lack of games so far. Regular Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Gameboy, and Nintendo 64 all had a wide variety of games. Gamecube and Wii, however, have been overshadowed by other systems with many more games such as Playstation 2, Xbox, and Xbox360. It seems as if Nintendo is always so anxious to get their gaming systems out that they never wait to have enough games to satisfy their customers.
Opportunities
Nintendo has a few different opportunities. For starters, the United States game software market is soaring right now. Video games and consoles are some of the most sold items, especially during the holiday season. Because of their reasonable prices, games can be given as gifts by pretty much anyone. The video game market is also soaring as is evident by the $8 billion dollars in revenues in 2006 in addition to the consoles market generating $6.6 billion dollars in revenues during the same year. These figures are expected to increase as well over the next couple years to reach up to $10.3 billion dollars at the end of 2011.
Another grand opportunity that Nintendo is planning on attacking is the Indian console market. Although the revenues are not nearly as much as the American market, the Indian market for consoles is expected to skyrocket to $120 million by 2010 from just $13.3 million in 2006. Because of Nintendo’s great brand image, as discussed under strengths, Nintendo will succeed in these new markets.
The greatest opportunity, however, is in the online gaming market. The world is continuing to become more computer oriented in such that computers are now about as normal household item as a television set. Because of this, and the generation of children growing up in this kind of environment, the market of online gaming is become increasingly large. In 2006, only 46 million people were using broadband connections to play video games online. That number is expected to jump up to 413 million users by the year 2010. Nintendo has taken steps to attract this audience by setting up their Wii system to be internet accessible and have the ability to update content, including up to date weather services and news feeds.
Threats
There are a handful of threats that go along with all of these opportunities and strengths, however. For one, Nintendo products are often very pricey. This allows other products with similar or slightly lesser quality to steal customers by pricing their respective consoles and games to make them more affordable.
Another knock on the Nintendo products is their short lifecycle. In the video game industry, products “lose their flavor” after approximately nine months, at which point a different product will come out that seems to be more updated and technologically advanced. Because of this, Nintendo will have to make sure to release all products on time and be able to meet the demand of their products with their supply. Leaving stores sold out of products will result in loss of sales in the long run due to the short lifecycle that each product will enjoy.
The last threat to Nintendo products is their poor durability. The Nintendo Wii controllers have had the most significant problems when it comes to this. In many circumstances, the Wii controllers have not been properly designed resulting in the controller flying from the user’s hands and into televisions sets. Having problems such as these results in recalls, which is a very lengthy and expensive process. To prevent this, Nintendo must confirm that all products are being properly designed and manufactured prior to release.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Nintendo has done a great job at creating a good brand image within the video game industry. With the disappointing failure of the Playstation 3, a console expected to rival the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo has been able to enjoy much success with their Wii. Interesting enough, the high prices did not steer consumers away from the console. Instead, during the holiday season, many retail stores were sold out. For the time being it seems as if the Wii will continue to enjoy success by introducing new games to the system. Having a unique system with controls that actually have sensors in which you have to move around to control game has captured everyone’s interest.
For the future, I would like to say that Nintendo should begin the planning and preparing process for the release of systems and games sooner so that there is not a higher demand than the supply. However, for some reason or another, Nintendo has done this with most of their products, and with the word-of-mouth marketing, and high product quality, Nintendo has been able to keep their “flavor of the month” status for longer than most other companies. It can be comparable to the Tickle-Me-Elmo dolls. When they were hard to get, everyone wanted one and would pay thousands of dollars on Ebay just to get one. As soon as they filled the stores though, nobody had any interest anymore.
I believe Nintendo will succeed in the new digital media environment because they seem to be a company that can adjust to the market. Also, the president of Nintendo has not rules out the idea of creating a Nintendo phone that will be able to play games as well. In my opinion, these are two booming markets right now and to combine one product to do it all would be even bigger than the iPhone.
Works Cited
"Nintendo Co., Ltd. SWOT Analysis." (2007): 1-9. Business Source Premier. Ithaca College. 11 Feb. 2008.
"Nintendo." Wikipedia. 11 Feb. 2008. 11 Feb. 2008
"Sharp Corporation SWOT Analysis." (2005): 1-6. Business Source Premier. Ithaca College. 11 Feb. 2008.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Transmedia Storytelling
Transmedia Storytelling is something that is evident in many different genres of entertainment. Most people may think that it's only used in children's programming but that is not the case. It is somewhat of a recent way for businesses to double and triple their revenues from certain ideas.
When I was growing up, we had many of examples of Transmedia Storytelling. One that stands out most in my mind is Mortal Kombat. It began as a simple video game for Sega Genesis. I probably don't need to explain the game to you as I'm sure, whoever is reading this, you've most likely played it at one point in your life. In any case, it had a group of about ten crazy "people," and i put people in quotes because most of them were mutants with superpowers like freezing people or striking them with lightning. Anyway, you pick one of them and then you begin your quest for victory. In short, you fight all the remaining players that you didn't choose and then finish it with the "boss" as gamers call them (I would've put gamer in quotes but I didn't want to have two words in quotes right next to each other but in reality, anyone who considers themselves a gamer is considered a tool in my book). It doesn't have much of a story line to the game unless you watch the extra movie parts (which I never did since all I wanted to do was kick some ass). In fact, I never understood why the game was such a hit whereas Shaq Fu, a game based around the great basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, was more pathetic than the Average Homeboy.
Next to come after the famous Mortal Kombat video game was the movie. The movie was not nearly as big a hit as the video game, however, it did introduce characters that would in included in the next game that would come out. After the movie, action figures and blankets and lunch boxes were made with the Mortal Kombat characters.
In my opinion, which is somewhat similar to the article we were given, I think the way stories will be told in the future will be drastically different from what it is right now. Unfortunately, for both me and you (you because I can't tell you and me because if I knew I'd be rich) I dont have an answer for how it is going to happen. I like the idea that the writer of the article gave us in that they will use LCD screens to create episodes based on what action figures you have however, that idea seems a little unethical since...well...I don't know...I just know that it's not something I want my children to grow up with. That is, if I ever have children. Boom Son!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Reaction to the WGA Strike
After receiving this assignment, I realized I didn't know anything about this strike. All I knew was that, first, there was a strike, and second, that it was affecting The Office. Being the selfish guy that I am, I immediately blamed the writers for being greedy and striking for more money. Now, after further research, I am convinced that my first instinct was correct. For starters, the writers have some nerve going public with all the statistics they used. They state that 50% of the writers in their union earned less than $104,000 last year. THAT MEANS %50 EARNED MORE! There are people around the country earning $20,000 a year doing much harder work than writing useless ideas onto a piece of paper. The XFL lasted longer than most of the television shows today because they are garbage. And don't get me started on the movies that have come out lately (i.e. Cloverfield...harder to watch than Paula Abdul's music video with the cartoon cat). The writers that are most successful will make the most money, whereas the ones who make garbage movies such as Speed 2 will not make good money. Obviously the few men at the top of the corporations rake in millions and millions of dollars and some of that should be passed down, however, and I don't know the exact numbers that the writers are asking for, the writers need to ease up on their demands and not be so greedy. Them being on strike is taking money away from people who are even less fortunate then them that work behind the scenes doing make-up, camera work, and wardrobe. Renegotiating the contracts can still take place without a strike. The funny part about the writers' stance is that they make it seem like their job is the most important. The thing is, in our society, people are so stupid that they will watch anything with Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, or Will Ferrel in it. The script can be awful but if it stars some high profile actors or actresses it will be huge in the box office, whether it is good or not. Television is different though. In television you need a great script as well as actors who can give a good delivery. All in all, I think everyone in Hollywood is full of (insert your choice of insult here) because they think they have such important jobs. I'm fine with watching South Park and The Office reruns for the rest of the year. Maybe I'll even start going to the gym in the extra spare time I'll have now. BOOM SON!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
First Post
My name is Brian Arpaia and this is my first post. Not sure what I'll be posting about throughout this semester but it will most likely have to do with the entertainment industry so feel free to check back in later on in the semester. Boom Son!
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