The Evolution of Entertainment

[zman9000]

Recently I've been anyone a few people about a certain new anime. (leaf, kain, salanewt, kioll)
So I've been thinking about it. I'd always say something like "OMG Sword art online is so awesome, its the best thing ever" but I got to thinking, why is that?
What is it that can make certain things not only anime, but movies and even games so popular.
And why are new anime starting to become so good, yet games and movies are starting to be a little rough?
its more then just quality or advertisement, it just something I've been wondering.

My thinking is why things like Sword art online, minecraft and Inception which were new, unheard of, or not part of an existing franchise suddenly went from not only well known in their own areas but gathered such a fan base in such a short time. Out of my examples minecraft is most likely the best example as it had no advertisement at all and blew up almost over night while still in early alpha and is still growing.

I created this topic for two reasons, first is to get a conversation going about this because as I'm going into entertainment and I'm sure a few of you are as well so I figure we could have an interesting intelligent conversation. the other reason is site activity. :D

So to start off I'll mention something about movies I've noticed that can be related to other types of entertainment.
While there are many big name Franchise's in the movie business it seems like the movies along with them are some what average or not that good. And the Franchise's are almost suffering because of how long they have been around, even though they have a major following. The following is mostly because of fans who were around when it first started. So the question is what makes a single outlet of entertainment as popular as a classic if not more popular.

[Aile~♥]

Part of the reason franchises start to fall apart is that once the franchise becomes sufficiently well-known, the company/companies in charge stop being as careful about quality. When they lose what made them popular in the first place, they fall apart completely. Dragon Ball and Bleach are good examples of this, as Dragon Ball in particular has become little more than cheesy dialogue, animation loops and re-used clips of over-the-top attacks, while Bleach stopped focusing on the fighting in-close and exchanged it for cheapy scenes of random sword flashes in the sky.

Minecraft is popular, IMO, because it is the epitome of the "wide-open sandbox" style of game. It attracts the kinds of players who don't have any tolerance for plot (which represents an increasing percentage of the player base), or the kinds of people who like to play with Lego but don't like to pay the increasingly-inflated prices.

In regards to games, the lack of patience of the lowest common denominator of the player base is what causes the games' downfall. Or, rather, their increasing amounts of catering to these types of players. Things like forced tutorials, intrusive achievement systems, and increasingly blatant hinting through dialogue —sometimes going just short of saying "this way to progress through the game", multiple times over in case the player skipped through the text box the first time — can all have negative impacts on the game experience, and are becoming increasingly common.

Keep in mind, of course, that this is all merely my own opinion. If you don't agree with what I've said, that's fine, we can discuss it in a civilised fashion.

[Misery]

Agreed with pretty much everything Jamie said. I also want to add that "entertainment" and "industry" don't go well together. Not at all. Innovation means risk. Quality means expenses. Big companies will go for easy money whenever they can, so if they can establish a franchise they know that millions of clueless idiots will buy, that's what they do. This is especially true in the games industry.

It's not all bad though. The involvement of economics has pushed people to work in an organized manner and produce better stuff than what would otherwise be possible. Japan in particular has a lot of good examples. But at the same time, it prevents a lot of great works from ever happening. All in all, I'm not sure if entertainment being an industry does it more harm than good.

[zman9000]

Nice it seems that you guys have some what the same idea of what I've been thinking. But I'd like to take it one thing further and point little things that add to the experience of said show, game, or whatever.

I've found a few new anime have increased hype for the next episode by ending it on an interesting note with a song transitioning to the ending theme that gets your blood pumping a bit and get you excited for the next week. I've only found 3 new anime who do this really well. and I'll link the endings here so you can see the transition. my thought is to look at some little things that just add to said entertainment even slightly and how it effects people.

[spoiler]

this hunter x hunter (2011) ending leaves off on a note of something interesting following with dramatic music and starts into the song by showing the main characters along with their drive for doing what they are doing. When I first heard it I realized that how it effects you can actually hype you up a bit for the next week.

Un-Go is the first anime I've noticed this is. the detective anime almost always leaves on a good or neutral note and when the music first starts it gives off the feeling of "the case is solved and life goes on. where we go next is where ever the wind blows". I found it interesting and this anime really pulls you in on the first episode.

The last one I don't have a video for, and it would be spoilers if I did but. the last one is from Sword art online. The ending theme flows nicely with whatever happened in the episode, be it sad or happy. its a mellow sounding song and depending on what happens it can even help you in the process of crying due do the emotional nature of the anime. In-fact I would say the best example of this working would be the ending on episode 14. Its hard to explain but, if you watch it you will know what I mean for sure.[/spoiler]

I'd like to see if anyone understands this, or if i'm just completely off.

[Rolina]

I have to disagree with your premise for minecraft, Jamie.  If that was the case, then I'd hate minecraft, because I'm really big into plot.  I think it's something else - that it allows players to tap into their creativity like few other games allow.  It's the creativity, not the lack of plot, that really drives it home.  However, there's also the strong multiplayer aspect to it.  Many people, myself included, get bored with minecraft unless they're playing multiplayer.  It's the fact that you're working with/against one another on these projects, the ability to see what other people have done... I think that's the appeal.

[zman9000]

That and greifing... there's a large following made of greifers. But I agree, the creative part is a point, thought there is some what of a plot.
find iron, to get diamonds, to get obsidian, to make a portal to the nether, to get blaze rods and some other things, to make an eye of ender, to find an ender portal to the end, to defeat the ender dragon. If anything I would say the fact they keep adding new things is what pulls in players. its basically unlimited free extra content.

[Rolina]

Another thing is Demos...  You'd not have sold me on minecraft if I had to just dive in and buy it.  However, at the time it got a lot of buzz, a free demo weekend was done, and I figured I'd see what all the fuss was about.  And I LOVED it.  Demos are starting to get popular for this reason, because it helps to sell units to people who otherwise would not have even considered the game.

[zman9000]

Games:
demos
competent tutorial
non linear game play.
replay ability

Movies:
original ideas
good special effects
good sound track
interesting yet competent plot
how scenes are portrayed

Anime:
personality
character growth
art
detailed plot
how scenes are portrayed

Works of fiction:
competent plot
interesting or original ideas
mild mystery
makes people think

Books:
easy to read
Interesting story
lightly detailed information
Make people think
______________________________________

This is what I got so far, but what more could we say that makes something in entertainment stand out even more. what do the most well known entertainment things have going for them that makes them stand out?

[Wolf]

  Time;  Years ago there wasn't as much competition, models to follow, or mass communication sources.  Back then you had TV with less detailed commercials, posters, newspapers, word of mouth, and so on since the internet, among other early devices used for communication, wasn't as useful or accessible.  Now along with the content already mentioned you get trailers that walk the line between commercial and plot summary, illegal methods of viewing movies before they reach the shelves, a much larger world wide web with every detail put up by users in some form, a countless amount of reviews to sway the mind of viewers, etc.  To sum it up viewers knew a lot less about what they were getting before they got it.

Content;  A lot of limits have been put in place that companies may or may not choose to follow.  For example, films directed toward kids often had content that wouldn't be understood by younger minds or at least the vast majority of them.  (Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame)  Now a lot of these films are more kid friendly, ironically the kids of the present now have a means of growing up faster so a lot of them can catch on to the overlooked content that most kids in the past didn't fully understand.

Saturation;  Adding on to the competition mentioned earlier.  A lot of companies can release more of what they sell.  This can lead to unoriginal products, more bad ideas,  or even products made for the sake of currency.  Skipping to the point; games/shows/books/movies that have more time and effort put into them usually do better than their mass produced counterparts.

Audience;  An audience can generally be divided into categories.  There are people who get stuff just so they can be the first or among the few to have it, people who think thoroughly about what they buy, people who buy stuff on impulse or get swayed by advertisement and follow the masses before getting it, and people who get stuff because the things they used before are no longer available or going out of production.  Yes, more groups exist and one person may relate to more than one group when considering any given item, but this is a broad view that can be used for business purposes.  The information here speaks for itself.

That's not everything, just a few to consider.  I tried to sum up the points that were addressed.