Exam Questions: 11th June 2004

1. a) Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo
b) - "Hardcore PC gamers have been taking part in online contests over local networks and the Internet for years"
- "Sony's EverQuest and Electronic Art's Ultima Online attract around 450,000 and 275,000 users respectively, paying between £6-8 per month"
- "Final Fantasy 11 attracted 120,000 online subscribers paying £7 a month in three months"
c) Sony and Microsoft are talking to continental broadband suppliers. Broadband offers speed, international dimension, it's always on, it's reliable, multi-player potential (rather than compete with one friend in your living room, you can now - on some PC games - compete against up to 80 people worldwide.)

2. a) 'Gain dominance of a market' means that one company will become the biggest in a particular area and thus, control it, making it more profitable. Online gamers will use it to play games over the Internet. They want to gain a competitive advantage by offering a better version of what other companies are offering. Eg. Microsoft.
b) Music is available all over the Internet to download as well as publish. It allows people to do things with music they couldn't previously have done such as publish the music they make without going near a record deal.
Television is available on demand, eg. 4OD and Sky Anytime. 4OD allows users to watch a programme they missed whenever they want up to a week after it was aired on Channel 4.
Internet users are able to watch films, music videos, documentaries and sketches on the Internet. Could television become a thing of the past? Unlikely.
Television shows and music artists also have their own websites and information pages so they can keep fans interested and gain a strong following.
Newspapers and magazines to publish articles. Some stories are exclusive to the Internet.
Blogs allow anyone to write and publish anything they want, whether it be a diary or journalism of news. Blogs can be very personal. Any Internet user can read it and post a comment.
Broadband has democratised the media world and gives consumers greater choice on what they can do, which has worried industries as they are loosing control over their once passive audience and becoming less profitable.