Film: The Internet has changed the film industry in many ways, for better and for worse. Illegal downloads from file sharing websites (Limewire, Torrents) and online streaming (Youtube, Alluc.org) mean that people can download or watch a film without paying for the license, with an estimated six million people in Britain illegally sharing files. The Film industry are trying to get internet providers to do several things to try and cut down on how many people are taking this illegal action. They have proposed for internet providers to slow down internet connection of those how use file sharing software. Internet Service Providers are also issuing letters of warning to those who use file sharing to discourage them to do so, and suggesting legal action could take place. However this is time consuming and has little effect as no legal action has taken place so far, they are only issuing warnings. Also with online reviews it is easier for people to form an opinion on a movie, and for more people too watches it. This means that people could say disconcerting things about the movie, and then people will read it and will not watch it. There are also good things about the Internet where the film industry is concerned. For example with software such as iTunes you can buy or rent a movie within seconds, which can then be watched either on the computer or on the go with iPods. Although this is a good place to store Films, if there happened to be a problem with the users computer they could lose all the films they have purchased as they have no hard copy. Although this may seem good it can also be seen as bad, as DVD rental stores are no longer needed. With websites such as play.com and amazon you can buy films online for very cheap, which means that consumers which like to own a hard copy of the film can quickly and cheaply online. You can also go online and pre-order copies of a film. Although this seems good too many people, it also has horrible effects to high street retailers such as HMV. With online sites where you can upload your own videos such as youtube and vimeo, it is possible to create your own films and publish them yourself. This crosses the line between consumer and producer.
Video games: The Internet has changed the gaming industry in many ways, to the way products are sold, to the way people play their games. With online sites such as play.com and amazon consumers can purchase hard copies of their games, quickly and easily. These sites online often sell the games for a cheaper price than high street retailers such as Game and Gamestation, which leaves these shops out of business. With new software you can also buy games online and download them straight onto your consoles. Pc gamers can download Steam software and download it too there PC and play. Xbox gamers can use the live market place to download games and also download add-ons to their games, such as expansion packs. This is also bad for the high street retailers, as consumers do not want to go out and buy new games as they can purchase add-ons to their old games, straight from the comfort of their own living room. The way that people can play games has also changed. In the past people would go round to each others houses and play on their games consoles, but now you can play and talk with your friends online whilst playing the games. You can play online with anyone in the world, this means that the need for story lines within games can be in less depth as their will always be people too play with online. This is bad for people that create game stories, as the main focus on the creation of games in modern times is its online capability. With the need for online gaming, this means that game companies that do not include online gaming for either cost or for the lack of need, are less likely to sell their product. Internet also means that now gamers are able to create their own levels on games and even post them online on their game systems for other users to play. This makes games much more exciting and last longer for the user so there is less of a need to constantly buy new games which could cause some game producers to lose out. With the increase of social networking serivces it is now possible to play games on sites such as facebook. Technological convergence has also lead to games being played on phones and ipods, the internet makes it possible to download these games either straight from the phones or using iTunes. This means games can be played whenever desired as phones are taken everywhere by the consumer anyway.
Summary: The internet has created a market place for anytype of product to be sold. This means that there are more products for people to buy, and as there are soo many products for sale, less of the niche market products are sold. This is relevant within the film and gaming industry as it is easier for people to buy the products that they specifically want rather than the 'most popular' that is the most available.
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