After analysing the data of my results I can say that:
Males tend to play more video games, 15-17 year olds play more games; however 18-21 play there fair share. Most people who taken the survey owned a PC and Xbox 360.
My survey also shows that every if not all gamers have an internet connection. Something I have found out is that the FPS genre is the most popular, slowly creeping up is the adventure/platform genre. This is what I feel what I am going to base my game on.
For my primary source of information I submitted surveys online and distributed them via the ever popular site ‘face book’ as I thought this was the most efficient way to get quick results. I also posted a link to the survey on popular website ‘neo win’ my surveys asked the user what they look for in games and why.
For my secondary source I used the Internet to find popular genres of games.
For my quantitive source I looked on the popular website vgchartz.com this website gives up-to-date sales figures for almost every game in the market. This gave me sales figures to source what people’s favourite games are.
For my qualitive source I took it upon myself to read some reviews about some of the games mentioned in my research techniques assignment. Reading these gave me inspiration to write about them.
Thursday 17 December 2009
Monday 30 November 2009
The Games Industry Uncovered - Task 1B
Current Financial Issues
Current financial issues can trouble the games industry, such as the following key things:
Milestones
Milestones are important when keeping financial issues at bay; they keep everything in order and are essential to manage and control a project, and can be used to check how a project is progressing.
For example you are project manager for a games company. You employ around 60 employees, you are paying them by the hour. A company has come to you and asked for your services in producing a platform game by a deadline. You don’t set any milestones and your team have not used time effectively and failed to meet the deadline. This puts your team in jeopardy because not only does this possibly affect your payment from whoever asked for your services but it also gives you a bad reputation.
Business Models
A business model is nothing more than a representation of how a business makes (or intends to make) money. This can be affected by financial issues. Imagine you are an entrepreneur and you come up with an idea for a product nobody else has thought of, and you start a business with the help of investors. However, you have one constraint - you are short of money to advertise your product to a wide audience. This is an example of how financial problems can affect the business model.
Budgets
Budgeting is also important to keeping away from financial issues; this is because it allows you to control the amount of money you spend in certain areas. Imagine you are running a games company and you hire a team of developers, but you don’t budget correctly. This means you run out of money and are unable to complete the project.
Market trends
A market trend is tendency of a market to do something in a particular direction over a space of time, within the industry there are various different market trends including:
Products
There are marketing trends when it comes to the public buying in products, this can be things such as games. An example of this is with the latest Call of Duty; a current trend in the video game industry is a lust for First person shooters
National
National Trends are when a product is released and a specific country will have liking or disliking to it, example a game is released internationally and sells highly in just one country. Trends like this can indefinitely increase financial issues for games companies if this takes place.
International Trends
Much like national trends except on an international scale example a game is released internationally and most countries like a similar genre so the sales are okay. Just like national trends it can increase financial issues as well as aid them.
Industry Trends
Industry trends are a tendency to do something within a certain industry such as the games industry examples of these are:-
Original IP
These are games that have original ideas are used to produce a game; an example of this is Wet. What makes this original IP is that no other games company uses a character similar to her with her movement and game play.
Franchised IP
Franchised IP are games that use either licensed ideas or other ideas to produce a game this can also be based on merchandise and comics. An example of this the Halo series.
Film Industry Comparison
Sometimes games get turned into movies this can sometimes be very poor because of the transition between the two and vice versa.
Current financial issues can trouble the games industry, such as the following key things:
Milestones
Milestones are important when keeping financial issues at bay; they keep everything in order and are essential to manage and control a project, and can be used to check how a project is progressing.
For example you are project manager for a games company. You employ around 60 employees, you are paying them by the hour. A company has come to you and asked for your services in producing a platform game by a deadline. You don’t set any milestones and your team have not used time effectively and failed to meet the deadline. This puts your team in jeopardy because not only does this possibly affect your payment from whoever asked for your services but it also gives you a bad reputation.
Business Models
A business model is nothing more than a representation of how a business makes (or intends to make) money. This can be affected by financial issues. Imagine you are an entrepreneur and you come up with an idea for a product nobody else has thought of, and you start a business with the help of investors. However, you have one constraint - you are short of money to advertise your product to a wide audience. This is an example of how financial problems can affect the business model.
Budgets
Budgeting is also important to keeping away from financial issues; this is because it allows you to control the amount of money you spend in certain areas. Imagine you are running a games company and you hire a team of developers, but you don’t budget correctly. This means you run out of money and are unable to complete the project.
Market trends
A market trend is tendency of a market to do something in a particular direction over a space of time, within the industry there are various different market trends including:
Products
There are marketing trends when it comes to the public buying in products, this can be things such as games. An example of this is with the latest Call of Duty; a current trend in the video game industry is a lust for First person shooters
National
National Trends are when a product is released and a specific country will have liking or disliking to it, example a game is released internationally and sells highly in just one country. Trends like this can indefinitely increase financial issues for games companies if this takes place.
International Trends
Much like national trends except on an international scale example a game is released internationally and most countries like a similar genre so the sales are okay. Just like national trends it can increase financial issues as well as aid them.
Industry Trends
Industry trends are a tendency to do something within a certain industry such as the games industry examples of these are:-
Original IP
These are games that have original ideas are used to produce a game; an example of this is Wet. What makes this original IP is that no other games company uses a character similar to her with her movement and game play.
Franchised IP
Franchised IP are games that use either licensed ideas or other ideas to produce a game this can also be based on merchandise and comics. An example of this the Halo series.
Film Industry Comparison
Sometimes games get turned into movies this can sometimes be very poor because of the transition between the two and vice versa.
Monday 23 November 2009
Visual Style, Feedback Interface and Perspectives
Castlevania IV (SNES)
The game is about a legend that says every 100 years the forces of good and evil will meet and basically Simon Belmont is sent to save the world against the vampire Dracula
The game is set in 1691 and the theme is much like a dark dungeon.
The game features a life bar at the top of the screen (shown in a bar) to visualise how much health the player and enemy has.
The game will play an audible sound when a player is attacked or health is lost.
The game plays in both 2D and Scrolling perspectives.
Goldeneye (Nintendo 64)
The game is based on the mid-90’s blockbuster hit Goldeneye and followed the storyline from the action-based movie. James Bond teams up with the lone survivor of a destroyed Russian research centre to stop the hijacking of a nuclear space weapon by a fellow agent believed to be dead.
The game is set in 1995.
The game will display a life meter if and when a player has taken damage.
The game has support for the rumble pack expansion used on the N64; the controller will rumble if a player is shot at, or an explosion takes place.
The game will play an audible sound when a player is attacked or health is lost as well as this the main character James will breathe heavily if a lot of damage has been taken.
The game features First-person, 3D and Third-person perspectives.
Street Fighter The Movie (Saturn/Playstation)
The game is based on the movie of Street Fighter which in turn is based off the original Street Fighter video game series. Col. Guile and various other martial arts heroes fight against the tyranny of Dictator M. Bison.
The game is set in 1994.
Much like most fighting games the game will display a life meter to display if and when a player has knocked out or received damaged.
Most of the attacks used in the game have unique sounds to that player and move, to allow the player to distinguish which attack they have used. The game will also play a series audible sound when a player is attacked or health is lost.
The game features the Full motion video perspective; this is when a video is used as the game is played. In this case the fighters are videos of the original actors in the movie.
TwinBee (Arcade)
TwinBee is a vertical shoot'em up heavily influenced by Namco's Xevious. The ship can fire forward with a button, and drop bombs (with their tiny arms).
Unlike many games TwinBee didn’t really have a back-story until the game had become popular in Japan in the early 90’s which was introduced by Anime
Like many vertical shooters, the game displays a meter indicating how many life’s the player has left and displaying any enemies that fly in from the top of the screen
The game makes use of the Aerial perspective.
The game is about a legend that says every 100 years the forces of good and evil will meet and basically Simon Belmont is sent to save the world against the vampire Dracula
The game is set in 1691 and the theme is much like a dark dungeon.
The game features a life bar at the top of the screen (shown in a bar) to visualise how much health the player and enemy has.
The game will play an audible sound when a player is attacked or health is lost.
The game plays in both 2D and Scrolling perspectives.
Goldeneye (Nintendo 64)
The game is based on the mid-90’s blockbuster hit Goldeneye and followed the storyline from the action-based movie. James Bond teams up with the lone survivor of a destroyed Russian research centre to stop the hijacking of a nuclear space weapon by a fellow agent believed to be dead.
The game is set in 1995.
The game will display a life meter if and when a player has taken damage.
The game has support for the rumble pack expansion used on the N64; the controller will rumble if a player is shot at, or an explosion takes place.
The game will play an audible sound when a player is attacked or health is lost as well as this the main character James will breathe heavily if a lot of damage has been taken.
The game features First-person, 3D and Third-person perspectives.
Street Fighter The Movie (Saturn/Playstation)
The game is based on the movie of Street Fighter which in turn is based off the original Street Fighter video game series. Col. Guile and various other martial arts heroes fight against the tyranny of Dictator M. Bison.
The game is set in 1994.
Much like most fighting games the game will display a life meter to display if and when a player has knocked out or received damaged.
Most of the attacks used in the game have unique sounds to that player and move, to allow the player to distinguish which attack they have used. The game will also play a series audible sound when a player is attacked or health is lost.
The game features the Full motion video perspective; this is when a video is used as the game is played. In this case the fighters are videos of the original actors in the movie.
TwinBee (Arcade)
TwinBee is a vertical shoot'em up heavily influenced by Namco's Xevious. The ship can fire forward with a button, and drop bombs (with their tiny arms).
Unlike many games TwinBee didn’t really have a back-story until the game had become popular in Japan in the early 90’s which was introduced by Anime
Like many vertical shooters, the game displays a meter indicating how many life’s the player has left and displaying any enemies that fly in from the top of the screen
The game makes use of the Aerial perspective.
Visual Style, Feedback Interface and Perspectives
Castlevania IV (SNES)
Story:
The game is about a legend that says every 100 years the forces of good and evil will meet and basically Simon Belmont is sent to save the world against the vampire Dracula
Setting:
Dark Dungeon, 1691
Feedback interface:-
Visual:
The game features a life bar at the top of the screen (shown in a bar) to visualise how much health the player and enemy has.
Auditory:
The game will play an audible sound when a player is attacked or health is lost.
Perspectives:-
The game features both 2D and Scrolling perspectives
Goldeneye (Nintendo 64)
Setting:
The game is based on the mid-90’s blockbuster hit Goldeneye and followed the storyline from the action-based movie.
Story:
James Bond teams up with the lone survivor of a destroyed Russian research centre to stop the hijacking of a nuclear space weapon by a fellow agent believed to be dead. IMDb. (2009).
Setting:
1995
Feedback interface:-
Visual:
The game will display a life meter if and when a player has taken damaged.
Physical sensation:
The game has support for the rumble pack expansion used on the N64; the controller will rumble if a player is shot at, or an explosion takes place.
Auditory:
The game will play an audible sound when a player is attacked or health is lost as well as this the main character James will breathe heavily if a lot of damage has been taken.
Perspectives:-
The game features First-person, 3D and Third-person perspectives.
Street Fighter The Movie (Saturn/Playstation)
The game is based on the movie of Street Fighter which in turn is based off the original Street Fighter video game series.
Story:
Col. Guile and various other martial arts heroes fight against the tyranny of Dictator M. Bison and his cohorts. IMDb. (2009).
Setting:
1994
Feedback interface:-
Visual:
Much like most fighting games the game will display a life meter to display if and when a player has knocked out or received damaged.
Auditory:
Most of the attacks used in the game have unique sounds to that player and move, to allow the player to distinguish which attack they have used. The game will also play a series audible sound when a player is attacked or health is lost.
Perspectives:-
The game features the Full motion video perspective; this is when a video is used as the game is played. In this case the fighters are videos of the original actors in the movie.
TwinBee (Arcade)
Story:
TwinBee is a vertical shoot'em up heavily influenced by Namco's Xevious. The ship can fire forward with a button, and drop bombs (with their tiny arms). Hardcore Gaming 101. (2009).
Back-story:
Unlike many games TwinBee didn’t really have a back-story until the game had become popular in Japan in the early 90’s which was introduced by Anime
Feedback interface:-
Visual:
Like many vertical shooters, the game displays a meter indicating how many life’s the player has left and displaying any enemies that fly in from the top of the screen
Auditory:
Not much to say on this front because the few sounds the game makes are simple firing sounds from the either your artillery or the enemies.
Perspectives:-
The game features the Aerial perspective.
Story:
The game is about a legend that says every 100 years the forces of good and evil will meet and basically Simon Belmont is sent to save the world against the vampire Dracula
Setting:
Dark Dungeon, 1691
Feedback interface:-
Visual:
The game features a life bar at the top of the screen (shown in a bar) to visualise how much health the player and enemy has.
Auditory:
The game will play an audible sound when a player is attacked or health is lost.
Perspectives:-
The game features both 2D and Scrolling perspectives
Goldeneye (Nintendo 64)
Setting:
The game is based on the mid-90’s blockbuster hit Goldeneye and followed the storyline from the action-based movie.
Story:
James Bond teams up with the lone survivor of a destroyed Russian research centre to stop the hijacking of a nuclear space weapon by a fellow agent believed to be dead. IMDb. (2009).
Setting:
1995
Feedback interface:-
Visual:
The game will display a life meter if and when a player has taken damaged.
Physical sensation:
The game has support for the rumble pack expansion used on the N64; the controller will rumble if a player is shot at, or an explosion takes place.
Auditory:
The game will play an audible sound when a player is attacked or health is lost as well as this the main character James will breathe heavily if a lot of damage has been taken.
Perspectives:-
The game features First-person, 3D and Third-person perspectives.
Street Fighter The Movie (Saturn/Playstation)
The game is based on the movie of Street Fighter which in turn is based off the original Street Fighter video game series.
Story:
Col. Guile and various other martial arts heroes fight against the tyranny of Dictator M. Bison and his cohorts. IMDb. (2009).
Setting:
1994
Feedback interface:-
Visual:
Much like most fighting games the game will display a life meter to display if and when a player has knocked out or received damaged.
Auditory:
Most of the attacks used in the game have unique sounds to that player and move, to allow the player to distinguish which attack they have used. The game will also play a series audible sound when a player is attacked or health is lost.
Perspectives:-
The game features the Full motion video perspective; this is when a video is used as the game is played. In this case the fighters are videos of the original actors in the movie.
TwinBee (Arcade)
Story:
TwinBee is a vertical shoot'em up heavily influenced by Namco's Xevious. The ship can fire forward with a button, and drop bombs (with their tiny arms). Hardcore Gaming 101. (2009).
Back-story:
Unlike many games TwinBee didn’t really have a back-story until the game had become popular in Japan in the early 90’s which was introduced by Anime
Feedback interface:-
Visual:
Like many vertical shooters, the game displays a meter indicating how many life’s the player has left and displaying any enemies that fly in from the top of the screen
Auditory:
Not much to say on this front because the few sounds the game makes are simple firing sounds from the either your artillery or the enemies.
Perspectives:-
The game features the Aerial perspective.
Thursday 22 October 2009
Legislation classification for the Nation
Legislation classification for the Nation
In the United Kingdom there are a few problems to do age ratings of games and people abiding them.
Children such as young as even 6 are able to play titles that are aimed to be played by 18 and over. I believe this is morally quite wrong and should be nipped in the bud now rather than later, Game ratings are there to be abided because it stops children from viewing inappropriate material.
Children are obtaining these materials by getting there parents to buy the products for them, usually because the parents are lead to believe the ratings on the boxes are 'difficulty' of the game.
I believe that the current system (PEGI) works however I think it could enforced with the aid of parents and retailers and this can be stopped taking a leap out of other examples of age restriction. Alcohol in the UK cannot be purchased by minors and requires ID to be purchased if the buyer looks under 21, however for this to work employees at game stores need to be trained to asked parents who they are purchased the game for (making sure it’s not for a minor)
If parents/people buying games for minors are found guilty they face up-to a £6000 fine and a possible 6 month jail sentence I think this information should also be easily found in shops and retailers. That way the number of people buying games for minors would dramatically decrease.
Here are a few tips for parents quoted from the PEGI website:
• Always look for the age classification on the package of a game or via the search engine on this website.
• Try to look for a summary or review of the game content or ideally play the game yourself first.
• Play video games with your children, watch over them when they play and talk about it. Explain why certain games are not suitable.
• Be aware that online games sometimes enable the download of extra software that can alter the game content and eventually the age classification of the game.
• Online games are usually played in virtual communities requiring players to interact with unknown fellow players. Tell your children not to give out personal details and report inappropriate behavior.
In the United Kingdom there are a few problems to do age ratings of games and people abiding them.
Children such as young as even 6 are able to play titles that are aimed to be played by 18 and over. I believe this is morally quite wrong and should be nipped in the bud now rather than later, Game ratings are there to be abided because it stops children from viewing inappropriate material.
Children are obtaining these materials by getting there parents to buy the products for them, usually because the parents are lead to believe the ratings on the boxes are 'difficulty' of the game.
I believe that the current system (PEGI) works however I think it could enforced with the aid of parents and retailers and this can be stopped taking a leap out of other examples of age restriction. Alcohol in the UK cannot be purchased by minors and requires ID to be purchased if the buyer looks under 21, however for this to work employees at game stores need to be trained to asked parents who they are purchased the game for (making sure it’s not for a minor)
If parents/people buying games for minors are found guilty they face up-to a £6000 fine and a possible 6 month jail sentence I think this information should also be easily found in shops and retailers. That way the number of people buying games for minors would dramatically decrease.
Here are a few tips for parents quoted from the PEGI website:
• Always look for the age classification on the package of a game or via the search engine on this website.
• Try to look for a summary or review of the game content or ideally play the game yourself first.
• Play video games with your children, watch over them when they play and talk about it. Explain why certain games are not suitable.
• Be aware that online games sometimes enable the download of extra software that can alter the game content and eventually the age classification of the game.
• Online games are usually played in virtual communities requiring players to interact with unknown fellow players. Tell your children not to give out personal details and report inappropriate behavior.
Wednesday 7 October 2009
Why is research important?
Task: Why is research important?
Research is important when developing any product, because it enables the company designing the product to get to know market, for example; a company wants to develop a new sort of Toilet paper that is reasonably priced and cheap enough for the current market to buy. That company would research the current market and get data that would suite the current market i.e. how much the user/customer would pay for such a product etc.
The aim of research is to find current competitors and, see what you can do to improve because at the end of the day everybody wants to have the leading brand/product.
Another reason for research is to simply meet the customer desires and requirements, this can be achieved by getting the user to fill out questionnaires either online or possibly going as far to get people to fill them out in public.
Purpose of research:
The purpose is research is to find all knowledge and information about a specific element, market or subject.
An example of this is when Sony were releasing the PSP GO. Sony researched the market when designing this console. The console has no disc drive the console is completely dependent on having an internet connection. Sony had previously published an online survey on there community page asking what the end user wanted and the PSP GO was the end result.
Market Research :
Market research is when a company is trying to find out what the consumer looks for in a product. An example of this is a questionnaires which the public would answer and give feedback on what they like/dislike. This can be used to produce a product that everyone is going to like.
Production Research:
Production research can be in the form of a test of the product, an example of this is when games companies release beta versions of games to see how the public is going to react to the title I.E Downloads/Feedback etc. and use then use this data accordingly.
Research is important when developing any product, because it enables the company designing the product to get to know market, for example; a company wants to develop a new sort of Toilet paper that is reasonably priced and cheap enough for the current market to buy. That company would research the current market and get data that would suite the current market i.e. how much the user/customer would pay for such a product etc.
The aim of research is to find current competitors and, see what you can do to improve because at the end of the day everybody wants to have the leading brand/product.
Another reason for research is to simply meet the customer desires and requirements, this can be achieved by getting the user to fill out questionnaires either online or possibly going as far to get people to fill them out in public.
Purpose of research:
The purpose is research is to find all knowledge and information about a specific element, market or subject.
An example of this is when Sony were releasing the PSP GO. Sony researched the market when designing this console. The console has no disc drive the console is completely dependent on having an internet connection. Sony had previously published an online survey on there community page asking what the end user wanted and the PSP GO was the end result.
Market Research :
Market research is when a company is trying to find out what the consumer looks for in a product. An example of this is a questionnaires which the public would answer and give feedback on what they like/dislike. This can be used to produce a product that everyone is going to like.
Production Research:
Production research can be in the form of a test of the product, an example of this is when games companies release beta versions of games to see how the public is going to react to the title I.E Downloads/Feedback etc. and use then use this data accordingly.
Thursday 17 September 2009
Job Roles
Group 2
The following job roles will be taken on by the following: -
Artist - Alex D
Audio Engineer - Alex S
Designer - Adam K (Me)
Scriptwriter - Jack D
Level Designer - Matt P
The role I am taking on is Designer this usually includes working around 35 hours a week; however this may be longer since deadlines need to be met at every possible manner. The jobs salary range’s from £19,000 for newcomers all the way up to £55,000 for experience designers. creativepool.co.uk. (2009).
The job consists of all aspects of design; it isn’t just a set role this can range from: -
• 3D modelling
• Designing elements such as levels, characters, etc.
• Working with the animation team closely
• Manage a group of people
• Project management
• Communication with other departments
Skills required for completing the job are as following: -
• Able to keep a tidy house keeping
• Experienced knowledge in 3D software (3DSMAX/other)
• Commitment to the job
• Understanding of the video games industry
• Good teamwork; able to work in a team effectively and efficiently
• A degree in some form of media
The following job roles will be taken on by the following: -
Artist - Alex D
Audio Engineer - Alex S
Designer - Adam K (Me)
Scriptwriter - Jack D
Level Designer - Matt P
The role I am taking on is Designer this usually includes working around 35 hours a week; however this may be longer since deadlines need to be met at every possible manner. The jobs salary range’s from £19,000 for newcomers all the way up to £55,000 for experience designers. creativepool.co.uk. (2009).
The job consists of all aspects of design; it isn’t just a set role this can range from: -
• 3D modelling
• Designing elements such as levels, characters, etc.
• Working with the animation team closely
• Manage a group of people
• Project management
• Communication with other departments
Skills required for completing the job are as following: -
• Able to keep a tidy house keeping
• Experienced knowledge in 3D software (3DSMAX/other)
• Commitment to the job
• Understanding of the video games industry
• Good teamwork; able to work in a team effectively and efficiently
• A degree in some form of media
Job Research - Bibliography
Bibliography
creativepool.co.uk. (2009). Games Designer. Available: http://www.creativepool.co.uk/content.php?url=employee/games-designer-job-description.php. Last accessed 17 September 2009.
creativepool.co.uk. (2009). Games Designer. Available: http://www.creativepool.co.uk/content.php?url=employee/games-designer-job-description.php. Last accessed 17 September 2009.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
