Assignment
one
Task 1)
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Genera
name
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Description
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Examples
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First/third
person shooter
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Focuses
on combat using projectile weapons like guns or missiles.
Usually
played by teenage boys or men.
Popular
in western culture.
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COD
is a first and third person shooter video game franchise. Originated on the
PC with mainly WW2 themes and stories, fighting on the front lines of
historic events.
Owned
by activation, infinity ward and Treyarch developing the game in two
sub-storylines: infinity ward, making the modern warfare trilogy, focusing on
current tech and weaponry; Tryarch, making world at war, black ops and black
ops two. These start in WW2, sticking to the traditional COD, then branch off
into fantasy history’s about top covert missions combining old combat styles
and weaponry with futuristic types.
These
small differences give the games a very distinct feel, for example in my
opinion the Tryarch “old” style warfare feels more clunky and heavy and the
modern warfare by infinity ward feels sleeker and smoother (Tryarchs series
also contains an exclusive spin off game, Nazi zombies, a zombie survival
shooter).
They also have a lot of similarities with
being the same genera, both are quite quick passed and contain scenes of
violence or gore with the game involving war. Also, both are leaning towards
bigger multiplayer aspects in the later game titles relying more on strategy
and communication between a team of online players.
Battle
field is a much more realistic shooter, having better and more photo realistic
graphics and realistic aspect such as bullet drop and lenses glare to add
more of a tactical feel to the game. The game is on much bigger scale with
bigger levels and teams with more features like vehicles such as tanks, jets,
choppers, ATVs, buggies etc.
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Multiplayer
Online Battle Arena
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Also
knows as an action RTS, in which players control one character with powerful
abilities, in a team of players to destroy the opposing team’s structures and
push “lanes” and waves of AI creatures to ultimately “farm” your hero and win
the game.
Usually
played by teenage boys.
Popular
in western and Korean cultures.
Is
big in E-spots.
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One
of the biggest MOBAs on the scene, developed and published by Riot Games for
Microsoft Windows and Mac OS and inspired by the mod, defence of the ancients
on world of Warcraft 3: the frozen throne. Based on the "Aeon of
Strife" map for StarCraft. The objective of the DOTA is for each team to
destroy the opponents' Ancient, which is heavily guarded structures at opposing
corners of the map. In traditional MOBA style, LOL has two teams witch spawn
on opposite sides of the map, connected by three lanes. Each team has one
nexus, three inhibitors, and nine turrets (three in each lane). One minuet
thirty seconds after the start of the game, AI called minions spawn and
automatically charge into lane. They are sent in waves every three minutes
after and get stronger each wave. They are used to push enemy turrets and are
killed for gold and their XP to level your character’s abilities. Abilities
can be passive, active or toggle-able; passive abilities are abilities that
affect your champion (character) without using any manna and buffing stats
like base damage or health regeneration etc.; active abilities are abilities
that you have to manually activate to do unique attacks, these cost manna;
toggle-able abilities are a mix of both other types, when activated they
become a passive but cost manna over time e.g. a damage buff that uses manna
each basic attack but can be disabled.
You
gain gold and XP over time and get larger amounts from minion and jungle keep
(a neutral AI in the jungle between lanes, they give duffs to increase base
damage and manna regeneration) kills, dragon kills (a mini boss AI that
spawns at 2:30 and respawns after 6 minutes, gives gold and XP) and Barron
Nasher (a world boss that spawns 15:00 and respawns every 7 minutes, it gives
a buff that  increases overall damage and
health). Players spend their XP on levelling up their four abilities making
them stronger. They spend gold on items with active or passive stats boosts.
As
players grow stronger they fight cooperatively to gain map control and kills
to eventually destroy the enemy nexus and end the game.
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Puzzle
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Played
a lot by women on hand held devises but generally for any gender of any age.
Puzzle
games are meant to test your problem solving ability and train your brain.
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Candy
Crush is a match three puzzle game developed by king for Facebook and later a
mobile app for smartphones. The aim of the game is to match three or more
candies to crush a required number of objects, e.g. chocolate. The game works
with a life system, where if you fail to complete a level, you lose a life.
You get a maximum of 5 lives at a time and you generate a new one after a certain
duration of time. This stops you over playing the game and keeps the hit it
gives of accomplishment from beating a level feeling fresh and satisfactory.
This game is successful as it is easy and played to kill time plus is doesn't
get boring as it limits your playtime.
Portal
is a much more advanced puzzle game. It has a back story with main characters
and voiced scripts, the game is based on a test subject using futuristic
portal making technologies to navigate around “test chambers” to complete puzzles
to unlock the next stage and progress through the story. The levels get
progressively harder and more challenging as you enhance your skills of
“thinking with portals”, using momentum, timing and reflexes.
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Racing
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Driving
vehicles to a location or round a circuit in a set time or faster than the
rest. Usually played on console by males of all ages.
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Dirt
is a rally car racing game. It has a solo campaign where you go round
circuits, aiming to get the best time and race other AI drivers round a track
to get as close to first as you can. You earn money for each event and can
buy new upgrades and cars to race. The game also has a multiplayer feature
where you race other players round a track for XP and level ups to unlock better
cars.
Dirt
is quite a serious and true to life racing game, one that is not so realistic
is Motorstorm. Motorstorm is a racing game based in fantasy places and
islands with extreme conditions and extreme vehicles to cause mayhem and
destruction around the track; things like monster-trucks, volcanoes, NOs
boost and car on car combat.
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Platform
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A
game that involves controlling a sprite over and through obstacles to advance
in the game. Usually played on hand held devices by all ages.
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Mario
is a plat-former based around an Italian plumber in a fantasy world, trying
to save his princess from danger. Playing as Mario, you must venture though
the world dodging and defeating enemies by jumping over or on them. There are
also bricks you can smash your way through, some giving gold (collected and
can be used to get extra lives and power ups) some giving power ups, each
power up giving a unique power.
Super
Meat Boy is a platform game in which players control a small, dark red,
cube-shaped character named Meat Boy, who must save his cube-shaped, heavily
bandaged girlfriend Bandage Girl from the evil scientist Dr. Fetus. Players
attempt to reach the end of each level, represented by Bandage Girl, while
avoiding falling blocks, saw blades, and other fatal obstacles. The player
can run and jump on platforms, and can slide down or jump from walls.
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 Role Playing Game
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A
game where the player must assume the role of a fictional character in a
fantasy world, living out the tale or story. Played on all platforms but mostly
PC and console by teenagers and adults of both genders.
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In
Skyrim, you design your character (race, facial feature ect.) and then play
through the legend of the dragon born, someone with the gift of dragon speak.
When Skyrim faces the destruction from the return of the dragons, it is your
destiny to be its saviour and be the undoing of the dragons return. As you
roam through the open world of Skyrim, completing quests and tasks to advance
in the story line and level up your skills in crafting and combat until you
are strong enough to defeat Alduin, leader of the dragon race.
Fall
out is an open world, free roam RPG game. It allows the player to solve the
set tasks and problems in a multiple of ways in the fantasy time line where
there was nuclear fallout after WW2, causing people to live in bunkers
underground for hundreds of years until you venture out, discovering new
civilisations of survivors and new and dangerous creatures and places.
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Sandbox
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The
player uses tools to edit and roam freely through a virtual world letting their
imagination and creativity run wild. Played on PC or Consoles by children.
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Minecraft
is an open world sandbox game, where the player must gather materials, craft
and build tools and structures to survive against hunger and AI mobs that
spawn in the darkness. The game uses blocks (cubes) to represent all
materials and make the game feel like first person Lego and is one of the
reasons it appeals to a younger audience. There is also multiplayer as
players can join a server and survive and build cooperatively.
Gmod
is a sandbox physics game that has no objectives or aims and allows you to
use props from other games to create structures and games within it.
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Simulation
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A
game that tries to imitate and copy scenarios from real life. Used as a
method of training and prediction or games. Played on PC by adults
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 The Sims is a game were you
first create a character or a family of characters (name, age, gender,
ethnicity, personality traits, aspirations and relations). Then, you buy
these characters a house with a set budget, you then control the actions of
these "Sims" on a day to day basis, getting them jobs, sending them
school, home life and making friends or relationships. Almost any activity in
real life is available in the game, it is realistic and true to life as it is
simulating the reality of someone's day to day life.
There
are other more specific simulation games that simulate the lives of people in
certain job roles. For example, Train simulator is a computer based
simulation of rail transport operations putting players in charge of
maintaining trail lines. Another, is Farming simulator were players are able
to farm, breed livestock, grow crops and sell all assets created from
farming.
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Horror
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A
game usually set in a dark or eerie place, full of gore and jump scares round
every corner. Played Mainly on PC by teenage boys and men.
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Resident
Evil, a zombie survival horror game. Players control the main characters
through outbreaks of a biological weapon (T-virus) causing the dead to
reanimate and attack/kill people, spreading the virus. The original games
involved a lot of exploration and puzzle solving but recently has developed
into a more action orientated game but keeping the gore and jump scares.
Amnesia
is a survival horror game were you play as Daniel, exploring a dark and
foreboding castle, while avoiding monsters and other obstructions as well as
solving puzzles and finding out who you are and the story behind the horrors
in the castle.
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Arcade
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Retro
style, simplistic 2D and low resolution, some remakes mimicking the games of
the 1970s+. Classic arcade games are coin operated and made to be stationary
and for public use.
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 Pac
man was made in 1980 and is a 2D maze game with the aim of eating all the
circles thought the maze and avoid the four enemy AI that chase you.
Space
Invaders was an arcade game released in 1978 as one of the earliest shooting
games. The aim bin g to shoot down a fleet of invading alien ships as they
speed it to land. This classic has been remade and adapted to modern day
society and games but kept the basic idea. For example, space invaders
extreme is a HD colour version of space invaders with an additional
multiplayer mode of four person coop and online ranking systems. There are a
lot more remakes of this game like a 3D version of space invades with a hack
and slash feel, but still the same basic idea.
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2) The good and the bad of
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Pros
of computer games
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Cons
of computer games
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Video
games often demand a lot of time and attention of a persons day, with main
story lines that can last up to 80 hours to complete, downloadable extensions
onto the game and endless multilayer playability. this can cut into other
aspects of someone's life and have serious negative affects, skipping meals,
sleep, education etc.
This
can lead to sleeping deprivation, witch can cause fatigue, daytime
sleepiness, clumsiness and weight loss or weight gain. It also affects the
brain and cognitive function. This constant tiredness can lead to a
dependants on energy drinks to stay alert and on point when playing; But
these drinks have their side effects like:palpitations, tremor / shaking, agitation
/ restlessness, gastrointestinal upset, chest pain, dizziness, paraesthesia
(tingling or numbing of the skin), Insomnia, difficulty breathing and headaches. Plus, because of the high levels
of caffeine in energy drinks, they can lead to Increased blood pressure and
heart palpitations with painful withdraw symptoms.
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Gaming
alone comes with its health risks, excessive time spent staring at a TV or
monitor can lead to headaches, blurred vision and even near-sightedness if
frequent breaks aren't taken to relax your eyes. Furthermore, the lack of
exercise and constantly sitting in one place for hours on end causes obesity
and cholesterol build up in the blood witch can lead to clotting."Lack
of exercise as 'deadly' as smoking" - Daily mail.
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with
multilayer functions, players can interact, communicate and get to know
people they otherwise never would have had the chance to ( e.g. people from
different areas of the world).Furthermore, in team based games, working and
communication with others to achieve a common goal can develop team skills
and communication.
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With
all this time spent on gaming instead of going out and socialising, people
can become "shut in" losing contact with the outside world. instead
of talking to people, meeting new people and sharing real experiences, they
become dependant on the virtual socialisation of AI and players online.
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there
are risks such as cyber bulling and abuse of player because of differences
such as skill level, accents and ethnic backgrounds and this would be
encouraged by the fact people can hide behind usernames. This "false
identity" could also cause risk of players pretending to be someone
the're not to gain trust or friendship of another online player and maybe
even taking it further than virtual role playing and something much more
dangerous (e.g. arranging to meet people under false pretences).
A
story on Oil millionaire's son , a 14 year old that was groomed through a
video game-
"The
teenage son of a millionaire was stabbed to death by a ‘predator’ he met
online who groomed him through video games" "Breck Bednar, 14, said
he was going to a sleepover at a friend’s house on Sunday night.But secretly
the teenager – who was said to be addicted to online computer games –
travelled by train to the flat of an 18-year-old stranger who it is believed
he had played with over the internet.
Hours
later, the church-going youngster was found dead by police at a flat in
Grays, Essex – 30 miles away from the family home in Caterham, Surrey – after
being knifed in the neck."
-Mail
Online.
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gaming
is a huge up and coming market growing massively every year.
"The
worldwide the game industry in 2007 was valued at $44.9 billion. This number
was expected to grow 9.1% annually to $48.9 in 2011 and $68 billion in 2012,
making it the fastest-growing component of the international media sector. In
2004, the worldwide industry generated more than $25.4 billion."-
http://vgsales.wikia.com/
Gaming
is making new job peritonitises and income to countries world wide and is a
constantly evolving market meaning people will have to keep up with the new
technologies and consoles to play the latest addition of there favourite
game. Another way that games can generate livelihoods for people is E-sports,
competitive game play/tournaments for cash prises and sponsors.
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There
are many prices pay for gaming, one being economical. Before you even buy a
video game, you have to buy something to play it on, weather that be games
console or PC and these alone can get quite pricey. For a standard console
(PS3, X Box 360, wii) it costs around 100-150£, for a "next gen"
console (PS4 X Box one wii u) it costs around 200-500£ and for a PC capable
of running the latest games in a playable standard , around 400-1000£. This
is a lot of money and we haven't even covered the cost of the actual games
yet at about 20-50£. To get started playing games , you could easily rack up
a price tag into the thousands, some families not being able to afford this
making gaming more exclusive to the "better off" portion of the
world.
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video
games can cost time and even relationships as a price, massively cutting into
your home life and work life and causing you to grow distant from those
around you. Divorce online, a website dedicated to resolving unhappy
marriages, claims that 15 percent of the divorces it has handled can be
attributed to spouses that are addicted to online games such as world of
Warcraft and Call of Duty.
The
release also offers comments from one disgruntled 21-year-old wife from
London named Jessica Ellis, 24, who married husband Michael in 2008.
"He
was addicted to World of Warcraft but played other games now and then,"
said Jessica. "When it became serious he was playing up to eight hours a
day and I threatened to leave. He then stopped playing World of Warcraft for
a while and started playing Call of Duty instead but the amount he was
playing just gradually increased until I could not take it anymore. It got so
bad that he even organised to play on the day of our second wedding
anniversary as we had decided to go out at the weekend instead. I was
constantly trying to get him to cut back but he didn't think he had a problem
or was doing anything wrong until I told him I wanted to leave but by that
time it was too late.”- http://www.gamepolitics.com/
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Video
games create another reality that players can escape to, forgetting the
troubles of the real world and living a virtual life that is usually a lot
more interesting and exciting than their own
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having
such in depth and immerseive stories or from the sheer amount of time spent
playing them, players can begin to lose their grip on the real world and
confuse or mix it with the games virtual reality. This separation from
reality can not only be dangerous for the players mental state but also put
those around them in danger, especially games that feature extreme levels of
violence and disturbing scenes.
An
example of where separation from reality has caused or put people in harms
way:
"Warren
Leblanc, 17, repeatedly stabbed 14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah after luring him
to a Leicester park". The mother stated," her son's killer had
mimicked a game called Manhunt, developed by Edinburgh-based Rockstar North,
in which the players score points for violent killings"-BBC News England
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video
game content is age rated based on its levels of violence, strong/offensive
language, use of pornographic imagery or nudity and sexual references.This is
a system put in place to warn players of what kind of game they are getting
into to protect and younger members of society as you cannot buy rated games
without ID. Also, in some games where there are especially disturbing/offensive
scenes, they have the option to be "skipped". The problem with
these systems is that they can be quite easily ignored by parents that buy
their children games. Plus, with online stores you can bypass the ID
requirement and all you need is a debit card. Furthermore, society these day
is so desensitised to crime, violence and sex that it has almost become the
norm.
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With
games becoming more and more violent and containing themes of crime and
scenes of a disturbing nature this not only desensitises society to violence
and crime in general but can also encourage and influence violent/illegal
acts, adding to the danger of separation from reality.
A
report about an incident outside of ASDA just after the release of GTA 5 ( a
games based around the criminal activity in america) where a 23 year old man
was killed.-"A 23-year-old gamer who queued up for over an hour to
retrieve his copy of the game, is stabbed outside of ASDA in London After
making his purchase, the man departed the store and made his way back home.
Within just shy of an hour and a half of the game’s release, a gang ambushed
the young man; many of his possessions were stolen, including his watch, a
cell phone and the copy of GTA V he had just purchased, but not before being
brutally beaten with a brick and then stabbed."- DailyMail.co.uk
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some
types of games are designed to be educational or "brain training".
These games are ones used in classes to teach areas of maths, English,
science etc. usually through a question/answer format with either a score or
reward system to make learning in the classroom more fun. websites like http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/games/
a BBC website with games to teach GCSE standard subjects.
Also,
there are games advertised to the public that are educational, these are
usually a lot more developed games with more functionality, depth and story
than the ones used in schools. Often referred to as "brain
training" games are available for all ages and vary on the difficulty of
the puzzles. they are often on hand held and portable devices for people to
keep there brain ticking when traveling or killing time.
Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old is
Your Brain?e.g. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training : how old is your brain, A hit on Nintendo DS, it encouraged
millions of users to keep their minds sharp with simple, daily exercises.
There
are more than a dozen different numerical and verbal exercises designed to be
played for a few minutes each day. You can track your training and test your
progress by checking your Brain Age score.
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Video
games can demand a lot of time and attention, this could take time and
attention from the players education. e.g staying up all night playing
through a game, not only taking time away from study and homework but also
mean that the person is tired and not in the best mental/physical state to
take in information at school. Also, players could skip whole days of school
or study to play on video games.
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hand eye coordination is the
ability to do tasks involving your hands and eyes to work together. This
motor skill is greatly benefited by playing video games as you control things
like moment with your hands on controllers of mouse/keyboard according to
things shown on screen in real time. environments in game change very quickly
and requires the player to react faster than usual, giving them above average
hand eye coordination ans speed. video games not only enhance you hand eye
coordination but also your ability to notice changes in your environment as
this is another large part of gaming." A video gamer driving down the
street is more likely to pick out a child running after a ball than a non
gamer" - Professor Daphne Bavelier.
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Can
cause repetitive strain injuries, skin
disorders or other health issues. Other problems include video game-provoked
seizures in patients with epilepsy. In rare and extreme cases, deaths have
resulted from excessive video game playing (sitting for long periods of time,
may cause a need for aputation).
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games usually require problem
solving and/or strategy and planing to reach objectives. whether this is
overcoming an obstacle in an adventure role playing game or team cooperation
and strategy in an online shooter, all require aspects of thinking and
strategy. Real time strategy games are heavily focused on this (hence the
name). This genera of game but opponents up against each other, building
facilities and units to siege and destroy the opponents structures and units.
Players must be amazingly efficient with time and resources to build their
empires and armies. Plus, when singeing they would have to think in a
strategic mind set, almost militaristic and adapt according to the
oppositions moves.
In some cases video games ans
simulator are used to test and train members of the armed forces to enhance
and check up on their problem solving and strategic thinking without using
massive amounts of time on practical training.
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Psychological factors
Sound:
Games have sound effects and sound tracks. Sound effects are sounds of things
in the environment around the player (e.g. gun fire in the distance
to the left, foot steps behind you in the darkness). These are used to give the
player an idea of his surroundings but also add depth to
the environment and distance. Also these can be used to scare or get
the imagination of the player going e.g. hearing something in the dark/behind
you/on the other side of a wall.
A sound
track is the background music through out the game. This
music changes depending on the point in the game, if the player is
doing something exiting and action packed, the tempo of the music and pitch
would go up to invoke an emotional response from the player; in this
case, his hear rate would increase and so would the thrill/adrenaline of the
fight scene.
The combination of these makes
for a depth and immersion of the player in the games
reality and makes them think, feel and react as if they were there.
High score listings:
Some games give score points as a reward
for completing parts of the game in a certain time or
by completing certain objectives. These scores are then saved
and listed, making you want to better yourself and your score. Also, some games
have a score list from all over the world, not only making you want to beat you
own record but everyone else's too.
Competitive games:
Competitiveness in games can be score based
though listings or co-op scores though the campaign but also online
with team based games etc. Today, this competition between
players isn't just for bragging rights, but for fame
and fortune too. Hole tournaments set up for the
purpose of e-sports, organized video game competitions (especially between
professionals). The most common video game genres are real-time strategy,
fighting, first-person shooter, and multiplayer online
battle arena. Player vs player and team vs team for reasonably large sums
of prize money, played in front of a crowd of
fans, allowing people to make a living
form competitive game play.
One of the main organisations for
e-sports is Major League Gaming.
peer pressure:
as more and more people are playing video
games, the rate that new players start is going to increase
too because of peer pressure ans social norm. If all of
someones friends are playing a game and they ask that person to get that game
and join them, chances are that they will. As time goes on, teenagers playing
video games is becoming more and more a part of "teenage life" and is
just another stereo type of teenagers that more often than not,
is true. Games are becoming a bigger part
of everyone's day to day life and that is only going to increase.
Fun:
People
play games because of the entertainment the games provide, the
fun they have and the sense of accomplishment they
get form completing something or an objective. Players strive to
complete there next task or problem to continue to receive this
feeling and can even become addicted to fun. This causes them to
play excessively and fixate on the gaming and getting to the next does of
fun and accomplishment. Games make it gradually harder for
players to get there fix by increasing level length and difficulty, this
means that players don't become desensitized to the
feeling or bored and will happily keep playing.
Leveling:
Leveling up has the same affect, players
want to get to the next level, they want to better them selfless and
their character or abilities to get that "high". Again, as
you progress thought a game, leveling becomes harder and takes more XP meaning
you don't get bored and want to get that next level fix.
3)
Types
of visual styles and how they affect the game:
Brain storm of vual syles and effects on a games
atmposphere: Bleak, atmospheric, gloomy, clinical, dark,
lonely, empty, clustered, tense, depressing, sense of freedom/open, trapped/claustrophobic,
cartoon-ish, cel-shaded, comic, manga, exaggeration, fast paced, militaristic,
arcade, photo-realistic, abstract, happy, upbeat , bright,
relaxed, sick/twisted.
2D- A game with only 2 dimensional graphics, flat. Often, plat-formers
like Mario are 2D as these games only need side scrolling
functionality.
3D- A game with 3 dimensional graphics by manipulating images on a
video display to interact with the player.
Games that what the player to
be immersed or get different perspectives on the game in a
3D environment, like FPSs and RPGs
Cel-Shaded-
A non-photo-realistic designed
to make 3-D computer graphics look flat by using
less shading colour instead of tints and shades. This gives the
game a comic or cartoon style. This graphic type makes the game quite
bright, colourful and stand out.
Borderlands is a game that uses
cel-shading, it is an action RPG and a FPS set in a fantasy future. The game
has quite a comedic undertone and doesn't take its self too seriously,
this is shown though this cartoon like style and gives the game a atmosphere of
fun in its carnage. It adds bright and cheerful tone and makes the 3D
models look more 2D as if in a comic.
Exaggeration- similar to
photo-realistic but over the top graphics and colours of certain aspects
of a character of surrounding. It can give the impression that
the game isn't serious, a manga/anime or comic style.
Games such as
Final Fantasy, an action RPG, use this style. They exaggerate things
like the characters hair and outfits, making them big bold so that they stand
out. They also exaggerate the size of the weapons used, like massive swords and
use big and elaborate animations. This style can also be noticed in the level
design, with huge cites and landscapes with exotic and bright colour schemes.
This makes the game feel epic, large and slightly comical and larger than life.
Another game that uses this style is Batman Arkham
asylum. It exaggerates the muscular physique of the characters, especially
batman. This makes batman seem more of a dominant male force but also makes the
gameplay feel more like you are playing through a comic.
Photo-realistic- the graphics are an attempt to reproduce a
photo of a real life image as realistically as possible.
For games that want the player to have a real life
perspective on the game environments and be immersed.
Skyrim is the story of an adventurer with mythical
powers, learning their destiny as the dragonborn as they venture on an epic
quest. The game is very open and free allowing you to choose your own path of
action adventure. Full of beautifully lit landscapes and scenery, topped with
huge and magnificent buildings and mountains.
All
this gives the game a very huge and epic atmosphere, a small person standing up
to a big world and overcoming it. The graphics are very photo-realistic and the
graphics are 3D, immersing you into the fancy world of tamriel, rich
in character, story and tense action.
Grand theft auto five is another 3D open world game
with a scene of freedom in level design and gameplay, with a dark and
violent plot involving crime and murder and the ability to free roam and cause
havoc and chaos when, where and how you please. Full of fast pace and tense
gunfights, car chases and heists. Like most rock star games, the world and
level design is very open and large and the graphics are photo-realistic giving
you a true to life experience.
Another rock star game is red dead redemption.
Similarly to GTA5, it is a third person free roam open world game with a quite
dark and violent plot. However, it is set in the nineteen hundreds in
the west, so the scenery is quite bright dry and hot. Also it is
photorealistic again immersing you into the life of an outlaw,
full of murder guns and twisted plot lines.
Abstract- Opposite to
photorealism, the graphics do not try to resemble and real life object or image
and involve very unrealistic shapes and lines. Used in a lot
of indie and arcade style games.
Geometry wars is an abstract style game, it is
an arcade game where you must survive against swarms of enemies. It uses bright
colours and fast moving shapes to give a fast paced and attractive game
play that is massively entertaining. The game does not get hung up on back
story and charter development as its just colourful shapes moving on the
screen leavening only pure entertainment.
Pixel art-
Graphics are designed on a pixel based level, pixel by pixel building up
sprites and environments. Usually used in 2D games as there is easy and there
is no need for more than one perspective of an object, but recently has been
used in 3D games.
One of these is Minecraft, it is an open world
sandbox game, the graphics are 3D, 32 bit and blocky making the game feel
like Lego. The game is quite bright and cheerful with upbeat or happy
music and friendly AI with cartoon-like graphics. There is no real set
storyline or way of plating to it is very free flowing and full of
endless possibilities and creativity. It can be quite tense in
situations when on the edge of death but is usually relaxed and slow paced.
There is no gore or violence aside from killing animals for food and mobs for
loot and safety, then the model disappears. All this give the
game a friendly and safe feel.
4)
Idea:
My Game idea, is a 2D maze/puzzel game set
in a fantsy existance in a medevil era. The player will be a knight, raiding a
mysterious dungeon. You have to collect loot and items like keys by working the
maze and defeating enemie to advance in through the levels and reach the end
goal of a battle with the end boss and guadian of the dungeon and untold
fortunes. My target audience teenage boys and men.
Story ideas:
A great darkness plagues the cities and
towns of this fantsy land. The only thing standing between the lives of
thousands and the gloom black, shodowing over the lands, are those that fight
for the light.
Known as the knights of the light or the “phonex”,
live to protect the realm and serve till death. After a loss of faith in thier
order followed great attack on the house of pheonex leaving a single knight,
whos sle task was to defend what light was left in the world. So the last
remaing phoenex boldly ventured deep into the dark abyss to kill this evil at
its heart and bring light back to the world.
This is the point in the story that the
game is set, exploring dungeons to destroi the dark at its source.
-“Rise and Rise again and again. Like The
Phoenix from the ashes. Until the Lambs have become Lions and the Rule of
Darkness is no more” a biblical quote that i used as ispiration and will
referance in the game.
Visual style of my game:
As the game has a medieval theme and it set
in a dungeon, the lighting will be dark creating an eerie atmosphere as you
will not know what lurks in the darkness. It will be quite exaggerated with the
monsters you face and the look of the dungeons and the knight and his weapons.
Also, it will be 2D and pixel art graphics this is because I feel these graphic
and visual art types best fit a platform game and are easiest to create with
the software available. Plus this will add an arcade or
retro feel to the game with may help the appeal to my target audience.
Games with similar styles to
this:
Limbo is a 2D game based around the place
between life and death in a search for a lost soul. The setting and scenery are
dark and dimly lit, giving the game a gloomy atmosphere and the lack of colour
making it bleak. On this journey, you are alone in a quite empty place making
you feel depressed. Also, throughout the game, the level design is very linear
and forces you into dark places and corners giving a scene of claustrophobia.
Another game similar to this is the binding
of Isaac, it is a 2D cel-shaded game. The game is about a crying child named.
After his mother is given a message from God commanding her son be sacrificed
as proof of her faith, Isaac flees into the dark, horrific basement to stay
alive. Not only is the story line twisted and gloomy but so is the level design
with dim lighting and gore. Throughout the game you are fighting through small
clustered rooms, alone, again causing a feeling of being trapped. All round
depressing.
Concept art and sprite ideas:
PICS WITH ANNOTATION GO HERE
When advertising, I would consider the Advertising Standards
Authority (the UK's independent regulator of advertising for all media) and
make sure I meet their regulations and requirements.
