Starter Task - Second Person

Second person allows the user to experience the game as if it were their own. Using words like ‘You can’ or ‘You can’t’ it provides the user with the feeling that if they own the game, their experiences would feel the same as the reviewers. It also suggests that the review feels more personal than if it wasn’t in second person

‘Forza 5 is gorgeous and smooth as butter, and it’s utterly enchanting handling makes it a joy to drive hard, but this game is more than just a rock solid technical titan for the Xbox one’.

This review would influence me to play the game by using all the games characteristics and quotations from experienced car reviewers/drivers.

L02 - Written Comparison

In reading/viewing reviews in two different media, one aspect which really stood out was the formality of both articles. In the magazine the review seemed to be shortened, leaving what some people would consider important for a game review out. However for what the magazine stated it was written with formal text, very little form of comedy and a ‘stereotypical review’. On the other hand the video review stuck with moderate formality, but also went into a lot more detail than the magazine review, providing more information about the deeper story, graphics and objective of the game.

Genre was portrayed in both media to be a horror game, which although was never stated for certain provided elaborate information on the game horror tone. Once again the magazine did this in a more concise way than the video, which went into more detail about the horror side of the game.

Target audience was never really mentioned in the magazine but through what the magazine stated in a simile (‘…is that awkward person you don’t want to talk to at any any given time’), suggesting that the game is more for the teenage variety. Console information also backs this up by being for the Xbox One, a console with the vast majority being sold to teenagers. The target audience in the video was never really mentioned either, however the video did say ‘Horror fans praised the short, experimental genre’ – suggesting through genre that horror fans will enjoy the game.

The games narrative portrays the same concept in both Medias, although worded differently. The magazine review went more into depth about the well-known character of slender saying ‘whenever slender man appears the screen goes nuts… the longer you succeed in escaping his clutches, the more frequently he’ll show up’. Similarly the online review mentions about the game based on the horror aspect, which becomes more difficult the further you get into the game.

Gameplay is where the magazine review becomes seemingly biased towards the game, not really mentioning the gameplay but masking it with ‘If you like horror and you’ve yet to have the pleasure of Slender Man’s company, his xbox one incarnation is absolutely worth its budget price tag’. This seems to be a ‘Sales tag’ for the game and doesn’t really mention much about the gameplay. The online review heavily contrasts with the magazines stating ‘A vast majority of it boils down to finding a certain number of objects whilst a increasingly dangerous enemy stalks you’. This provides the gameplay in Its literal gameplay objective stating it how it is, rather than covering it up with lines like ‘Is absolutely worth its budget price tag’.

Characters aren’t mentioned much in either review, and the main protagonist isn’t mentioned at all. Although not anonymous the articles seem to define enemy ‘Slender’ rather than yourself. The magazine gives an especially short portfolio of slender stating him to be ‘a lanky dude in a suit’.

Platforms were mentioned in both to be on the Xbox One. Stating it how it is.

Personal recommendation of the writer once again seems to be biased towards buying the game in the magazine article, saying that ‘If you like horror and you’ve yet to have the pleasure of Slender Man’s company, his xbox one incarnation is absolutely worth its budget price tag’. This (same as before) points the user to buying the game rather than mentioning anything wrong with the game. The online reviewer’s opinion more heavily critiqued the game, saying ‘Slender the arrival manages to deliver some truly impressive scares, although you’ll have to wade through the muck of repetitive tasks and unfair enemies in order to experience them. I preferred the original free version of the game…’.

L01 Business Report - Feedback sheet

Feedback sheet for business report

L01 Business Report | Rockstar Games / Rockstar North

Rockstar Games – Research

Structure

Rockstar Games is a video game development company and company created in 1998 to create ‘the most innovative and progressive interactive entertainment’ and is owned by Take-Two interactive. Based in New York City, Rockstar Games is commonly known for its AAA title Grand Theft Auto series. Rockstar Games are also commonly known to providing open world games with free play ability (no solid story line). The company comprises of several other acquired or renamed companies which have merged to create the Rockstar Brand.

Although Rockstar itself was created in New York City, the company was actually founded by English games designers Sam Houser and Dan Houser; both of whom are co-founders of the company. Rockstar games has also bought English games company BMG Interactive shortly after passing ownership to Take-Two interactive.

Platform Tech

Rockstar Games develop across multiple platforms, including games consoles Microsoft Xbox and Sony Playstation, aswell as having a huge market on the PC as well. Rockstar also have recently developed applications to run alongside their games on the mobile platform, and have also released some of their best games to the mobile platform aswell. Rockstar also have spent time developing for Apple Mac which is unusual due to the software and hardware limitations on these devices. Although Rockstar has developed multiple award winning games they are still yet to release console exclusives; in-game editor for Rockstar’s GTA V was originally thought to be only for the PC, which would have been a PC exclusive, however, due to the overwhelming success of this in game feature as a company the decision was made to release this content to gaming consoles aswell.

Game Types

Rockstar games develop across multiple different genres and game types, although most commonly they are well known across the world for their work on the Action, Drama and Freeplay genres with their award winning Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series following exactly that. Due to their popular success in their mature game development, it might come to some surprise that RockStar also have made games such as: ‘Rockstar games presents: Table Tennis’, a game developed for the Nintendo Wii console aimed at a younger audience and placed within the sports genre. The company have also developed games in the Racing, western and stealth genres as well.  

Games on multiple platforms

The majority of games created by rockstar appear over multiple platforms, mostly Xbox, Playstation (next generation and old generation) and PC. Games include all from the GTA series, Max Payne series and also the red dead redemption series. Some of rockstar’s GTA games have also now made it onto the mobile platform with the increased hardware capabilities over the past few years. The rockstar company has also taken a real step towards gaming over multiple platforms with new cloud features allowing gamers to transfer their in-game character wealth and content between consoles easily and simply.

Regulatory Bodies

Rockstar Games uses PEGI (Pan European Game Information) for it’s information board. PEGI is a games rating Information Company that states the legal age to purchase the game and could either be: 3, 7, 12, 16, or 18. Most of rockstar’s games fall under the 18 category however some of their games for (e.g) the Nintendo wii, fall under the ‘3’ category as they are aimed at younger children.

Development Software

Rockstar Games uses the RAGE (rockstar advanced game engine) which is developed by the RAGE Technology Group and was used to produce award winning games GTA V, Red dead redemption and Max Payne 3.  RAGE technology group is a company owned by rockstar san Diego and is not commercially available for other companies to use.

L01 Games Analysis | Just Cause 2

In this analysis of the game Just Cause 2, i will be commenting on different aspects of the game as well as make comments on the overall game experience.

The style of this game is a third person action shooter and the genre of the game is an action/open world genre. It shows the stylistic conventions of the genre by having a huge open world layout and shooter campaign in which you play as main character Rico who is an overpowered spy.

In comparison with other games with the same genre, Just Cause 2 did extremely well and won multiple awards. Although it was released in 2010 it still competes extremely well with newly released titles of the genre today, such as GTA V and Fallout 4.

The story being told throughout the game is that you are an agent named rico on the isle of Panau here to investigate about corrupt president baby panau. As you progress through the game you realise that what you were told is a lot worse. The story informs the gameplay by centring the single player gameplay around the story. In which you complete tasks around the world to cause ‘chaos’ which leads the unlocking of more story missions. The story uses stereotype a lot, with hatred experienced towards the corrupt president and Rico (main character) having no fear at all. The story connects to the target audience by having a near enough invincible main character with the ability to do anything.

The game was produced by Avalanche Studios on March 23^rd 2010. The use of a near enough invincible character makes the audience feel the same way. For most people this was a brilliant way for them to develop the game as no-one can become frustrated with the game, henceforth significantly improving the gameplay aspect. The overall physics engine was fantastic with Air, land and sea vehicles functioning near enough perfectly. One this that was missing though was a destruction engine, due to the lack of computing power at the time. The overall physics engine allowed enhancements to the gameplay by providing a unique method of attacking a mission, making every mission unique.   

Characters are relevant to the target audience by providing a supreme character to play as which makes the audience feel in Rico’s shoes. This appeals to the audience as it provides a character that the audience of the genre will love. The characteristics of the genre towards the characters are suggested with the ninja look and weapons mounted on Rico’s side. Overall the character feels very strong and as stated near enough invincible.

The target audience for the game just cause 2 is > 16 males who enjoy the shooting and open world genre. Indicators for this include the campaign which contains swearing that younger children might not like to hear. It also contains strong violence. The game appeals to the target audience by containing the open world approach when the player can complete the game in whatever way they want, which allows a dynamic twist to the story.
The game compares to others with similar audiences quite similar to games like GTA V or Call of Duty, due to the open world and shooting genre.

The game JC2 is available on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. And is now more suited towards the PC due to the creation of the multiplayer mod, which allows players to now enjoy the open world together.