Brainstorming Ideas

Idea #1

My idea for this advert would be (If possible) to film me talk about the game in front of the green screen, doing so I can then put the footage of me over the top of gameplay footage and thus being able to talk about the different aspects of the game while you can see them on screen and explain the idea behind them. I would record myself playing the whole game through and then edit down the footage specifically to fit what I am saying and what is needed. This would mean recording around 4 hours of footage to then go through and find important bits I want to use. I could only record the specific parts I’d use but doing this method; I could miss out on important events or moments within the game. I have chosen Evoland for my advert because it looks like a game that would be very interesting to me and a lot of the audience of video games. It being a recent release would hopefully bring in more attention to the game as more people would be inclined to try and find an advert for it to see the gameplay and what it is about.

Idea #2

My idea for the video game review is close to how I would like my advert to go, but my review would be a lot longer than a short advert for television. This would be to highlight all key aspects of the game and why they’re important and different. Basically the reasons you will want to play this game. I would try not including any spoiler information though as I would find a lot of loss in audience if I was ruining the game to people who had not completed it. If I do find myself with spoiler information I will have a tag on the title and before the review starts warning this. I would again like to be able to have use of the screen to put myself in front of the gameplay as I believe this is more catching to the audience then just my voice talking over the gameplay. I would like some comedy value to this and have thought of a great start that will get the audience interested.

Having a video game review will interest me when making it because I can bring in my personal opinion of the game and what I believe was good and bad about it. I have chosen the game ‘Bioshock: Infinite’ for this because it is my favourite game of 2013 so far. With great gameplay and storyline it’s something I have a lot to talk about.

Idea Mock up

After having my survey filled in by various people, it is clear that I need to fit in as much information as I can, but without boring the audience. They’d like to be able to see as much as the game as possible to know if it is worth their money and time. Keeping my review informative while being entertaining I believe this can be done well if I focus on making the points fast but in depth. Having the footage will help me explain game mechanics and scenes that may be hard to describe without visual help such as powers and weapons. From my survey the most important aspect of a video game review to the people that filled it in was Gameplay footage. They want to see what they will be playing which from my point of view would be top too. This is why I have included the gameplay as one of the main features of my review. Recording my first-hand experience of the game to then cut up to the main parts I want to discuss and review. Coming up 2nd with most requested is if the graphics of the game, if they are up to today’s standards and such. Not that a game has to have good graphics to be fun but to some people this is important. This will be better shown then explained. Thirdly is if it is worth the price (If they get their money’s worth for e.g. Time played, entertainment value (, Background information on the game (such as past games stories to catch you up) and then upcoming expansions (DLC to bring more to the game in the future such as extra levels or maps). Everything was a least voted once showing me that I should include the entire list I produced. I had one comment saying that spoilers are not to everyone’s taste which I can understand. So if I find myself struggling to not show some small spoilers then I will tag the video and produce a warning message at the beginning.

Audience Research

Age:

Video Games have such a broad spectrum when it comes to age range. There are games for kids when they can just pick up a controller all the way through to when they’re in their older age. The graph to the right shows the percentage of console owners and also gamers. The difference is that gamers are someone or plays videos games on a regular basis whereas the console owner is a home with a console in the house, used now and then. The peak for video games is at 15 to 19 years old which is not surprising as this is the age span when they’re in school with social groups where video games is one of the biggest hobbies around. Teenagers at this age will find it strange if someone did not have some sort of console at home, be it a Play Station, Xbox or PC. This is why there is around a 96% ownership level for that particular age group. At this age as well is when you have the most free time. Younger then this age you are still going up and won’t completely understand all games, and older you will most likely have a job and family to look after leaving not a lot of time to play games.

Gender:

Surprisingly, female gamers take up 47% of the population of gamers overall. This is something that surprised me because you never hear about female gamers as much as you do men playing games. This tells me that I will need to

take both genders into equal consideration when producing a product to appeal to both. When it comes to mobile games, study has found that there are a higher percent of women over men. My product can be watchable through mobile so this is also something to keep in mind.

Socio-Economic status

This is research done into different economic groups such as upper, middle and working class individuals, this then determines what each household is watching, and giving the company then a start to what area they should market their game too. Whether to pick up the budget, because they know they can sell for higher to a upper class group or whether to stick with what they’re doing and bring it out to all markets. Below is a graph that shows what information is checked in this research and what is taken into account.

Demographics

This is research further into each individual rather than certain areas of a country. This has to do with age, gender, sexual orientation etc. From this they can gather whether males of females are playing games more. Information will also tell you how to decide which age range your game is for, because if you use swearing or violence but only 10% of 18+ year olds are buying video games you may choose to remove some of this so that the 50% of gamers ages 12+ gamers can play bringing in a bigger market.

Primary content research

Primary content research is research done yourself without aid of books or the internet etc. It is going out and finding the information you seek out for yourself.

Interviews: An interview is one way of finding out this information. Setting up an interview with someone in the field of your interest is a great way to ask the questions you’re looking for an answer too. In my subject field I could organise an interview with a ‘Youtuber’. Someone who posts content on YouTube as their profession. They could tell me the type of audiences they say and techniques they use. Another great interview would be with a game developer. Someone who works with games for a living. They will know the most important aspects of the game inside and out. A reason Primary research such as interviews is good is because you get to write the questions yourself instead of searching through the internet for that one other person who has the information online.

Questionnaires:

Questionnaires and surveys can be used as a feedback device. Being able to write these yourself again means you can find out the information you need. These can also be mass-produced to the number of responses you desire. Handed out or posted online. Because you can choose who you send these questionnaires too you can also only aim for your market, which is really important when creating product.

Here is a link to the online survey I produced to get feedback on how I should go about producing a video game review. This worked great because I can send this link to the people I would like to answer my survey. For this I wanted a range of different people because I want to bring in an audience that isn’t quite their usual thing.

If you are stuck own or peer observation can be great help. Own observation can be used to have someone watch you and help out with what you’re doing, this is helpful when you know what you’re doing but may need some help in creating it. Peer observation is useful for coming up with ideas but keeping in mind that you cannot copy word for word. It is more to get your started.

Secondary content research

Secondary research consists of finding information that other people have done form such sources as newspapers, books the internet etc.

Magazines: Magazines will have useful information written by professionals. They can also contain outside information from other sources and interviews with game company’s. Magazines I could use for secondary research are; PC Gamer, Xbox World and Official UK PlayStation Magazines. These will cover the 3 main consoles which the game I will be reviewing is on. I can look back through old copies and find when the game was featured and find out information on it. Though these are my 3 main choices of magazines when I am out I will look for other magazines that can help me.

Books are not something I will be looking at buying. Something that may come under as a ‘book’ would be the game strategies guides. These will be full of in game information, storyline and character information. I can pick these up online and will make sure too because I think out of secondary research, for my project this can be one of the most important research.

For me the internet will be my main source of information. I will be using Websites such as Youtube (for research into other game reviews to get ideas and information) PC Gamer and IGN for information on the games, as they will have a range of interviews content. Sites such as Wikipedia can help out a great deal with Storyline information and character profiles so I will be using this also.

Research into competitors

My main competitor for video game reviews is a YouTube star called Angry Joe who has a YouTube show called The Angry Joe Show. He makes video game reviews about the latest games that come up. They’re always great quality, informative, hilarious and greatly thought out. I aspire to bring my production to his level as much as I can, while writing a script and editing I want to bring in some of his techniques to my production such as use of a green screen. With over 659,000 subscribers he has a huge audience so it can’t only be me who believes his content is great. Of course all other producers of video game reviews are competitors, I want to do a great job and produce high quality entertainment.

Skills

I believe one of the main skills I will need for such a production is confidence. Being able to speak the information with a clear voice and not seeming nervous or not knowing what I’m talking about is vital for my review to succeed and produce great content. If I am not clear in what I am saying, no one will understand. Other skills will be when recording the game play to make sure I have enough footage to talk over the different parts for example, if I wish to talk about a certain weapon, but I never end up using it in the game, I won’t be able to have evidence of what I’m saying, which will be bad on my part. Other skills include editing, filming, design and production skills. These are all important because they will be put together and to the test when producing my review. They all need to work for my production to be as planned.

Production management requirements

Management of my production and my time is required throughout pre post and production in general. I need to look into when I can have use of the green screen, and if this is a short amount of time, then I need to manage having everything ready for it. Costumes, script, cameraman, props etc. If this is not ready then I have wasted time and might not get the chance again. I also need to make sure all filming is done by a certain point otherwise editing will be rushed and not become as planned. Everything depends on each other with my production.

Potential codes and constraints

Legal issues I may have is posting game play footage. Some games YouTube has a licence to be able to post material of it, but I do not think this is the case for some games. After some research it looks as if it is okay to post game play footage as long as it is my own and I stick to the rules of YouTube. Music choice is also another problem I can come across because I do not have the correct licence. I will need to get in contact with the record label about using their artist’s music to make sure I do not get into legal trouble. As all the footage I will be using is my own I do not think I will walk into any copyright issues.