Research

Will Stewart

Existing ProductThe twisted and irregular environment in the background emphasises the game’s freakiness and overall madness-based themes. Alice’s bloodied attire tells the

viewer that the game has a justified mature rating, even more so if you are familiar with the original American McGee’s Alice.

The title font has been stylised so that the entire word has the same texture as the central knife. This goes further to display Alice’s ruthless and vicious nature, as well as the game’s combative environment.

Alice’s attire serves as a homage to the original stories by L. Frank Baum, the blue dress and white apron popularized by Disney becoming an iconic indicator of anything Alice-related.

Existing Product

Heavy emphasis on lighting, colour and shadows, making the environment feel more otherworldly and fantastical. This succeeds in making the game feel more like a comic book in terms of artistic direction.

The heavy presence of darkness in the scene conveys the game’s focus on the hidden, ergo the detective protagonist and mystery genre.

The font title and colouring mimics that of seedy night-club neon, drawing attention to the game’s focus on the underbelly of society.

The use of the cigarette light to define the shadow highlights the main character’s supernatural aspect. Those familiar with the Fables series would immediately recognise him, and this visual cue is for those who are first-time watchers of the franchise.

The way that Bigby stares out towards the camera, eyes standing out against the darkness, emphasises his somewhat predatory nature by making appear to be the eyes of a wolf.

Existing Product

The lack of a title adds a hint of mystery to the atmosphere, emphasizing the game’s ominous and mysterious nature.

The shot of Yharnam before The Hunter acts as an indicator of the scope and size of the game, the intricate detail of the environment conveying the quality of the game itself, promising satisfactory artistic work.

The ethereal lighting from the moon and small amounts of mist in the frame, combined with the ominous dark clouds above, all create an atmosphere of deception or disguise, veiling whatever is hidden away in the fog.

The way the city is curved makes it appear as if it is trying to catch or devour The Hunter, symbolic of the enemies residing within Yharnam.

The way The Hunter stands, back straight, weapons at the ready, and gaze locked firmly on the city, makes him seem undaunted by the horrors within, confident and assured in the face of danger.

Existing ProductThe deep red sky adds a layer of ominousness and dread to the cover, red denoting danger and violence.The dark black depiction of

the island makes it stand out against the yellow cover, the details in the picture adding substance and essence to the design.

H.G. Wells, being one of the founding fathers of science-fiction, is widely known among most people. His name immediately attracts attention wherever it is seen, lending credence of quality to whatever it is placed upon.

Research Analysis

• What common features do the researched products have?– Each product focuses upon people that deviate from normality, whether it be normal

mentality, such as Alice and The Hunter, or normal physiology, like Bigby and the creations of Doctor Moreau.

• What aspects of the research will you include within your on work?– In terms of characters, those who deviate from social norms will be the centrepieces of

the project. In terms of artistic direction, the lighting and colour-centric style of The Wolf Among Us. Gameplay-wise, the hack n’ slash madness of Alice and Bloodborne, contrasted against the slow-paced detective noir of The Wolf Among Us, running parallel to each other in terms of plot.

Questionnaire Analysis

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/DDXS6J6

Audience research

• Observation: The answerers don’t particularly care about the game’s aesthetics.• What this says about my audience: That they are not people who think a game’s art

direction is important in comparison to other elements.• How will your product appeal to this audience: To focus more on the gameplay and

plot.

Q: What kind of art style do you think the game should have?A: Depends Don’t Know.

Audience research

• Observation: The thematic elements and gameplay take precedence over the plot.• What this says about my audience: They are more attracted to the straightforward and less

complex parts of the gameplay than the intricacies of the mystery plot.• How will your product appeal to this audience: To put more emphasis on the hack n’ slash

sections of the game.

Q: What part of the game sounds the most interesting to you?A: The supernatural elements: 1 The detective noir plot: 0 The hack n’ slash gameplay: 1

Audience research

• Observation: The audience is interested in how the game appeals the mainstream of the gaming community.

• What this says about my audience: They follow the crowd and celebrate the most popular games in the community.

• How will your product appeal to this audience: To be good enough to fit into this demographic.

Q: What attracts you to your favourite games?A: Good ratings. Adventure.

Audience research

• Observation: The audience is looking for a game that gives them an appropriate sense of satisfaction.

• What this says about my audience: They wish to have a satisfying experience with games they play, that helps them to escape mundane life for a short time.

• How will your product appeal to this audience: To have an engaging enough plotline and gameplay to deliver this sense of satisfaction, and be devoid of bugs so that the game can flow smoothly.

Q: What causes you to dislike the games you play?A: Lag and glitches. If it’s uninteresting then I won’t play it.

Audience research

• Observation: That there are vastly different views on what kind of game each person is expecting, usually because of their personal opinion.

• What this says about my audience: That each person wants something that caters to them personally, regardless of overall aesthetics.

• How will your product appeal to this audience: By listening to the audience and factoring in their opinion, but sticking to the game’s emotional field.

Q: What kind of rating do you think the game deserves?A: Everyone Adults 18+

Audience research

• Observation: There is more or less and equal balance between the two biological genders, meaning that there is also and equal amount of interest.

• What this says about my audience: That both demographics have an interest in the product, and that their interest and opinion must be taken into account.

• How will your product appeal to this audience: To create content that appeals to both demographics, and to not offend either of them.

Q: What is your gender?A: Male Female

Audience research

• Observation: That the primary group of interest are those within the late teens/early twenties age bracket.

• What this says about my audience: That the product appeals to those within this specific age bracket.

• How will your product appeal to this audience: By capitalising on this information, we can emphasise what appeals to the audience, as well as include more content that would appeal to other age demographics.

Q: What is your age?A: 16 17

Audience research

• Observation: That the audience has selected characters based on what appeals to them personally.

• What this says about my audience: That they sympathise and relate to these types of characters, feeling that they resemble them in some way.

• How will your product appeal to this audience: By taking the audience’s opinion into account, but to remain independent of their whims and have autonomy.

Q: What kind of characters do you want to see in the game?A: Cocky Hot

Audience research

• Observation: That the audience has roughly the same opinion in terms of time length.• What this says about my audience: That they prefer a satisfactory amount of content to

entertain them, rather than a quick and easy game that takes only a few minutes.• How will your product appeal to this audience: By including enough material to keep the

audience satisfied.

Q: How log do you think the game should be?A: 18+ 20 – 30 minutes

Audience research

• Observation: The audience prefers high-intensity and fast-paced games that involve lots of action and have an exciting momentum.

• What this says about my audience: That they are possibly impulsive people who delight in unrestrained chaos.

• How will your product appeal to this audience: To incorporate these aspects into the action-based segments of the game, utilising their opinions to create a greater satisfactory experience.

Q: What is the most satisfying game you have ever played?A: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Asphalt Nitro

Interviews

Interview 1• Who is your favourite video game character and why?• The GTA 5 Gangster character because there are a lot of sound effects behind him, he has a good character profile and you

can interchange his cars.

• What is the game that impressed you in terms of design?• The game that impressed me in terms of design is Call of Duty Advanced Warfare because of the different items and

weapons you can use it shows futuristic weapons design.

• What video game character do you hate the most and why?• I hate Harry Potter as a game character because of the old graphics product and the limitations of his character.

• What game did you find the most annoying and why?• Pokemon Go because you can’t find all the characters where they are placed.

• What do you find disappointing in games you play?• I find some of the graphics aren’t up to the machines specification and some of the characters are not developed properly.

Filled out by Josh Sotheran.

Interview 1• Observation: This interviewee predominantly prefers open-

world, first-person games with enhanced adaptability and customisation.

• What this says about my audience: They value personal freedom within games and an expansive world environment.

• How will your product appeal to this audience: Some characters being heavily customisable during the hack n’ slash segments of the game, along with certain plot elements on the freedom of choice.

Interview 2• Who is your favourite video game character and why?• Link from Zelda, because it reminds me of being younger and having adventures in a alternate and fantasy world with my

friends.

• What is the game that impressed you in terms of design?• Bioshock, it’s visuals and deep links with other stories alongside graphics really got my attention.

• What video game character do you hate the most and why?• Mario – I find him over popular for no real reason as he is only a plumber..

• What game did you find the most annoying and why?• Tomb Raider one, swinging across a waterfall on a vine.. I can’t do that level!

• What do you find disappointing in games you play?• When they don’t live up to expectation with graphics, need extra add ons which cost money and when the levels are

completely unachievable!

Filled out by Chantelle Pulleyn.

Interview 2• Observation: The interviewee prefers adventure-based games

with a good storyline, such as questing for hidden treasure with greater significance.

• What this says about my audience: They appreciate a good and complex story, but not pointless side-quests that are necessary to advance.

• How will your product appeal to this audience: Very well, due the plot being driven entirely by the characters and their experiences, standard objectives like fetch quests and missions being secondary by comparison.

Audience ProfileCategory Demographic Content to appeal to this audience

Age Range15-20’s • Character-driven, avoidance of too much

slow pacing, fast-paced action and genuinely intriguing plot.

GenderMale and Female • A diverse cast of characters, with a variety of

ages, genders, nationalities, races, religions, social classes, sexualities and body types.

PsychographicAnything, really. • The multitude of characters planned would

be used to represent a variety of lifestyles, so that each character appeals to at least one person.

Social StatusNot relevant. • Once again, the characters and their

differentiating background are used to represent a plethora of social strata, personal dilemmas and personalities.

Research Evaluation

Research Evaluation• Give an overview of how you conducted your research.

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each method – Product Research

• Personalized and fully controlled by the researcher, it provides first-hand information from a variety of different resources to codify the researcher’s ideas and goals.

– Questionnaires• Can collect information from a multitude of angles at once, each one different from

the other without direct correlation.

– InterviewsAllows the researcher to acquire information with a direct line of response to the

interviewee, preventing corruption of information in transit .

Research Evaluation– What sort of a response did you get?A variety of different views on the proposed subject, some useful, others not. Each response was highly personalized with the individual surveyor’s responses; whether they be necessarily what the creator of the survey was looking for is irrelevant. Due to the responses being purely personal opinion, it is hard to define the overall theme, only that they are what the surveyor thinks is the appropriate response to the question.

– How did you distribute your survey? Give an advantage and a disadvantage• I used a hyper-link for survey distribution, presented through a Facebook group

chat. While this does limit the number of responders to those in the group chat, and even then only those who actually choose to respond, it is one of the fastest ways to accumulate responses quickly, regardless of selectivity.