Thursday, 4 September 2014

HA8 Task 1 Construction analysis

Comparison Table - Just Dance, The last of Us





Just Dance



Genre-
Family orientated and based game, fitness advised and supported, sporty people attracted to game as it is controlled with full motion, party style game advised and used at parties to enhance excitement and freedom, dance type game in which people dance to.


Content-
Songs from different artist / beats, vibrant colours to make game eye catching and attracting towards players -  inclusive /positive



Construction-
Diverse style game, surrealism used to give an unreal image and make the game unique. UI motion based used in order to be able to dance normally and move freely.



Narrative-
Large clear style interface, in order to be able to see text clearly while dancing.



Common codes-


Animated style characters, backgrounds, environments – avatar repetition – diagrammatic interface.


Profiling-
Groups, opinions. Some have negative opinions towards the game – some have positive opinions towards the game.






The Last of Us



Genre-
Survival horror, action adventure style game to enhance tension and create drama for this game. Its also has a thriller style to it so the game is in some cases scary.



Content-
Realistic graphics used to give a realism effect as in real life (film) – focus, grim – gloomy colours to create fear and give horror environments, dimmed lighting, and negative.



Construction-
Apocalyptic style world which gives the player the chance to survive and search for weapons freely etc., post-apocalyptic is used to portray how the world changed and how the infection started. Exploration added so player can keep an interest in the game.




Narrative-
Narrative driven in order to be able to listen and follow the story line and objective plots clearly.


– Infection breaks out/find cure is the main story to the game, and the main missions are to survive the infection.


Common codes-
Objectives used to keep player occupied, surviving used to keep the player concentrated, strategy used to make the player be able to think of ways to escape danger etc., avoiding death – facing deaths to add drama to the game.


Profiling-
Opinions, different points of view e.g. (15 -25 ages) people of these ages seem to have an interest in the game as the game is based around a father and his daughter.







                                              The Last Of Us & Just Dance                           

Media Text - This is any media products designed for different audiences this can be portrayed in newspapers, magazines, posters, and even films and website pages.


For the game The Last Of Us, posters were released and adverts through TV to promote the game, Usually the media text will represent the style of the game e.g. In the game the Last Of us, one poster released was gloomy and dimmed to portray the game would be scary and deadly. 

However, in the game Just Dance they released bright vibrant posters to portray fun excitement and the instance of partying as this game is used at parties. They have also done this as this is a fun family orientated, positive game.









Semiotics – These are common in the games industry as this stands for signs and symbols and their use or even interpretation. E.g. the process of this is: things e.g. speeches about a game on a website is denting itself towards the reader the readers are then decoding this information. However people will have different opinions e.g. some people may not like the speech and not like the game and some may like the game and want to buy it.
An example of this used in the making of the game The Last of Us is, the creators denoted the game through websites and even YouTube videos. The way they denoted the game gave off the impressions that the game was a survival horror. The people reading or watching the information decoded this and from this different opinions were shared.

Furthermore, for the game just dance people denoted the game differently through YouTube videos, website pages etc. reviewers denoted that the game was fun and family orientated and sporty, and used for people in need of losing weight. As with any other game people decoded the information and had different opinions towards the game e.g. dislike and like     





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GBXuE6jcl4
                                           

The last of us semiotics example



Just Dance semiotics example







Genre – This is the game type/style e.g. some games are classed as adventure, action, horror. Etc. In the case of the game The Last of Us, the game style is survival/horror. This is because the aim of the game is to survive the horrors of an apocalyptic world. In the case of Just Dance, the genre is totally different e.g. it is a family orientated, sporty, fitness game. For the game The Last of Us, the genre was implied through many things from adverts, websites based around the game, posters and newspaper articles. Most people seen the game as a survival horror from a TV advert for the game Just Dance the genre was also implied through adverts trailers, websites etc. Most people had seen the game as vibrant fun and exciting from the main TV commercial. 





The Last of Us genre example


Just Dance genre example







Content – This is key for games as this defines what style game it is and this also portrays what interesting things are in the game and why. E.g. an action game would be none to have guns and deaths.


Content from The Last of Us relates to the type of game it is e.g. there is guns and weapons to survive in the survival type world and also zombies to portray an apocalyptic world. Another main piece of content for The Last of Us was the DLC named Left Behind. This initiated another part to the story which was important to players who liked the game.

Content from the game Just Dance relates to the type of the game e.g. there is bright vibrant colours used to portray partying and fun and even on screen dancers to show you what to do. There was also a DLC released named 5*This DLC added more songs to dance to and was key for main players.






http://media.officialplaystationmagazine.co.uk/files/2014/01/the_last_of_us__left_behind-2441589.jpg
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VSIIhetJsdU/hqdefault.jpg






Construction – This is where maps for games, vehicles, building etc. are created by the game designers and then placed into the game. The items /objects added to the game usually relate to how the game works and the style of the game.



In the case of the game The Last of Us, inventory’s were added in the game so the player can easily asses what weapons they have and how much ammo they have e.c.t. Also this construction links to key events in the game e.g. a mission in The Last of Us contains a building being blown up near the player. This was added through construction for the game.

In the game Just Dance construction is different than in The Last of Us. On screen dancers are added on to Just Dance to show the player what to do. This is a very important piece of construction as it helps players dance and have fun learning and playing the game. Also the bright colours were added to the game during the construction to portray the party style game that it is.





















Codes and Conventions – Codes are systems of signs put together to create meaning (the signs are usually in a sequence) Conventions is the way of doing things in games through repeated experiences. This way the audience becomes familiar with these things and expect it in other games with the same style.
In the game The Last of Us, codes and conventions are used to portray what things are in the game. The audience have become familiar with what things are in the game meaning people who play this game expect to see deaths, blood, guns and zombies.
In the game Just Dance the codes and conventions are different but still are expected by the players of this game e.g. players of this game expect to see the on screen dancer portraying what to do, bright colours and many different songs to dance to.                                                          





The Last of Us Codes and Conventions example


Just Dance Codes and Conventions example








Modes of Address – This is how a game contacts (speaks) to the audience e.g. first person, third person, omniscient narrator.
In The Last of Us the game is played in third person which is more on the narrative side as the third person follows different people in the game and doesn’t just focus on one person.
However, in the game Just Dance, it is based around first person as you yourself are the character dancing in front of the screen; as the game is motion based.        
                     



The Last of Us modes of address example


Just Dance modes of address example







Target Demographic – This is the audience in which play the game e.g. teenagers and young adult (16 – 25) may play a game and older adults may not.
The target demographic for The Last of Us is usually teenagers and young adults who play the game. However some older adults tend to play as this game gives of a fatherly impression e.g. in this game a older adults takes care of his daughter


In the case of Just Dance, teenagers seem to play this and young adults as they seem to party more than older adults. However some older adults tend to play in order to exercise and keep in shape.












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