Unit 6 Task 2: Using Quantative Research to Address an Audience

Skyrim and Just Dance Survey Results

We took a survey of the student body to determine the audiences for Just Dance and Skyrim. This is an example of quantative research and it is a method of addressing audiences.

How many people have taken the survey.   {20}

How many females have taken the survey.  {10 out of 20}

How many males have taken the survey {10 out of 20}

How many females liked skyrim {5 out of 20}

How many females liked Just dance {5 out of 20}

How many males liked skyrim {9 out of 20}

How many males liked just dance {1 out of 20}

How many questions were on the survey {6}

Average rating for skyrim was {8.5}

Average rating for just dance was {8.8}  

From these results we made an audience profile for each game

JUST DANCE

Age 7+

Both sexes

No specific financial background, work experience, education or Field of work

Don’t have to be interested in dance, But helps if you are/Partying

No specific Mood, sexual Orientation, bias, Food habits or religious background

A reasonable physique and health condition are required.

Skyrim

Age 16+

Mainly males

No specific education required, Work experience, financial background or field or work

Interests swords, battling, magic Medieval theme as well as RPG’s, Action-adventure and exploration

Adventurous mood

No bias, food habits, physique, health condition required

May be offensive to some religions

Unit 6 Task 4: Critical Analysis of the Platform Genre Article

Analysing the Platform Genre

There is no denying that even in these modern days of gaming people still know what they want and expect from certain games in certain genres. How do we know this? Well it’s pretty simple. What would you expect from a game like Call of Duty? Would you expect to fire a bullet by pulling crazy poses with motion controls in psychedelic settings while the enemies dance in front of you to Staying Alive? Of course not because what we know about Call of Duty is that it is a First Person Shooter (FPS) that uses traditional controls and has no limits on controversial violence. This does not mean everyone likes Call of Duty in fact I daresay some might even prefer the former improvised version. 

This is why there are many genres to choose from each with their own different style, mechanics and conventions. Every fan of video games has their favourite although there is no denying that Action has been the most prevalent in recent times. However this is not the genre I want to talk about. I would like to review the platform genre which in recent times seems to have been overcast by bigger more open 3D games. There is now only a select few of dedicated development teams set on mastering and reinventing the genre and since one of them is the industry heavyweight Nintendo there is still a high demand for this type of game and it still manages to sell well despite modern gaming culture.

As one of the oldest game genres the platform game was already defined by hardware limitations and has always been a simple concept of starting at A and having to get to B. It requires the player to face a number of environmental challenges mainly as the name suggests jumping on to and from suspended platforms as well as facing other obstacles like dodging spikes, jumping over lava etc. The game is usually split into themed worlds based on real life hazardous environments like arctic or volcanic areas. The user interaction is very simple. Apart from moving, most platformers only have a handful of commands one of those being the necessary jump command. There can also be opposition with simple AI but they can usually be beaten with a well timed jump; and are not to be mistaken for the main challenge of the game.

Like Nintendo’s massive platform game come franchise Super Mario Bros. time limits are sometimes added to a platform game so that the goal of a stage isn’t just to complete the obstacles but also to beat the clock. This is also key to the Sonic the Hedgehog series who’s unique point of game play is the speed of their main character. Some platform games have hidden items or bonuses to collect ranging from those that require exploring the environment to items that can only be collected by pulling off a riskier move. In Donkey Kong Country Returns players are rewarded for collecting these items with bonus content like music and images. However some platform games make these collectable items a mandatory part of completing the game making it impossible to progress without them.  Most games in the platform genre award high scores at the end of play this shows that its arcade era conception still strongly influences modern day games adding a sense of competition and replay value.

There is no doubt that platform games aren’t best known for their immersive plots and surprising twists. Usually something or someone has been taken captive and it’s up to the hero (the player) to get them/it back. To do this they have to get past all the various stages of all the different worlds to finally showdown against the boss, the big man, the villain with no cliché spared. There is always an obvious sense of right and wrong between the protagonist and antagonist. The Sonic the Hedgehog series has probably been the most innovative in terms of story plot and twists like the “worse badass than Shadow” lycanthrope Sonic in the Sonic Unleashed game. However this misguidance from ‘form follows function’ has come at a cost to the game play mechanics making the franchise’s popularity suffer. However I am forgetting to mention other classic platform originated series that takes a much darker route like for example Castlevania the all things horror series that probably had the deepest story plot of most platform games past and present. Sadly the series has outgrown its platform roots and has now moved on, as its latest instalment Castlevania: Lord of Shadows takes the form of an action-adventure game.

In its earliest days character representation for the platform genre was nothing more than practical due to graphical limitations. For example the character Mario best known from the first Super Mario Bros. game was designed the way he is because the arcade hardware he made his debut on in Donkey Kong had extreme limitations. He was given red dungarees and blue overalls (now the other way around) to make his arms more visible and he was given a cap and moustache because animating a mouth and hair was impossible.  

Even with its darker games, the platform genre can be widely enjoyed by the younger audience due to the lack of graphic adult content which is found mostly within story plot, cut scenes and more violent game play features. They are easy to grasp and have a well rounded learning curve and with most of the modern 3-D games the characters and environments are stylized. However this genre can also appeal to retrospective adults who way back to their earliest days of gaming remember older platformers and relishes any game of the genre regardless of the content. 

There are still signs of a stigma, even today around the video game industry indicating that video games are still aimed mostly at males and most of the time it is no exception in the case of platform games. More than most platformers have the player playing as a male character and plenty of female characters have featured (mostly taking the role of the anima archetype) but they have not be spared from ancient stereotyping for example damsels in distress or seen as an annoyance to the main character, the kind of mutual feeling young children get about the opposite sex. There is only one obvious case I can think of a female hero taking the lead and that is the Metroid series. However in its earliest games the hero was so heavily laden down with armour, it wasn’t revealed until much later by which then the series had moved into other genres.

It may be questionable that there is justification to write an article completely about the platform genre as it is usually seen as an amalgamation of other genres. What makes platform games stand out is the flawless game play mechanics that appeals to both the veteran gamer and the beginner equally. However there is a restriction to how much can be done in a platform game with regard to challenge and longevity, it is easy to imagine that the idea of jumping on suspended platforms again and again can seem a little repetitive and can make it hard to add originality. That is why the other genres are present and it is not a case of the platform assisting them but them assisting the platforming section. Of course throughout this article I feel I have only mentioned and referred to the big guns of this video game genre, but its library is extensive and since the genre is so well fitted to a 2-D and 3-D plane you can find it on almost any platform.

Unit 6 Task 2: Creating Products for Specific Audiences

 Media texts are constructed using a complex series of codes, a system of signs, language or symbols that communicate various meanings.

Semiotics is the media term for this reading process

Codes and conventions are used when defining a certain game genre. Codes are systematically arranged collection of rules and laws and conventions are a method or practice that are accustomed to what is seen, heard or done.

A game is made through a process when the maker of a game denotes(shows) something, but by also by adding the selection of the framing process, the camera angle, the lighting effects, focus and interaction the maker then can add connotations(hidden meanings and messages) that can be decoded by the audience when playing the game.

This means that games can be polysemic( have lots of signals that can have many effects on viewers) they can be interpreted in many different ways. Media texts can also be open or closed.
A closed text has a direct meaning and is interpreted the way the maker wants it to be, while an open text can be interpreted openly by different viewers.

Unit 6 Task 3: Audience Responses to Media Products

The Hypodermic Needle Model

This particular model dates back to the 1920's when the mass media was just beginning to develop. It tried to predict how mass audience would react to media. The hypodermic needle model suggested that it passed through the audience's mind unmediated meaning that the audiences personality, intelligence, opinions etc. did not affect the reception of the text. This suggests that the audience could be manipulated by the media-makers. This suggests that as an audience we are passive (we take in information without conciously thinking about it) and maleable (We conform to what the media wants us to think). A prime example of this was when H. G Wells originally broadcast War of the Worlds as a news broadcast on the radio, this sent people into a panic who thought all the events were real. However since this theory was speculated around a time when the idea of mass media was alien and the technology and system used to publish media itself amazed and bewildered the masses which could already influence them to believe everything the media says as a higher power.

The Inoculation Model

The Inoculation Model continues the idea of people being passively influenced by mass media. It suggests that continued exposure to specific tv messages could make the audience become de-sensitised and can lead them to believe what they see as alright and are no longer shocked by it. For example if the audience became sensitised to violence they may become more likely to commit a violent act in reality as they see it as no extrodinary action.

The Two Step Flow Model

This theory was conducted in 1940 when three people Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson and Hazel Gaudet did a study during the presedential election. They found that 50% of the voters had already made up their mind who they were going to vote for and were not influenced by the mass media coverage. This theory asserts that the media moves in two distinct directions. First the opinion leaders who scrutinise every piece of media they may see and watch and then pass on that information in a different interpretation mixing their opinion with the actual media content. This influences individuals towards a certain opinion leaders views or to an opinion leader they look up to or hold with high regard.

The Uses and Gratification Model

In the 1960's, as the first generation to grow up with television became older, it became apparent to media theorists that the audience chose what they did when consuming media texts. The theory Uses and Gratifications concentrates more on what people do with the media text, this allowed many varieties of responses and interpretations. Far from the passive mass that the Hypodermic and Inoculation theory suggested, this theory suggests that the mass audience is made up entirely of individuals who actively consume media text. It suggests that audiences may consume media for these following purposes;
information, personal indentity, Integration and Social Interaction and entertainment.

Information

• finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world
• seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices
• satisfying curiosity and general interest
• learning; self-education
• gaining a sense of security through knowledge

Personal Identity

• finding reinforcement for personal values
• finding models of behaviour
• identifying with valued other (in the media) 
• gaining insight into one's self

Integration and Social Interaction

• gaining insight into circumstances of others; social empathy
• identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging
• finding a basis for conversation and social interaction
• having a substitute for real-life companionship
• helping to carry out social roles
• enabling one to connect with family, friends and society

Entertainment

• escaping, or being diverted, from problems
• relaxing
• getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment
• filling time
• emotional release
• sexual arousal

Reception Theory

This is the most recent theory of audience responses to media texts. It poibts out that the meaing of any text is created by the audience and not the media-maker. Meaning is encoded into the media but it depends how the audience decode the text from the signs they see. They usually interpret it in three ways;

1. The Preferred Reading - Audience understands and accepts the ideology offered.

2. The Negotiated Reading - Audience understands the ideology offered, accepts some aspects of it but rejects other aspects.

3. The Opositional Reading - Audience interprets the ideology offered in the opposite way than it is intended.

 

knbsmedia.blogspot.com

http://coleshillmediasite.weebly.com/g322---audience-theory.html

walterwalker.multiply.com

filipinovoices.com

Unit 6 Task 1: Defining Audiences for Products

There are a range of techniques you can use to define an audience for certain products and concepts.

Quantitative Research

When you are applying quantitative research the questions you ask are often narrow yes or no answers. Your findings rely heavily on numerical data and quantitative research is often done by a form of surveying asking people on the street to answer a few questions, knocking on doors or even by telephone calls. The major disadvantages to this method is that most people you approach will find you an annoyance, and circumstances can lead to them not answering correctly or rushing through without much thought. An advantage to this method is that as the results can be so general you can devise them to your will and can make your product look better or persuade new audiences to look at your product.
For example.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research on the other hand asks questions that are broader and provides unstructured answers that provides the 'why' and not the 'how'. It is set up in focus groups targeting a certain demographic within a relaxing environment usually with incentives for the interviewees. This makes them feel more open to answering questions which results to more detailed and well thought through answers. A disadvantage to this method of research is that your results are not defined and can be messy and time consuming to analyze manually.

Audience Profiling

Audience Profiling allows the researcher to find out the audience they want to interview before hand, so they can specify the exact questions they want to ask and put across the right message to the right audience.
 It might include details like age, sex, educational qualification, work experience, financial background, field of work, interests, mood, orientation, bias, food habits, religious background, physique, health condition etc.
It can be oraginised  by demographic

You can also use psychographs to understand the audiences behaviour and personality traits. They label a particular type of persons and assess their views and spending habits. They put the audiences into groups that suggest their position in society.

www.qsrinternational.com
emilyroote-a2coursework.blogspot.com
http://www.slideshare.net/leannacatherina/audience-profiling-powerpoint