For this session, you will be playing a variety of games, mainly AAA/big budget/mainstream/major releases, but also some older, 'retro games' on the Sega Mega Drive.
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| Dark Souls III is an action RPG developed by FROM Software, based in Tokyo, and published by Bandai Namco, a Japanese videogame conglomerate. It is famous for its extreme difficulty. Maybe today you will discover how audiences can appreciate difficult games! |
This is a fun lesson, but an important one. This session will help you to answer the following questions:
- How does this product attract and maintain its audiences both locally and globally?
- How exactly is this industry regulated, and who does it?
- How does this product attract/target its audiences? How does it construct an audience?
- How does this product use technology to maximise audience consumption?
- How can audiences interpret this product in different ways?
- How does this product use technology to target a specialised/niche/cult audience?
- How do audience responses to this product demonstrate sociohistorical circumstances?
and possibly many more.
This lesson is not a doss or a throwaway or a waste or anything else you want to accuse it of. It is an essential opportunity to build explicit case studies for the final exam. The notes you make in this lesson will help you to prepare for the final exam! But we also want you to enjoy it.
Questions to answer, notes to make... for each and every game!
Facts
Name of game
Developer
Publisher
Exclusive or multiplatform?
Year released
Experience
- Who is the target audience for this product? Be VERY specific...
- How does this game appeal to it's audiences?
- How does this game position it's audiences?
- How does this product use elements of interactivity to immerse, challenge or otherwise position it's audiences?
- How does this product employ mise-en-scene, setting, colour and other elements to appeal to it's target audience?
- We are playing this game as a group. What experiences do these games offer their audiences when played as a group?
- How can audiences interpret this product? What is the dominant ideological perspective suggested by this product (it could be as simple as 'violence is fun', but is there something more to it?
- We've discussed how important production values are to the production and distribution of videogames. Does this game have high production values? Can you give specific examples?