Lo4: Concept art

So far Mitch and I have been working and making some concept art that we think would fit well within the genre(minus the dragon, that was just a test)

Mitch

Mine

Presitation feedback

What we did right

1.     The Trailer was good 

2.    The numbers were all good and reasonable

3.    Clear visuals for the game

4.     Nice use of Kickstarter and other funding resources

5.    Good concept idea that needs refining

What we need to improve

1.     Know your abbreviations (as a team)

2.    Why in the tactical 4v4 are they in a box not a Zeppelin

3.    I want to see an in game HUD with other characters in a visual!

4.    Show me a sample map

5.    Work on the Procedural generation aspect to make sure that it is clear how it effects the cost

This can all be easily improved over the next stages of development including some more concept art and 3D rendered models including realistic lighting and maps. The Zeppelin idea is really interesting and allows for another element of customization the only problem comes is that we might have to allow for a sky battles and allow for invasions/boarding on other peoples ships. The abbreviation problem was just Mitch and he messed up on an abbreviation (from a game genre that he plays constantly) we went through it with him previously but apparently he forgot and we will make sure to write it on everything that he owns and drill it into him. The procedural generation aspect of everything can be easily changed and during the presentation there was a mix up in the costing witch can easily be fixed.

How the presentation went

Overall it could have been a lot worse, we left out a few things and we should have opened with our trailer rather than close with it. We tended to focus too much on the costing and everything for a bit too long. The map images were good but it would be good if we added a character into it. They seemed happy with what we presented and were fair with their criticism. We forgot to mention a few things and the person who explained our game modes panicked a bit and did not mention all of the features, we had an aspect of gameplay however the code was not completed in time and it was not in anyway presentable. 

Lo4: Production Plan

Date/Week	Activity	Time Required	Resources required	Deadline	On Schedule (y/n)	Completed Date
Week 1	Come up with a concept, basic concept art, decide story	12 hours	Pen, pencils, paper	January 28	Y	January 28
Week 2	Concept art + Research into other games	6 hours	Pen, Pencil, Paper and computer	February 15	Y	February 15
Week 3	Concept art+Research	6 hours	Pen, Pencil, Paper and computer	February 24th	Y	February 24th
Week 4	Research + Survey	6 hours	Computer	March 5th	Y	March 5th
Week 5	Research, Analyse market trends	12 hours	Computer	March 16th	Y	March 16th
Week 6	Start to prepare Presentation + Concept Art	12 hours	Computer	March 28th	Y	March 28th
Week 7	Presentation + Trailer	20 hours	Computer	April 19th	N	May 2nd
Week 8	Presentation + Level Design + Collect Data	10 hours	Computer	May 7th	Y	May 7th
Week 9	Final Touches before presenting	5 hours	Computer	May 28th	Y	May 28th
Week 10	Present	10 min	Computer, Projector, Speakers, confidence	May 28th	Y	May 28th
Week 11, 12,13,14.	Correct flaws + respond to feed back	30 hours	Computer, Fuse (software)	July 18th	Y	July 18th

Lo4: Initial game concept idea

The main concept of the game is that it is a FPS online battle arena using free running and voice commands. The game consists of multiple game modes and focuses strongly on realistic physics where we will be using Nvidia PhysX. The game is centred around the theme of materialising weapons and armour by speaking so if you are in a close quarters engagement you might want to have a shotgun so you would say materialise shotgun.

The games story is that the world has been thrown into a downhill spiral through a corrupt government that has forced the world to split into three factions (names still undecided) These factions constantly go to war and fight over territories only using their most elite men because no normal man would stand a chance. The military prior to this had developed a new device to allow for any materials within your armoury to be spawned in front of you, these factions have managed to get their hands on this device however it is rather unrefined and can only summon a certain amount per battle. The factions will be at war constantly one upping the others trying to gain leeway in this war for world domination.

The game consists of these three factions

Faction one
This faction spawned from former Russia and Ukraine and spans across the idea that all parties should be treated equally and spans from the original Idea of  Communism however like most of the world human greed corrupts this idea and makes it so the faction falls into the poorer of them having unrefined military weaponry.
 Pros
- Fearless military
- Strongest (physically)
 Cons
-Corrupt government
-Weak weaponry

Faction Two
Spans from the Americas and has a strong sense of military concepts however drugs and murder are a strong aspect within their society along with having conflicts within the areas formally known as South America and North America. The North is far more stable and has less of a drug problem however the faction is massively in debt and has little to no funding for anything other than military. 
Pros
- Strongest Weaponry
- Most Resources
Cons
- Will often end up fighting people within your own faction
- A huge drug problem meaning that often you will be docked resources due to being caught in possession.

Faction Three
This spawns from the Asian side of the world however it only includes the countries that were able to survive the first blitz witch include Japan, China, North Korea and South Korea. This faction differ each other from their countries and run under similar  governments to what was previously in their countries. they rely mostly on each other for trade and have minor disputes between each other but mostly on a governmental level. Due to the war they lost most of their military aspects and population and as such have the smallest army.
Pros
-Economically Stable
-Most advanced technology
Cons
-Minor disputes which can end with a docking of materials for war
-Smallest army.

Lo4: Budgeting for the game

Lo4: Most successful competitors

The two most successful games that are in our competitor list are Titanfall and Borderlands 2.

Titanfall
Current Sales: according to recent figures Titan fall has sold around 700,000 copies at $60 per copy. This would give them a revenue of around $4200000 however according to more recent sources the sales are expected to be much higher.

Borderlands 2
Current sales: Borderlands 2 have sold around 8.5 million copies and have been sold at a stock price of $30 this means that they have a net profit of around $255,000,000 making them one of the most profitable games of all time.

These two are our biggest competitors in the market at the moment. This means that for a small indie company that we will have to improve on what they have fallen flat on such as gun mechanics. This all makes our task a lot bigger but as we are working with a much smaller budget and on a much smaller game. The team that are working on this will only consist of seven people both of these games have a massive team of over a 1000 people.

Lo2: Remember me, Internet review Vs Magazine review

Remember Me

Category	Internet Review (RE:Role Youtube.com)	Empire Magazine Review
Genre	Action/Platformer	Action/Platformer
Target Audience	Dose not mention target audience but says that the world looks startlingly like mass effect in design and is very stereotypical of the futuristic style.	Target Audience is not mentioned within this review.
Narrative/Storyline	In this review he states that the game has a very interesting story and a great narrative within the voice acting and setting however the game feels scripted and is poorly executed in a beautifully realised world.	The story is fantastic and beautifully realised within neo Paris in 2084 and the world borrows from blade runner and even the nod to a ghost in the shell.
Characters	The characterisation in this is great at some points but awful at others. The game is a mixed bag of great voice acting but then some reaction and characterisation that dose not fit within the world. The main character is fantastic, as she is not overly sexualised which is something that needs to be seen in many more games, I am getting tiered of it.	Nillen in the game progresses throughout and starts of with a booty wiggling walk but once thrown into the fry becomes a lot more cautious and carful which was an excellent design choice.
Gameplay	The gameplay feels linear in it’s exploration aspect as there is only one way to platform and you can’t climb anything unless it has a big arrow telling you where to go. The combat, although fluid, is frustratingly repetitive and acts that seem to just take away from the situation. The game try’s to have a key focus on altering memory’s but this only happens a total of four times throughout the game. The boss battles are quick time events and it is frustrating that they don’t use the memory altering at all during this.	This game uses innovative function of memory alteration to influence fights and also the combat is fluid. The game is very good and only falters within the lineage of the game in terms of exploration.
Platform	Uses a pc but mouse and keyboard are incredibly difficult to use.	The game is available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
Personal Recommendation	He recommends this game for purely the story and the experience of mentally destroying someone.	Although the game is very liner the fighting is very well realised and the innovative memory alteration is fantastic.

The two reviews say that the game is a great idea and a new IP, which is always exciting. The YouTube review says that the game is a great idea that is poorly executed in so many ways, the fighting becomes boring and repetitive, the use of this memory alteration device is fantastic and a great story device but is used so infrequently that to be its USP it’s just a disappointment. In comparison to this Empire games stated that the game was fluid and exciting and said the only downside was the fact that there is a lack of an open world a setting. They enjoyed the memory alteration aspect of the game and said it was a good thing to see. The YouTube reviewer commented on how the font use was the best thing in the game purely because of its clean and clinical look however the Guardian Review says that the best part is the smooth memory alteration aspect of the game.

Both Reviews mention the Characters and how they enjoy the feel and look of them. The YouTube review mentions how it is refreshing to see a female character who is not over sexualised, yes she’s meant to be attractive but not in a teenagers dream sort of way. The Guardian, on the other hand do see her in a sexual way even mentioning her “booty wiggling walk”  and how she develops into someone who takes a lot more caution in her actions and how she goes around neo Paris. Re:Role mentions that the voice actors are a mixed bag of fantastic voices and voices that just don’t fit for the character. The reviewer later mentions how the some of the characters are brilliantly realised, however some of the characters are poor and lazy, almost as if they stopped trying.

For the storyline Re:Role states that it is a beautifully realised world with great voice acting and a good overall story but is limited by the linear pathing and the boring gameplay. The Guardian states that it is a great story set in the beautiful and expansive world of Neo Paris in the year 2084 and makes some cool nods towards blade runner and Ghost In The Shell.

For the recommendations they both agree that it is worth playing even if it is a poorly executed game. Re:Role mentions how the game is only worth playing because of the story and that you get to experience mentally destroying someone, I mean come on who doesn’t like that. The Guardian mentions that the game is worth playing because even though it is excruciatingly linear the game still has solid combat mechanics and a fantastic story. 

Materialized Destruction Prezi

From the presentation I did input towards some of the research into kickstarted and getting to know with the process for what would happen and being done with the game once in development. I did all of the research into other games that are similar to our game idea and some of the aspects that we were trying to implement into the game to make it more enjoyable, I looked through other games similar and saw what was wrong with each of them so that we would not fall into the same trap as the pervious games did. Together we all decided about the different game modes that would be imperilment so as you would have a verity of game mode once in the game, all of us equally added when it came to the games features too but I came up with features that people had been asking for in the type of game we were creating along with how it might not work so that it would all be done in the correct way.

Lo4: Research into games

Lo1: Games Analysis

Game title	Overgrowth (Alpha)	Platform tested:	PC
Genre What style of game is this? What genre does it belong to? How does it show stylistic conventions of the genre? How does it sit within the genre in comparison to others titles?	Overgrowth　is a 3d action-adventure game. The game also fits in with a free running aspect and complex fighting mechanic. The game shows stylistic conventions of the genre with a fast paced and complex fighting mechanic which all hinges on the skeleton of the character and which bones are broken. The game sits within the genre very nicely with the best combat system I have ever experienced, better even than Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Narrative What story is being told through the game? How does the story inform the gameplay? How does the story affect your approach to the characters and your interaction with them? How does the story connect with the target audience?	The game contains no story, it is just an arena game where you fight against other anthropomorphic creatures. There is no story so the gameplay is not affected. No characterization due to their not being a story. No story so it does not connect with the target audience. (The story of the game is said to be added later on in development and will feature aspects from the previous game but as of yet there is no story.)
Production process How was this game produced? What elements of production are developed specifically to enhance the gameplay? How are elements such as game physics and mechanics managed to enhance gameplay?	The game is currently under development with WolfFire games and has been under development since 2011. The game is using the Phoenix Engine. The development so far is aimed to enhance the fighting mechanics and is focusing around a bone breaking structure. This means that each time you get hit it causes realistic damage to the body. The physics in the game revolve around the structure of the characters body’s and their muscle build, depending on this means that each class has a variety of different ability sets such as speed and strength. This enhances the gameplay as it makes the player take more care with their character.
Characterisation How are characters relevant to the target audience? What appeal do the characters have to the target audience? How does the characterisation match the conventions of the genre? How strong do you feel the characters are?	The characters in the game were made to be animals as it was considered too violent to do such things to human characters, there is no characterisation within the game so the player models don’t relate to the audience at all, they are just a piece of meat that they fling to its death over and over again.

　

Gameplay What challenge is present in the game? How does the level and type of challenge engage the player? What elements of the gameplay are key to the game’s success? How does the gameplay engage with the narrative? How is gameplay consistently evolving to keep the player’s attention?	The game contains tight but complex controls that cause for the game to feel solid and incredible. This means that mastering the combat becomes incredibly difficult and hard to do but once accomplished the game becomes an insane amount of fun and as stated earlier probably has one of the best fighting engines I have ever experienced. The elements of the gameplay that is key to the games success is the combat and the free running ability’s, this makes the game feel fluid and well put together. The gameplay does not evolve, you get what you get, there is no need for it to evolve though as the gameplay is so incredible that if they changed it I would personally lose interest.
Target Audience Who are the target audience? What indicators are there that this game is produced for this target audience? How does the game appeal directly to the target audience? How does the game compare to other games targeting the same audience?	The target audience is anyone who is interested in free running games and action games with a great combat system; it also helps if you like a 3rd person view. The indications that this was made for this audience is the level editor, the fast paced combat, small challenges to help you get used to the game and a combat mode which enlightens you on how bad you are at the combat. The game appeal directly to the audience as it is a game focused around giant fighting rabbits that can free run and fight in a fluid manner against each other. This game is like no other that I have seen within this genre except maybe mirrors edge but with a 3rd person perspective and much better combat.
Platform What platform is this game available for? Is the game more suited to any one of these platforms? How is the game suited to this platform?	This game is available on PC only.

Game title	The Binding Of Isaac	Platform tested:	PC
Genre What style of game is this? What genre does it belong to? How does it show stylistic conventions of the genre? How does it sit within the genre in comparison to others titles?	The Binding of Isaac is a top down rouge like game. It fits within the dungeon crawler and rouge like genre. The game shows stylistic conventions of the genre as it contains procedurally generated dungeons that incorporate the idea that every time you restart the game it will always be different and contain multiple different enemy’s, sometimes it might be easy and other times it may feel impossible. The game also sticks to the rouge like genre as it is incredible unforgiving, if you are dead your dead, restart the entire game over again, no checkpoints no save states that’s it. The game was heavily influenced by The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past and shows elements of this game throughout in terms of layout and dungeon challenges.
Narrative What story is being told through the game? How does the story inform the gameplay? How does the story affect your approach to the characters and your interaction with them? How does the story connect with the target audience?	You are Isaac, a small boy who lives on a hill happily with his mother when suddenly your mother hears a voice in her head, who she believes is god, and it tells her that her son is impure and she must take away all which causes sin. She obliges and takes away his toys, games and even his clothes. The voice comes once again and says that this is not enough, that he must be shut out from the outside world; once again she obliges and locks Isaac in his room. The voice comes once again for the final time and states that she has done well but her son is still impure and must now be sacrificed in the name of our lord. She grabs a kitchen knife and proceeds to Isaacs’s room but through a crack in the wall Isaac sees her and starts to panic. By a stroke of luck Isaac finds a trap door in the floor allowing for him to escape into the basement where you must find and kill your mother. The game informs the audience of the story with a short cut scene before the main menu showing this all in a crudely drawn fashion when you find out that this is just Isaac drawing the events that he is seeing and then jumps into the basement. The story affects your approach to the game as it instantly tells us that the game is going to be somewhat biblical and gruesome in the way that it is told, this allows for the audience to bare what they are about to be surrounded by. The story is originally derived from a biblical story of the same name and will strike as familiar to those that are religious or know of the Christian background and allows the audience to delve deeper into the story of the game.
Production process How was this game produced? What elements of production are developed specifically to enhance the gameplay? How are elements such as game physics and mechanics managed to enhance gameplay?	The game was produced by Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl in 2011 and was created using Flash. The game was heavily based off of The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past and as such the gameplay represents that. The Physics in the game is not really focused on except in drop rate, the mechanics are very simple WASD to move and arrow keys to shoot, items can be used with e or r this causes for the game to be fast passed and exciting.
Characterisation How are characters relevant to the target audience? What appeal do the characters have to the target audience? How does the characterisation match the conventions of the genre? How strong do you feel the characters are?	There are a variety of different playable characters all of which have a reference to the bible (except one which refers to the creator of the game).Isaac: The son of Abraham whom God asked to sacrifice in Binding of Isaac, Magdalene: One of Jesus' friends. Also known as Mary, Cain: Son of Adam and Eve, brother of Abel. Was the first murderer and murdered Abel, Judas: Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus Christ, Eve: First female created by God, ???: Reference to Edmund McMillen and Samson: He was born into the world by God to defeat the Philistines, but had his hair cut off because it was one of the three sources of his power (along with not drinking wine or satisfying sexual desire). He was blinded after revealing his secret. The characters appeal to the target audience as it allows for some unlockability and variation in characters, it also relates to the bible so it has some biblical reference and allows for the audience to see more into their background. There is no real characterization within the game except for the fact that you are playing a boy who feels scared and alone as he plunges into the depths of hell, this is unlike the normal conventions of this genre, you are not playing a hero, just a boy who is scared and alone and when he is close to dying wets himself whenever you progress into the next room. The characters are very strong as the grip you into this arcade style game and allow for you to see them in a traumatic and vulnerable state.

　

Gameplay What challenge is present in the game? How does the level and type of challenge engage the player? What elements of the gameplay are key to the game’s success? How does the gameplay engage with the narrative? How is gameplay consistently evolving to keep the player’s attention?	The challenge in the game is the progression; it is difficult, very, very difficult. Every time you die you must restart the dungeon in a completely different room and it does not allow for you to have any real preparation as all of the rooms are randomly generated allowing for a new experience each time you play the game. Elements of the gameplay that are key to its success are its difficulty, the wide variety of playable characters and its items which are randomly found throughout the rooms. This all adds a good feel to the game and the atmospheric music just adds to the effects. The gameplay engages with the narrative as it is where the story left off, it is Isaac jumping into the basement and sets up a nice and clear story for the audience. The gameplay is constantly evolving throughout depending on the items you find, for instance if you find the item "Little Steve" you are accompanied by a floating ghost the shoots extra tears for you and helps you fight off the hordes of enemy’s.
Target Audience Who are the target audience? What indicators are there that this game is produced for this target audience? How does the game appeal directly to the target audience? How does the game compare to other games targeting the same audience?	The target audience for this game is as the PEGI rating suggests +16 this allows for the game to be incredibly dark and constantly challenge the older viewers thoughts. It will appeal to anyone interested in dungeon crawlers with rouge like elements. The indication is the high amount of gore and suggestive themes throughout that sometimes cause you too fell slightly ill, the game throws monster after monster at you until you reach the boos of that one dungeon and then are forced to do it all again on a harder floor until you reach the character Mom in the depths of hell. The game compares to other games targeting the same audience in the fact that it is unlike most other games and does not care about what is political correct or who it might offend it just does what it does to tell a vivid and imaginative story and is unlike any game in this genre that I have ever come across.
Platform What platform is this game available for? Is the game more suited to any one of these platforms? How is the game suited to this platform?	The binding of Isaac was only ever released on Pc and as such is most suited for this platform as it is not available on any other.

Game title	Super Meat Boy	Platform tested:	PC
Genre What style of game is this? What genre does it belong to? How does it show stylistic conventions of the genre? How does it sit within the genre in comparison to others titles?	This game is a masochistic platformer that belongs in the platformer genre. The game shows conventions of the genre as it involves simple levels which increase with difficulty over time and contains a verity of simple controls that add up to make a fast and frustrating game. This game sits within the genre as other games such as Electronic Super Joy due to the fact that it contains a pixel art style and features conventions of all platformers, running and jumping. The game also fits within this as it is frustratingly difficult due to the fact that your timing needs to be spot on otherwise you are forced to start the level over again (it’s Unforgiving).
Narrative What story is being told through the game? How does the story inform the gameplay? How does the story affect your approach to the characters and your interaction with them? How does the story connect with the target audience?	The story in Super Meat Boy focuses on our hero, Meat boy, Trying to save his girlfriend, Bandage Girl, from the evil DR. Fetus. The game starts off with a cut scene of Meat Boy and Bandage girl together when suddenly Dr. Fetus Kidnaps her and you start to pursuit. This small section informs the reasoning as to why Meat Boy is doing all of these trials to try and save his girlfriend. This effects our approach to the game as it makes us want to rescue her quickly as not to lose her forever and leave the skinless boy without his skin because without her he is incomplete. This causes you to feel sadness towards what is essentially a piece of meat. The story connects the target audience as it is contains references to older games such as MegaMan and the original Street Fighter causing it to have a nostalgic fell to the game. This implies that the game is aimed at an older audience from the era of the NES and SNES.
Production process How was this game produced? What elements of production are developed specifically to enhance the gameplay? How are elements such as game physics and mechanics managed to enhance gameplay?	The game originally started out as a flash game on NewGrounds in 2008 and in 2009 production on the main game started. Development of the game began in January 2009. McMillen worked on level design and artwork, while Refenes coded the game; it was tested primarily by the pair and their families. Initially intended for release in early 2010 for the PC and the　WiiWare　download service, the release date was pushed back as the design was changed to include more levels and exclude multiplayer modes. The game was eventually cancelled for WiiWare due to technical limitations. The game physics and mechanics focus on a fast paced fluid gameplay that incorporates a fast falling gravity within the physics, all of the jumps in terms of trajectory depend on speed and how hard/long you hold the jump button down for.
Characterisation How are characters relevant to the target audience? What appeal do the characters have to the target audience? How does the characterisation match the conventions of the genre? How strong do you feel the characters are?	The characters are crude and they exhibit moments of cartoon violence and anger going as far as to flip the bird to the player. This crude humour that does not require dialog to pull of really appeals to the older audiences where dialog was not possible to produce in voices through games. The characters are all fun and well-crafted causing the audience to feel a certain attachment to them causing them to care more about the story being told and enjoy the game more. The characters are typical to a platformers story, our main hero, somewhat ditzy but we still love him, The damsel in distress, always finding a way to get into trouble and get herself kidnaped and finally the bad guy, always causing issues for the protagonist making his life a living hell and throwing whatever he has at them. The characters in this game are very strong and show a high level of interactivity and determination in achieving there goals.

　

Gameplay What challenge is present in the game? How does the level and type of challenge engage the player? What elements of the gameplay are key to the game’s success? How does the gameplay engage with the narrative? How is gameplay consistently evolving to keep the player’s attention?	The gameplay is very simple giving you a run, jump and sprint function all thrown within simple levels with complex solutions. The challenge is all in the timing, you have to time every jump otherwise your dead and have to start all over again. The fact that the levels aren’t long and just get harder and harder is how the game engages the audience. This allows for the audience to feel as if they are quickly progressing or grinding to a halt due to one set of timing within a level. This all adds to the fact that once you complete a level you feel an incredible amount of achievement due to this. The element that is key to the games success is the fact that the gameplay is so fluid and smooth with an incredible amount of responsiveness and tight controls. The gameplay doesn’t engage with the narrative as such but as you progress further into the game the level environment changes to depict what is happening within the story at the time. This games gameplay does not evolve throughout the game because it is meant to be simple to learn and near impossible to master, the way that they keep your interest is by the fact that the game is so challenging an requires you to use these simple controls in a variety of different ways to concur obstacles.
Target Audience Who are the target audience? What indicators are there that this game is produced for this target audience? How does the game appeal directly to the target audience? How does the game compare to other games targeting the same audience?	The target audience for this game is for people who enjoy the platformer genre and those who grew up with the Super Nintendo due to its references to popular games from that time such as Castlevania. The indication is the way in which the game has a large amount of unlockable characters all with their own move set and ability’s but are not required to beat the level and also the fact that they hide Easter eggs throughout referencing back to old iconic games. The game appeals directly to the target audience as it is so simple in controls and complex in levels, a simple side scrolling platformers made to challenge even the most hard-core gamers. The game is very similar in art style to other games for this audience such as Electronic Super Joy and focuses in on a simple narrative that really reminds you of why you are playing this and in turn giving you a huge amount of satisfaction when you finally complete the game.
Platform What platform is this game available for? Is the game more suited to any one of these platforms? How is the game suited to this platform?	This game is available for PC and Xbox 360 but is more suited for the PC even though it is better to use a controller, which can be used on a PC, the PC version because it has much more variety due to its user created levels and the huge amount of unlockable characters not available on the Xbox 360.

Game title	Bastion	Platform tested:	PC
Genre What style of game is this? What genre does it belong to? How does it show stylistic conventions of the genre? How does it sit within the genre in comparison to others titles?	The game is an Action Adventure Role Playing game and fits under both of these genres. This game shows stylistic conventions of these genres as it contains an upgrade system, similar to most RPGs, as strong emphasis on story and how there are two different endings depending on your actions (again typical to RPGs), the game contains a strong fighting mechanic typical in Action games and finally the game involve a heavy amount of platforming around a vast and beautiful landscape typical of the adventure genre. This game sits within these genres due to all of the mentioning above and fells similar in part to games which have an emphasis on upgrades and story to engage the player mentally and physically.
Narrative What story is being told through the game? How does the story inform the gameplay? How does the story affect your approach to the characters and your interaction with them? How does the story connect with the target audience?	In the game, the player controls "the Kid" as he moves through floating, fantasy-themed environments and fights enemies of various types. It features a dynamic voiceover from a narrator, and is presented as a two-dimensional game with an　isometric　camera and a hand-painted, colourful art style.　Bastion's story follows the Kid as he collects special shards of rock to power a structure, the Bastion, in the wake of an apocalyptic Calamity. The story introduces characters and backstory’s and makes you care about them in their own way giving you a real attach meant to the characters and what happens in this post-apocalyptic world. The story connects with the audience as it gives them motivation to continue and find out more about the Calamity and what is going to happen to the characters in the end.
Production process How was this game produced? What elements of production are developed specifically to enhance the gameplay? How are elements such as game physics and mechanics managed to enhance gameplay?	The game was produced by SuperGiant Games in 2011 and was published by Warner Brothers. The game was built over the course of two years by a team of seven people split between San Jose and New York City. The game was made with the following engines: XNA and MonoGame. The games development focused heavily on the music and story to develop the game past the point where it is just a generic action game and really brings it into a sense of its own. The mechanics in the game uses a two-dimensional game with an　isometric　camera which gives the art a feeling of depth.
Characterisation How are characters relevant to the target audience? What appeal do the characters have to the target audience? How does the characterisation match the conventions of the genre? How strong do you feel the characters are?	The characters are relevant to the audience because none of them are that special, they all have their flaws and ability’s within this game and gives the audience the sense that they are not the only survivor and that they need to depend on others to succeed. The characters all have their own appeal to the audience in terms of backstory and how they came about, the story mainly focuses on `the Kid` this leaves the audience to understand what he is fighting for and how he aims to save the world. The characterisation matches the conventions of the genre with the hero, the villain, and the wise elderly man. The characterization within this story is very strong as they each have their own theme for dramatic music which tells a story of them and how their world has changed the characterization also makes you think about the characters in a different way.

　

Gameplay What challenge is present in the game? How does the level and type of challenge engage the player? What elements of the gameplay are key to the game’s success? How does the gameplay engage with the narrative? How is gameplay consistently evolving to keep the player’s attention?	The game, all in all, is pretty easy and quite short but it does offer up some time challenges and bonus missions to hone in on your abilities with the different weapons. The level types challenge the player with a constant barrage of enemies which can cause you to lose focus and make a false move getting yourself killed, the gameplay is so fantastic though so you don’t really care when you do die, you just want to play more. The elements of gameplay that are key to the success of the game is the use of weapons combination and enemy’s that require different combinations to kill depending on how you play and what fits your play style. The gameplay engages with the narrative through the introduction and description of weaponry and how it is used/what it is needed for. The gameplay is constantly evolving with the upgrades that can be made to the weaponry and the changes within the ability’s that you can do with these.
Target Audience Who are the target audience? What indicators are there that this game is produced for this target audience? How does the game appeal directly to the target audience? How does the game compare to other games targeting the same audience?	The target audience are anyone interested in Action/Adventure RPG’s above the age of 12. The game indicates that it was made for this audience through the use of platforming, upgrades and smooth fighting. The game appeals directly to the audience with an intricate story full of a beautiful narration and the use of combat throughout to develop the characters abilities throughout. This game compares to other games in this genre through the use of upgrades and combat but it is in a league of its own in terms of storytelling ability, art style and use of music that makes it one of the best, if not the best game I have ever played.
Platform What platform is this game available for? Is the game more suited to any one of these platforms? How is the game suited to this platform?	The game is available on PC, Xbox 360 and Android/IOS. Personally I think that the game is more suited to the PC but I can see how it might be better on the Xbox 360 due to the controller but a controller can easily be connected to the PC, I do not recommend this for mobile, just don’t bother with that. The game has no preferred platform and as such holds no advantage on PC or Xbox but with the higher frame rate on PC that’s the platform that I would recommend.

Game title	New super Mario bros U	Platform tested:	Wii U
Genre What style of game is this? What genre does it belong to? How does it show stylistic conventions of the genre? How does it sit within the genre in comparison to others titles?	The game is a plat former that falls into the genre of adventure. It shows different styles of the genre because you have different levels that have completely different style worlds, and you find secret places to find more things. It sits quite well within its genre, another game like this could be something like sonic, where you have to progress through levels and defeat enemies and find secret places.
Narrative What story is being told through the game? How does the story inform the gameplay? How does the story affect your approach to the characters and your interaction with them? How does the story connect with the target audience?	The story being told is that Bowser, the evil villain has kidnapped the queen and your aim is to fight through levels and get to her by defeating bowser at the end of the game. The story informs the gameplay because it keeps you up to date on what is happening to the castle and that you have to get through the different worlds to get to her. You want to let the character so you can let him get to princess peach. It connects to the target audience because it has a very nostalgic feel and its easy to understand and play.
Production process How was this game produced? What elements of production are developed specifically to enhance the gameplay? How are elements such as game physics and mechanics managed to enhance gameplay?	The game was produced by Takashi Tezuka and Hiroyuki Kimura and published by Nintendo. The new HD graphics and the new soundtrack produced by Shiho Fujii and Mahito Yokota enhance the gameplay. The mechanics and physics of the game aren’t stupid so when you jump, you land again so they enhance the gameplay by being rather normal, barring the fact that he can swim endlessly underwater which is needed for some levels.
Characterisation How are characters relevant to the target audience? What appeal do the characters have to the target audience? How does the characterisation match the conventions of the genre? How strong do you feel the characters are?	The characters are relevant because they are cartoon, friendly and are happy so they don’t upset anyone and they don’t look too scary. Their appeal is that Mario, the main character, is trying to save a princess, whereas bowser is a scary person and mean because he has taken the innocent princess and so you want to beat him. They match the conventions of the genre because you only play as one character and you have to progress through various levels and explore the levels. I feel that Mario is a strong character because he goes through lots of deaths and levels and getting injured a lot but still manages to survive also without Mario there couldn’t be the game.
Gameplay What challenge is present in the game? How does the level and type of challenge engage the player? What elements of the gameplay are key to the game’s success? How does the gameplay engage with the narrative? How is gameplay consistently evolving to keep the player’s attention?	The challenge in the gameplay is that it gets slowly more difficult as the game progresses. It engages the player because of the different enemies you can encounter and that it never gets to boring because there is no level that looks exactly the same as another. Mario and bowser are key to the games success, if these did not exist it would not be a success. The gameplay engages with the narrative because the gameplay shows how far you are in the narrative and that you are fighting through levels to rescue the damsel in distress. The gameplay is evolved because you have to fight through different worlds with different scenery.
Target Audience Who are the target audience? What indicators are there that this game is produced for this target audience? How does the game appeal directly to the target audience? How does the game compare to other games targeting the same audience?	The target audience is Nintendo fans and people aged 7 – 15. Because its easy enough for a 7 year old to play but as it gets near the end it get harder so it appeals more to a 15 year old. It appeals to the target audience directly because its Mario, a casual plat former which is just fun to play. It compares well to other games because its probably the best plat former for its target audience as it is fairly challenging, compared to sonic, I think that Super Mario Bros is more challenging and entertaining to the target audience.
Platform What platform is this game available for? Is the game more suited to any one of these platforms? How is the game suited to this platform?	The platform it is available for is the Wii U. The game is only on the Wii U so it is best suited to the Wii U. The game is suited to this platform because it’s a Nintendo game and made for that platform.

Game title	Halo : Reach	Platform tested:	XBOX 360
Genre What style of game is this? What genre does it belong to? How does it show stylistic conventions of the genre? How does it sit within the genre in comparison to others titles?	The games style is a first person shooter and belongs in the action genre; the Halo franchise has a unique place in the industry, as it was one of the first games that fully explored alien races and wars with them along with this it was also one of the first FPS widely available within the market. It shows stylistic conventions of the genre because it is a shooter were you walk around blasting aliens and exploring the different levels, it is also just nonstop action. In comparison to other games in the same genre like Call of duty, the Halo makes it more unique because you are fighting aliens however it is another very linear shooter with very little exploration features.
Narrative What story is being told through the game? How does the story inform the gameplay? How does the story affect your approach to the characters and your interaction with them? How does the story connect with the target audience?	The story is a prequel to Halo Combat Evolved where you take the role of Noble Six, an elite Spartan soldier; you are the most recent member of Noble team after the previous Noble Six was MIA. You have been deployed onto the Human colony planet known as reach and after being introduced to your squad mates; Jun, Emile, Kat, Jorge and Carter you set off on your first mission to find out why some UNSC personnel has gone MIA and you soon discover that the Marines were killed by the covenant and alien race who want to rule over all of the other races in the universe. After fighting your way through many of the covenant you discover different artefacts that will help you win the war against the covenant. The story and the gameplay are intertwined perfectly to give you the full immersive experience. You do not grow very attached to the characters as the game offeres little to no exploration into the backstory of your character and when you are forced into a horde mode game style in the end it doesn’t matter how badass you are you eventually die and feel no regret as it is just another generic character with no overall impact on the game and isn’t given the same treatment as other characters within the series. The story is perfectly cut out for the target audience as it is only a 16 game and 16 year olds get very addicted to the game (mostly the fact that you can blow the ever living hell out of aliens) .
Production process How was this game produced? What elements of production are developed specifically to enhance the gameplay? How are elements such as game physics and mechanics managed to enhance gameplay?	Halo reach was produced by Bungie as their final Halo project, so Bungie went out of their way to make sure that Halo Reach would be the best of them all, The game itself had been planned 4 years ago during developments for Halo 3. Halo Reach began development after Halo 3 release but before Halo Reach was released Bungie made a Halo 3 Spin-off known as Halo 3 : ODST which was met with mix regards as to how the game worked and how some of the glitches meant the game became increasingly difficult to navigate, when you got ODST you would also get a BETA key for Halo reach’s Multiplayer Beta which was registered as the most successful BETA of all time (until DayZ or Mincraft). The engine for the game had been built by Bungie and allowed 5 times the amount of graphical detail than Halo 3 & ODST. The game physics were changed to apply the new prequel story, before in Halo 3 you play as master chief who is the only remaining Spartan who is a MK.VI Spartan so he had massive jump and strength ability but in Halo reach you are some if the first set of Spartans (MK.1) so your jumping is limited as is your strength and throwing abilities.
Characterisation How are characters relevant to the target audience? What appeal do the characters have to the target audience? How does the characterisation match the conventions of the genre? How strong do you feel the characters are?	The characters in Halo Reach are Carter – Noble teams Leader Noble 1, Kat Noble 2, Jun Noble 3, Jorge Noble 4, Emile Noble 5 and then you have your own character that you have personalised via the customization menu Noble 6, During playing the game these characters become very closely attached to you (in game personally as I was playing it I tried to kill them a few times). The Characters are made to look badass and strong to appeal to the target audience of 16-25 year olds not only does the look appeal to the target audience but the personalities and the actual authority of the Spartans appeal, Spartans are the top-dogs of the UNSC, nobody wants to mess with them and nobody will disobey any orders from them. Halo reach was the first game that gave the Spartans a Human-like personality making them seem more like people instead of soldiers unlike the other Halo games where you have no-clue if you are fully human and just a mindless killing machine.

Gameplay What challenge is present in the game? How does the level and type of challenge engage the player? What elements of the gameplay are key to the game’s success? How does the gameplay engage with the narrative? How is gameplay consistently evolving to keep the player’s attention?	You Have to fight off the covenant a mixed race army who want to conquer the universe and enslave others. The different terrains and coverage can completely change the battle scenario when coming into contact with the covenant, but the covenant have different race within their army, Elites are the covenants equal to the UNSC’s Spartans, Elites can run faster and evade grenades and other projectiles, grunts are the minor foot soldiers who are extremely easy to kill but when in numbers you have to be careful, Hunters are the big bulk of the covenant, they are sent out in pairs and are difficult to kill and if you get too close you can get crushed in one hit from the giants. There are many more species of the covenant that can overcome many different obstacles that can change the way you must engage them in order to survive which makes the players always on their toes so they don’t know what to expect making the game very highly rated and praised.
Target Audience Who are the target audience? What indicators are there that this game is produced for this target audience? How does the game appeal directly to the target audience? How does the game compare to other games targeting the same audience?	The target audience of Halo: Reach is 16-25 year olds and was produced for the male gender as females may not find many of the features in Halo Reach as appealing as males would. The action and the narrative are suited for males in their teens and early adult hood due to the amount of violence and language used. The age rating of Pegi 16 is common amongst FPS games such as call of duty 4 and medal of honour because they both have the same level of violence and gore as each other as the same with the language that is used.
Platform What platform is this game available for? Is the game more suited to any one of these platforms? How is the game suited to this platform?	Halo reach was made exclusively for the XBOX 360 because at the time of its release Bungie was under a contract with Microsoft, but if they could, Bungie would have most likely branched out to other platforms, Halo reach was forced to be on a console due to the fact that Microsoft own the rights to the franchise and they needed to outsell their competitor Sony. The game would have most likely branched out to PC and PS3 had it not been for this.