Videogames: Horizon Forbidden West - Audience and Industry

 Audience

Look at this YouGov blog on the console gaming audience and answer the following questions:

1) What statistics can you find for the number of male / female players for the major consoles?
Play station has 71% male and 29% female, However, Nintendo Switch has a percentage of 54% male 46% female

2) What is the difference between 'hardcore' and 'casual' gamers - and which do you think would play Horizon Forbidden West?
Hardcore gamers are people who play games a lot and take an interest into the minute details of games and the system they play on.

Casual gamers would be people who just play games to pass the time

As a result, we can say that hardcore gamers would most likely play Horizon

3) What are the different reasons YouGov researched for why players play games? Which of these would apply to Horizon Forbidden West?

• To relax and wind down 
• To pass the time 
• To escape from reality for a while 
• To challenge myself 
• To complete challenges and puzzles 
• To interact with games from around the world 
• To do something I can't in real life 
• To have an emotional connection to a story 
• To gain mastery of something within the game Out of habit 
• To create a world of my own

Look at the PlayStation website page for Horizon Forbidden West. Complete the following tasks: 

1) How is the game promoted to an audience?

There is a range of gameplay footage and there is the cinematic trailer that they have made, There are other things such as quotes saying how good the game is on the PlayStation website.

2) What are the key features for the game listed on the site?

The setting and how it is a dystopian future tribal setting, there is also the theme of robot si-fi

3) What information does the website offer players about the game world and characters? Give a few examples.

It talks about the different settings that are in the game, there are many different sections to the game such as the water levels and jungles and such

4) What spin-offs and additional content are available as part of the Horizon franchise?  

They have a DLC and have packs where you can buy the OST

5) Applying Henry Jenkins's work on fandom, what aspects of the website (you may need to scroll down) encourage fan activity and engagement with online Horizon communities?  

They have guides for cosplay on what the costumes of the characters are like and the guides to make a paper origami of the monster robots - this allows the audience to engage with the product and create their own content.

Read this Wired feature on Horizon Forbidden West's open world design. Answer the following questions: 

1) Why did the writer enjoy Horizon Forbidden West?

As it was an open-world game, it allowed the writer to get lost in the game

2) How is Horizon Forbidden West structured for players when they first start the game?

It creates a structure and sense of the "goals for gameplay".

3) Why does the writer feel HFW created a more successful open world game than The Witcher 3?
It was a really big open-world game, however, it would take hours to do the quests and travel from one place to another, and some area did not open unless you completed the quests.

Industries

Industry research

1) Research Sony PlayStation Studios. 

2) What studios are part of Sony PlayStation Studios?

• Asobi 
• Bend Studio 
• Bluepoint Games 
• Firesprite
•  Firewalk Studios 
• Guerilla Games 
• Haven Studios 
• Housemarque 
• Insomniac
• London Studio 
• Media Molecule 
• Naughty Dog 
• Nixxes 
• Polyphony Digital
• San Diego Studio 
• Santa Monica Studio 
• Sucker Punch 
• Valkyrie Entertainment

3) What notable games have they produced? 

• Guerilla Games - Horizon Franchise 
• Insomniac  - Marvel Spider-Man 
• Naughty Dog - UNCHARTED 
• Polyphony Digital - Grand Turismo franchise

4) Now research Guerrilla Games. Look at the 'Explore' page in particular. Who owns Guerrilla Games and how does it reflect the modern videogames industry? 

It is an owned subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

5) Choose one of the 'Guerrilla Spotlight' features and write three things you learn about the videogames industry and/or Guerrilla Games from the interview.

The challenges included implementing certain things

How they have tips on how people can create their own game

The industry isn't only made up of mainstream games but indie games are also the heart of the industry.

Read this USA Today feature on Guerrilla Games. Answer the following questions: 

1) Which three companies merged to become Guerrilla Games?
Orange Games, Digital Infinity and Formula Game Development.

2) What other games and franchises were created by Guerrilla Games?

Nijmegen Adventure, Oh Sh*t, Zelda: The Magic Wand of Gamelon and Killzone.

3) How did Guerrilla maximise the Killzone franchise? 

They had made the fanbase hyped about the game and showed how they were going to make a sequel to the game

4) What did Sony sign with Guerrilla in 2004? 

All games they made were to be on the PlayStation exclusives

5) How is Horizon Forbidden West described in the article and what is the next stage for the franchise?  
Describes it as being a completely different atmosphere and how it shows the passion that went into this project. They now want to make a VR spin-off of the gmae.

Regulation and PEGI

1) What is HFW's PEGI rating and what age rating do you feel would be appropriate? Why?
PEGI 16 is given to this game as there are themes of violence, swearing and etc.

2) Why is regulating videogames difficult in the digital age?

The rating can be easily passed so a fake account can just forge a rating to a game and then that would be the games rating without official permission.

3) Are attitudes towards media content and regulation changing as a result of the internet? Explain your answer.

Yes, people are becoming more skeptical of things they see on the internet as they never truly know if it is real or not, however there are other who are influence easily and cannot tell heads to tails.