Task 3 Video Game Documentary

 
(I only show a gameplay here)
Script/Speech:
I was not able to record the audio, what I am going to do is to show a little introduction and what I could have said and done about the video game. This will include gameplay, history of the game in general, opinions or even reviews from sources such as internet or people that I know personally.

Introduction: 

Hello, my name is Afonso and I am going to discuss the video game, Super Smash Bros. Super Smash Bros is a not just a single game, it is a Series of Crossover Fighting games, all published by Nintendo. In total, there are 5 published games.

History and Gameplay 

The first game was introduced in 1999 for the Nintendo 64, it only featured 8 characters and had 4 unlockable more.
It also had the option to play multiplayer (Versus), and this has been the "unique" feature and special feature of the franchise as the game is know because it is an amazing party game. 

The evolution of Super Smash Bros can be explained really easy, it is just a larger budget and more developed team for each game. Instead of bringing a brand new, it is the same game but better. This is good as the game does not show and make massive changes because if that happened the outcome could be really bad.

Here is a list of the games and the year they were released: 
Super Smash Bros (1999)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)
Super Smash Bros. (Nintendo 3DS & Wii U) (2014) 

Gameplay (Brief explanation of what makes the game unique and awesome): 

What makes the game different and makes it interesting is the fact that  simple mechanics such as Health Bars do not exist. Instead of winning by depleting the health bar, you need to launch your opponents off the stage or out the map. To explain this method we have to add up to things, we need a percentage and the attacks of a character. 

He can say that the percentage is the equivalent of a health bar, as this % rises the attacks of any character throw further and further away until you fall off the stage or you get thrown outside the map. You can attempt to come back using abilities or jumping, this will give you "another opportunity". 

Something that I have to add to the gameplay overview is the controls, they are very simplistic when compared to other games. One button is used for Standard attacks and the other for Special Attacks, you can perform different types of moves by holding the directional controls up, down, to the side, or in a neutral position while pressing the attack or special button.  Quickly pressing or tapping a directional input and the attack button together while on the ground allows players to perform a chargeable "Smash Attack", which is generally more powerful than other attacks.

Combos can be performed using this actions.  A shield button allows players to put up a defensive shield which weakens with repeated use and will leave the player unable to move if broken. If you are able to combine the shield button with directional inputs and attack buttons you will also perform dodges, rolls, grabs, and throws.

Another element that is kind of unique too is that in the Super Smash Bros. series battle items can be used, the abundance of which players can adjust the before matches. There are conventional "battering items", with which a player may hit an opponent, such as a baseball bat or a sword, throwing items, including Bob-ombs and shells, and shooting items, either single shot guns or rapid fire blasters. Recovery items allow the user to reduce their damage percentage by varying amounts. Poké Balls are special items that release a random Pokémon onto the battlefield to assist the user. Brawl introduced the Assist Trophy item which serves a similar purpose; instead of releasing Pokémon, it summons a character from a Nintendo franchise. Brawl also introduces the Smash Ball, which when broken allows fighters to perform a character-specific super attack known as a "Final Smash".

Rules that are used in matches vary depending on the game: 
Time and Stock
Survival 
Sudden Death 

Most commons method used is Time and Stock. 

Time mode uses a point based system in which players earn points for knocking out their opponents and lose points for being knocked out or self-destructing (i.e. falling out of the arena by themselves). The player with the highest score at the end of the set time limit wins the match.  

Survival uses a life-based system in which people that are playing are given a set number of lives (Stock), with each fighter losing a life whenever they are knocked out, becoming eliminated if they run out of lives.
The winner is the last fighter standing once all other fighters are eliminated or, if a time-limit is applied to the match, the fighter with the most lives remaining once time runs out. In the event of a tie, such as two or more fighters sharing the highest score/life count at the end of the time limit or remaining fighters losing their last life simultaneously leads to the last "mode" Sudden Death. 
When Sudden Death match takes place. Here, each of the tied fighters are given a starting damage percentage of 300%, making them easier to launch off the stage, and the last fighter standing wins the match. In some games this process is repeated if the match ends in another tie.


Market Research: 

The game in general has been very popular and has quickly become a Player's Choice title.

Copies sold vary depending the game.

(Number Copies = Million)  

Nintendo 64 had 11,45 copies sold, GameCube had 7.41, Wii had 13.10, 3DS had 8.23  and Wii U had 4.90. 
In general this shows that they game has been really successful and it only has suffered when it was released for Wii U, as the console was not big enough (Successful). 
This is a really important example in the game industry, it shows the the same game can triumph as long as it has the right effort and work behind. 

Audience Research (Opinions and Reviews): 

Before I show some reviews I would like to talk about a small group talk me and my colleagues had. 

It all started with opinions about Super Smash Bros, what was good and what was not, it all ended in a general opinion. 
What made the game good was how the game differs from other fighting games and changes simple stuff such as the health method. This is a change that adds an interest and makes it more fun. A general dislike was the balance of characters and how the can be "broken" and overpowered, but this is a common issue in the games industry. 

Finally, the major like was the party option, playing with one or 2 friends is great, but Super Smash Bros lets you play with other 7 people, making a total of 8 people. It is pretty chaotic but it is what makes it fun. 

Reviews:  

I am going to link two reviews from the Wii U version below. 

IGN: http://uk.ign.com/articles/2014/11/19/super-smash-bros-for-wii-u-review

Metacritic: http://www.metacritic.com/game/wii-u/super-smash-bros-for-wii-u

For this particularly spot I could have done some questionnaires or small interviews after the group talk was done. If done correctly, interviews can be edited and added into the gameplay. 


My General Opinion: 

Personally, I do not think it is the best Game ever, not even the best Fighting game. But what makes this game attractive to me is that it has its own style. I have had the satisfaction of beating a friend in an intensive match, this is what brings me closer to them. This game is an awesome party game that makes the best out of players. 

It has bad things to talk about such as the balance of characters as the main one but it has a lot of positive topics to talk about, so my final opinion is that it is an awesome game to play with friends or family. But it is also an awesome game to play competitively. This can be done by just playing online with different people or playing in within tournaments.  

General Making of the video: 

The general making of the video was kind of long and tiring, me and my friend had some trouble recording it so we had to play for longer that expected, quality and audio problems happened  in the editing and rendering. 
Even though we had problems with the recording and the the post-production of the video, I do think it was a nice experience, I used different methods I ave never used before and I was able to record a gameplay that is 12 minutes long. Really impressive due to the amount of problems we had! I hope next time does not happened!. 

The methods I used where different, I used a capture card for the gameplay and then video video softwares for some editing and the rendering. Once I had everything I uploaded to YouTube. 


Comments to add: 

As I have mentioned before, due to audio problems I have created a report based on "What I could have talked about". This needs to be addressed because this is not a general script created before hand, it is something that leaves and idea. I also have to mention that there is information such as Facts for example that is added when it does not exist in the script, this means that there is information that may be or may be not added.

Task 1 Types of Research

Research Types –

      Primary

Primary research is a typical but major method of research, this method is new research carried out to gather information that has not been collected before to answer specific question or issues.  

An example could be gathering information using questionnaires or interviews.

The following link shows a real life example in which Microsoft surveys PS4 owners. 

http://ps4daily.com/2014/11/microsoft-surveys-ps4-owners-wants-their-feedback/

It is basically a survey that brings head-to-head match-up between PS4 and XBOX One, users are are asked to rank the consoles in different categories.

Pros: 

• Addresses specific research issues as the researcher controls the search design 
• Great Control 
• The researcher can decide on such requirements as size of project, time frame and goal

Cons: 

• Compared to secondary, primary data may be very expensive in preparing and carrying out the research. 
• Some research projects, while potentially offering information that could prove quite valuable, may not be within the reach of a researcher. 
• By the time the research is complete it may be out of date 

Secondary 

Secondary research is another major type of research. The difference between Secondary and Primary is that instead of creating new research, secondary involves the summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research. An example would be using the answers to surveys and questionnaires of a specific subject.

A real life example would be the using of the survey I have mentioned earlier (http://ps4daily.com/2014/11/microsoft-surveys-ps4-owners-wants-their-feedback/) to know what has a better reputation between consoles. Knowing that a shop would know what to invest more on.



Pros:

• It is easy to access 
• Quick to find 
• Sometimes is the only resource so it has to be done, an example is historical documents.

Cons:

• Might not have all of the information that you need
• The information that you have found may be out of date
• If the data that you found does not come from the main source or is not trustworthy at all, it may lead to incorrect data. 

Qualitative Research 

We could say that qualitative research is exploratory research. This type of research will be used to gain an understanding reasons, opinions and motivations. It is also used to uncover trends in thought and opinions, and dive deeper in the "problem". The methods used in qualitative research can vary, this means we can see Unstructured or Semi-unstructured techniques. Common methods include group discussions, interviews (Individual), and participation/observations.
The sample size can vary but is typically small, and the respondents are chosen to fulfill a given quota.

Quantitative Research 

Quantitative research is used to quantify the problem by way of generating numerical data or data that can be transformed into usable statistics. It basically used for quantify attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and other defined variables such as generalization of population samples (Large samples).
If we mention the methods used in quantitative research, Quantitative data collection methods are much more structured than Qualitative data collection methods. Quantitative data collection methods include various forms of surveys – online surveys, paper surveys, mobile surveys and kiosk surveys, face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, longitudinal studies, website interceptors, online polls, and systematic observations. 

Task 2 Report on a Game Franchise

Research Analysis and Development – 

Major Research Types

Correlational research-
This type of research method is a quantitative method of research in which you have 2 or more quantitative variables from the same group of subjects, those variables are studied and it is tried to determine if there is any type of relationship (Or covariation) between the 2 variables (Similarity between, not a difference between their means).
Any 2 quantitative variables can be correlated (for example, midterm scores & number of cats that you own) as long as you have scores on these variables from the same participants; however, it is probably a waste of time to collect & analyze data when there is little reason to think these two variables would be related to each other.  
When there is no correlation between 2 variables this is know as Zero Correlation. A real life examples could be that there is no relationship between your IQ and how fast you run. Also, when we have a correlation, we can express them visually. To express the correlations we must use scattergrams. 



When the participants increase it also increases the validity of the research.
Perfect correlations would almost never occur; Although correlation can't prove a causal relationship, it can be used for prediction, to support a theory, to measure test-retest reliability, etc.





Descriptive Research-

Descriptive research is used to describe characteristics of a population or phenomenon being studied. It does not answer questions about how/when/why the characteristics occurred. Rather it addresses the "what" question. The characteristics used to describe the situation or population are usually some kind of categorical scheme also known as descriptive categories. 


Hence, descriptive research cannot describe what caused a situation. Thus, descriptive research cannot be used to as the basis of a causal relationship, where one variable affects another. In other words, descriptive research can be said to have a low requirement for internal validity.



Experimental Research-

Experimental research describes the process that a researcher undergoes of controlling certain variables and manipulating others to observe if the results of the experiment reflect that the manipulations directly caused the particular outcome. This type of research differs from a descriptive study, and another one of its important aspects is the use of random assignment. 

Audience Research 

Audience research could be defined as any communication research that is conducted on specific audience segments to gather information about their attitudes, knowledge, interests, preferences or behaviors with respect to prevention issues. Segments may be based on various grouping strategies, such as race, ethnicity, age, education, religion or family income.





Market Research 

Market research purpose is to gather information about target markets or customers. This is a very important business strategy.

Market research is one of the key factors used in maintaining competitiveness over competitors. Market research provides important information to identify and analyze the market need, market size and competition. Market-research techniques encompass both qualitative techniques such as focus groups, in-depth interviews, and ethnography, as well as quantitative techniques such as customer surveys, and analysis of secondary data.





Production Research 

Production research is always needed is the development of a new product. This type of research will help giving information for the new product.
When organisations do production research it helps them to see an overview of the commercial viability, which is businesses skills to be successful and gain profit.

As I have explained different types of research, now I am going to show examples and talk about them in within the Games Industry having Dark Souls 2 as my example.

Dark Souls Franchise

The Souls series a series of action role-playing video games created and developed by FromSoftware. Everything began with Demon Souls, then it was followed by Dark Souls 1, 2 and 3.


How it plays? 

Now, I am gonna talk about some mechanics of the game, powered attacks and different styles of combat are a pretty huge mechanic. To demonstrate that, I can give this situation: If a player likes and its used to dual wielding some classes would suit that play-style + there is a lot of combinations and different weapons to use. Same thing will happen with spells, magic or for example other weapons such as great-swords or even 2 shields!.
Dodge mechanics are a huge factor in the Dark Souls series, any boss in normal mode is as hard as any other game in extreme. But the dodge mechanic gives the game a different taste and makes the bosses easier, along with the parry mechanic, those 2 are the most important ones in the game.
Summoning is important too as it gives the help of other people or relatives who play it, also summoning could be in a pair with invading other players and defeating them, this makes the game harder as they could invade you at anytime time during the game.

Opinions and reviews. 


You will die, a lot. You will die on the end of a sword, on the edge of an axe, crushed by a boulder, impaled on fangs; you will be poisoned, eaten, stabbed, assassinated and pushed off cliffs. Death is everything in Dark Souls. It's education, it's progress, it's the recurring stylistic and thematic motif that runs through all of its spectacularly varied, decaying and depraved environments. The first thing that you have to understand about this game is that survival is in itself a tremendous accomplishment. It can be punishing, cruel, sadistic and uncompromising. It can also be the purest, most thrilling adrenaline rush in gaming – it can take over your life and reward you like nothing else can. Exactly because your chances of success are so slim, each victory feels monumental.

As we can see, the game is all about progress and people as usual say that its pretty hard, the first impressions of the game are mechanics mentioned earlier, difficulty and satisfaction. 

People often talk about the same exact topic, difficulty. But it is really relative, as some players may think that what is difficult is secrets and certain places and exploration, other may think its NPC or bosses. But overall opinions are pretty good, of course there is some negative opinions and they are right in some cases. One could be gameplay, the gameplay over all is a bit funky, Demon Souls had better combat system and opinions may be biased in this certain topic and may be negative just because Dark Souls 1, 2 or 3 have not developed better combat systems even though they are more modern. 

Dark Souls II is a smart, massive, and incredibly rewarding sequel. It’s crammed with deep systems, tense encounters, and enough clever multiplayer and New Game Plus elements to make me want to restart the second I saw the end credits. Not all of the tweaks and additions worked out for the best, but with such great enemies and levels to fight and explore, Dark Souls II made 60 hours of pain and agony so much fun they flew by in a heartbeat. 

In this comment they also mention difficulty, but the mention the love for the game, 60 hours of agony turned in to fun and it had great enemies and levels. This is a bit different from the other comment, it was mentioned the satisfaction after defeating a boss or completing something. But this "review" mentions hows what is "bad" (Difficulty) in the first place is transformed and how fast happens because you are having fun. Basically, the game is fun because its hard and challenging, this may be why players have good overviews about the game. 

It also implies gameplay and other parts that influence, music and soundtrack in general. 

t all begins with “Prologue,” which will have you saying to yourself, “Wait, this is Motoi Sakuraba?” with its dark, tense, and even dissonant soundscape. Sakuraba continues the choral tradition of Kida’s prologue here, and the addition of throaty male voices (similar to what was heard in Cursed Mountain) are a nice touch.

The game’s central hub, “Firelink Shrine,” sounds desperate with string swells and a melancholy harp progression, and similar in style and instrumentation to the nexus theme from Demon’s Souls (“Maiden in Black”).

From there, it’s on to the boss themes. I’ll call some of them out by name, but will refrain on others to prevent spoilers. For the most part, the boss themes are bombastic orchestral affairs with lots of brass, crash cymbals, and chaotic swirls of strings. “Bell Gargoyl,” however, stands out for its horrific string scratches, showing that Sakuraba has learned a thing or two about working with an orchestra over the years.

Even if we don't know what is this about, we can see how this opinion explains hows the soundtrack and the producer of the following has developed and now its better, this is a good thing because people react to it and they see and enjoy the change. Opinions are different and some people may don't like it but it is good to have those different thoughts about the same example. 

Audience Research - Dark Souls

The game needs to be appealing to different types of audience, to reach that destination the game needs to be split up in different parts so we can analyze it.
Opinions are different depending the individual, factors such as Music, Graphics or Gameplay can change that opinion instantly. The research that needs to be done for future Dark Souls or other games has to focus on old players and people that may be interested, to reinforce selling and good reviews and opinions about the game.

Interests that players may have could be linked to the style of the game, the challenge that gives as being pretty difficult or for the lore that has behind the gameplay.

Also, adding different DLC's or Soundtracks and creating bundles can also bring attention from costumers and the overall audience.

Market Research - Dark Souls

Market research for Dark souls will study the players, first of all it will focus on past Dark Souls and Demon Souls. Focusing on earlier games of the same franchise, How many copies did they sold? What did the players thought and realized about pricing and different Editions? DLC''s?.
This will help the organisation/company with the next game. An examples could be., gathering information from Dark Souls 1, 2 or even 3 can help in the next game of the franchise or other game by the same creator/director.

Having the information about the copies sold by past games they can know where and why did it sold more. This is a huge advantage because they can focus on certain regions. The examples is, if more copies where sold in Asia, they could focus in Europe next time because they know that Asia is going to purchase more copies. This is a good strategy and helps the business side of the game.

Other methods of income for the the company could be Merchandise, DLC's or Soundtracks.

Examples are:
Bandai store that sells both games and Merchandise of the Souls saga.

https://www.bandainamcoentstore.com/brand/dark_souls

Lost Crown Trilogy - Dark Souls 2 DLC's

http://store.steampowered.com/app/271944/ (This shows one of the Lost Crown DLC)

Copies Sold: 

Demon Souls 

Demon's Souls sold 39,966 copies in its first week in Japan

Over 1,7 Million Copies in 2015

Dark Souls Series 

Dark Souls series has sold more than 8.5 million copies.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-07-01-dark-souls-series-sales-surpass-8-5-million

According to the numbers:

• Dark Souls has sold 2,828,000 units worldwide
• Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition ("with Artorias of the Abyss") has sold 2,765,000 units worldwide
• Dark Souls 2 has sold 2,311,000 units worldwide
• Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin has sold 600,000 units worldwide
• That's a total of 8,504,000 sold

The PC-specific number comes from SteamSpy, which may not be entirely accurate. According to SteamSpy:

• Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition has sold 1,977,541 (+/- 33,243) units on Steam
• Dark Souls 2 has sold 994,455 (+/- 23,621) units on Steam
• Dark Souls 2: Scholars of the First Sin has sold 256,772 (+/- 12,021) units on Steam
• That's a total of 3,228,768 sold (+/- 68,885)

(Extracted from the link)

Conclusion. 

The game overall could be more focused for older players and players that are used to this series or type of game, but it also appeals to new players and makes them develop and interest for the game.