Construction Glossary and Analysis

TASK 1 – Construction Glossary and Analysis

Media Text
Media text is the text you see within a game, different text is used in different genres of games. The media text varies both in style and vulgarity, text would particularly be more vulgar in games like the Last of Us, where as in Just Dance it would be more suitable for younger generations and have a lot less swear words if any. 

Semiotics

Games are constructed using a series of codes, i.e. a system of signs, language or symbols which communicate various meanings.

An audience can also decode the signs in order to 'read' or interpret (make sense of) them. 'Semiotics' is the media term for this 'reading' process. When someone reads something they are decoding the information and interpreting it in their own way.
When playing a game, you as the player will see what has been demoted, to demote is to make something visible, by changing various aspects of a game such as lighting, the camera angle and interaction, the game can be given a series of connotations which the player will decode when playing throughout gameplay. Connotations are things like hidden or associated meanings. 

Genre

The term genre is used to describe the theme and setting of a game. If you refer to the games Just Dance and The Last of Us, both of these games are very different within game and are targeted at very different people meaning they have very different genres. The Last of Us falls under the survival horror genre, by labeling this game with this genre you can get an idea of what the game itself involves. By labeling a game with the correct genre people can find the game easier as they know which specific genre of game they are looking for, if you bought a games such as The Last of Us and for some reason the case was accidentally labelled as an FPS (first person shooter), you would be surprised to find that when you bought the game home and began to play it, that it is in fact, not an FPS game, as the game is set in third person and has a horror style within the game when the horror genre was not labelled on the case of the game and obviously, if you were sure the game you were bringing home with you was and FPS and it turns out that it is not, you would most likely take the game back and submit a complaint, especially if you have no interest in the genre the game actually is. In the videos below, you can clearly see that the genre of survival horror is very apparent in the trailer for The Last of Us and below that video is gameplay from an FPS shooter game, you can clearly see the difference between the two and why one game is given a genre that the other has not.

The game Just Dance is another example of a game which falls under very specific genres that have a very specific target audience. The kind of genres this game falls under are sports, fitness, family and party, which are very different genres than the ones The Last of Us falls under, meaning the two games both have a very different target audience, the majority of people that would play a game like Just Dance would most likely not be Interested in a game like The Last of Us, as they are extremely different types of games. Below is a video of a trailer for Just Dance, as you can see the people that are featured playing this game do not seem like the typical candidates that would play a game like The Last of Us, though there are many reasons for why they might not, the most likely one is that games like Just Dance appeals more to families and casual gamers and The Last of Us is more targeted at hardcore gamers, typically people that spend a lot of time playing games and have specific interest in certain genres.

The Last of Us gameplay

FPS Gameplay

Content

The content of the game is what a game contains. If you look at the two key games I have been discussing, Just Dance and The Last of Us, the two have very different content. Content in a game is altered relevant to things like the genre in order to fit the genre well. A game like Just Dance would feature upbeat content based around dancing and interactivity and The Last of Us does not involve much physical effort for the actual player compared to Just Dance, as people that play Just Dance have to revolve around the content in which inclines them to actually have to get up and dance, whereas people that play The Last of Us only have to sit still and manipulate a controller to interact with the game.

Content in the Last of Us is very different to a game like Just Dance, it has a vast amount of violence and anticipating moments and more of a story line, whereas Just Dance has a very limited story line and is basically just a copy and dance style game as you are simply copying the moves of characters on the screen and dancing along with them to get the best score possible. The two games are very different when it comes to content, specific types of content are listed on the back of the game case, to let buyers know what the game contains, so they are sure they like it and want to buy it. Games like The Last of Us are more prone to containing content like violence and use of swearing where as Just Dance's content just revolves around music with little content that the player needs to be aware of. Even at the beginning of the trailer above for Just Dance, there is a content waning, though it only warns of mild suggestive themes and some of the lyrics, the publisher of the game has to make sure people are aware of the content in the game.

Below are different content warnings usually found on the back of a game case.

Just Dance Trailer

Construction
The construction of a game is the general development and layout of a particular game. When playing a game like The Last of Us, you expect the game to be constructed in a way suitable to the genre, this construction should be visible with in gameplay using methods such as using dark lighting, repulsive gory special effects, dramatic music and sound ques that leave the player anticipating the worst and set out to capture the player and play with their emotions, usually frightening them when they least expect it as usually expected with a horror based game.
The construction of a game like Just Dance is very different to the game The Last of Us, as it has a lot more upbeat theme to it than most games and has been constructed to guide the player throughout, so there is never really a time where they will struggle with the gameplay. Just Dance is constructed so it can easily be navigated throughout and players simply have to copy what they see on screen and dance along with characters that are visually displayed on the screen. Just Dance uses much bright colors than The Last of Us, aspects like this are very different between each game, as they are both targeted at very different audience, so they have to make  sure that the gameplay is suitable for the people that will actually play each individual game, as Just Dance is targeted more at younger people and families, it has been constructed with a much more upbeat vibe and uses bright colors and happy music, whereas The Last of Us, uses music that leaves you on the edge of your seat and the game is very dark throughout, as people that want to play a survival horror based game, they expect this.
As you can see in the two images below, Just Dance has clearly been constructed in a very different way to The Last of Us, as one is clearly more upbeat and colorful.

Codes and Conventions
Codes are laws, rules and regulations that must be used as a guideline when creating a product like a game, to ensure that the content is not illegal or too inappropriate to e featured in a product before it an be released to the public. For example, a game could not be released if it an offensive word in the name which would be featured on the game case, unless it was censored.
Conventions are obvious rules and guidelines you would use when creating a product, which you would most likely already know of as they are based around commons sense and usual conventional methods of practice.
Codes and Conventions basically specify when you must and mustn't do when creating a product such as a game. Obvious forms and techniques are used to create the basics of a successful product, where as the more technical codes such as camera angles, lighting and interaction vary from product to product so they have a more vague guideline. Symbolic codes refer to the language, actions and depiction of characters in a product like a game.

Modes of Address

Modes of address is how the game communicates with the audience. A game can vary in how it communicates with a player, some games often rely on communication to progress in a game, such as Just Dance 2, whereas games like The Last of Us rely more on the players independence and intuition.
There are different ways in which a game can interact and communicate with a player, they often vary from first person, third person and omniscient narration. First person refers to me or I, meaning you have more choice over the communication and can control it, third person is narration, a preset script that is spoken to you by various characters throughout gameplay and an omniscient narrator is usually a narrator that you don't see but you here, they are usually telling a story and describing events throughout gameplay.

Target Demographic

 Demographics section off the population sharing common characteristics, such as age, sex, class. certain games like Just Dance and The Last of Us are targeted at different demographics, a game like Just Dance would primarily be targeted at more active, casual gamers and younger people whereas a game like The Last of Us would be targeted less at casual gamers and more at hardcore gamers that have a greater interest in action adventure games with a survival horror sub genre. When developing these two specific games, the developers would have considered these very specific demographics, especially key demographics such as sex and ages, as both games would most likely be targeted at the younger generations, and Just Dance would definitely be targeted more at females and The Last of Us targeted at primarily Males.