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?PlayStation 5 (68% male; 29% female) and Xbox Series X|S (68% vs. 32%)

2) What is the difference between 'hardcore' and 'casual' gamers - and which do you think would play Horizon Forbidden West?

“hardcore” – those who say they take video games seriously, or play competitively – are a minority. Casual gamers are most common on the Nintendo Switch (45%), and the PC, where half of players identify as casual (51%). I think HFW players are more hardcore especially because of the storyline narrative.

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

To escape from reality, To do something I can't in real life and to complete challenges and puzzles

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

1) How is the game promoted to an audience?

Very interactive with cool features that include travelling and journeying to dangerous lands. It includes stills from the game of Aloy travelling.

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

Fast loading, stunning visuals, adaptive triggers

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

Explore distant lands, fight bigger and more awe-inspiring machines. It includes information about the setting: a majestic frontier, Explore the lush forests, sunken cities and towering mountains of a far-future America. 

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

There is a standard edition and a complete edition. The compete edition has additional features like Nora Thunder Elite Outfit and Sling, Digital Art Book, Comic & Soundtrack

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?  

The rating and reviews section and the cosplay section that gives guides on how to cosplay the characters

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?

Because of its deliciously crafted world

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

It creates structure and a sense of the goals for gameplay—the ideal introduction to a game built around wide-open spaces.

3) Why does the writer feel HFW created a more successful open world game than The Witcher 
while expansive, is also just too overwhelming

Industries

Industry research

1) Research Sony PlayStation Studios. 

2) What studios are part of Sony PlayStation Studios?
Bluepoint, Firesprite, Asobi

3) What notable games have they produced? 
Spiderman 2, God of war Ragnorok, The last of us

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? 

Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe- conglomerate ownership

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.

• If game design wanted to prototype a crafting system similar to the one in Horizon, it would be on technical design to see how this system could be implemented
• It is a very collaborative industry
•  constant communication is the main tool during the design process.
• 
  

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?

Zelda: The Magic Wand of Gamelon, Big Brother: The Game

3) How did Guerrilla maximise the Killzone franchise? 

It faced a now-infamous backlash upon Killzone 2’s release when fans decided the finished game didn’t look like the version they were shown in an E3 gameplay demo. It might therefore hold the dubious honor of being gaming’s first downgrade controversy.

4) What did Sony sign with Guerrilla in 2004? 
all the titles it developed would appear only on PlayStation consoles.

5) How is Horizon Forbidden West described in the article and what is the next stage for the franchise?  

It’s a world bearing the scars of a mysterious lost civilization, a far future that looks like a distant past. Its next announced project, a VR title co-developed with Firesprite called Horizon: Call of the Mountain.

Regulation and PEGI

1) What is HFW's PEGI rating and what age rating do you feel would be appropriate? Why?
PEGI 16 because of it's violence as Aloy is constantly armed with weapons

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

The nature of video games is constantly changing as now the storyline videogames are more popular

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

Yes, the more innovation there is the more society is lenient. Before, videogames were presented as dangerous and as media that could make children violent. These days the nature of videogames has evolved and so has society's perception of them