P3

Bartle's Taxonomy

Bartle's Taxonomy is a theory of player types in video games.

EXPLORER
SOCIALISER
ACHIEVER
KILLER

These can then be put on a compass to understand what each player type wants. This is used by game developers to give each player type something to enjoy.

The Bartles Test

This is a psychological test where the answers point towards a specific player type. Over the series of questions, the answers build up and show what type of a player you are.

I took the test and these were my answers:

I gave these answers as what I most recognised as things I have done while playing video games. I entered these answers and got my result:

I read through the result and saw how much this did apply to me. I am an Explorer but I am also a socialiser and in any game you have to achieve and kill. I wrote about what it says and how it applies to me:

I have played a few games, not many, but of the games I did play, I played quite a lot. Minecraft is a very good example to use when talking about Bartle's Taxonomy because it is such a wide game, so it does have something for everyone. I believe I was still an explorer when I played Minecraft because I most enjoyed building and developing in as much safety as I could. This suggests I was an achiever because I could only admire what I had created once it was done. However, my explorer side was there because I did not enjoy the tedium of placing every single block and once I was satisfied with my achievements, I felt like moving on either to a new place or project. I have never been much of a Killer because not often was I superior to another player, which is also linked to the way I was not much of a Socialiser.

On the other hand, more recently I have been playing a lot of FIFA, a football simulator. My Explorer side is satisfied because I want to improve so I have to understand more about how teams play so that I can begin to be able to beat them. When I played games similar to this when I was younger, I did not have this state of mind so I found it very difficult to progress. Due to this, I do not often play online games because I am inferior. Maybe this is my Achiever way of thinking that I do not want to lose so therefore I minimise my chances of losing.

Wired: The Game

Target audience by trailer:

Watching the trailer for the game, the sense of humour of the creator suggests that the game is designed for slightly younger people, 11 to 15 year olds while the type of comedy is quite "white" and middle class implying that the majority of the audience would be of those groups. Meanwhile, the game is based on the physics of electricity, this would make it applicable to any student of Physics, from KS3 to A-level, which would be aiming at the ages of 11 to 18. The trailer felt a bit like a science video, especially the almost horrific comedy, which would appeal more to struggling students who need another way of it being explained, though it would be wrong to tie a specific group of people to this.

Target audience by game:

I do not think my opinion has changed too much because I would say that it is a game for young people because the game is simple, suggesting that it is not aimed for people who understand much more complex ideas in games. The game feels very educational, though I already understood the theory behind electricity, which would be very useful for someone struggling with the subject. The game does not appeal to everyone, there is no mechanics that please the 'Killers' or 'Socialisers', instead the game is for 'Achievers' to complete the game.

Hellblade

Target Audience:

Pen Portrait:

Product Attraction (tasks 5 and 8)

The primary target audience for 'Hellblade' would be attracted by the stature of the developers and the themes of the game. Ninja Theory are an established reputation in the gaming industry that would attract fans of gaming especially fans of Ninja Theory's previous games. As well, the type of game attracts fans of games: There is combat (PvE) and puzzles to solve which would attract different types of player. The fantasy setting of the game will also attract fans of that genre who would be interested in this game.

Pen Portrait Attraction Comment (task 7)

My pen portrait represents a typical member of the target audience for 'Hellblade'. They would be attracted by the violence and fantasy themes because of their other interests and the game would be on their radar because they like video games. The themes of mental health would be interesting to my pen portrait as they enjoy products with new themes and things that he can learn about.

Targeted Advertising (task 9)

'Hellblade' was first announced at Sony's Gamescom, a great place for advertising video games to fans. The audience at Gamescom would mainly be their primary target audience and the teaser trailer produced would be tailored to give their potential customers what they want to see. There are several trailers on Youtube that advertise Hellblade such as trailers, which will be suggested by the Youtube algorithm for viewers of similar games/topics. These people are more likely to be influenced by the themes and topics of the games. An example of this is the fantasy game genre, 'God of War' and 'League of Legends' are massively popular games from the same genre. The large fanbase of this group are going to be attracted by the fantasy elements of Hellblade, which will attract them to buy the game.

Hellblade Recuts (task 6)

We got gameplay and trailer footage and audio and then re-edited it to suitably advertise the game 'Hellblade' to the target audiences for other media products.

The first trailer I did was based on the target audience of 'Game of Thrones', I watched the trailer for the show and made my judgement on the target audience. I recut the footage of 'Hellblade' to please the aspects of 'Game of Thrones' that appeal to their target audience:

'Hellblade' trailer for 'Game of Thrones' target audience

The second trailer was based on the trailer for the film 'I Kill Giants':

'Hellblade' trailer for the 'I Kill Giants' target audience