Horizon Forbidden West: Audience and Industry

 Create a blogpost called 'Horizon Forbidden West: Audience and Industry' and work through the following tasks.

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%) have the highest proportion of male compared to female gamers.

2) What is the difference between 'hardcore' and 'casual' gamers - and which do you think would play Horizon Forbidden West? 
Casual gamers play games as a pass time whi9lst hard core gamers invest and make games their number one priority.

3) What are the different reasons YouGov researched for why players play games? Which of these would apply to Horizon Forbidden West?
  • Relaxing/ wind down time
  • making a world of their own
  • Interact with other gamers

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

1) How is the game promoted to an audience?
Its overview and graphics

2) What are the key features for the game listed on the site?
Explore, discover, Fight, Visuals

3) What information does the website offer players about the game world and characters? Give a few examples.
Their names, features/personality backstory of the game.
e.g. Aloy is the main character who is smart clever and compassionate

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

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 reviews and the accessibility to know how t o make paper crafts.


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?
Pulls you into the narrative before releasing you to explore. It creates structure and a sense of the goals for gameplay, the ideal introduction to a game built around wide-open spaces.

2) How is Horizon Forbidden West structured for players when they first start the game?
A large world with quests to explore and venture

3) Why does the writer feel HFW created a more successful open world game than The Witcher 3?
The Witcher 3 is more stressful and exhausting due to little guidance.

Industries

Industry research

1) Research Sony PlayStation Studios. 

2) What studios are part of Sony PlayStation Studios?
Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games, Guerrilla Games, Sucker Punch, Polyphony Digital, Media Molecule, Team Asobi, Bend Studio, Bluepoint Games, Housemarque, Firesprite, Nixxes Software, Sony Santa Monica, Sony San Diego, Sony ExDev

3) What notable games have they produced? 
The Last of Us, God of War, Uncharted, Horizon, Marvel's Spider-Man, and Gran Turismo, along with acclaimed titles like Ghost of Tsushima, Returnal, Ratchet & Clank, and Days Gone

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 owns them
Modern games tend be subsidiaries of massive conglomerates and becoming a conglomerate now is much harder.

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.
  • Purpose: to highlight the people behind their games and share their experiences
  • Content: Interviews with people of various roles
  • They do announcements and high lights.

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

1) Which three companies merged to become Guerrilla Games?
Lost boys, orange games, digital infinity
2) What other games and franchises were created by Guerrilla Games?
Killzone and shell shock
3) How did Guerrilla maximise the Killzone franchise? 
Better features
4) What did Sony sign with Guerrilla in 2004? 
An exclusive development and publishing agreement 

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


Regulation and PEGI

1) What is HFW's PEGI rating and what age rating do you feel would be appropriate? Why?

16
I think that is a great age rating due to the violence and detailed storylines.

2) Why is regulating videogames difficult in the digital age?
Because of desensitisation and that regulating is national rather than global.


3) Are attitudes towards media content and regulation changing as a result of the internet? Explain your answer.
Yes because it has desensitised viewers to what they think is bad to be seen and good.


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