LO4 Early Video Game Pitch: Off The Rails

LO4 Game Idea "Off the Rails"

The game is an app, and has an 8-bit retro style. A train sets out from a station and the camera goes to a top-down view, so we can see three or four tracks. The train's brakes blow off immediately, and as the train speeds up the player must dodge obstacles by switching tracks, such as workmen, barriers, slower trains and parked carriages. There would be power-ups, such as temporary invincibility, to aid the player. The longer you stay on the rails, the higher your score. The game ends if you collide with an obstacle. Red lights with sound effects and level crossings as you play to increase enjoyment and entertainment.

-The best possible hardware for the game is the mobile platform, as it would work best as a pull-out-of-your-pocket game which can be played for short periods. The simplistic controls would also work best on a touch screen.

-The target audience for the game Off the Rails would be primarily males of the age 10-20 who enjoy playing addictive, time-killing games when they have a moment to spare.

-The genre of the game is endless arcade.

-3 games that Off the Rails might compete with for market share are:

Temple Run

Subway Surfers

Rail Rush

These games are all similar in the way that they are related to rails in some way and they are all addictive high-score games.

LO4 New Game Concept Ideas

Endless arcade game:
"Off the Rails".
The game is an app, and has an 8-bit retro style. A train sets out from a station and the camera goes to a top-down view, so we can see three or four tracks. The train's brakes blow off immediately, and as the train speeds up the player must dodge obstacles by switching tracks, such as workmen, barriers, slower trains and parked carriages. There would be power-ups, such as temporary invincibility, to aid the player. The longer you stay on the rails, the higher your score. The game ends if you collide with an obstacle. Red lights with sound effects and level crossings as you play to increase enjoyment and entertainment.

Survival:
"Haunted House".

Haunted house. Game could be an app or a download on PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, Nintendo eShop... cheap. On-rails combat game - there are ghostly entities on each floor of the house and when you defeat all on one floor, you move upstairs. As you progress up floors, there is a larger amount of enemies and different types. They also have slightly more health on each floor. There are a range of different tools to use to get rid of different types of enemy. Score is in terms of floors survived and points gained.

Side-scrolling shoot-em-up:
"Ship Shoot".
This game is an app once again, and the player is in a speedboat on the left side of the screen. The player must move the speedboat up and down, as well as forwards and backwards to an extent. The speedboat will have guns at the front and on either side. The main character is a man in shades and a white suit. Coming towards the player will be different types of boat;
-battleships with more powerful guns but slow movement
-other speedboats, driven by men in black suits and shades, who come quickly down the sides. Side guns would be used to tackle these.
-submarines could be seen under the water. Must move out of their path before they shoot a large missile straight upwards.
-viking ships come along the side fairly slowly, the cannons must be shot to render them useless.
Old-school graphical style and especially sound effects for shooting.
Controls: up-down-left-right D-pad faintly on screen to the left to begin with.
                Diagram of three gun positions on right; tap them to fire that gun on your boat.
Pace increases the longer you survive, as does your score. Power-ups could float on the water occasionally to improve your guns.

LO4 Early Game Ideas

Addictive high-score app for all ages. Cartoon-like graphics.

-"Off the Rails". Possible title.
-Involving a train. Maybe has no brakes, player has to switch it between tracks to avoid obstacles as it speeds up. Eventually you will go "off the rails". You must last for as long as you can.

-Red lights along the way - can't stop as you don't have any brakes.
-Could be stopped by collisions with other trains or buildings, running out of fuel - you could pick it up along the way.

LO3 Game Review

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D Review


The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D is a 3D, open world, action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo exclusively for Nintendo 3DS. It is a remastered version of the original N64 game, with improved graphics and controls, and it was released on February 13, 2015. The target audience is just about anyone who is looking for some challenging entertainment and a good storyline. Its price, brand new at the time of release, was £35.

The general plot in the game is that a pesky child, who goes by the name of “Skull Kid”, has stolen a mask with great evil power. Skull Kid causes a lot of mischief with the mask, before eventually setting the moon on its way to crushing the Earth after a period of 3 days. Link, the hero, must use his wits and a spot of time travel to undo the many wrongdoings that Skull Kid put on the land, and eventually stop the moon from crushing the Earth. The game operates entirely within this period of 3 days of impending doom, so Link must continually travel back in time to the start of the 3 days, overcoming challenges that Skull Kid leaves for him and defeating the enemies that plague the land of Termina, until he defeats Skull Kid himself and solves the problem. Think Groundhog Day in video game form.

Link is the main protagonist in Majora's Mask 3D. As the hero in a non-gritty game relevant to all ages, he is someone who tries to do good in all situations and usually his goal is to prevent disaster. As happens in all Zelda games, Link finds himself in a bad situation at the beginning - in Majora’s Mask 3D's case, this situation is his horse, Epona, being taken from him by the Skull Kid, who uses the powers of Majora's Mask to do so. He then tells Link that Epona has been "disposed of", which gives us those feelings of support for Link that are necessary to make us actually want to play the game. Something that adds intrigue to Link is his lack of words - he rarely has conversations with anyone, and when he does, his responses are always given by "......". This mystery about Link makes us want to learn more about him. 

In terms of strength, Link isn't the brawniest fellow, especially as the younger Link is present in Majora's Mask 3D - it takes place earlier on in the Zelda timeline. This means that he often has to overcome obstacles and challenges by using his (your) brain, rather than muscles. Adding to the puzzle element of the game is the introduction of masks, which Link can wear to give him certain characteristics. For example, the Goron mask allows him to curl into a ball and roll at high speed, move heavy things and break rocks, while the Deku mask allows him to jump high and glide through the air. These masks add another level to the game, making it unique and keeping it interesting. Your mask collection builds up as you progress through the game, gain allies and defeat enemies.


Another element of the game that I really enjoyed was playing the ocarina, which Link received in the game's prequel, Ocarina of Time. You play the songs using the X, Y, A and B buttons, each one resembling a note, and each song does a certain thing. For example, the Song of Time takes Link back to the start of the three days - you play it when the moon is about to crush the land. Another key song in the game is the Song of Soaring, which can be played to warp Link to certain towns and locations in the game, saving precious time. The ocarina is an imaginative concept which, when coupled with the masks, makes the game original and really entertaining.
One small qualm I had with the touch screen controls was the difficulty in changing masks - you have to tap your current mask to open a menu, swap the mask you want to use with your current mask, and close the menu again. It felt a little fiddly and I thought it could have been done more easily, but this is only a minor flaw in an otherwise smooth and fluid control system.
The music in the game is another important part of the experience. As always in Zelda games, it's beautifully crafted and is often performed by a full orchestra. There are a range of instrumentals to go along with the section of the game you are in, each one evoking different feelings, and they really add an extra dimension to the game.

The controls for Majora's Mask 3D are optimised for the 3DS, as the only platform the game is available on. They feel smooth, responsive and make the game a pleasure to play, even when you're just wandering around landscapes. Complementing the controls is the non-linear structure of the game, as you are free to explore and discover more about the land of Termina as you please. One Circle Pad on the 3DS is used for movement, while the other is used to control the camera. In addition, when aiming a weapon such as a bow and arrow, you can tilt the 3DS itself. These controls immerse you in the game world and feel very intuitive and natural, not to mention the 3D effect unique to the 3DS which literally adds another dimension to Majora's Mask 3D.

The challenge in the game is that you have a time limit to save the world. Of course, you can time travel back to the beginning, but you still have to do a certain amount in the three days before you go back to actually progress - many things are reset to how they were when you travel back. Since the game is open-world, there are a variety of locations and biomes to engage us, and the freedom we are  given to figure out what to do next feels liberating and fun. The simple yet rewarding “hack-and-slash” style of combat is key to the game's success, as well as the unique masks mechanic. 

Gameplay is always evolving throughout Majora's Mask 3D, in the way that there are always multiple side-quests to be done which are given to you from people you meet in the different towns. While you don't have to do these, you can get some handy items and benefits if you do - for example, if you save enough money in the bank, you are given a larger wallet, which means you can carry more rupees with you before it gets full. The benefits you get from side-quests in turn aid your main objective, which is always changing as you progress in the game. All of these things make for a storyline that is never dull, there is never nothing to do, and it keeps you entertained for hours. 

In terms of things that could be made better about the game, it's hard to have any real complaints. I've already mentioned the slightly fiddly method of changing masks using the touch screen, so the only other thing I would mention is that the time travel aspect can be frustrating at times. This is because, with any Zelda game, you want to explore the landscapes as you traverse them and view all the details to get the full experience - when you're working against the clock, it can be more difficult to take it slow and really enjoy the environments. It can also be frustrating due to the fact that certain things are put back to how they were three days ago when you travel back - for example, if you didn't quite finish a dungeon when you had to travel back, you would have to start the dungeon all over again. This can be tedious, and so to solve both of these problems, I would increase the time limit so that we can take the game at a more leisurely pace and really enjoy it for what it is. Don't think that this is a major problem though - it's just something that happens every now and again during the game, but it certainly doesn't take much away from the overall experience.

To summarise, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D is another solid entry in the series that just never lets us down. In comparison to other titles in the franchise, it is certainly more dark and unusual, with the time-travel mechanic, the crushing moon and eerie antics of Skull Kid. However, it combines action and adventure with puzzle, a trademark of the Zelda series, and Nintendo pulls it off just as well as it ever has. The improved controls and graphics, plus a 3D sheen, make this N64 classic into as good as a new game - it's definitely another one for Zelda and Nintendo fans to pick up as soon as possible.

LO2 Starter Task

The review of Forza 5 uses second person address (you can, you will etc.)

As a reader, this makes us feel more involved with the review and the game. It might affect our decision to buy more positively or more negatively than if it was written in first- or third-person.
It speaks to us as if we are going to be playing the game, which makes us think about whether we really want to buy it more.

The Verdict - "As a result Forza 5 is a very hard game for a petrolhead like myself not to love."

This review would persuade me to buy this game if I had the right hardware because the review uses very positive language and a lot of hyperbole to describe the game. It puts it in a very positive light, for example "Forza 5 is just looking to turn us on before we even turn a key".

LO2 Comparing Reviews

Fruit Ninja Kinect 2 - Review Comparison

Reviews used:

Official Xbox Magazine review by Chris Schilling

YouTube video review by Rare Bishop - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGMrYJVBYO4

Genre

Both the magazine review and the video review agree that the game has an arcade / party genre, as it has a classic arcade style, but it is also best played in a group. Official Xbox Magazine says “this is a game designed for the same kind of party environments in which Wii proved such a hit” while the video review describes it as “even more fun if you have friends or family members to play it with.” The reviews don’t differ too much at this stage as they both agree on the genre.

Target Audience

I think that both reviews also agree on target audience, which would be people of all ages. Xbox Magazine says that “anyone can flail around and have fun”, implying that the game is enjoyable for all ages, and the fact that the video review says “even more fun if you have friends or family to play it with” implies that any group of friends or a family, which probably includes people of different ages, can have fun on Fruit Ninja Kinect 2. Again, there isn’t much difference in the reviews at this stage.

Narrative

At the point of explaining the narrative, the reviews begin to differ. I thought that Rare Bishop’s video review went into a fair bit more detail than the Xbox Magazine. For example, the video review states states that there are a number of challenges to complete, and “what these challenges do is rank you up, so you get belts, so you’ll go from yellow to brown belts, stuff like that.” The video review also states that “there are four different festivals for you to go through, one of them is dodging ninja stars, one of them you need to hit a certain amount of targets, another one is the spotlight…”. These comments let give us a good idea of what the game is like and what you can do in it. The video review also helps in the way that you can see the game in action as you listen to the review. 

In comparison, the magazine goes into less detail. It gives you a good idea of the modes that are available and what you can do in them, but doesn’t expand on that. Whilst the video review explains what you can unlock and actually names the new modes as “festivals”, the magazine lacks this information so we don’t get an idea of what happens as we progress in the game.

Characters

Characters seemed to be a bit of a grey area for both reviews. Although they both lacked information, the video review was again a little bit better. There was not a single mention of characters in the Xbox Magazine review, leaving readers with only the obvious idea that you play as the fruit ninja. The video review did improve on this, saying “it [the game] can introduce new characters, and you can unlock these by levelling up.” This is not much of an improvement however, and so both reviews fail to mention the sort of characters you can unlock, how many there are, what they are called or what they do. The only thing we know for certain after both reviews is that the main character is the fruit ninja, who you play as.

Gameplay

There is not much to the gameplay in this game, as it is an arcade game and all based on the simple principle that you must use your arms to slice fruit, and get high scores. Therefore, the magazines say similar things on this front - Official Xbox Magazine states that “it replaces the neat finger-swiping controls of the original with full-body input, but you only really need your arms.” Rare Bishop’s video review echoes this with “it gets you up and active and gets you moving a little bit, even if it’s just your upper body.” While there are different modes and ranks you can unlock and achieve, it is all based on the principle of slicing fruit using your arms.

Platform

Fruit Ninja Kinect 2 is only available on Xbox One coupled with Kinect 2.0. No differences between the reviews here.

Personal recommendation of the reviewer

This is another section in which the two reviews are different in some ways. Both of the reviews do agree that the game is best played in a group, with Xbox Magazine saying it is a game “built as a piece of bright, breezy family entertainment” and the video review saying “it’s a ton of fun to play… even more if you have friends or family members”. 

However, the two opinions start to differ here. The video review says “I feel like fifteen bucks is a little bit too steep, especially for a game you can get for free on your phone or tablet.” The Xbox Magazine review contains no mention of value for money, which could be due to bias towards Xbox. Since the reviewer, Chris Schilling, is being paid to write the review, he might try to sell you the game more than a possibly more honest YouTube reviewer, who isn’t being paid. 

A similar case is when the YouTube review says “if you’re playing alone, I can feel it getting old really fast.” This is quite a critical comment which there is no sign of in the Xbox Magazine, perhaps again due to the reason mentioned earlier. The Xbox Magazine made no real critical comments throughout.

Overall, I think the video review was more detailed in places and was a little more critical than the Xbox Magazine. Chris Schilling gave the game 7/10, and while Rare Bishop didn’t give a specific score, I feel like it would have been more around the 6/10 mark.