Media studies evalution question one.

1. B y L a u r e n E c c l e s
Question one
How my media product uses, develops or
challenges conventions.

2. CONVENTIONS OF GAMES
• Before I started to create my game I did a lot of research into what actually
makes a game. I looked a different aspects of games to see what was
commonly found in most games. I found that the type of characters in games
usually consisted of a protagonist, an antagonist, either a hostage, victim or
damsel in distress. These types of characters give the game a narrative which
also has a consistent theme in games. I found that the majority of games I
looked into ended up with a character needing help, or needing to be
rescued for a villain/bad guy and the protagonist (hero) would save them,
completing missions or goals as they go alone. These conventions are not in all
games however, such as in Grand Theft Auto or the Sims, these have their own
conventions such as a character designed and created by you and
controlled by you. These conventions are found mainly in Role Play games,
but can also be found in First Person Shooter (FPS) games but most of the time
in FPS Games the character is not seen, just controlled by the player.

3. GAME GENRE CONVENTIONS
• The game I created is a sci-fi/first-person shooter (FPS) game so I did more in
depth research into the conventions found in these genre’s. In sci-fi games I
found that the villain, most of the time, was either an alien or futuristic looking
character(e.g. storm trooper). Popular locations and settings that Sci-fi games
use are spaceships, planets/space, deserted area, the future, and in some
games abandoned buildings which have been repossessed by aliens. Also in
sci-fi games the weapons are usually guns or high-tech such as lightsabers.
The aliens in sci-fi games usually tend to be green/grey colour or sometimes
resemble robots in black armour.
• I then looked at conventions of FPS and found that the character you play is
most of the time a hero and the game play is good vs. evil. I also found that
they a usually have collectables throughout the game that you can collect
along the way to advance further in the game. The narrative also seems to be
linear in most FPS games they this gives the player a goal/mission so they don’t
get bored of the game too quickly.

4. CONVENTIONS WE USED
• After looking at all the conventions that fit the genre of my game I decided
which ones I was going to include in my game. I couldn’t include them all
because I thought it would make my game look “too full” and ineffective and
some of the conventions would have clashed.
• I decided to stick the narrative convention of having our main player be the
hero who has to save hostages from aliens. Due to our lack of player options
on the software we used our hero cannot be seen, this is a popular
convention in shooter games and makes it a First Person Shooter game. I also
wanted to stick with the conventions of location and made my game based
in a spaceship which fits with the antagonists being aliens as it would be weird
to find aliens in the wild west.
• I decided not to add gore to my game even though it is a shooter game
because I wanted my game to target a specific audience and adding blood
and gore would have targeted an older audience. There is however violence,
due to it being a shooting game but the bad guys simply disappear once
they have been killed.

5. BOX ART RESEARCH
• I looked at various other box art from well
known games on the PlayStation 4 platform. I
found the 3 covers (on the left) were what I
wanted my design to look like. The conventions
featured on all three of the game covers are;
Game title, PS4 banner, M Rating, producer
logo, tag line, screenshots from the game, brief
description if the game, technical aspects of
the game, copyright, barcode and a health
and safety warning. I plan to use all of these
conventions on my box art because I believe
using these features will make my end design
realistic and be recognised as the box art to a
game.

6. CONVENTIONS OF GAME BOX ART
After researching the conventions found on box art I was able to apply these to my own product. I
have pointed out all the conventions I have used.
Game console banner
Character/Image
from game.
(Sometimes game
logo)
Game Title
Game developer
Tag Line
Technical features
Screenshots
Barcode
Copyright
Information
Game rating
Brief game
description
Health & Safety
warning

7. MAGAZINE COVER RESEARCH
After researching Game
magazine’s for ancillary task
two I decided I wanted my
magazine cover to resemble
the PCGamer magazine as it
has similar conventions which
I planned to use when
creating my magazine cover.
Both magazine covers I
looked at (left and right)
feature the following
conventions; Magazine title at
the top, name of the main
game being advertised in a
large font, barcode,
magazine rating and the
headings of other articles
around the side.

8. CONVENTIONS OF A MAGAZINE
COVER
The features pointed out below are found the majority of magazine covers. I decided to show the
conventions on my own magazine cover so I could show which ones I used.
Name of the
Magazine
Characters
from the main
game being
advertised
Reviews
Other games
featured in the
magazine
CompetitionMain game article
advertisement
Magazine rating
Barcode
Name of the main
game being
advertised
Logo of the
magazine or game
console

9. TWO PAGE MAGAZINE POSTER
RESEARCH
I looked at different types of magazine pages and
decided to create a two page magazine poster
advertisement. This is an advertisement but can
also be pulled out by the reader and used as a
poster. I decided to create this because I thought it
would be very effective. I looked at multiple
versions of a poster ad and learnt that the less the
better and they don’t feature many conventions.
The conventions they do use that I found from my
examples (left) are; very large game title, one main
image (usually a character from the game) that
blends into the background, a release date,
sometimes a rating from a magazine or another
well known source, rating, copyright, logo’s from
companies that participated in the game and can
sometimes include screen shots or other images
from the game (as shown in the bottom image).

10. CONVENTIONS OF A MAGAZINE
POSTER
The features pointed out below are found most magazine poster advertisements. I decided to show
the conventions on my own advertisement so I could show which ones I used.
A character to
represent the
game
(Sometimes is a
logo)
Game rating or
quote from a
well known
source
Copyright
information
Name of the
game
Attractive
background to
fit the genre of
the game
Release date
of the game
List of consoles
the game is
available on
Game Rating

11. MAGAZINE ARTICLE RESEARCH
Most magazine articles look distinctively
different so my magazine article isn’t based
off a specific look. I wanted my design to
slightly resemble the top image on the right
which is a typical magazine layout. Both
images look different but both have specific
features which are found in most magazine
articles such as; article heading, sub
heading, plain, simple background, images
relating to the article and a by line. I will use
all of these features in my design which is
what will make my article recognisable as an
article and will make my article look official
and professional.

12. CONVENTIONS OF A MAGAZINE
ARTICLE
The features pointed out below are found in most magazine article. I decided to show the conventions
on my own magazine article so I could show which ones I used.
Banner
Article Heading
Subheading
Article in
columns
Game Rating
Character
relating to the
game
Screenshots or
images from
the game

13. HOW THE USE OF CONVENTIONS WILL
APPEAL TO THE AUDIENCE.
• For my game I used most of the typical conventions in sci-fi games to help
attract my target audience. With my target audience being teenage
males/young adults and fans of sci-fi games. The conventions I used will help
attract me target audience because teenage males and young adults like
violence and shooting games which are included in my game and sci-fi fans
like aliens and spaceships and all the sci-fi conventions I have included in my
game.
• I used all the standard conventions on my Box art and magazine pages
because they are what make them recognisable and stand out to an
audience. The conventions used on my ancillary tasks are all needed to
provide the audience with the information needed to encourage them to buy
the game/magazine. For example, my box art must have the console banner
to tell the audience what the game can be played on, it must have the name
of the game on it to tell the audience the name of the game and also so they
can pick it out if browsing for it amongst other games on a shelf. My magazine
cover must have the name of the magazine so the audience know what
magazine it is, it must also have headings of things which are inside the
magazine so the audience will know if they are interested by what’s in the
magazine.