1.
Research
Jack Henderson

2.
Existing Product
Super Mario Bros. (SNES)
Super Mario Bros. is a sidescrolling adventure game exploring the fictional world of the Mushroom Kingdom. You
play as Mario, a fictional plumber who is tasked with saving his love, Princess Peach in a melodramatic tale of her
rescue from the main antagonist Bowser. This game launched Nintendo’s famous Mario franchise which has
survived over 30 years. The game set a precident upon its release in 1985 and changed the way gaming was thought
about whilst being inspiration for so many other games and franchises.
Genre/Setting/Gameplay
The setting of the game is the
fictional land of the Mushroom
Kingdom in which the player
journey through to rescue Mario’s
love and kingdom royalty, Peach.
The Mushroom Kingdom is
represented through many
different stages including in the
clouds, underwater and in hellish
castle boss battles. The game has a
4 directional movement system
(up, down, left, right) and 2
buttons (jump and action). This is
because it was made to fit the
SNES controller which is also made
by Nintendo. The game was fairly
easy to play with its controls and
the idealistic themes in the game
which made it popular among
children and cult classic for
revolutionising the genre.
Angle
The angle of the game is a sidescroller which were extremely
popular at the time of the games creation and featured
heavily on the SNES console. You get to see the characters
side profile .
Colour
The game’s colour palette is fairly simple due to the time and technological
limits of the SNES. However this did not hinder the games ability to use colour
to reflect atmosphere and alignment. For example, the evil castles are painted
like dark hellish volcanoes whereas the overworld used lots of bright blue sky
and greenery to show a happier environment. This also helped the appeal to
children who could easily read the foreshadowing atmospheres
Studio
Japanese based company
Nintendo are renowned for their
adventure/rpg genre games set in
fantasy worlds. Super Mario Bros.
shot Nintendo’s reputation to from
small time game developer to huge
scale corporation. The company
revolutionised video gaming at
home with their Nintendo
Entertainment System and the
Super Nintendo Entertainment
System which this game debuted
on.
Sound
The audio of the game was created
by Koji Kondo who unknowingly
created the most recognisible video
game music of all time. Sound
effects such as the jump and
collecting coins were created on the
SNES system. All sounds replicated
their respective trigger. For example,
the jump sound effect has a
phonetic representation of a rising
then lowering pitch.

3.
Existing Product
Portal 2
Portal 2 is a first person puzzle game created by Valve. The game follows 2 robots who attempt to escape from a
science laboratory whilst revealing secrets of the company who created them. Designed to be a co-op adventure,
Portal 2 received huge amounts of praise on Valve’s PC game port, Steam, before moving to console. The game
became a cult classic due to its dark wit and loveable characters.
Genre/Setting/Gameplay
The setting of the game is largely
based in the fictional company of
Aperture Science labs where we
see the protagonist robots created
and then escape the run down
science laboratory that was also
setting for the first installment in
the Portal series. The game
explores a post apocalyptic world
form the first person view of a
robot. The games co-op function
allows 2 players (whether local or
online) to work together to solve
puzzles which made the game
more enjoyable for parties and
allowed for the extra challenge of
teamwork and cooperation to the
game.
Angle
The game is played from a first person perspective with only the
main weapon, the portal gun, visible to the players. Players are able
to see there character through various mirrorable surfaces which
gives more relatable connection to the playable characters.
Colour
The games colour scheme is dark due to the setting being a post apocalyptic
landscape of the Aperture science lab. The colours of the portals(blue and orange)
created by the character carry over from the last game as these are very
recognisible aspects of the game. Overall most levels of the game are very dark
settings, however objects within the game such as boxes and buttons are
exagerrated bright colours to reflect the nature of the original Aperture company
and to show players what is an interactable object
Studio
Valve has created many pop
culture and cult images through
their many games projects such as
the Half Life series and Portal.
Valve launched their online game
client and marketplace, Steam, in
2003 which through the years has
become the biggest and primary
game marketplace for most PC
gamers. Some more of their games
include: Team Fortress, the Left 4
Dead series and the competitive
Counter Strike series.
Sound
The sound design for Portal 2 was
created through a mixture of live
and synthetic computer made
sounds. Valve has an audio team
which they have used for most of
their games which includes
voiceovers, sound designers and
composers. The most recognisable
sound of the game are the sound of
creating a portal and the witty voices
of the playable characters.

4.
Existing Product
Limbo
Limbo is a side scrolling platformer which explores a dark forest world in which the playable character attempts to
find his sister whilst getting past enemy creatures. The playable character does not exercise violence towards the
enemy characters however when the character is attacked by enemy creatures in the forest, thw death scenes are
graphically violent.
Genre/Setting/Gameplay
The game is set in a dark forest
which the playable character
awakens in. The sole objective of
the game is to find the boy’s sister
who is lost in the forest also. The
art style of is completely black and
white to reflect the horror aspect
of the game. The controls are
simple (up, down, left, right and
jump, action.) and the playable
does not have an attack except
from performing an action which
could harm like pulling a lever
drops a rock. Limbo’s general
backstory and premise are
surrounded in mystery which
inspired many fans to take tot the
internet to try solve the many
mysteries that are planted within
the game.
Angle
The game’s perspective is sidescrolling platformer which allows the
player to see in front and behind the player. This is a key mechanic
of the game due to the character being a pacifistic so being able to
plan an escape is very useful.
Colour
The entire game is exclusively black and white which adds to the aspect of
horror and mystery within the game. The playable character and all NPCs
(which include spiders and other humans) are all entirely blacked out
whereas the playable character has glowing eyes to distinguish him from
the rest.
Studio
Game developers Playdead have
only made 2 games to date
including Limbo and another
named Inside, both which explore
similar mysterious themes of
humanity. Limbo was their
breakout success which was
initially released exclusively on
Xbox 360 but due to the games
success, it only took a year for the
game to be opened to PlayStation,
PC and even mobile ports.
Sound
The audio in Limbo is intentionally
ambiguous to reflect the
environment that the game is based
on. Distinctive sounds as footsteps
on the forest floor and trees cracking
as they fall are almost ASMR when
playing the game through
headphones. Overall the sound is
intensely added to heighten the dark
atmosphere that is portrayed in the
gam e

5.
Existing Product
Super Meat Boy
Super Meat boy is a light hearted platformer that features the title character wall jumping around levels to rescue
Meat Boy’s girlfriend which has been captured by the main villian. The game rose to huge popularity after featuring
in the Indie Game Movie and then being released on the Xbox Live Marketplace for Xbox 360.
Genre/Setting/Gameplay
The setting of a game is a fantasy
world with different themes for
each level. The game explores the
story of the titular character, Meat
Boy in his quest to save his
girlfriend from an evil villain who
has kidnapped her. The mechanics
are basic jump, sprint and move to
navigate through complex puzzles
and maps. The completion of each
level relies on skill based jumps
and movies but is also based on
coordination and luck which makes
it a controller smashing adventure
game.
Angle
Super Meat Boy is set from a platform point of view in which most,
if not all, is the level is visible throughout. This is due to the player
relying on seeing where they are going throughout and
coordinating their jumps.
Colour
Each level has a different colour scheme due to the settings of the worlds however
the main character’s prominent colour of blood or “meat” red is a symbol and
front for the entire franchise.
Studio
Super Meat Boy was the first
installment in the Meat Boy
franchise created by the aptly
named Team Meat studio. The
studio documented their
development of the game in The
Indie Game Movie which was
made to show the real progression
and struggles of indie game
developers. The popularity of the
movie subsequently inspired the
popularity of the video game,
turning it into a cult following.
Sound
The sound effects on Super Meat
Boy include splats when Meat Boy
hits the wall and slides along it. The
music and soundtrack was crafted to
reflect the different level
environments that the player
encounters.

6.
Research Analysis
My research has shown that successful puzzle game utilise an aspect of repetition
and variation. For example, the games all use the repetition of the games main
mechanic (whether it be jumping or creating portals) and then making variations
through the levels of this ways that this mechanic can be used. Most puzzle games
use a level based system in which each level is self contained and can be accessed
from a chapter or level menu, however successful games such as Limbo use a
continuous gameplay which doesn’t allow you to access previous levels. Most
platformers have narratives or an overall objective within the game which is only
comes to a conclusion in the final battle. In my personal opinion the main
objective is easy to forget about when you are fully emerged in the gameplay
however I believe a main goal for the player is essential to any narrative driven
game.

7.
Interviews

8.
Interview 1
How important is character creation/personalisation to you and why? not very, I don’t
care who I play as. As long as the character is interesting and has good development.
If a level of a game seems tough (i.e. a boss battle or puzzle) does this deter you from
finishing the game or make you want to work harder to finish? Work harder to finish,
gives me a sense of accomplishment.
When playing adventure style games, do you enjoy them more with context or back
story to the playable character? I don’t mind as long as its an interesting game in what
you can do.

9.
Interview 1
• Observation:
In my opinion this interview does not seem very helpful as it is not
very detailed however this could be due to my phrasing of the
questions.
• What this says about my audience:
From this I can conclude that the game being interesting is extremely
important to the appeal of the game and things like character creation
and personalisation are less important compared to the main drive of
the game.
• How will your product appeal to this audience:
My product will be narrative driven which will, in this persons opinion,
make the game interesting. I will focus heavily on character
development and making the audience know and feel for the
character.

10.
Interview 2
How important is character creation/personalisation to you and why?
It depends on the freedom of decision in the game but in general whether or not I can
change how my character looks doesn’t bother me too much due to it usually not being
something I notice that much.
If a level of a game seems tough (i.e. a boss battle or puzzle) does this deter you from
finishing the game or make you want to work harder to finish? It makes me want to
work harder to finish the game even if it is time consuming as I believe difficulty makes
a game more engaging.
When playing adventure style games, do you enjoy them more with context or back
story to the playable character?
I prefer games with a rough backstory or context, but leaving the details of it up to the
player to decide for themselves.

11.
Interview 2
• Observation:
This interview reflected the first but in more detailed.
• What this says about my audience:
This interviewee said the same few points that the first
interviewer said however they elaborated more on their own
personal opinion. This helped reinforce the needs of the target
audience. Overall the audience want a narrative driven game
with character customisation optional. The character
development has been shown to be very important which is
something I will focus on in the game.

12.
Bibliography

13.
Bibliography
1. Interviewees, Name: Ross. L (2018) Target Audience Interviews
(conducted on DATE) –
2. Interviewees, Name: Kieran B (2018) Target Audience Interviews
(conducted on 12th January)