unit 6 assignment 2

audience profile & focus group questionnaire
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fv3U1NLopdIIc6_rbB3Nsp0u9zbwGZR2Wd4TLttrOXo/edit?usp=sharing

focus group
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1EIwxXDXBTxUEkzSGVlVDhlMUk/edit?usp=sharing

after having our focus group we learned that most gamers play these games for entertainment , competition and some are fascinated by the games. our chosen game was subway surfers and the gamers that played it all loved it, they all thought it was a fun game and also a cure for boredom.
some gamers thought that the game was for all age groups because of its simplicity and others thought the targeted age group was 8+.

but of course not good game is ever easy because that would make it boring, the gamers enjoyed subway surfers because the game got challenging on each new levels. of course every level you complete is a new high score your setting and the gamers loved beating each others high scores, which  lead us to believe that the reason most gamers like certain games and even get addicted to them is because of the challenging aspect of the game and the competition with their friends. the gamers that plays subway surfers are competitive with each other but also with themselves because they have this need to keep beating their high score. this focus group has lead me to believe that mostly young people play this game and love it.



both quantitative and qualitative research are good for the video game industry; quantitative to show the ratings a game got and qualitative to show all the reviews and peoples opinion of the game. but ultimately qualitative research is the better research for the game industry because it lets the game makers know what the gamers thought of their game, which in turn helps them when it comes to making a sequel to the game and making it better. qualitative research can also help the game makers know the amount of people that enjoyed the game or hated it by simply reading the reviews.

the focus group was more valuable to me than audience profiling simply because i got to see the gamers play and i witness their reactions to the game, audience profiling can be based on stereotypical assumptions but focus groups are direct opinions from the gamers themselves. i got to know what the gamers thought of the game and the reasons why they enjoyed the game and some answers were different even thought they were coming from two gamers from the same psychographics and social economic ranking which proved the focus group to be more accurate than audience profiling; Connor thought the game was for everyone, people of all ages because its simple but Jamie thought differently, he thought the game was for people from the age of 8+  because the game got challenging after a few
levels.

a focus group is useful for the industry because they allow you to get personal opinions of the target audience and they help you find ways of improving and will allow productions to progress by gathering information and basing the games or media products on a specific audience.


gamers

http://www.gaminglives.com/2011/03/01/the-changing-face-of-the-typical-gamer/
this is a site that explains typical gamers, the article explains how in the past gamers were described as obese , unhealthy ,lazy and nerdy people with no social life. but not as the gaming technology has evolved into the sensations that are the xbox, ps3, ps4.... the whole theory on gamers has changed " ultimately though, the gaming landscape has completely changed and the old stereotypical gamer is dying out. we now have families gaming together; xbox 360s and ps3s are permanently housed in living rooms as opposed to being shunned to bedroom or unplugged and tidied way after use."

The section of the game we chose was this part where the character is running on the tracks as it is simple and it shows why we target certain audiences. This part of the game is very colourful and it looks easy to get ahead in. The game looks colourful and bright which attracts a younger audience -children both male and female. 

The common answers for our focus group questions were that people play for a small amount of time on the game as a way to pass the time but not as a hugely addictive game. That people play it because it is free but they might not pay for it if it cost money. We found that people generally liked the game and that they didn't find it particularly challenging.

the positives and negatives of your focus group

The positives of our focus group were that it helped to see why people play the game and to get other people's opinions. I feel that the negatives of our focus group were that there weren't a lot of people to collect the feedback from. Another negative was that the opinions weren't very big so you didn't get enough feedback to know a lot about a gamer or the enjoyment of the game.