Research
Two games
Reason for selections = They are two of my favourite games.
Animal crossing new horizons
- Art style is more cartoony
Media review
- What does it do well? – “Visually captivating, lots of customisation, tons of gameplay, great social features, has a real time clock”.
- What doesn`t it do well? – “Inventory management, slow start, loading times, one switch one island”.
- What can I learn from it? – To have a fast paced game with faster loading times and tons of gameplay.
Intermediate investigation
- Who made it? Katsuya Eguchi created this game and the whole series that made him inspired due to feeling isolated when he moved away from home age 21 to work at Nintendo. He is a game designer.
- How was it made? Using collaborative teamwork. Game engine is Nintendo`s custom engine. The programming language used was C++ to game development. Either photoshop or Autodesk Maya were likely used for game design as they are both industry standards. For the game`s soundtracks, Pro tools or logic pro may have been used.
- How popular is it? Super popular selling 44 million copies worldwide.
Advanced investigation
- If you were working on that product what area would you work in and who did that job? I would work in the music area, it sounds cool. Kazumi Totaka who has been involved in the music since the series had first been released. He doesn`t seem to have a Linkedin profile.
- How did he get his job? For his musical talent and passion.
- Where did he work before? No publicly known.
- Where did he study? Kunitachi college of music in Tokyo.
- What did he study? Not known, but likely music composition.
- What skills does he have? Many skills such as Music composition, sound direction, playing multiple instruments such as piano, guitar, bass and vibraphone. He also can do voice acting being Yoshi and K.K slider, game development.
- Are there any interviews with him? He is in several interviews. This includes him being with Billboard, Shmuplations and Iwata asks.
Mario-kart 8 deluxe
- Art style is more whimsical
Media review
- What does it do well? – “Skill full track designs, online features, gorgeous graphics”.
- What doesn`t it do well? – “Battle mode was seen as a afterthought, gamepad was underutilized, maps are poorly optimized.”
- What can I learn from it? – To have good looking graphics, clearer maps and more functions with gamepads.
Intermediate investigation
- Who made it? It was made by Nintendo EPD (Entertainment planning and development). However, the whole series was originally produced by Shigeru Miyamoto.
- How was it made? Initial concept was decided after the success of another racing game F-zero. Prototype development includes the Mario characters as drivers. The game`s mechanics includes elements such as power-up items, drifting and racing techniques. The game`s has full 3D graphics for its design.
- How popular is it? Super popular due to of 2024 updates, it has sold 60 million copies worldwide.
Advanced investigation
- If you were working on that product what area would you work in and who did that job? I would work in the music area, it sounds cool. The person who has contributed significantly for the game`s music is Shino Fujii. She doesn`t seem to have a linkedin or portfolio.
- How did she get the job? For her passion in music and video games.
- Where did she work before? She hadn`t worked anywhere else before.
- Where did she study? Senzoku Gakuen college of music
- What did she study? Music design course
- What skills does she have? Music composition, music arrangement, live performance integration, collaboration and technical skills.
- Are there any interviews with her? There are a few interviews with her such as Kotaku and the Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary Iwata Asks interview.
Two animations
Reason for selections = They are two of my favourite films
The super Mario Bros
- Modern animation technique
Media review
- What does it do well? – “Top-shelf animation, visual vibrance sets a very high bar, the musical side perfectly expressing the grandeur and whimsy of the games tracks at every turn, constantly and joyfully entertaining.”
- What doesn`t it do well? – “Undercooked emotional arcs, paint-by-numbers plot, its too short, voice cast is disappointing.”
- What can I learn from it? – Have a longer running film, with a strong voice cast, more emotional scenes and a more in depth plot.
Intermediate investigation
- Who made it? – By universal pictures, illumination, Nintendo, the creator of Mario Shigeru Miyamoto and the co-founder of illumination Chris Meledandri.
- How was it made? – Discussions started in when 1993 live-action film adaption was a critical and failure film. Production started in 2020. Pre-production included concept, script and voice acting. The concept and script was developed by Nintendo and illumination. Whilst the story and characters was heavily involving Shigeru and Chris. The voice acting was aimed to bring a fresh feel but also familiar feel to the characters. Animation involved design and storyboarding, 3D modeling and animation and motion capture plus voice recording. The post-production involved editing, sound design and music and the final touches of colour grading and visual tweaks.
- How popular is it? From its release, it became a hit with over £1.04 billion.
Advanced investigation
- If you were working on that product what area would you work in and who did that job? I would work in the music area, it sounds cool. The music was composed by Brian Tyler.
- How did he get the job? His opportunity came when music executive Robert Kraft`s encouragement on him doing film scoring after being impressed by his music.
- Where did he work before? Not known
- Where did he study? At university of California to complete his undergraduate studies, focusing on music composition. Then went to Havard university to earn his master`s degree and progressing more on music composition.
- What did he study? Music composition.
- What skills does he have? Music composition, orchestration, conducting, multi-instrumentalist, electronic music production and sound design.
- Are there any interviews with him? There are several interviews with him that include, a conversation with Brian Tyler: A BMI exclusive interview, In the studio with Brian Tyler and KCBS interview.
Terminator zero
- Sophisticated animation technique
Media review
- What does it do well? – “Excitingly original story through a unique cultural lens, excellent action and character arcs, brilliant vocal performances to enjoy.”
- What doesn`t it do well? – “Lacks is in keeping the tension.”
- What can I learn from it? – Having more tension within scenes.
Intermediate investigation
- Who made it? The series is developed by Mattson Tomlin. The setting was created by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd. The animation was directed by Masashi Kudo.
- How was it made? Mattson Tomlin developed the concept and storyline. The scripts were written by Tomlin`s team. The animation was handled by Production I.G whilst directed by Masashi Kudo. The music was composed by Michelle Birsky and Kevin Henthorn.
- How popular is it? It has gained significant amount of attention and popularity since release. It has even been nominated for several awards for the categories of animation, sound design and music.
Advanced investigation
- If you were working on that product what area would you work in and who did that job? I would in the music area, it sounds cool. Michelle Birsky and Kevin Henthorn did the composing for the series.
- How did they get the job? Michelle started her career with indie music which helped sharpen her skills in composition. This is also the same for Kevin.
- Where did they work before? They both worked in the indie music scene.
- Where did they study? Kevin studied in a film school. Michelle studied at New York University.
- What did they study? Kevin studied film composition. Michelle studied music composition and production.
- What skills do they have? Michelle = Music composition, music production, multi-instrumentalism, sound design and collaboration. Kevin = Music composition, music production, multi-instrumentalist, film scoring and collaboration.
- Are there any interviews with them? There are several interviews including, interview with “Terminator zero” composers Michelle Birsky and Kevin Henthorn, “TERMINATOR ZERO” composers Michelle Birsky & Kevin Henthorn interview, Terminator zero interview: composers Michelle Birsky & Kevin Henthorn talk Netflix series.
Two visual effects
Reason for selections = The visual effects are nice visually.
Sonic the hedgehog
Media review
- What does it do well? – “More polished and CGI-heavy version of the classic Sonic from the video games, its favour was its adherence to a highly familiar and pre-existing design”.
- What does it not do well? – “The VFX team working on Sonic the Hedgehog had a real mountain to climb with this redesign, Months of meetings, storyboarding, brainstorming, concept art and much more.”
- What have you learned from it? Have a polished vfx and trying to not make as much of a challenge with overworking etc.
- Production technique = Blends CGI with live-action
Lion king action film
Media review
- What does it do well? – “Stunning animation, cutting edge virtual reality tech, animators and visual effects artists were able to craft a world so real that audiences felt they were actually part of it, ground breaking technical”.
- What does it not do well? – “The lack of emotion and facial expressions makes you not get so attached, the actors were awful.”
- What have you learned from it? To have stunning animation and good voice actors.
- Production technique = Virtual reality for planning and filming
Primary research
Questionare for deep dive Animal crossing new horizons game:
I made this form to gather information on why Animal Crossing New Horizons is one of the most popular games on Nintendo Switch. But also to gather people`s same/different opinions on it and whether the game needs future improvements.
These are recent responses to my form. What I gathered positively is that the game is likeable for its art style and its simple game play. What I gathered negatively is that the game is quite expensive to buy and should be more cheaper.
3/12/24
Going forward, I will now have to make a new concept idea for the game (Animal crossing new horizons) to enhance and improve it. From the survey responses above I did not get detailed information on peoples opinions about what changes could be made to the game. I have come up with a new concept idea for the game, which involves the environment being an underwater way of living, keeping the original underwater characters and maybe even adding some more underwater characters. I am now going to create a new questionnaire on how people feel about the concept of an underwater version of the game.
I have been given feedback. The feedback has been mostly positive. Most people would like this concept of the game to be made. This is because in summary, people have played the game so they feel they would likely like it or their children have a leaning interests in oceans. Also in summary things/animals people would like to see is new sea characters, new soundtracks and buildings. The average rate that people would rate my concept is 4.20, which tells me most people would love this type of concept. Finally, most people would spend around between £30 – £40 which is related to the originals game price coming up to £36.99.
Based on this research, I would like to create a new character and underwater city.
My final concept design
My underwater animals:
My underwater city:
Ruby`s Blog 