Here are the key points from the interviews: - Both interviewees enjoy career/story modes in sports games over repetitive gameplay. They want choice and progression. - Realism is appreciated but not essential, depending on the type of game. - Good trailers, hype and social media influencers playing the game early can help drive sales. - An engaging story with twists that progresses as the player does would appeal. - Ensuring the game has replay value and an online component for social play is important. My game focusing on a story-driven career mode with choices, progression and some realism elements should appeal to these audiences. Leveraging social media influencers and trailers to generate hype will also

1. Research
Your Name

2. Existing Product – FIFA 18 (The Journey)
The first existing product I will look at is FIFA, this is similar to mine as it is a football game,
which does have modes which make you feel like you could be living the life of a footballer, for
example the journey mode, where you become Alex Hunter, and you go on his footballing
journey, the difference between this and mine here is that mine is much more unique, you
create your own character and go down your own path rather than living someone else’s life.
The first obvious difference will be the quality of graphics, FIFA uses the quality of graphics and
gameplay as the main reason for fans to buy the game, as they are much better than any of the
competition in this, as well as this they have the licenses for the majority of major kits, logo’s
and competitions in the world of football, this is the main audience appeal for the game, this
and the multiple game modes that it produces.

3. Existing Product FIFA 18 (The Journey) – Part 2
This shows you how
you are performing in
game, making you
know if you need to
produce a higher
quality performance
This shows the score of the
game, this making you know
what you have to do to make
sure your team wins, as well as
showing you the time, so you
know how long you have left.
This highlights where you are on the
field, meaning you will not be
confused and possibly lose where
you are on the pitch, it means you
know where and what you are doing
at all times.
The whole layout of the game feels very
realistic and this is it’s main appeal to
the audience, the flow of the game and
all the licensing they have make this
game very appealing to a large
audience and a range of football fans.

4. Existing Product- Score! Hero
The next product I will look at is Score! Hero. This game takes you on a story based career
through the life of a young up and coming football star, you start off at a lower down club
and if you get the correct amount of stars each level will bring a new challenge, such as a
transfer to a new club or a call-up to play on an international level. The game is good and
works well for what it is supposed to be, but one downside of this is the freedom within
the game, as you have to stick to one storyline and there is only one possible outcome,
making it feel less unique to the audience. As well as this there is a lot of added extras to
pay for, once you run out of lives you have to either purchase more or wait a long time for
them to refresh.

5. Existing Product- Score! Hero
This shows you the lives you
have left to make the shot, if
you take too many lives you
have to wait, or pay for
more.
This shows the score of the
game and the time, in this
game though you have to
use scenarios rather than
being free to play the game
by yourself, and therefore
the time is irrelevant as it
only shows you situations.
This shows you your player,
and as you control the whole
team in this game this is very
useful as it shows you how to
pick yourself out from the
rest of the team.
This game is similar to mine as it
is based on the life of a
footballer, though this game
focusing on just the on-field side
of football life, as you create a
character and go on a journey
through football, but this is also
a set storyline game, where you
have to do specific things, as the
game makes the scores and
scenarios and you have lives to
be able to do these things with,
there is no freedom in the game.

6. Existing Product – NBA 2K18 (MyCareer)
This shows you your
characters performance,
as well as instructions
from the manager in
purple, for example
positions, or things you
could be doing better,
this helps the player get
better at the game as
they know what they
can improve at and
what they can do to win
the game.
This shows the game’s score, what quarter
you’re in and the time left in the quarter, this
gives the player a sense of what needs to be
done to win, as well as how long you have to
do that.
This shows you where your player is, giving
you a good idea of how far away you are
from the action, as well as what you need to
do and where you need to get in order to
close down people and put your team in a
better position.
This game is similar to
what I will be making as
it follows the life of an
NBA basket ball star, the
only difference between
this and the game I will
produce being the sport,
as it follows your
created character in
detail through his life
and choices that they
make in order to benefit
them on and off of the
court.

7. Existing Product – NBA 2K18 (MyCareer) – Part 2
The main audience appeal for this game is the licensing and gameplay that 2K produce,
much like in FIFA, they have the licensing for the majority of the major tournaments and
teams in the NBA, this attracts all fans as they know they are getting the real deal, as
well as this most fans love this franchise of games due to the realism and detail in the
MyCareer game mode, this is loved by fans as it gives you all details of the real life game,
this being the broadcasting of the game, as 2K own the rights to use the same
broadcasting as the real life game gets on FoxSports, as well as giving you on and off
field choices which detail the life of a NBA basketball player.

8. Existing Product – PES 2018 (Become a Legend)
This part shows you
your stats through the
game, one part
showing this season so
you know your recent
form and one part
being your career so
you can see how well
your overall career is
going, this is important
as it shows the player
how well they are
doing, or what they
need to improve on.
This shows you all the
info about your player,
such as where they play,
the age and the
nationality, as well as
things like your wage. This
is good as it shows players
what the player they have
created is like and what
strengths they may have,
for example the chart in
the middle bottom of the
screen which shows
which stats are better
than others. This also has
a feature on the
managers trust level,
which is different from
other games, this
determines your game
time.

9. Existing Product – PES 2018 (Become a Legend)
I have chosen to look at PES (Pro Evolution Soccer) as this also is similar to my
game, they have a game mode named “Become a Legend”, in which you create a
character, or continue on as a character already in the game, and live out the
footballers life, this only really concentrates on the football aspect and not
anything to do with life outside of football, this is where mine would be different.
Despite this this product appeals to a large audience as the gameplay quality is
very good and they like FIFA do have a large amount of licensing, not as much as
FIFA but still a decent amount, for example they have the Champions League,
arguably the biggest club tournament in football. This appeals to fans as it gives
them a legitimacy of playing in a proper match, due to the presentation.

10. Technique Research
For my first techniques research I will be researching an advertising technique,
this being the bandwagon technique, which sells a product by convincing the
customer that others are using it and they should join the crowd. Other
bandwagon advertisements suggest that the customer will be left out if they do
not buy what’s being sold. These ads often employ words linked to highly
valued ideas or concepts that evoke instant approval, which may or may not
relate to the subject of the advertisement. “America loves…” connects
patriotism with a product, creating an automatic positive response, this can also
be used in a way that shows the audience that if they enjoy something they may
also enjoy this, for example "FIFA fan's love...", this will show fans of this game
genre that this may be similar, or may have endorsement from the game itself,
as well as a lot of the fans of the game, who will have a lot in common with the
person if they are interested in this franchise.

11. Technique Research
For my next technique research I will look at another advertising technique, this one
being association, which is associating a product or company with a famous person.
Sporting equipment companies use successful athletes in their ads, automakers
display their cars in front of mansions, brewers show their beer consumed by groups
of friends having fun and cosmetic companies sign celebrities to represent their
products. These ads encourage an emotional response in customers, which then is
linked to the product being advertised, making it attractive to the audience as it is
shown with a influential person. Also included in this is association with power or
success, if the game is shown to be associated with success or power then an
audience member that is attracted to this will be much more likely to purchase the
product.

12. Research Analysis
• What common features do the researched products have?
– All are games based on a sportsperson’s life/career, as this is
what my game is based on.
– The majority are very popular games, produced by large
companies and therefore have a big budget to play with,
whereas I will not have a budget to use in my game.
• What aspects of the research will you include within your
own production work?
– I will use some aspects of each game that I researched, any
parts that work well and aren’t very unique to that game I will
try and use in mine, as it can improve the game.
– It has given me some things to avoid, as there are negatives in
each game and therefore I do not want to use these in my
game.

13. Questionnaire Analysis

14. Audience research
• Observation: The audience that answered the survey are all between the
ages of 16 and 23.
• What this says about my audience: My audience is mostly young people.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product is aimed at
younger people due to the nature of the game, as it is based on a fantasy
style of life.

15. Audience research
• Observation: The audience is more male than female.
• What this says about my audience: The audience is slightly more male, but
they are reasonably similar as it is only around 60 to 40.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product will be aimed
at both genders as they are both in my audience, this will be done by
making female and male characters able to be created in the game.

16. Audience research
• Observation: My audience mostly plays games for a few hours a day.
• What this says about my audience: The audience is into games, as the
majority play games for a few hours each day, meaning they play a lot of
games.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product is a game, and
the audience have shown they’re interested in games.

17. Audience research
• Observation: My audience is into a wide spread of games, mostly adventure and
shooter games.
• What this says about my audience: My audience likes to play a lot of different
genres of game, and therefore are interested in many games in general.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product will mainly be a sports
game, but will also have aspects of others, due to the other part of the game,
which is based on the life of a footballer, this part will consider different genres.

18. Audience research
• Observation: The majority don’t play sports games, those that do prefer realistic
sport games.
• What this says about my audience: My audience want a realistic sports game.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My game will be realistic as it
follows the real life of a footballer in as much real detail as we can go, making it
very realistic as well as in depth.

19. Audience research
• Observation: Most people asked for there favourite sporting games chose FIFA as it
was the main one they had played.
• What this says about my audience: The answers from this mostly show a popular
style game, as this has been heavily advertised and is probably the most well
known sports game that is produced.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product will appeal to this
audience as it will have features similar, mostly being the topic of the game, this
being football.

20. Audience research
• Observation: Most people dislike parts of the gameplay.
• What this says about my audience: The audience want simple
gameplay and want to be told how to work things.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My products first
part will be a tutorial which shows the player how to play the game,
avoiding the thing most people dislike most in sports games.

21. Audience research
• Observation: My audience prefers to make a character themselves.
• What this says about my audience: This says that my audience
prefers to play as something they have made rather than being
forced into a character that they don’t have a link to.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My game has you
create a character at the start.

22. Audience research
• Observation: The audience prefers continuous gameplay.
• What this says about my audience: It says that they prefer to be able to play after
completing a narrative, or prefer continuous based games than narrative based.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My game is a continuous game
which just keeps going through a footballers life, until you choose to stop it
through retirement.

23. Audience research
• Observation: The average people would pay for a mobile app is £6.
• What this says about my audience: They won’t pay loads for a
mobile app.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My game may also
be available as a mobile app, so I will adjust the price to be under
the maximum that people will pay for a mobile app.

24. Interviews

25. Interview 1
• What type of sports games have you played in the past and what did you
think of them?
– I used to play sports games when I was younger however I found they get
repetitive once you have play through them a few times however I always
enjoyed career modes
• What makes you choose the games you play?
– Critics reviews and overall press hype on media platforms. Also whether the
developer has a reputation
• What do you enjoy in story games?
– Freedom of choice
• Do you like realism in games?
– I think it isn't necessary however it is good in sports games because it allows
you to create scenarios that could necessarily happen
• What would the main advertising that persuades you to buy a game be?
– YouTube gamers playing the game

26. Interview 1
• Observation: This interviewee likes some sports games, and
believes realism and career style modes in these games are the best
way, as well as this they enjoy a good story and a lot of hype in the
media to promote a game.
• What this says about my audience: They enjoy games that make
sense, as well as a story that is career driven and realistic, they also
can be influenced by socially famous people, such as YouTubers.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product is a
story driven career game, and therefore this will appeal to this
person, as well as this the game is going to make sense story wise
as it will all base around a life of a footballer, which you will make
the main choices for. As well as this the advertising for the game
could be done heavily on social media.

27. Interview 2
• What type of sports games have you played in the past and what did you
think of them?
– Only really FIFA. I don’t particularly enjoy it I just play it socially with friends.
• What makes you choose the games you play?
– The replay ability and friends that play it. I prefer online games so if they have
a good online scene that attracts me.
• What do you enjoy in story games?
– A good story, something with twists in it and something that progresses as I
progress through the game.
• Do you like realism in games?
– Yes however it is dependant on the type of games. Some games suit cartoon
artwork and less realistic gameplay.
• What would the main advertising that persuades you to buy a game be?
– A good trailer through either streamers playing it and recommending it e.g.
PUBG giving streamers access to closed beta to show off the game and try to
sell it to people that way.

28. Interview 2
• Observation: The interviewee doesn’t play many sports game, just socially.
They also like story games to have possible twists in a good story, mostly
they prefer the games to be realistic as well, depending on the type of
game. The thing that persuades them to buy a game is good advertising,
he thinks this is through giving famous personalities a trial or the full game
when it first comes out as this gives it to a large audience.
• What this says about my audience: This says that they like story games
that incorporate realism but also have interesting stories that throw twists
at you and keep you on the edge while playing, things too predictable may
put them off. As well as this they could be convinced to buy a game
through big names used in the advertising.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My story will be made to
be realistic, as well as throwing in twists and turns to keep you interested
in the story. Also I may make advertisements for the game and if I do there
will be the use of big names in the adverts.

29. Bibliography

30. Bibliography
1. Corr, Daniel (2018) Target Audience Research Survey (conducted on
13/04/2018)
2. Ward, Jack (2018) Target Audience Interviews (conducted on
13/04/2018)
3. Henderson, Jack (2018) Target Audience Interviews (conducted on
17/04/2018)
4. FIFA 18. (2017). EA Sports.
5. Score! Hero. (2016). First Touch Games.
6. NBA 2K18. (2017). 2K Sports.
7. Pro Evolution Soccer 2018. (2017). Konami.
8. Catherine Hudgins. (2018). 5 Most Common Advertising Techniques.
Available: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/5-common-advertising-
techniques-15273.html. Last accessed 17th April 2018.