Games Analysis - Starting-points

Sources:

Starting-points for an analysis of games

Different aspects of an analysis are related to certain assumptions. In order to understand the different methods and focal points better, one also has to understand the assumptions that underly these aspects.

&nbsp

Communication and medium

Games can be approached from different points of view, depending on the attitudes presented by both the developers and the users. In general there are four types of attitudes a user can choose from, and a developer can address to. These attitudes are described by Habermas in his theories on communication:

An important starting point is the assumption that a game is used as a way to communicate. As a medium it is the result of the work of a group of developers, and intended for a certain type of audience, its target group. Elements that are important enclose both information on the communicator (the developer), the medium (game), and the recipient (audience).
For the communicator these are (among others): its position in society, its relation to the subject of the game, its image of its self, its image of the audience, and the situation during the realisation of the game.
For the medium (among others): technical realisation, productional situation, hardware requirements, and the distribution.
In relation to the audience: its image of the communicator, its image of its self, the position in society, its relation to the game, and its expectation of the game.

Signs and Semantics
Media use signs to communicate its information. The same information can be given by using different signs from different sign systems. In a game all sign systems together contribute to the meaning of the game, on itself and in relation to each other.
Games use five different layers of importance to communicate: the contents of the image, movement and change of images, language, music and sound, and type and amount of interaction.
Semantics are subject to changes through time and place. Different images can have different meanings in different places or periods. It is therefor important that the meanings signs have are related to the context they are being received in.

Product and Ideology
Games are generally sold as a product for a certain market. For an analysis it is important to relate the demand of the audience with the amount of games of a certain type offered.
A game as medium is predestined to bear certain ideological implications. As an interactive medium which seeks to introduce its audience into the gameworld, it offers the gamer a certain pattern of behaviour and values, that can have its effect on the perception of reality of the gamer.

Attitude and Selection
Generally there are two ways to communicate an attitude to an audience: the attitude corresponds with the one of the audience, of it is different from the audience's attitude.
In the first case, the effect of the game will be a strenghtening of the audience's attitude. In the second case, a change in attitude can only take place, when the attitude which is obviously shown in the game and contradictory to the gamer's attitude, is connected to a second attitude, which is shared by both game and gamer, and which is to the gamer more important than the first, contradictonary, attitude.
A further point of attenton is the problem of selection: an audience will only notice what fits into the habits of reception and is congruent with its own attitudes. All other aspects are often seen as only disturbing and interrupting the 'flow' of a game.

Type and Structure
An important distinction for the choice of a type of analysis of a game, is the type of game it belongs to. In general it is difficult to define the type or genre of a game, as there will always be some aspects of another type present.
Three different main types of games can be identified: games based on action, games based on puzzles, games based on simulations of (reality) situations. Besides these main types, there are also sub-types and combinations.
It is also possible to look at the structure of a game. In this case structure does not mean the construction of the game out of different elements, but how much the game is in agreement with reality. This is an idication for the authenticity of a product.

Style and Genre
Sometime games can be identified as a typical product of a developer of developing team. In those case a style can be recognised, and often titles bear the name(s) of the responsible figure(s).
The use of genres is a useful basic distinction for the different games. We can identify twelve different main groups: action-adventure, adventure, beat-'em-up, flightsims, platform, puzzle, race, role playing, shoot-'em-up, sim, sports, and strategy.
These main groups can be combined or refined to identify a certain game. Sometimes the elements of different genres are combined in such a way that a new main group comes into existens: the action-adventure is an example of such a new genre group.

&nbsp