Primary Research
I did some research on the contents of 3 Children’s Story Books to see what my game should feature.
The Gruffalo’s Child
In this book, a narrator talks over the characters as a father tells his child not to run off where it is dangerous however the child does so and then is scared to run back home. The child in this story is the protagonist and the antagonist is what the child believes to be a mouse. The moral of this story is that parents are protecting their children and that you should not believe everything you are told.
Tough Trucks
By reading this narrative, children can learn about mechanics and see which different parts of the truck do what role. A narrative such as this works well because it can educate the children as they enjoy their reading.
Commotion In The Ocean
This is a third person narrative that follows the different ocean creatures and how human waste is polluting their habitat and killing them. This teaches children the importance of recycling and disposing of waste properly.
PEGI
The differences between rating 3-7 against 12 are that while some violence is acceptable to a comical nature, however, any fantasy character and/or human and animal resembling creatures will move the rating up to a PEGI 12.
Sonic & Mario
To make sure my design fits the PEGI rating and to be aware of the content I can include or exclude from my designs, I have analyzed two of the most popular and successful platform games Sonic The Hedgehog
In the game Sonic The Hedgehog the protagonist Sonic must use their shoes to run as fast as he can and stop an evil scientist named Dr. Robotnic (The Antagonist) from enslaving animals.
In Super Mario Bros the antagonist, King Bowser kidnaps a princess named Princess Peach and the protagonist Mario takes up the heroic role of saving the princess.
Toddlers Using Mobile Devices
In our class, we have discussed the ethical reason for and against allowing young children to use mobile devices such as tablets and Ipads.
Above you can see reasons such as the responsibility a parent gives when the child has to take care of the device or how it can damage some parts of their development.
I have done some research using the internet and found this quote “that digital games, which are interactive and can foster creativity”. I agree with this quote and think that children should be more creative so having these games is definitely beneficial.
(Source: https://www.whattoexpect.com/toddler/ask-heidi/kids-and-ipads-the-pros-and-cons)
Online Game Research
I went onto the boomerang website to do some research into what games developers make for children.
Scooby-Doo
As I tested this game I realized that gameplay such as this can nurture a child’s creativity and develop their artistic skills further.
Wacky Races
A game like this while seemingly is just a game it can still teach a child to cope with a loss and stop them from expecting people to give them things in the future, for example some teenagers think that job interviews will come to them if they wait long enough whereas the truth is they need to go out and find that interview.
Tom & Jerry
Presence of Racism in video games
there are many different ways racism has been seen in video games, for example, some games like grand theft auto have characters which project racist views in both negative and positive ways without any subtlety or a game like call of duty where once the player hits a milestone the playable character plays a dialog involving racist comments which cannot always be heard over the other game sounds and microphone chatter.
I think video games can be used positively and still have a presence of racism for example although grand theft auto has no censorship or subtle way of bringing things to the player’s attention, it still managed to use insensitive racist comments through the characters to bring attention to the discrimination and racism that continues to take place in the real world no matter how modern the environment is.
However, after saying this I also take into account the negative uses of racism and the effects it’s presence in a video game can cause. When talking about these effects I am referring to the influence video games can have, for example, even in adults a repetitive action such as continuous racist comments can result in the player repeating those comments without realizing it or without thinking about the consequences of the real world since there are no direct consequences of characters using such language inside the video game.
Presence of Sexism in video games
Including sexist views or implying sexist opinions through the characters and environments in video games is almost a completely negative thing to do, however, if you did add any sexist opinions into your video game then it would bring this difficult topic to the players attention and help them spot sexist people and sexism in general when walking around in the real world.
Sexism and sexist views have always been present in the entirety of the video game industry because of the stereotypes and actual demographics of the consumers in this industry. Over time many developers and publishers have included characters of both sexes and given the important roles within the gameplay. Unfortunately, a small presence still exists within the community’s inside this industry and can result in online abuse (example image below), manufacturers have taken notice of this and made it much easier and quicker to report online bullying and harassment situations like this one.
My Concept
I have quickly drawn up 3 different plot lines using the rough guidelines of the seven basic plots.
After considering it I decided to go with the Quest plotline and came up with a few extra ideas throughout the rest of the game such as more characters to engage in dialogue and an antagonist.
Story Treatment
My protagonist
Fox with a kind heart and welcoming nature who has been mistreated due to fox’s reputation. He finally finds a friend in a household dog that cannot go past the fence of his owner’s house, the fox talks to the dog through the fence and tells him about what the forest is like.
The Antagonist
Mean Mole that is large than most mole who uses fear to terrify other animals both below and above ground into stopping the fox. This mole is abnormally large and attacks both the above ground and underground creatures so that it can feed. When the fox gets past a certain stage the mole digs above the ground and tells the fox he won’t give him the dog’s ball.
Cory Robinson <_o-o_> 