ACT307 - Viral Marketing - 10 Credit FMP

Over the past few weeks I've been working on my final major projects at Ravensbourne. One I've been getting most excited about is this one which I'll be doing for the 10 credit brief - ACT307

D&AD Brief;

Take Nando's into the 21st Century by expressing the brand's spirit and passion through viral advertising.

Most viral creatives are either a video clip (live or animated) or an interactive game. Either is suitable as long as the parameters of humour, engagement and essential 'forward-ability' are met.

Target Audience;

Primary - students but without being exclusive to this audience
Secondary - broad; both sexes, the young and the 'young at heart'

I went to Nando's Saturday night at 8pm and it was completely packed out, I can say that it was definately a majority of young people there. The only people there that were actually older than me and my girlfriend would be the parents with their children. There were a handful of couples in their early 20's but mostly Nando's was occupied by groups of teenage boys or girls.

This is the target audience I will be mostly focusing on.

Audiences...

I find audiences an interesting topic when it comes to gaming, Bing Gordon (one of the founders of EA Games) talks about the three ages of gamers. Here is my summary of how he breaks it down;

Pre-adolescents - Kids upto the age of teenager play games for the power, the like being in charge. At school they get bossed around, at home they are controlled by parents and picked on by older siblings. In games they have the freedom and the control to do as they wish.
Teenagers - Looking for alternative identities, playing games with a good narrative, story or strong characters. In life they're at the position where they need to be thinking where they are going with life and what they are doing? Games allow teenagers to try new roles and alternative identity.
Adults - Adults play games for mental stimulation and the self-improvement element that comes with certain games.

He goes on to mention how the 3 ages of gamers play the same game differently, for example a flight simulator; The pre-adolescents would try make the plane crash in the most spectacular way, achieving dramatic explosions. Teens would try the most death defying stunts whereas adults play flight simulation for the simulation. They get the experience of flight school without having to pay £hundreds, they feel they're learning a new skill.

I'd like to apply the 3 ages of gamers to an array of different games and see, as an experiment, just how differently different people play the same game.

I recommend...

I Wanna Be The Guy (2007)
by Kayin

Quite Possibly the hardest game in the world? An exercise in level design. Some games utterly fail down to bad level design unintentionally, I Wanna Be The Guy purposely sets out to make the experience as hard as possible - all the while using some sweet references from popular video games (Zelda, Tetris, Street Fighter etc.). It ends up becoming a game of trial and error mixed with some memory game as you try and try to get past even the first level.
Here is a crazy video of some poor guy attempting to get past the first screen...

I recommend...

Knytt (2006)
by Nifflas

A great example in game design and really enjoyable game if you ask me. Knytt has a real atmospheric feel to it and the world it is set in. The exploration element drives the game and keeps you playing until completion.

I recommend...

Understanding Games (Parts 1, 2, 3 & 4)
by Andreas Zecher



Here is a lesson in game design, it covers the basic elements in a playable flash game form. The elements covered are; rules, motivation, learning and identification in games.

I recommend...

First off in my series of recommendations is...

Crayon Physics (2007)
by Kloonigames

Now this is a game you simply must play. It works really well and the graphics are spot on. By drawing shapes you must guide the ball to reach the star which is usually in some difficult location - this then takes you to the next level. Below is a walkthrough video.

Something to get you excited (Part 1)

Here are a few examples as to why game design is an exciting area of study and should be taken more seriously in terms of a design, storytelling and interactive medium.

Nintendo Wii
Starting with the obvious, you all know about the Wii - But here is some information you should also know;
The Wii has done something no other home console has managed to achieve and that is to reach a much wider range of audience. Try and name a console, or a game for that matter, other than the Wii that has elderly people playing video games. Or a console that gets the very-young playing as well. Or even a console that encourages such social interaction.

Nintendo DS
The DS is a favourite of mine for so many reasons, I could go on about it all day but don't worry I won't. The DS is a very exciting system for both the gamer and the developer, for the gamer it offers mobile handheld gaming at it's very best. Well 65 Million people can't be wrong. You've all seen the crappy adverts with pointless celebs playing brain training, ignore them the DS is so much more than that.

The touch screen makes gaming a joy and brings a whole new level of interaction in terms of gaming, take Nintendogs for example (see below)- where you play owner to your very own selected dog. The DS touchscreen allows you to touch, poke, prod, stroke, tickle and play with the dog bringing a much more personal approach to the table rather than just pressing 'Button A' on a controller to stroke the dog. Also, with Nintendogs the built in microphone on the DS is utilised superbly - you can call the dog by it's given name through the microphone and the dog will respond to your voice. The microphone is used in such a creative way that really adds to the feel of many games, in MarioKart there is a mode where you have to blow some balloons up to protect your Kart and you do this by blowing into the microphone. On Super Mario Bros. DS there is a mini game where you have to blow a character to the top of the screen as fast as possible.



I think there is still a lot of room for great new creative ideas using and combining these features.

More on this another time...

Collection of a few bad input devices in the early gaming years

And a collection of few newer/better ones...

First Post

Hello,

Welcome to nm-id

You'll be able to see my work as a designer and other related stuff.

Let me tell you what I'm in to...

Game Design...retro Games... forgotten gems... great games that must be played and shit games that must be played - just for design purposes. Kind of like a how-not-to-do-it.