Media text is a method in how a specific media is presented and how it is delivered to the consumer, each media is presented differently and is also usually consumed differently to the rest. Examples of different medias include - video games, newspapers, radio and television. Each one of them projects different meanings and is consumed differently by the individual person. The two pieces of products I will be comparing today are both video games. Just Dance 2014 and The Last of Us.
Semiotics:
Semiotics are hidden or sometimes even unintentional messages left in a piece of media that then get picked up by the consumer and are though on and about.
For example, a movie might have a hidden message that is being presented throughout the movie in different ways, such as in objects in movie sets or in certain way that a specific character might be speaking about something, the consumer then can pick up these messages and consume them and think through them on their own and make up their own conclusions, sometimes leading to different understandings than the author/s intended. In many cases, due to sloppy planning, hidden messages can be found by the players even when they weren't intended to be any hidden meanings/messages.
A great example of such a thing is something that is called 'The Indoctrination Theory', a theory sparked by the fans of the franchise Mass Effect to explain the terrible ending of Mass Effect 3 which ended the trilogy. The fans found tons of evidence suggesting that the main character that the player played as throughout the trilogy, was in fact indoctrinated by the 'Reapers' (machine invaders within the game with their only agenda being to wipe out all biological sentient life - the main evil in he story line that the player will battle through the 3 games) and in fact the ending is the way it is because of that.
The amount of evidence that was collected and verified as valid by the fans create an hour and a half documentary film explaining everything.
Additional documentaries adding onto the evidence were later created, to this day the developer of the game haven't spoken about the matter but the fans suspect that all will be explained in Mass Effect 4. This is a great example of how bad planning (or is it bad planning?) can spark different message reading within the media consumer.
Another great example of a semiotic, this time within the poetry area, is a poem written by Zbigniew Turek, a Polish thinker that during the occupation of Poland in 1939, wrote a poem in occupied Lwów (today Ukrainian Lviv) that was then sent, accepted and awarded by the communist government and even commented on by Stalin himself about how great it is.
Semiotics can play a vital role in the depth of a media piece and can form many opinions and win the specific product many awards for its cleverness.
When trying to find semiotics in Just Dance 2014 and The Last of Us, most of them will be found in the Last of Us, because it is a very story driven game, while the Just Dance 2014 is just a fun, casual dance rhythm game. Sure, there can be some hidden messages in the background of dance scenes in Just Dance 2014, referencing some other film etc. but that's about it. While in the Last of Us, the game teaches us how friendship is very important, by having the player go through the relationship with Ellie, the sidekick within the game. And also tells many different stories that sometimes cannot be spotted if not analysed in-depth.
Genre:
The game genre defines what the game is, what it does and how it specializes itself. There are many, many genres within the gaming industry and there are also a lot of sub-genres attached to the main genres that describe the game's type in a more detailed way.
This allows the customer to know what they are buying into, the genre tells them exactly what the game is like and what it is about. It is also easier on the marketing department, because when they know the genre and sub-genre of the game they are going to market, then they are able to much easily direct the adverts towards the specific audience that is going to be more interested in that specific genre, which in turn minimizes the costs of advertising but increases the income of the product.
Just Dance 2014 is a dancing rhythm game, while the Last of Us is a single-player survival apocalypse game with sub genres such as horror, adventure and puzzle. Both games have their specific audiences and they both have their specific flavors within each other. For example, while Just Dance 2014 is a great game for parties, includes co-op and is all about the dancing and the fun, the Last of Us might be a great gaming experience for a more diverse gamer.
http://www.nintendolife.com/games/wiiu/just_dance_2014/cover
http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/ps4-games/1400999/the-last-of-us-remastered-review
Content:
The content of a media piece is its insides, what does it have for content? and how much of it does it have? The content is everything within a piece of media, from the selecting/starting screen to what is going on later on, on the screen. The more content a piece of media has, the more time consuming it becomes to through it, of course, the quality of produced content also is very important, nobody wants to produce a movie that lasts 10 hours and that is extremely boring.
When comparing the content of Just Dance 2014 with The Last of Us, we can immediately see that the content is prepared for different audiences and with different purposes in minds. Even when looking at the above box art we can see that.
Just Dance 2014 has very colorful, bright and exciting content for teenagers and kids, it's a simple dance-rhythm game with pretty static backgrounds, it mainly focuses its budget on actually acquiring the licenses for many famous songs which can be very expensive, rather than spend it on technology or a wide amount of content in game, the content comes from the artists that the producers buy licenses from.
The Last of Us is completely different however, it focuses on a story driven, complex, deep world to immerse the player in, therefore the quality within the game as well as the amount of content is very high and very well polished. Most of the budget in this game was not spent on acquiring expensive music licenses, but rather hiring people to create a lot of high quality content for the players to enjoy and to be immersed in.
Both games have their audiences, and when done correctly, both yield good results, when considering content for a media piece, a producer always needs to consider what audience he is aiming for.
Construction:
The construction of a media piece is the inner workings of it, so how it ticks, its basic mechanics, and how complex/deep it is. Again, dependent on what audience you are aiming for, it will depend what mechanics and how complex mechanics you decide to include into your product. Each target audience likes only a specific amount of complexity in their games and therefore it is important to get the balance right.
Just Dance 2014 has very simple mechanics, its mechanics are mainly based on dancing and rhythm syncing. Apart from that there are no other mechanics, it's just a dancing-party game that is fun with a group of friends.
When coming to the Last of Us however there are many more complex mechanics involved, there are several different things that happen within the game world that can also changed based how the player reacts, therefore, there are tens of mechanics involved within the game.
Off that conclusion, The Last of Us is a far more complex game, however, as said before, both games are designed well based on their target audience, half sober teenagers during a party wouldn't appreciate a super complicated dance game, just like a hardcore and dedicated gamer wouldn't accept a downgraded and simplified game.
Codes and conventions:
Codes and conventions are known techniques and 'standards' within the media industry that are practiced and expected by everyone, both the consumers and the producers. For example, in an action video game you wouldn't expect to be a lot of strategic, top-down thinking, because that's not the agenda of the video game and customers wouldn't expect it either. You would expect a lot of action, shootouts, explosions etc.
It is important for the producer to keep the codes and conventions, in their bases, the same, so that when a player plays their game, they won't feel alienated by the game, by things that are unusual in that kind of game. So that the game feels similar even when it is a new game.
Some producers however decide to break those codes and conventions, innovate in something, change something, in most cases, this ends in a disaster, but to the few companies that manage to do it, it got them a lot of fame, income and they have permanently written themselves into the cards of gaming history. A perfect example of a franchise that broke the codes and conventions not once, but twice, and change the face of the gaming industry, forever changing how FPS's and not only them would look like. Half Life 1 and Half Life 2.
Modes of address:
The modes of address, as the name suggests, is the way the game talks/interacts with you as the player. There are 3 main types of modes of address, the first one being first person, using words such as 'me' and 'I', second one being in third person, using words such as 'He', 'Used' etc. the game basically narrating your actions. And the last one is done in sort of god's form, as in, the game is telling you exactly what to do, in the case of Just Dance, it tells you dance to that specific song in that specific manner, so treats you as a minion, in this specific case then, it is the game that is the god and is telling you the commands while The Last of Us is done in the third person and the game narrates your actions throughout the play-through, and you can be a god of your own actions and have your own 'puppets' to steer throughout.
Dependent on what mode of address the maker of the game picks, it will have a huge impact on immersion, story telling, as well as the mechanics and the very base of the game.
Target demographic:
Target demographic is used in terms of business, i.e. selling the game once its completed. Each game has its own target demographic, that way, they can focus their marketing on that certain group, it is a well known fact that specific age groups have their niches, likes and dislikes, therefore, target demographic needs to be specific (what audience do we want this game to go to?) otherwise the marketing section of the publisher/game developer can't really create adverts that will satisfy, because they will have to create an all around advert that will fit in most categories, but won't excite anyone for the product. This means less sales, that's why target demographic is set, so that the marketing section will know what kind of advertisements they need to produce to excite that specific audience.
Not only that, but the game itself has to reflect on that, if a game is aimed at teenagers, it cannot be something boring like logic games, it probably will not sell very well in that demographic, aim it at older people however, and bingo.
It is therefore the matter of getting the balance right, of picking the right target demographic, and then designing the game and the advertisements to that specific demographic.
When we look at The Last of Us and Just Dance 2015, we can immediately see that they both have different target audiences. The Last of Us is done in a very moody environment and art style, it is in the middle of zombie apocalypse, not a happy time to live in, it is done with 2 survivors fighting for their life, with a lot of action and good story telling, clearly, this game is aimed at more hardcore teenagers and adults that game.
Just Dance 2015 is very colorful, literally exploding with colors, having all the latest and most popular songs. Here, we can see that this game is aimed more at those casual teenagers who don't really play that much games but like to have occasional video game fun on parties.
Not only that, but the game itself has to reflect on that, if a game is aimed at teenagers, it cannot be something boring like logic games, it probably will not sell very well in that demographic, aim it at older people however, and bingo.
It is therefore the matter of getting the balance right, of picking the right target demographic, and then designing the game and the advertisements to that specific demographic.
When we look at The Last of Us and Just Dance 2015, we can immediately see that they both have different target audiences. The Last of Us is done in a very moody environment and art style, it is in the middle of zombie apocalypse, not a happy time to live in, it is done with 2 survivors fighting for their life, with a lot of action and good story telling, clearly, this game is aimed at more hardcore teenagers and adults that game.
Just Dance 2015 is very colorful, literally exploding with colors, having all the latest and most popular songs. Here, we can see that this game is aimed more at those casual teenagers who don't really play that much games but like to have occasional video game fun on parties.
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