BA dissertation ideas

[stocko2k]

just started my planning for my dissertation on my ba and have some ideas for what i would like to write so looking for feedback on my ideas and which you think would be the most interesting read. Once i have decided on the topic i will start to do my research and may ask some questions of the members here so i can get opinion as well as facts, i might also do a few surveys that if people would be so kind as to complete them would help me to get some numbers that will help me with the paper.


heres the initial ideas.....

Violence in videogames:
For this topic there are a few things I could look into but i'm drawn towards looking at what constitutes cartoon violence and why cartoon violence is seen in a less harsh light than realistic violence by the media and general public.

I would be trying to avoid the whole do violent games make the player violent and instead trying to find out why mario can wip out species of flying turtle and people smile but if the player can kill a hooker to get his money back its considered evil, even though both these things are digital entertainment and not real life. i would probally do a questionaire to see what other peoples opinions are on the matter so its not just political papers and my own opinion on the matter.


Ethical decisions in the games design process:
This was the 1st area I thought about looking into when I knew I had to write a dissertation, I wouldn't want to delve too deeply into the ethics surrounding games such as do the manufacturers use child labour in a sweatshop in Botswana, more along the ethical and moral decisions the designers make in terms of story and gameplay, did Rockstar games ever think that killing the hooker to get your money back in gta3 was a step too far and what was the decision process that ended with the feature returning for a further 3 games.

i would like to ask actual game developers about this and get examples of when they have had to drop an idea due to the content and when they decided the game would need a certain feature to remain the vision they had originally planned.

Casual vs hardcore (market and the gamers):
for this I would like to look into the differences between the casual games market and the hardcore market, with games like mario party and rayman raving rabbids selling almost as many copies as the call of duty and final fantasy series' respectively who are the gamers that buy these games is the wii only played by 6-12 year olds and their grandparents does the playstation only appeal to 18-35 males with a thirst for headshots and dismemberments.

lots of surveys and questionaires for this 1 aswell as looking at sales figures for key titles to see if it was the casual players that bought the game or the hardcore section, i would also need to clearly define what make each group.

Does marketing always equal sales:
this idea is aimed at showing that although marketing has a huge effect on games sales is it the only factor. Why did games like gta3 which didn't have a huge marketing appeal and was rarely seen in a newspaper for anything other than being called evil sell as well as it did. How did world of warcraft garner over 1 million users in its 1st 2 years when it had zero advertising in the mainstream media and why did blizzard feel the need to start an advertising campaign in the last 3 years. Call of duty modern warfare 2 had a huge advertising campaign and as such became the fastest selling videogame of all time breaking all 1st day sales record in not only the games industry but also the movie and music industries too, would it have sold as many copies if the marketing wasn't there.

mainly sales figures based but would also do a survey to see what makes the public buy games.

Are games gender specific?
Although the obvious answer is yes, and with games like the imagine series on ds being specifically for girls aged 6-12 do games like resident evil 5 and halflife 2 exclue the female market. are the servers for counter strike a male only domain and what would the female gamer need to be introduced to include them in these male dominated worlds of testosterone battles.

mainly a survey based topic but i would like to talk to game devs about the decisions they make when create thier ideas as to what demographic they want to cater for

[Sharvo]

Ok, i just finished my BA where i got a first in animation and the dissertation is so important for your grade, but i dont want to get in to that too much as a grade is a bit of paper. Its more what you can do in a 3d application that will you get you a job.

Dont do violence it has been killed over to many people do it and it is more an essay you would do at the age of 16, so many people have done it. Once again casual vs hardcore we all know the rant people have about it, if you were gona do this think about how studios have adapted to this, so their are now niche markets within games, like japan had a cocktail game etc. Bit vague their sorry. As with gender specific this again where is the substance in this argument you answered all 3 of those in the paragraph you wrote.

People at my uni looked at how light effects the mood in film and how it portrays the story, subliminal messgaes in games and film. I looked at realism, mainly visual realism is what we seeing really true, so i did a history of realism. I then did case studies so, i looked at avatar, the simpsons and mianly second life the game and i did a diary of what i was able to do on second life, why people went on it and how people make a living on it and think it is real.
My last chapter was then about the future of visual realism, what will be the future, i then did a survey on what people prefered, films like avatar or toy story 3, what they wanted to see more of.

My other idea was going to look at stereo 3d and will it change the way media is distributed, will everyone jump on the 3d bandwagon and what will it mean for us students who will now require to learn stereo 3d etc.

So out of the five are really like your second one i think that is your strongest idea, you can then go into those 3 other areas of gender, casual vs hardocre and violence as maybe sub headings i dunno? I hope this has given you an understanding, which uni you at anyway?

[stocko2k]

the course is held at st helens college, but the awarding uni is liverpool john moores.

i was thinking that the ethical decisions idea would be a good 1 to do just thought it might actually be pretty tough to get in contact with game designers to get the information i would need

[Talon]

Are you looking to get into games art as a career?

If so, do the dissertation around something you can build as an art project. An artist who can discuss violence in videogames 'til they're blue in the face isn't much use if they're not a good artist.

Or dig deeper into the design elements of games and their effects on the player. Why do certain games do things and it works, while others do it and it doesn't. Effects of artistic style on the game. What elements would you add to a game to make it addictive. Which games are the best at scaring their players and how.

[Sharvo]

erm well im not sure what kind of events you have their but next friday-sunday is the eurogamer expo in London with various companies were you can ask questions too i did that, also find people on here or their websites and get in contact with them, if you cant get in contact what about the smaller companies or mod teams?

[stocko2k]

strange hour long double post

[stocko2k]

i went eurogamer expo last year when it was at manchester wanted to go london this year but cash isnt available i will be trying to contact as many people as i can through thier website contacts and on here.

[evelynz8735]

Ok, i just finished my BA where i got a first in animation and the dissertation is so important for your grade, but i dont want to get in to that too much as a grade is a bit of paper. Its more what you can do in a 3d application that will you get you a job.

Dont do violence it has been killed over to many people do it and it is more an essay you would do at the age of 16, so many people have done it. Once again casual vs hardcore we all know the rant people have about it, if you were gona do this think about how studios have adapted to this, so their are now niche markets within games, like japan had a cocktail game etc. Bit vague their sorry. As with gender specific this again where is the substance in this argument you answered all 3 of those in the paragraph you wrote.

People at my uni looked at how light effects the mood in film and how it portrays the story, subliminal messgaes in games and film. I looked at realism, mainly visual realism is what we seeing really true, so i did a history of realism. I then did case studies so, i looked at avatar, the simpsons and mianly second life the game and i did a diary of what i was able to do on second life, why people went on it and how people make a living on it and think it is real.
My last chapter was then about the future of visual realism, what will be the future, i then did a survey on what people prefered, films like avatar or toy story 3, what they wanted to see more of.

My other idea was going to look at stereo 3d and will it change the way media is distributed, will everyone jump on the 3d bandwagon and what will it mean for us students who will now require to learn stereo 3d etc.

So out of the five are really like your second one i think that is your strongest idea, you can then go into those 3 other areas of gender, casual vs hardocre and violence as maybe sub headings i dunno? I hope this has given you an understanding, which uni you at anyway?












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[juliew9855]

Originally Posted by evelynz8735

Ok, i just finished my BA where i got a first in animation and the dissertation is so important for your grade, but i dont want to get in to that too much as a grade is a bit of paper. Its more what you can do in a 3d application that will you get you a job.

Dont do violence it has been killed over to many people do it and it is more an essay you would do at the age of 16, so many people have done it. Once again casual vs hardcore we all know the rant people have about it, if you were gona do this think about how studios have adapted to this, so their are now niche markets within games, like japan had a cocktail game etc. Bit vague their sorry. As with gender specific this again where is the substance in this argument you answered all 3 of those in the paragraph you wrote.

People at my uni looked at how light effects the mood in film and how it portrays the story, subliminal messgaes in games and film. I looked at realism, mainly visual realism is what we seeing really true, so i did a history of realism. I then did case studies so, i looked at avatar, the simpsons and mianly second life the game and i did a diary of what i was able to do on second life, why people went on it and how people make a living on it and think it is real.
My last chapter was then about the future of visual realism, what will be the future, i then did a survey on what people prefered, films like avatar or toy story 3, what they wanted to see more of.

My other idea was going to look at stereo 3d and will it change the way media is distributed, will everyone jump on the 3d bandwagon and what will it mean for us students who will now require to learn stereo 3d etc.

So out of the five are really like your second one i think that is your strongest idea, you can then go into those 3 other areas of gender, casual vs hardocre and violence as maybe sub headings i dunno? I hope this has given you an understanding, which uni you at anyway?

Thanks you for the post.

[stocko2k]

hmmm didn't realise the post actually went through so now ive double posted it