Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
ASCII character set) and were extremely simple in appearance by today's stan-
dards for visual complexity, but they provided gripping gameplay.
While playing text-based games, players used their imaginations to invent what
the characters and environments looked like. In creating games for today's mar-
ket, game makers assume that task.
One of the first things a designer needs to consider is who the intended audi-
ence for the game is. This is known as the
demographic
, and research regarding
what exactly a demographic may want in a game tends to be an ongoing com-
pilation of data from game sales, interviews, Q&A testing, and observing focus
groups.
Who is Your audience?
You have a great idea for a game and are ready to jump right in and begin
designing. Before you even write out the short synopsis, you need to identify
the genre, or gameplay style, and the demographic. In other words, who is your
audience?
Demographic Traits
Designers identify demographics for games by studying some of the following
traits:
Age of the player
Gender
Amount of time spent playing games
Gameplay styles preferred
This information is gathered through phone interviews, analysis of market
surveys, and trade journals. According to the 2011
Sales, Demographic and
Usage Data
compiled by Entertainment Software Association (ESA), 72% of
American Households play digital games. ESA also found that the average age of
the game player is 37, but the average age of the most frequent game purchaser
is 41.
The ESA provides good information about the distribution of the age of players,
as seen in Figure 5.1.
ESA also identified the distribution of players by gender, as seen in Figure 5.2.
