The game that I chose to research into was Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, the age rating for Crash Bandicoot is an ESRB E meaning that people of all ages can play it, the genre of the game is a Classic platformer. The game was released in 1998 by the development team known as Naughty Dog as an exclusive for the Sony Playstation and is the third instalment into the Crash Bandicoot series. The aim of the game is for you to control a mutated Bandicoot known as Crash as you platform through 3D levels and collect crystals and gems to stop the evil forces of Uka Uka and Neo Cortex from taking over the world.
The game has had 18 instalments with the original three being playstation exclusive, it has since branched out onto multiple console and been developed into multiple genres such as Crash team racing (part of the racing genre) or Crash bash (part of the party genre.) AS of 2002, Crash Bandicoot: Warped has sold over 5.7 million units worldwide and was so popular that he became the mascot for the Sony Playstation. A remastered version of the original Crash games are coming to the new playstation 4 in 2017 which uses the same games but with updated controls and graphics for todays standards.
Below is information for the game I am researching, the information is both quantitative and quantitative and shows a huge amount of information about peoples opinions on the game and the demographics involved in both the game and general gaming. However, the majority of research I have conducted is aimed towards quantitative information, this is due to statistics being easier to find on the internet and more accessible for me than qualitative research. With most qualitative information I do not find out the essential facts needed such as the demographic of a person, an example would be a review from IMDB, they will give me their opinion of the game which could be either a good review or bad and it can be helpful, the only problem is that a majority of people will not disclose vital information such as their age or gender which is a huge role when it comes to researching a demographic. This leaves me with a single opinion of one person who could range from young to old, male to female and doesn't help me the information I need.
The game has had 18 instalments with the original three being playstation exclusive, it has since branched out onto multiple console and been developed into multiple genres such as Crash team racing (part of the racing genre) or Crash bash (part of the party genre.) AS of 2002, Crash Bandicoot: Warped has sold over 5.7 million units worldwide and was so popular that he became the mascot for the Sony Playstation. A remastered version of the original Crash games are coming to the new playstation 4 in 2017 which uses the same games but with updated controls and graphics for todays standards.
Below is information for the game I am researching, the information is both quantitative and quantitative and shows a huge amount of information about peoples opinions on the game and the demographics involved in both the game and general gaming. However, the majority of research I have conducted is aimed towards quantitative information, this is due to statistics being easier to find on the internet and more accessible for me than qualitative research. With most qualitative information I do not find out the essential facts needed such as the demographic of a person, an example would be a review from IMDB, they will give me their opinion of the game which could be either a good review or bad and it can be helpful, the only problem is that a majority of people will not disclose vital information such as their age or gender which is a huge role when it comes to researching a demographic. This leaves me with a single opinion of one person who could range from young to old, male to female and doesn't help me the information I need.
Quantitative
2015 Essential facts survey
Essential facts found out in 2015 the percentage of gamers from multiple ages, below is the results they have gathered.
Under 18 26%
18-35 30%
36-49 17%
50+ 27%
Essential facts also found out multiple facts about genders in gaming such as the male gender has a higher percentage of players than female but it is almost quite even. They also found out that women age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33%) than boys age 18 or younger (15%) which shows a big difference in the stereotype of games being aimed at a male and younger audience. The final information they received was the average age of gaming for both genders.
56% male
44% female
Average female is 43
Average male is 35
Average overall gamer is 35
Console PS4
Using the intelligence slice website I was also able to find out the age of players to certain consoles, as you can see below they have compared the age of online console buyers and what consoles they have bought, the results show that younger generations between ages 18 to 34 are more likely to go with the Playstation console. This information helps me to see which age group are more likely going to be interested in the game I am researching due to it being a Playstation exclusive.
Using the intelligence slice website I was also able to find out the age of players to certain consoles, as you can see below they have compared the age of online console buyers and what consoles they have bought, the results show that younger generations between ages 18 to 34 are more likely to go with the Playstation console. This information helps me to see which age group are more likely going to be interested in the game I am researching due to it being a Playstation exclusive.
Crash Bandicoot 3 warped
Another survey I found was conducted about the actual game I was researching which also helps me to look at the age and genders I will be researching. As you can see the Male gender dominates the percentage for the audience of Crash Bandicoot showing me that I can narrow a lot of my research to be aimed at males. This doesn't mean I will not include female opinions or information in my primary research though. I can also see that the media age that plays crash bandicoot are at the age of 23, this allows me to know which people I should go and ask the questions to as they will have most experience about the game.
IMDB
Another source I found was on IMDB which shows the ratings that people gave of different ages and genders, as we can see female players rated the game higher but there less participants for the female gender meaning the male rating has a higher accuracy due to more opinions. We can also see that the majority of individuals who rated this game were aged between 18 - 29. This correlates with the last piece of information which shows the median age to play crash bandicoot would be 23.
After conducting my secondary research I can conclude that the audience I will mainly target are going to be young males between the ages of 18 - 29. This helps me to narrow my search down when it comes to conducting my primary research as I know which audience to target and ask questions too, however, this does not mean that I shouldn't ask people of other gender and age, it just helps me to concentrate highly on the audience that are most likely going to give me the answers I need.
Qualitative
Youtube
A great piece of qualitative research can come from youtube and an example of said piece can be found below in this video by a youtuber known as caddicarus. The reason as to why I can use this for qualitative research is due to the creator of the channel sharing information about himself, as I have learned from looking at his twitter he is a 22 year old male which correlates with my quantitative and demographic research perfectly. Another great use of this channel and creator is that I can find out the psychographic of the person himself, by combing through his videos and looking at his different social media platforms I can find out information such as his behaviour to video games as a whole, his behaviour to people, how he acts as a person and more.
This can be helpful but it doesn't necessarily mean that how he acts and his opinions about the game speak for every male within their 20's, making the information a bit more biased to my quantitative research. I can battle this though by finding more opinions and information by different people either using primary research, finding more creators like him on youtube and searching through forums.
Disclaimer: This video contains strong language
This is a second qualititative video by another youtuber known as square eyed jack who also correlates with the average demographic I found in my quantitative research. The reason I included this youtuber was to have a side by side comparison from this video to Caddicarus' as to show how people's opinions and experiences change allowing me to add to my psychographic theories and analysis.
Disclaimer: this video contains strong language
If we compare both of these videos we can see an automatic contrast, the first video praises Crash Bandicoot: warped and gives his opinion of it being the best whilst the second video gives more negative points and even though he still enjoyed the third instalment he found the second game to be the bets of the trilogy. Psychographics is involved in this segment because you can tell by analysing the youtuber's videos what kind of people they are and how they behave. Both are Males between the ages of 18-23 but both have different opinions and deliver their opinions in different lights comparing different mechanics in game, comparing the series as a whole, stating their favourite games etc. You can also see psychographics in the way the video has been edited and how they speak with the first video being quite upbeat and filled with more wit and humour where as the second one has a more serious tone to it.
Geodemographics can also been used as an example here as both youtubers are from different countries, the first youtuber is from England whilst the second lives in Australia, these factors could play a role in how their opinions are formed due to the influences around them. This could also have an impact on how they interpret gaming as a whole and how they wish to portray the videos they have created. However, it is hard to consider Geodemographics in this instance due to there being a minority of participants that I have analysed.
Sources:
http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ESA-Essential-Facts-2015.pdf
http://www.tntg.org/documents/gamefacts.pdf
http://www.tntg.org/documents/gamefacts.pdf
