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nrik v He d a apa l sk Ma WHAT ARE THE GRAPHICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ASIAN AND WESTERN PLAYBALE FEMALE GAME CHARACTERS? And what do people with different ethnic backgrounds prefer? Bachelor Degree Project in Media Arts, Aesthetics and Narration 30 ECTS Spring term 2017 Lolo Lin Supervisor: Helena Granström Examiner: Lissa Holloway-Attaway Abstract This research aimed to investigate game developers' preferences and graphical differences between Chinese and Western female game characters. Parts of the survey were conducted in China and in cooperation with Game Hub Scandinavia (2015). For this research, an image analysis and two models were made. The image analysis analyzed common elements that exist between different female characters from Chinese and Western game toplists. One model was based on a Chinese game toplist and the other model was based on a Western game toplist. The survey was conducted through Internet surveys and interviews. Results showed that there were graphical differences between games from Chinese and Western game lists, but there is not a significant difference between game developers' preferences. Keywords: Localisation, Gaming Market, Cultural Differences, Character Design Table of Contents 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 2 Background ........................................................................................................ 2 2.1 Gaming Market ....................................................................................................... 2 2.1.1 Localization - blending .................................................................................................... 2 2.2 Culture Differences ................................................................................................. 3 2.2.1 Graphical differences ...................................................................................................... 3 2.2.2 Ideal ................................................................................................................................. 4 2.3 Character design .................................................................................................... 5 2.4 Female characters in game ..................................................................................... 5 3 Problem .............................................................................................................. 6 3.1 Problematization ..................................................................................................... 6 3.2 Method .................................................................................................................... 6 3.2.1 Image analysis ................................................................................................................ 6 3.2.2 Modeling .......................................................................................................................... 9 3.2.3 Interview .......................................................................................................................... 9 3.2.4 Survey ........................................................................................................................... 11 4 Implementation ................................................................................................ 12 4.1 The choice of games ............................................................................................. 12 4.2 Image analysis ...................................................................................................... 12 4.2.1 Limitation ....................................................................................................................... 12 4.2.2 Study part. 1 – Games from CGWR .............................................................................. 13 4.2.3 Study part.2 – Games from IGN .................................................................................... 15 4.2.4 Summary of self-created character characteristics ....................................................... 16 4.3 Work process ........................................................................................................ 17 4.3.1 Planning ........................................................................................................................ 17 4.3.2 Concept ......................................................................................................................... 18 4.3.3 Modelling ....................................................................................................................... 19 4.3.4 UV-mappning & texturing .............................................................................................. 23 4.3.5 Result ............................................................................................................................ 25 4.4 Survey .................................................................................................................. 26 4.4.1 Pilot study ...................................................................................................................... 26 5 Analysis ........................................................................................................... 28 5.1 Implementation of survey ..................................................................................... 28 5.1.1 Loss ................................................................................................................................... 28 5.2 Results presentations ............................................................................................ 29 5.2.1 Results of Chinese survey and interviews – Indienova & Zhangjiang Network Technology. Co. 29 5.2.2 Results of Western survey – GameDev.net and Facebook ................................................ 34 6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 40 6.1 Summary .............................................................................................................. 40 6.2 Discussion ............................................................................................................ 40 6.2.1 Discussion of methods and selections ............................................................................... 40 6.2.2 Discussion of problems ................................................................................................. 42 6.2.3 Discussion of results ...................................................................................................... 43 6.2.4 Discussion of the study’s benefit for the society ............................................................ 44 6.3 Future work .......................................................................................................... 44 References .............................................................................................................. 45 1 Introduction Asia has the largest gaming market in the world and China has the largest share of it. According to a webarticle from a "global market intelligence firm" Newzoo (2016), the gaming market for the whole world already pulled in about $ 99.6 billion in April last year. Asia accounted for 46.8 billion of revenues from gaming and China alone accounted for nearly 24.4 billion of all revenues. Game companies from Western countries can see China's game market as a gold mine, but the problem is that it is difficult for Western game companies to penetrate the Chinese market as well as for China to increase marketshare in the outside world. In 2003, approximately 50% of the Asian games that were sold in the Chinese market were South Korean, and only 20% of all games sold in China were from Western countries (Simon, 2015). Lai Chi Chen asserts in a research article regarding differences in aesthetic game design that Asian games favor "cuteness" whilst Western games prefer to portray "masculinity" (Chen, 2013). This may be due to cultural differences between geographical areas and that subject have been explored futher into the study. To understand the differences in game graphics between China and the West and to understand why people with different ethnic backgrounds favor certain visuals before others requires investigation. The motivation for this study was expansive, because the gaming market affects the game development process. A possible consequence following geographical integration would be an increased demand for game developers and thus a market growth in the game development industry. The objective of the study was to examine the differences between Chinese and Western 3D graphics to see what are the preferred styles that game developers of different ethnic backgrounds have. The results of the survey serve as a basis for future research on players' preferences of game graphics. It's important to note that differences in player's preferences of game graphics exist and are culturally dependent for the sake of globalization of the game industry. This is true especially for Chinese developers intending to develop games for a foreign market. The focus of the study was on the graphic differences between Chinese and Western game characters, even what graphical representation that game developers with different ethnic backgrounds prefer. The study used a quantitative online survey with objective questions as well as qualative interviews. The online