5/20/2018 Magazine Research

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Gaming Magazines

5/20/2018 Magazine Research

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Magazine Analysis

Titles

Games, Play Station Magazine, XBOX 360, XBOX ONE,

Nintendo, PC GAMER, PlayGamer, GAMES MASTER, PLAY,

PC PowerPlay, GAMEINFORMER, Gamer for Windows,

GAMEPRO, Gamer, OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE.

Genre

Gaming/Consoles

Target Audience

6-8+ - Ninendo

12+ Games, Play Station, XBOX 360, XBOX ONE, GAMES

MASTER, Games for Windows

15+ PC GAMER, PLAYGAMER, PLAY, PC PowerPlay,

GamePro, OFFICAL XBOX MAGAZINE

18+ GAMEINFORMER, Gamer

Common Features

Large title at top of page, Somebody or something to do

with the gaming genre (Character from game, developer,

symbol, console, etc.), main/primary feature, secondary

features (reviews, tips, details, news, etc.), barcode, eye

catching details.

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The pure white masthead uses a

colour scheme of different shades of

cold colours as the Joker (the central

visual interest) is a dark character.

This also gives contrast to thecentral visual interest and

background.

The banner uses a popular subject or

something interesting and big news

above the masthead to draw in

readers, much like a subheading.

The central visual

interest is a recognisable

character, in this case:

half is the Joker and half

batman from Batman

Arkham Origins showing

their similarities, their

differences and showing

they are made to combat

each other. The central

visual interest states the

feature of the magazine.

The central visual

interest is large and

detailed to give a sense

of importance on this

magazine. The colourscheme keeps the black,

white and blue shading

to contrast with the

separate headings and

subheadings on the

page.

The large black subheading with

white background against the

blue shades behind it gives this

subheading more importance

over the other subheadings as it is

more visible for its contrast. This

subheading will pull in readers asthe XBOX ONE is popular and

interesting to a large audience.

These three

subheadings show

they are less

important than

the banner, XBOX

ONE subheading

and the feature as

their colour

scheme blends in

with the

background but

with a darker

shade, so its still

visible but states

its importance.

The Sims 4 doesnt

have a large

audience like

more popular

games but still has

popularity so

people will read

the article. OUYA

is a console tryingto be kick-started

online to become

a console to rival

the popular

consoles, so

people who like

electronics will

enjoy that article.

The making of the

PS4 can draw in

two audiences,

the electronics

audience and the

Play station

audience.

The GODUS subheading

has the same shading and

colours as the threesubheadings on the right

of the page giving the

same similarities as the

background, stating

importance of this

subheading. GODUS is an

independent game that

was on kick-starter and

gained a moderately large

audience. GODUS had a

subheading on the cover

for its popularity and

gameplay. So the article

would pull in two

audiences, Independent

game players and players

The very large main-heading on the magazine is the feature article in this

magazine: Batman Arkham Origins, the same as the central visual

interest. This heading has the largest text on the page, as well as the

magazine title. Doing this the large text is easy to see in size and contrast

to the central visual image, this can pull in readers and fans of the

Batman Arkham series. The small subtitle below it: How Batman: Arkham

Origins brings next gen design to todays consoles explains in a few

simple words about what some of the article is going to cover, so this

could draw in audiences of technology, fans and general readers.

The final small subheading is an explanation of what

the magazine will highlight in this issue. They have a

variety of games to pull in a large amount of readersand fans of these games. The popular ones like The

Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Battlefield 4, Dota 2 and

Killzone: Shadow Fall all have very large audiences

and fans, so by having a small highlight with multiple

games can pull in an audience without having to put

any information on the cover of the magazine.

Overall the colour scheme of this magazine are different shades of blue, white and

black, giving off a dark, gloomy and a bit of a horrific look, representing the Joker.

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The masthead uses a colour scheme

of white and red, to be visible

against the sky and ship in the

background of the magazine. The

colours also correspond with Edward

Kenways outfit (the central visual

interest)

The White banner at the top of the magazine uses a font similar

to the font used in the Assassins Creed logo. The banner uses the

Playstation 4s upcoming games to draw in the Play Station

audience and general readers.

The subheading

Secrets revealed:

WATCHDOGS

continues the colour

scheme used on the

cover of this

magazine of red,

white and black. Thissubheading is

creating hype and

pulling in readers for

the new upcoming

game WATCHDOGS.

Using the game in the

subheading will pull in

the readers

interested in

WATCHDOGS and

also having secrets

revealed adds more

hype and makes the

reader more

interested in reading

the article and buying

the game.

The central visual intrest on the cover of the magazine shows

Edward Kenway from Assassins Creed 4: Black flag. His outfit

matches the same colour style as the text on the page of white,

black and crimson red. The ship in the background establishesthat Edward is a sailor but the pirate flag then also states he is a

pirate, which shows the game has a pirate genre. Finally, the

blood on his sword and the dead man on the ground also shows

the game will have combat and blood, pulling the reader in.

The large heading of the

magazine World

Exclusive: Assassins

Creed 4: Black flag

backs up the central

visual interest of Edward

Kenway. World

Exclusive shows the

game is important and

big and this is attractingthe reader to buy and

read the article pulling in

a large audience of

Assassins Creed fans

and the general reader.

Below the heading three

subheadings are below,

detailing whats inside:

New combat system

detailed attracts the

fans of AC, the technical

readers and the general

audience. historical

setting exposed shows

the setting of the game

will be exotic and

important in history

showing the game is

interesting, pulling in AC

fans, maybe history

game fans and the

general audience. Naval

warfare evolution

shows the game has

naval combat and that it

is new and evolved from

previous naval battles,

attracting the AC fans,

perhaps people who likecombat games and the

general audience. Finally

the size and importance

of the heading shows it

is the feature of the

magazine

Revealed THIEF

emerging form theshadows is a

subheading

surrounded by a red

circle whilst the text

is white like the

colour scheme.

Revealed THIEF

states the article will

have details about

the game THIEF

which would be

interesting to the

fans of the old Thief

games or audiences

who like stealth

games. Emerging

from the shadows

refers to the genre of

the game and themechanics of the

game of stealth, so it

could help with

showing the genre

and gameplay of the

game to pull in

First look: The Witcher 3:

Wild Huntthe first RPG of

the next generation keepsthe colour scheme of the

magazine. The Witcher has

a large audience to attract

so having an article on the

Witcher 3 and mentioned

in a subheading on the

In the Highlights it covers the

articles inside of a variety of

genres like: Saints Row IV(Action), Pikmin 3 (family, Kids),

Simcity (Construction), Gears of

war: Judgement (Third person

shooter). By simply outlining the

contents inside, the magazine

can pull in a large amount of

Overall the

colour

scheme uses

colours that

match to

the central

visual

interest of

red, black

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Heart of darkness refers to the

central visual interest and the

feature of the article. Heart of

darkness is implying that Garret (the

central visual interest) is the centreof darkness, that he is pure darkness

and that he works with it. It uses a

colour scheme with the rest of the

double page spread of cold colours

and their different shades of blue,

white and black.

The small subheading to introduce

the article reads: Eidos Montreal has

a proven track record when it comes

to reinvigorating old IP, and now the

developer has set its sights on one of

gamings classic cult properties.

Referring back to the old thief games

and how they are re-imagining it.

On this double-page spread, Garret

is used as the central visual interest,

the colour scheme of white, black

and the various shades of blue

match with Garrets outfit, using cold

and dark colours to reflect the

personality of Garret.

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The important part of this small corner is

the start of the word WATCH DOGS and

the title Games but to improve, the

magazine could have the border visiblearound the corner to fill in the empty

space. The banner is at the top of the

page because that is where the reader

will begin to read.

In this larger rectangle, the large G of

Games and WATCH DOGS is

contained in most of the rectangle.

They could have improved by changing

the colour of the G in Games and

WATCH DOGS so they have contrast

against each other.

Inside the largest rectangle, the entire

title of WATCH DOGS, the G and A of

Games and the small circular

subheading that reads: PS4 INFAMOUSvs TITANFALL XBOXONE. The

subheading is placed at this rectangle

because it is close to the top left corner,

where readers often begin to read

showing this subheading is important.

This is the rectangle that has the central

visual interest inside: a character from

Elderscrolls online which is the feature

article of this magazine. They could have

improved by making the central visual

interest smaller so the face fits directly in

the centre.

In this top third of the page, there is a

banner about WATCH DOGS, the title

Games and the subheading about

Infamous and Titanfall.

In the centre third, there is the central

visual interest and two subheadings on

The Order: 1886 and League Of

Legends. It could be improved by

making the central visual interest

smaller.

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Magazine Design Ideas

Title

Sanctum, Game Reviewer, Game Analyser, Game player,

Game City, Game Domain, Players Guide

Fonts

Prisoner SF, Platinum Beat BTN, Diamond

Heavy, Cinema Gothic BTN Inline, Bolts

SF, Gothic821 CN BT, Folio XBd BT, Galaxy BT,

Diamond SF, Horizon BT, Invers SF, OCR A

Extended

Colour Scheme

Target Audience

6-8 +, 12+, 15+, 18+

Features

Large title, large heading, banner, multiple

subheadings, central visual image, maybe small

highlights paragraph, feature heading, background,

interesting colour scheme, barcode, price

Genre

Multi-platform games

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