Task 3

I went to the national media museum to look at the video game history section. I thought it was very interesting and fun, because I could play the video games displayed. The first video game I played was Super Mario Kart, I liked the video game I thought it was fun and the colours used were bright. The target audience for the video game is kids, because it is fun and has a little violence like throwing a turtle shell on the other drivers, which wont be noticeable to children because they already throw things around, so it kind of draws them into the game because they can throw things at other people in the game and not get told off for it, so it makes it fun for kids to play. The video game is about racing but the characters in the game are from the adventure game Mario, apart from Donkykong who was in the first Mario game called Donkeykong where Mario was called Jumpman and he had to jump over barrels to get to the highest floor to save The Lady later called Pauline. In 1982 Mario was the villain guarding Donkeykong in Donkeykong Jr which is a sequel to the game Donkeykong, this is the only game where Mario was the villain. In 1983 Mario had his own game called Mario Bros, where Mario had a younger brother called Luigi. They both were plumbers and had to defeat creature that are coming from the sewers below New York city. The next game that was released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, was Super Mario Bros where Mario ends up in the Mushroom kingdom, and has to save Princess Toadstool later called Princess Peach who was kidnapped by Bowser king of the Koopa, who is the leader of the turtle like koopa race.

The next game I looked at was called  Sonic The Hedgehog 2, I though the video game was fun and the target audience was kids, because the game was very colourful and simple. The graphics were a 16 bit cartridge and when the game first came out people really liked the game so they ended up getting hedgehogs as pets. The console to play the video game was Sega Mega Drive. The video game is about a hedgehog called Sonic and his friend called Miles Tails Prower who is a fox. Sonics nemesis called Dr. Ivo Robotnik has captured woodland creatures and trapped them in robots to take over the world. He is looking for the seven chaos emeralds to create an armored space station called the death egg. Sonic and Tails have to embark on a journey to collect the chaos emeralds and stop Dr. Ivo Robotnik's plan to take over the world and save the woodland creatures. There is a little bit of violence in the game, its when you fall on spikes and die, but apart from that I think the game is for kids.

I also looked at Pacman which was released in 1980, the video game was fun and I think the target audience was everyone because, the video game is simple and everyone enjoys it when they play, but it is usually played by kids. Pacman is now an icon for the 1980s pop culture. The video game is about the character Pacman, who is the yellow circle that is in the image on the right. You have to eat the pac dots also called pellets and you eat fruit that appears, if you eat all the dots then you move on to the next stage. In the maze there are also four bigger dots, called power pellets when eaten they can give Pacman the ability to eat his enemy's, but the effects only last a few seconds and as you move on to the next stage the effects don't last as long as they did before. There are also four enemy's in the game, they try to catch Pacman and if they do, you lose a life and if all your life's are lost then the game is over.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade is a video game released in 2009, the video game can be played on the console Wii. I have played the video game and I think the graphics of the game is great. The video game is 2D, I really like the art style of the game, I think its great because it has a sort of traditional Japanese art feel to it. The target audience for this video game is teenagers because there is a lot of violence, monsters and killing which is not suitable for kids. In the video game you can play as both the characters shown on the image above, the male character is called Kisuke, and the female character is called Momohime. This game has three different ending for each character. 

Dante's Inferno is a video game that was released in 2010, the video game can be played on the Xbox 360, and the PlayStation 3. The video game is about Dante journey to save his wife from Lucifer. In the beginning of the game Dante was told to collect a relic from someone, but on the way of his journey he was literally stabbed in the back and killed. Dante is a crusader who committed atrocities in the war, and was told by a Bishop that his sins were Absolved. When Dante was confronted by death and judged he was told that he's going to hell for what he did, Dante refuses his judgment and defeats death in battle and takes his scythe. He then goes home and finds his wife Beatrice and father Alighiero brutally murdered, Beatrice's soul appears but is taken away by Lucifer and then Dante sets off on a journey to save her by going to hell. This video game has a lot of violence and gore so the target audience would be 18 and over. 

I don't think the old games I have talked about have any ethics, but the last two games promote a lot of violence, determination. Muramasa promote's swords because in the video game you have to collect a lot of swords and forge new swords as well. So people playing the game might want to buys swords. Dante promotes determination in a relationship, because his beloved Beatrice was taken by Lucifer and Dante doesn't stop until he rescues her, so people playing the video game might want a strong relationship where they would do anything for the one they love.