LO4 - Final Magazine

LO4 - Showing conventions of the genre - article

In the article on the left the left page is taken up entirely by an image related to the game in question and the right page is taken up by the article itself.

LO4 - Showing conventions of the genre - contents

• While the one on the left has more colour it still has the same basic aspects as mine, with what's in the magzine on the left of the page and images of content on the right.

LO4 - Showing conventions of the genre - cover

• At the bottom of the front page there is usually some mention of what will be inside the issue. This is present in both my magazine  
• The name of the game on the cover is in roughly the same place on both cover 
• The issue number is under the title on both covers. 

LO4: Editing Proof

LO3 - Peer Assesment

Work reviewed: MGSV review


Feedback:
Grade recieved: Merit
Because thr review feels written from a personal standpoint.
And it reads like a review from an actual magazine.

Self relection: I feel as though this review is as good as I can make it and cannot think of anything else I can add to improve it.

LO3 - Game previews article: draft

Battlefront:
I've seen as many people critisizing star wars battlefront as I've seen praising it. and I don't understand why people make such a big fuss! I think it might be because the team behind battlefront also make the popular FPS Battlefield and people don't like the fact that a company more known for their explosions than their sci-fi, are 'butchering' their beloved series. After actually playing with Battlefront I can say I enjoyed myself and eagerly await the full release.


Rainbow Six siege:
Next, yet another series that has laid dormant in recent years, First Battlefront now Rainbow six. This time players will find themselves taking control of a special forces operative from a selection of organisations including: the UK's SAS, Russia's Spetsnaz and Frances GIGN to name just a few. Each 'operator' as they're called in the game has unique equipment and weapons to choose from. The equipment is where it gets interesting as the maps in the game are highly destructible. This fact allows players to use breaching charges and other gadgets to make their own path or get the jump on the opposition. I thourougly enjoyed my limited time with the rainbow six siege beta and would reccomend playing the full game to anyone who enjoys a fast-paced tactical shooter.


No Mans Sky:
This game is a bit of a mystery in the gaming world, I'll start with what we do know it's a virtually infinite procedurally generated universe for you to play around in. Technically it's an online game but according to Sean Murray, one of the leading developers on No Mans Sky, the chances of you bumping into another player on your travels are astronomical however it is possible to meet up with friends if you want to. And now we come to the big question, when does it come out? well only the developers at Hello Games have any idea as to a release date, and we can only hope that they can keep their promise of No Mans Sky before the end of 2015.


Recently played feature (Bottom of page under previews)

Destiny:
While I have owned a copy of destiny since it's initial release I stopped playing about a year after it released even though there was still  a lot to do in the game. Destiny just kind of lost me after a while. I got tired of doing the same strikes and missions to get that weapon me and my friends were after. But almost a full year after I stopped playing Bungie released Destiny: The Taken King Legendary edition which includes the main game, both the Dark Below and House of Wolves expansion and The Taken King expansion. Around the time of the taken kings release I had wanted to get back into destiny so I bought the taken king and put in the disc and I haven't looked back since. I felt like I was playing for the first time again only without the little nagging annoyances I'd had with the vanilla game. And the fact The Taken King also had a good, enjoyable story with actual cutsenes helped considerably as my main issue with the original game was it's lack of a solid story to back up what was happening.

LO3 - Editorial draft

Welcome to the first issue of Digicritic, A magazine dedicated to giving honest reviews with a few of my own opinions thrown in. The magazine will also include previews of upcoming games, for example this issue incudes two reviews, one for the Witcher 3 and one for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. While this issues previews include Star Wars Battlefront, Rainbow Six: The Siege, No Mans Sky and more. I want to talk briefly about my reasoning for writing this magazine. reason one, I've always been a gamer my friends are gamers, gaming is part of how I socialise. And reason 2 I've always been good with words so I figured why not make something from the two, and so I decided to start writing review properly, the first of which you will be reading in this very magazine.

LO3 - Witcher 3 review

The Witcher 3 Review

The Witcher 3 wild hunt is one of the most visually impressive games so far in this generation of gaming. With a huge open world and rich story and characters there are very few who could knock this game.

First of all I want to state for the record that I have not played any of the previous Witcher game but after playing the first hour of the wild hunt I felt like I at least knew a bit more about the state this world is in and who the people in it are. The story begins with your character Geralt of Rivia, a Witcher. Witchers are professional monster hunters. Geralt is searching for yennefer of vergerberg (Yes most people’s names follow the ‘someone of something’ formula) Needless to say he finds her and is pulled into a plan to locate his long missing adopted daughter Ciri, Ciri is being hunted by the ghostly riders the wild hunt. So if you’re looking for a deep story with lots of lore then you won’t be disappointed.

It’s not just story that would keep you occupied in the Witcher 3, you could spend hours following side quests as I did. Or you could explore the huge open world of Velen (where the majority of the game takes place), White orchard (where the tutorial takes place) and my personal favourite Skellige (think Beowulf with a bit of Skyrim thrown in for good measure).

One of the most interesting things in the game is the ‘Witcher contract’ quests. As you are playing as a monster hunter don’t be surprised to find a few monsters while you knocking about in the Witcher 3. These quests see you first negotiating a reward for the monsters head with the person who requires your services. Then you must figure out what kind of monster you’re going to be introducing to the business end of your sword, and prepare accordingly by making oils to coat your sword with that do more damage against a specific type of monster. Then follow tracks and scents left by the monster using your heightened Witcher senses. And finally kill it, take a trophy and collect your reward. These are some of the most fun but most challenging activities in the game.

I do have a few problems with the game, such as how the character controls. The slightest movement will make Geralt twitch and when you’re trying to interact with a small object this can be annoying, despite a patch that should have fixed this I still find it to be a problem.

All in all I think that the Witcher 3 gets and 8/10.

LO3 - MGSV review

Mgs V review

As a big fan of the franchise I found myself quite scared of what I would find when I played Metal Gear solid V the phantom pain, what with the full price, half an hour long, standalone prologue that was Ground Zeroes. And also the rumours of hidden microtransactions in the review copies.

And I am happy to say that for the most part metal gear solid V is a worthy addition to the franchise. They took a huge risk taking this game open world and leaving the very linear, story driven narrative and cutscenes that have been a staple of the franchise so far(metal gear solid 4’s hour long final cutscene). However this risk was worth it because MGS V has one of the most enjoyable open worlds I have played in recent memory. With dynamic weather effects and sandstorms that have genuine effects on gameplay, such as a sandstorm passing through that limits enemies vision so you can sneak into a base undetected. Or a storm passing overhead and the rain allows your Taser arm (Yes a prosthetic arm that doubles as a Taser) to reach further and strike multiple enemies at once.

The game does lack in solid story in the first chapter but what is there is pretty good. It’s your basic story of revenge with Big Boss waking up from a 9 year coma and pursuing the people who destroyed his life 9 years previously, while rebuilding his private army from the ground up.

Speaking of Big Boss’s private army, you the player have to ‘recruit’ new men for your army by knocking them out and attaching a balloon to their back so they can be picked up by a helicopter and taken back to base, yeah I’m serious. Building your army, called Diamond Dogs, is one of the most addictive aspects of the game though as is gradually expanding your ‘Mother base’ through acquiring resources in the open world. These resources range from gun placements to cars or cargo containers filled with raw materials.

This leads me to the parts I didn’t like so much which mainly consists of the games F.O.B multiplayer mode, which on paper sounds like a good idea. It allows you to build a secondary base away from your main Mother Base where you put spare materials and soldiers when your main base gets filled up. However this base can be invaded by other players who can steal your staff and resources. This wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t allow people to do this when you are not even playing the game. The most annoying thing that happened to me is that my base got invaded while I was in the middle of an important story mission. To avoid this I resorted to disconnecting my game from the online servers. While this is annoying it did not negatively impact my experience with the game too much.

So all in all I loved playing through metal gear solid V and will probably continue to play it for a long time. In my opinion this is a strong contender for game of the year. I give Metal gear solid V a 9/10     

LO3: Editorial planning

What do you want to talk about in your magazine- In my editorial I will talk about the fact that it is the first issue what is included in the magazine.

What is the strongest article in your magazine- The strongest article in my magazine will be the review of metal gear solid V

What experiences brought you to develop this magazine?- The fact that I enjoy video games and I feel the best use I can make of this is by reviewing them.

LO2 - Magazine assets

• Front cover - Images, Puffs, Logo, Text
• Pg 2 - Contents, images
• Pg 3 - Editorial, images
• Pg 4 - Main review, images
• Pg 5 - Side article, images
• Pg 6 - Previews, images
• Pg 7 - adverisement
• Back Cover, images 

LO2 - Indesign Practice reflection

In todays lesson I used indesign and learnt various skills regarding indesign,  I learnt how to add images and text and resize and organise them. This relates to my magazine because I will need to do this when I make my own magazine.

LO2 - Legal and ethical issues

Legal issues

Law 1 - Obscene Publications Act 1959 and 1964
 The law makes it an offence to publish, whether for gain or not, any content whose effect will tend to "deprave and corrupt" those likely to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it.

In my magazine I will not publish any content that is deemed obscene, such as promoting any extreme points of view or any innapropriate images so as not to violate the Obscene publications act.

Law 2 - The Defamation act 2013
 I will not publish any material that unfaily slanders any company or individual that will damage the companies/individuals reputation. This will ensure I do not break the Defamation act.

Law 3 - Copyright law
I will not publish anything that is legally owned by another company/individual without permission. so as not to break the copyright law.

Law 4 - Negligent Publication
The  author and/or the publisher under certain circumstances either individually or jointly, could be found liable for 'incitement' or 'negligent publication' if a reader of their publication is seriously injured, dies or suffers damage to their personal property after acting upon or using content contained in the publication.



 

LO1 - Wireframes

LO1 - Task 3

The idea that I have chosen is a combination of my gaming magazine ideas, so I will include a game review in my magazine, and I will talk about games that are going to be coming out soon.

LO1 - Task 2 - Expanding ideas

1.)Films
In this magazine I could review films that have recently come out, this could be a problem though as I could only review films that I have seen. So for this idea I would have to review films that are already out and that I can watch. Alternatively I can do a magazine about upcoming releases and the details surrounding the films story and the characters etc.

2.)Games
This magazine could also incorporate the review aspect, in that I could review games. However this reaches the same problem as the film review idea because I can only review games that I have played or have available to play. I could not review games that are not released as some game review magazines do because I have no way of getting an early press copy of a game. And again I could alternatively do a magazine about new releases of games however I don't really like this film.

3.)Sport
I could also do a magazine about sporting news. This would talk about news form all different sports and could talk about things such as transfer news or upcoming sporting events. 

LO1 - Task 1

LO1 - Fonts/Graphics

Font 1 -

Font 2 -

Graphics - The images that I use will be aqquired by myself.