Idea & Initial Programme of Activities:

 

Throughout this research project I have focused on the users and how they play video games, moving forward I need to apply this to a physical space for the final major project. Although this research has been aimed at people who play video games my design proposal will be open to a wider audience. My initial ideas are that I will create a multi-use space in which people can design their own video game character that they can then use as their player character in a video game playing area of the space. It may be that I draw from MMORPG’s in that the user can interact with other people’s characters as a social experience. The final question of the survey showed that 56% of respondents would like to go to a studio to design their own character, this is a lower figure than I would have hoped but the question did not specify what type of studio so I will ensure that the space has a variety of activities to cater for different types of user.

 

The key questions in the survey that I think can be translated into a space involve perspective and control of character creation, therefore the space may have either two key areas where the user is in either first or third person perspective, or five key areas where the user can be given a character through to having no character.

 

Ideally the space can be used from 9am through to say 1am as I think the type of space can be used for both daytime activities but also in the evening for example, a large number of people can watch and take part in a mass video game tournament. The age range of video game users is broad but different generations will play different games, Minecraft is extremely popular with five year olds but they won’t (or shouldn’t) be playing Call of Duty, therefore different times of the day will suit different types of users.

 

As I want to involve a range of elements of game creation through to playing the space should be quite large. There is no specific location that applies to the users so I have decided I want to pick a site in Derby as I've grown up here so I'm passionate about the area. Derby has been going through regeneration, in particular the Intu shopping centre (Westfields until recently), and soon to open is the new velodrome near the football ground. In terms of video games, Derby was home to Core Design, a British video game developer, founded in 1988 and best known as the developer of the Tomb Raider series before Crystal Dynamics took over, there is even a road called Lara Croft Way.

 

Chosen Site: