Written Analysis #4

This week’s written analysis is regarding the application of the concept of formulas, i.e. the structure all mediums of pop culture follows.  Like a math problem, formulas of pop culture involve various parts working/coming together as a whole.  While this is not a topic directly relateable to my topic of last year’s new console launches, it is completely relateable to the systems and their video games.  The respective pieces of technology within the systems that rely on each other to work properly are what can be considered the “formulas” of the Xbox One and Playstation 4.  Additionally, the features of the systems as well, such as the ability to play games, watch movies, listen to music, and get online can be included in this.  The above usually comes standard in every new console, making them the convention of the systems.  The evolving technology under the hood of each generation of consoles, the changing element of the formula, is considered the invention.

Every genre of video game follows a specific formula, be it a shooter, sports simulator, motion fitness game, action/adventure game, etc.  For the sake of this short analysis, I will briefly touch on the formula for the recent Xbox One release, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare.  This game is a multiplayer shooter, which follows a pretty standard/often retreaded formula for a video game due to its increasingly frequent use.  Formulaic elements of an online shooter include numerous game modes (ex: Capture The Flag, Team Deathmatch, Survival), usually two opposing factions (plants and zombies in the case of this game), and simple goals such as outlasting all of the other players or getting the most kills of anyone playing.  There is not much more to it than that.  This formula is almost at the point of being abused as most game developers simply follow it to a tee and fail to change it up or creatively add to what has been done already.  As a result, a lot of the previously mentioned elements of the shooter formula are conventions, as they are almost always present in every game to fall under that category, no matter what.  The genre really lacks changing elements such as the inventions of formulas, which could be a problem for it in the long run.

I gained a lot of insight from applying this concept to my topic.  Prior to this, I had an idea of what formulas were, but was not too familiar with things such as the conventions and inventions of them.  Applying those to the system I own and one of the games I play on it allows me to better understand the application of formulas in the realm of video games.  While I only applied it to one genre for the sake of paper length, it is easy to tell that the shooter could benefit from more inventions (changes/deviations) as opposed to the many conventions (staples/constants) the genre has become increasingly known for.