Our first mission so as to speak, it to determine what product idea to use as a starting point.
We are permitted to explore either the world of film or that of video games, by presenting a theoretical release of a non-existing product from within one of these markets.
Coming up with ideas is not a problem, although settling upon a single one can proved very difficult for someone like myself. Indeed, just as Steven Spielberg once said that he has a new film idea everyday, I tend to have new game ideas on a hourly basis. Because of this, and despite the fact I have also have a number of rather cool film ideas, the decision way made to concentrate brainstorming in the video game industry.
After considerable idea bouncing within the own grey matter, it was concluded that it would be highly beneficial for to work on a project with as clear goals and as much easily obtainable material as possible. Therefore the logical choice was to utilise a game I have previously worked on, on my own as a hobby. This game came about as a project to create a full, potentially commercialisable, 3D game, using existing available graphics engines. And thus a lot of it's functionality was centered around the existing engine's own features, although ultimately, and ironically, this same engine's limitations ended the project. The project is a RTS ( Real-Time Strategy) game code-named Tactical Advances because it centers around a unique system for unlocking new units, whereby they can be unlocked in any order. It still has an active Facebook page, albeit not updated since the project was abandoned last year, that can be found at :
It contains only a very limited amount of content : 1 Animated playable character, 3 Static building types, Fully functional interface and resource collection, 1 3D world; but this is ideal since it provides a mere starting reference and style, yet will also require importing extra data and features to complete this Digital Imaging project.
For content that cannot be obtained from this husk of a game, there is a need to search further afield. Thankfully this is an educations project, and as such we are able to use the vast majority of the bewildering content available throughout the web. Typically one would be more restricted in regards to other peoples content, there are dozens of different types of licensing, but they mostly boil down to restricting content entirely, allowing it's use freely, or allowing it's use with attribution - ie. giving credit to the author. In return however one working on a commercial project would have access to the company's own libraries of data, and therefore should have very little need to resort to outside sources.
The second of today's missions, is examining existing products.
First of all let's take a look at a selection of existing DVD Amaray™ style game cases, since long are past the days where games came in full boxes, with large user manuals. The purpose of this section is to determine what they have in common and why they have been created in this way, but also what they have done differently and which is the better option - or more appropriate for this particular project. Since this project is designed around an RTS game, we will take a look at 3 RTS titles, or varying types, but also a popular non-RTS title for extra reference :
Hearts of Iron 3™
EndWar™
Red Alert 3™
Unreal Tournament 3™
We can observe that only 1 title features anything in the top-right corner, and that is the publisher's logo, whereas the other 3 opted to place this information at the bottom of the image. The reason for this, one can assume, is that Hearts of Iron 3™ opted to smother the front cover in reviewers ratings, the other 3 foregoing this in favour of a more visible, higher impact main graphic. I would suggest that the majority are indeed correct, since 7 ratings seem to clutter the front cover unnecessarily when there is sufficient room on the rear for such detailed information, although one may wish to conserve one or two key ratings or awards on the front, indeed this is precisely what EndWar™ have done, placing it in the bottom-right corner.
To start with let's examine the content on the spine, since this is the simplest part of the case, all 4 existing products follow the same model, the only minor exception being the lack of detailed font on EndWar™. They contain, the title and, if applicable, subtitle in the centre, rotated 90 degrees clockwise, this allows the title to fit appropriately on the narrow edge, whilst ensuring the text is the correct way up when the case is stored flatly. At the bottom we typically find the publisher's logo, although it must be noted that Unreal Tournament 3™ decided to omit this in favour of the product's age rating. At the top end of the spine all 4 display the same information, that is the type of disc contained within the case, and the platform it runs on, this is important so users can see at a glance if it is compatible with their drive.
Moving onto the front cover, arguably the most important part of the case, since it's what is likely to feature on all product placements and be the first things prospective customers will lay eyes on. We will explore the cover int he following manner, background or main graphic, left-right, top-down.
So looking at the main graphic we can immediately see that they try and dramatise the game and give an immediate feel as to what style you may expect. For instance Hearts of Iron 3™ displays maps and other equipment that may be required by a commander, since the game involves managing armies from an overseer's perspective, without directly engaging in the action itself. Also the slightly aged effect immediately suggests the period in which it takes place(around world war 2). The other 3 titles centre around fast paced action centered around a single character or area, and pit you directly in the middle of it, therefore they have gone with the character or area in question, centered, in large. And surrounded it by excessive action scenes. Likewise these also give you an immediate feel as to the type of game and the period of the settings.
In the top-left, we can see a repeat of what featured at the top of the spine, which is again the type of media contained within the case.
Towards the top, in large, in the centre, is the very important matter of the game's title. This is the same in all above examples. Notable details about this title are that is is written in a large, customised font, that suits the type of game and/or the period of the game and/or the words contained within the title itself(Hearts if Iron™ looks like it's written in iron sheet metal). The game's that are part of a series of releases, or from a famous author, mention such immediately above, written in a style consistent across the entire range, rather than copying this particular release's title styling. This is important if it is common to a particularly succesfull series of products, since it instantly identifies it as such.
In the bottom-left they all display the advisory ratings of the content within the product, one can assume most designers will try to keep this positioning uniform to make matters much simpler for staff and customers wanting to verify the suitability of the product, although more detail of the reason for a particular age rating can often be found on the rear, but we shall cover this in more detail later. It can be noted that Red Alert 3™ also displays that an internet connection is required, something that many may feel is typically confined to the rear of the case, along with technical requirements. However, this features on this particular title, in prominent view, because it was unusual, the game being one of the first to require such, this indeed should be noted, since it's always good practice to clearly mention any specific requirement that fall outside of normal standards, in order to avoid issues and complaints.
The final part of the overall graphic, is the rear of the DVD case, and one thing is immediately noticeable, that this section contains vastly more information, but is less visually attention grabbing, and rightly so, since by the time prospective customers view they rear, they have already been somewhat drawn in by the front cover, and will be looking for extra information on the exact play style of the game, or it's features - or perhaps only even wish to check compatibility.
Looking at it in more detail, all 4 have similar layouts in many respects.
At the top we can see that they all have an attention grabbing title, designed to draw people into reading the details below.
On the bottom of the case they also have very similar information, what some may call 'the boring stuff', in this area we can find special precautions, content ratings, barcode, system requirements, brand acknowledgments and copyright information.
The final section, in the bulk and centre of the rear is where we can see a number of differences, although they display similar information, the way this is achieved varies. Hearts of Iron™ utilises a simple 2 column system. with screenshots on the left and key features listed on the right, they have also opted out of having any background graphics behind this and opted for simple font styles, to keep it easy to read. Whereas the other 3 used fancy custom styles and background graphics, I think the latter is the better solution, to keep it appealing, and it remains perfectly legible providing one it sensible with their choices of styles and graphics. Unreal Tournament 3™ and Red Alert 3™ have employed a similar strategy, having all the features listed below screenshots, or a single one in one case. But in my opinion EndWar™ has done the best job, by providing a short description, followed by a series of screenshots with captions, for all the major features.
Finally, we should mention the choices of colours overall, and it we can see that they all broadly follow similar colour themes, as one would expect from a series of 4 war games, with lots of bloody red and explosive yellow, and gloomy black. Exceptions being Hearts of Iron 3™ that forgoes bright colours to retain a vintage feel, and Unreal Tournament™ opts for white as opposed to black, for increased contrast with the very deep red streaks.