Codes and Conventions of a computer game advert

The Sims 3

Genre:

The genre The Sims tends to come under is virtual world/ simulation. This is because you as the game player, has to keep these people alive by fulling all of the things they need. This includes food, showers and a job. 

Duration:

The Sims 3 TV spot advert is 31 seconds long. It has been made this way to give you an insight into what you can do when you are playing the game. 

Content:

When watching the game trailer you can see the different things you are able to do with your characters. It also shows you how the life of this character can be changed in different ways. You see this in the trailer when some of the characters are shown to have a clothes change, including one woman that goes from her maids uniform to a wedding dress and a pizza delivery boy that ups his game and turns into an astronaut. This could show the change in aspiration of a character as well. Other things you can see change are the weight of a character. On top of this though the trailer includes a voice over which is speaking over the action, informing you of the game that you can be about to play. 

Sound

The use of diegetic sound within the game trailer can be heard when the characters are cheering and talking to each other in the clip, by having this in the tailer you as the viewer are going to know what sound to expect when playing the game unless your already a fan of the game. As well as this Non-diegetic sound has also been used, this can be heard when the narrator is talking. This is a good thing to have included in the trailer as it tells you what to expect when playing the game as well as telling you whats happening in the clip, for example telling you of the jobs you can get in the sims, or even a person becoming fat or getting rich. The use of sound effects become important in the trailer also and this becomes apparent when one of the male charaters suddenly becomes fat, this action is accompanied by a strechting noise, which can be seen as comedic.

Editing
Editing is also important in the game trailer. To help it flow, seamless editing has been used, this means the story to the trailer isnt confusing buts simple as you are only shown a couple of settings throughout and this is all that is put together. However from saying this, you can tell that cuts have been used in part of the trailer. Disolve is another technique that has been used, you can see this when the clip goes from the sims in the city streets to a full shot of the sim city.

Mise En Scene

A lot of different things can be seen when watching the game trailer, this includes the location of the footage which is of course, Sim City. The characters of the game are then seen to be stood on a large hill over looking the city. These characters are then seen rushing down the hill into the streets of the city where you find out more about what the game has in stool for you as a gamer.
The costumes in the trailer are also a big part of it, some of the things you can see are people running around in their underwear, dresses both formal and informal, baseball caps, jeans and you even see people in their work outfits whether it was a suit, maids uniform, wedding dress, space suit, pizza delivery outfit, it is all shown the the consumer of the product. By doing this you are enticing people to buy the game, but potentially showing them more about it than they realise.
Props are also used. Throughout the clip you see the pizza box, a book, a television being stolen as well as a lamp. But each item can be brought by a sim in the game. 

Channel for broadcast:

Many game advertisements are shown on channels such as ITV, film channels and sometimes children's channels such as Nickelodeon. This means many people are going to see the trailer as its reaching a wide range of people. This is where the target audience becomes important. 

Target Audience: 

As the game has been created in America, the game ratings are different there to here. Initially the US game rating for The Sims 3 was T13 meaning that it was a game created that is suitable to teenagers. However when released as a British game, the rating is now 12. Ratings are used in many countries to ensure that the content of the game is suitable for a certain age. Other things that are included when looking at the target audience for the game are rating symbols, for the Sims both symbols for violence and sex have been used, this then suggests to the viewer or potential player of the game why it has its certain rating/target audience.