Types of trailer used within the Gaming Industry

There is more than one type of trailer used within the gaming industry. Many of these trailers will be of a variety of lengths and will show different game play. The length of the trailer largely depends on where they will be displayed.  For example, game trailers shown on TV are likely to be between 30 and 60 seconds in length.  This is because time slots on TV are expensive to buy and game publishing and development companies will want to keep the audience’s attention throughout the whole ad.  Often, these types of advertisements will not show actual game footage but instead will have an animated sequence relating to the game, with a narrator  talking about the game or ratings and quotes from critics with comments about the game.  Below is a TV advertisement for the game Portal 2, I will be using the trailers for Portal 2, an action adventure strategy game, to show some of the different styles used for trailers in the gaming industry.

The TV advertisement for Portal 2 is 32 seconds long and does not feature any footage from within the game. The whole advert is animated specifically for the purpose of this advertisement and shows two characters from the game (Atlas and P-Body) trying to work the portal gun (something players of the original Portal Game will recognise). The main focus of the advert is on the portal gun, you can tell this from the start of the advert, as the portal gun is the only thing in focus. Jump cuts are used often to keep it flowing continuously.

Non diegetic music plays throughout the first scene; this is very laid back, light hearted and not incredibly serious. This part of the trailer is intended to be comical, something that may hook viewers to it and keep them interested. This scene also ensures that it shows how the portal device works as this is the main aspect of the game.  The portal guns and portals themselves work as iconography for the game, because after the original Portal’s big success, they are recognisable to many gamers and may entice them to buy the sequel. 

At around 0:18 in the trailer, the light hearted background music takes on a more serious tone before becoming faster paced. The diegetic sound of the character GLaDOS speaking can be heard. She has a very powerful, female robotic voice and this will be, once again, recognised by players of the original game.  Many features of this new game are show cased within the trailer, but due to the fast paced nature of the second part of the advert, it does not give very much away.  This trailer makes sure to show off the graphics for the game, but also the detail and structure of the facility in the game itself. 

As the music becomes fast paced, there is more action within the scene,  P-Body and Atlas use the portal gun to accelerate through portals and the trailer ends with Atlas firing a portal right in front of him as he nears a wall. At the same time, GLaDOS leaves the trailer with ‘we’re going to have fun.......with science’. Using a phrase like this is inviting people to play the game as it is talking as if you are actually going to be playing this game. Finally, the trailer ends with the Portal 2 logo, the logo of VALVE (the developer and publisher) and the icons of all gaming platforms this game is able to be played on (PC, XBOX and PS3) . It has the text ‘Pre Order now’ in a large blue font with the name of the game’s website underneath. This form of typography draws your eye and ‘Pre Order’ denotates that this game is soon to be released.  GLaDOS’s voice over states ‘Rated everyone, 10 and up’ which is the ESRB rating for the game. I think however that this advert is aimed at an audience over that age and aims to serve a target audience of 14-20 year olds. I have come to this conclusion because of the complexity of the game play. 

This second trailer is more of a preview trailer. This was first released at spike TV’s VGA’s (Video Game Awards) where VALVE showcased it. It is one minute and 15 seconds long, not short like the TV trailer. This is because, unlike the TV trailer for Portal, they do not have a limit to the length and gamers are the people viewing it already, so they do not need to worry about gaining the attention of viewers.

 

This trailer is another one that does not show game play, but rather, sets the scene, using animation of the characters involved (P-Body and Atlas). The trailer starts off with a warning from ESRB, stating that the trailer may contain content inappropriate for children. ESRB are a well known age rating organisation and therefore this warning is a semiotic to the audience. By having this, it also begins to reinforce the intended age group for the game (Young adults). 

From the very onset, this trailer helps to set the scene, the sounds of machines and fog are used, along with many close up shots of machines working to build something.  A shot is shown of the top of one of the machines, where the ‘Aperture Science’ Logo is, this logo is a semiotic to the Portal games and is well recognised. This scene cuts to an extreme close up of a circle, which envelops in light and becomes the eye of a robot.  Non Diegetic music plays from here onwards, setting a more upbeat atmosphere.

It zooms out from this scene, to show the whole view and you see two robots alive but still being built, one of these (Atlas) is a lot more uneasy about this process. They both greet each other before the panel beneath them opens and they both jump down. The camera follows Atlas down a tube, spiralling and becoming lighter before finally fading out to white.  

The Portal 2 logo is then shown; fading out to show the box art of the three consoles it is available on, along with ‘Pre Order Now’ and the official game website. At the bottom of this is the VALVE logo and small print, noting copyright details. This is situated in this area and made this size as it is of no importance to the audience.

This trailer is more about introducing new characters within the game than showing off the game play or game workings themselves. It does not feature any previous characters (such as GLaDOS as featured in the TV advertisement) and focuses solely on P-Body and Atlas, show casing their personalities to the audience.

After being shown at the Awards, this type of trailer would be used for online advertising, such as on YouTube.

This is the full Portal 2 trailer. It is one minute and 57 seconds long and  was probably made for website or internet display. It could also have been used occasionally for the TV.  It starts off showing machines moving and working to build something, some of this footage was shown in the previous trailer.  

From the very start of this trailer it has a voice over by GLaDOS, one of the main characters and the villain figure of the original Portal. Her voice is easily recognised due to its robotic tone.  She addresses the audience as she speaks stating ‘YOU don’t know pride’, rather than ‘they don’t know pride’. This draws the audience in and gets them involved.  The fact that she is talking to P-Body and Atlas, but addressing the audience at the same time, puts you in the shoes of these two robots,  getting you more involved.

At 0:20, after both robots have fallen down the shafts, the Portal 2 logo appears on screen, this time with ‘Cooperative testing initiative’ underneath it. By having this, it shows what particular aspect of the game this trailer seeks to advertise. After this has been shown, non diegetic, upbeat, fast paced action music plays and a sequence of game play shots are played, again with GLaDOS guiding the way through it. These show some of the puzzles needed to be solved within the game and real levels are used within these sequences, introducing the game play of the game (despite the fact that the game play sequences are scripted).

The music is stopped at a dramatic part of the game, this is done to create suspense and the music is re-initiated when this dramatic moment is over. By creating suspense, it works as a way to draw the audience in and create interest. At 1:10 in the advertisement, the game play is zoomed out a little and the Aperture Science logo is shown, projected against the wall panels. Again, Aperture Science serves as a semiotic to the Portal games. The quick sequences of game play are shown, each game play scene isn’t very long, to keep interest and they are played consecutively. Another animated scene is shown at 1:28 and shows the two main players in the cooperative mode of Portal 2, running in slow motion towards the camera. This type of editing is seen often in action movies and is used to simulate bravery and courage. 

The final scene within the trailer is a test, zooming out, showing a variety of dangerous tasks to complete. It has the dialogue of GLaDOS, the villain within the game, talking and ends with ‘don’t disappoint me, or I’ll make you wish you could die’. Using dialogue like this adds dramatic effect to the trailer and paired with the sound effects, screen play and GLaDOS’s voice, it works well at leaving a cliff hanger. Because of this, people who are intrigued by the tasks within the game are likely to want to buy it. The trailer ends with the words ‘Cooperation begins 2011’. This is in a large, white, slanted font, partially encased in blue brackets. This is used to draw your eye to it as the white stands out well from the grey and black walls of the facility, shown behind and the blue brackets do well to also attract your attention.  Because Cooperation (2 player abilities) within Portal games is a new feature, this phrase is used to draw interest and attention.

The trailer ends with a familiar black screen showcasing the Portal logo, with copyright details in small print below.

I think, due to the more aggressive and tense nature of this advertisement, it is aimed at young adults, rather than at any age group, as some of the previous ‘tame’ adverts have seemed to be.

Finally, I will be analysing the Teaser trailer. Teaser trailers are released long in advance of the release of a game. For instance, this advert was released  in June 2010 when the game was only due for release in April 2011. These adverts are used to ‘tease’ the audience and get them excited about what is currently in production.

This trailer is notably different than the previous Portal 2 advertisements I have studied this advert  because it advertises single player within the game (all the others have shown multi player). This time, the whole of the advert consists of game play, areas within the game and cut scenes. It shows the worn down and overgrown Aperture facility and starts off with the villain, GLaDOS, waking up. She addresses the audience, saying “it’s been a long time”. This will appeal to players of the original Portal game as they will know her from the first game, released in 2007 and making it a long time since they probably played last. It also points to the fact that this game is set far into the future.

I think that this advert is probably aimed mainly at previous players of Portal, as it states ‘I think we can put our differences behind us’ which also refers to some of the events seen within the original game. This advert is definitely aimed at teenagers and young adults and sets a very dark, even spooky atmosphere.

The trailer is short, only 59 seconds in length and would probably be used in cinemas before films, at gaming conventions and events, for TV or on a website. No transitions or special effects are used within this trailer, however, many zooms and pans are used. This is to set more of a scene because at this stage in the development they probably did not have many completed parts of the game. Zooms and pans are used to make it seem like something is always happening and to keep it interesting.

The trailer ends by flying into a Portal. This is commonly used throughout all of the adverts, no matter what type. The Portal 2 logo and ‘Coming 2011’ are shown at the end.  GLaDOS’s dialogue ‘you monster’ is used for humour as she is clearly not putting your differences behind her. The use of the word ‘you’ addresses the audience, gets them involved and makes them want to play. 

Now I have looked at 4 different style models for trailers, I will be taking a look at some TV Spot gaming trailers, but also at some Teaser Trailers intended for TV. I will be doing this because 2 TV advertisements are required as part of my final piece within this project and I feel that by looking at some examples of these types of trailer, it will help me gain more knowledge on how to present the trailers I will be creating.