Task 2 - Considerations

The Thing: Emergence Framework

Suitability
My target audience for this game is 18+ males as it will contain extreme gore and violence with a horror theme throughout the game. My game will also follow the genre of the original film with one of the main factors is paranoia playing upon the characters as "The Thing" can be hidden in a living organism, therefore this will not be suitable for people under the age of 18 as it has an extreme horror element which could possibly incur physiological trauma to a young player due to the brutal and harsh nature of the transformation stage of the alien in "The Thing". The target hardware (platform) suitability of this game will be available for most platforms including the PC. Xbox 360, PS3, PS4 and Xbox One but not for the Nintendo Wii as it is not powerful enough to run the required specifications. 

Global, national, ethnic, religious, and historical contexts
My game idea should consider global, national, ethnic, religious and historical contexts. I should consider the demographics of my game which includes choosing different genders, ages and ethnicity for the characters which people around the world can relate too. One way to address this is to have within my idea that the military base is filled with a multi national team from different countries around the world and the player at the start of the game can pick the nationality and look of the character allowing people to connect with the game. In an historic context, the environment has a military presence due to it been a top secret mountain facility.

It can also affect aspects such as religion because the story is based upon an alien entity taking over humans in a bid for world domination. This directly contradicts most religious scriptures as it is stated that humans are the only intelligent health beings in existence. Therefore, some religious group may become offended in certain countries.
There could be also political Issues such as the discussion of war and politics which could be a problem within my game as it is set on a US military base with USAF personnel as the main characters and their use of tactics. This could cause offence due to current conflicts throughout the world involving the US military, especially for countries within the middle east. 

Legal and ethical considerations
The main legal issue within my game is copyright. I will need to get permission from the owners of the rights to "The Thing" in order to produce my game. It is important for my game idea that the person who is playing it will be aware that it has appropriate content, for example, make sure it has an appropriate age rating so that everyone is aware of what the game consists of in it is not going to be offend to anyone of a certain age. Any sexual content or violence must be taken into consideration.

It is important not to mock or offend race, gender, sexuality, decency and the less able, such as the disabled. As well as this, any specific needs must be taken into consideration, this relates to my game idea because I should be careful when creating my ideas as these can affect how my is idea formed. For example, having an all male or white characters could upset a gender or race as they have no way of relating to the story line.   

Another legal consideration is libel, this is when something is when someone "writes or broadcasts through radio, television or film, an untruth about another which will do harm to that person or his/her reputation, by tending to bring the target into ridicule, hatred, scorn or contempt of others". An example of this is within my game idea, I have used a US military bunker as my main setting which, if my game idea anyway perceives it as a negative place then the reparation of the US military could be affected therefore, real life places and people have to be protected from libel proceeds. 

Localisation 
My game idea will have to follow elements such as linguistic, cultural, hardware and software, graphics identity thought out the world. For example, my game will follow the "western" art and cultural styles instead of an "eastern" style as it fits with the original story line of "The Thing", and the location it is set (North America) which would also be a determining factor for the primary language of English. The hardware and software is standard throughout the world as the current generation of consoles (including software) is globally accessible throughout the world.