Pong was one of the original home console games, released on the generation 1 consoles (such as the Magnov Odyssey and the Nintendo Colour Television, released in the early to late 1970s). It was advertised as fun for the family, considering that the game is extremely simple the developers should advertise this to the family because they are very simple to understand how to control (compared to today's consoles when you are required to learn around 16 different controls and multiple mechanics). The only mechanics in this game are that the ball deflects off of the paddles and that the score increases every time a point is gained. The only other games to compare it to would be Space War and Tennis for Two, they had the same primitive look, however what really got Pong going was that it could be played at home on a small console rather that a bulky computer (which could have taken up a full room at the time). Another point is that since this was one of the very few ideas of games at the time it was almost required to target the largest profitable audience, to get the product going.
Candy Crush is one of the most popular mobile games ever made. It was created because of the growing market of mobile games, not just on phones and ipads but on social media sites too. The target audience was for everyone that has one of these devices or accounts. The reason for this is that is because it is a puzzle game with a simple mechanic, of matching the same coloured icons to score points. What makes this game popular (aside from the trendiness of it) is that it is filled with "Juice" (game designer jargon), this means that the imagery is nice to look at the, music and sound effects are catchy and the game is "addictive". The game is also seen as a time waste while you are on the go. There have been multiple puzzle games before it, however the design of the games has not changed that much. The reason is because it is meant to be accessible to everyone without it causing frustration and that is does not need to go much further if it is to be accessible to all ages. Apart of the trendiness of the game, the marketing for this was colourful and had variations of people using the game (showing that everyone could use the game if they wish). It also implied a more excitable reality than the bland one we have. The main thing that is comparable to these games before mobile games (which only got popularity in the last half a decade) would be classic atari 2600 games and accessory computer games (like minesweeper), the formula for these games has always remained the same. The only changes are the sound effects and the look.
Super Mario Bros was one of the most well received games made on the NES. By this time (the late 1980s) most of the games being made were advertised to children and young teenagers. The two main audiences for this were the European and America audience and the Japanese audience. The western audience marketing was made to show how popular the icon of Mario was and showing the major audience, asking if you want to part of the popularity of the game.
While the Eastern advert was to show the style and additions of the game. Showing how "cool" the game will be but also show the challenge for the game. The game follows the classic Mario Bros style of a 2D platformer, with power up's and world stages, it also was the first Mario game to have an world map screen. Each stage also had a gimmick with some unique enemies and mechanics. Another point is that the game was also difficult to complete, the reason was because children couldn't constantly buy games (unlike teens and adults today) so the harder the game was the longer playtime children would have with it. Super Mario Bros games today are much easier (New Super Mario Bros 2 is proof of that). The game is colourful, has delightful music and sound effects and is packed with content (it even has a copy of the original Super Mario Bros arcade and different co-op modes). It also had new mechanics for 2D plaformers at the time.
The first Resident Evil was one of the first console Horror games ever made. As well as that it was one of the earliest franchises that was made exclusively for adults. Since this game was a 3D game during console generation 5, it had some limitations that the game designers actually worked to their advantage. In this game you couldn't control the camera (they were at fixed angles at certain points), the way this worked well was because it added to the games suspense, it was difficult to properly move and the enemies could easily kill you if they closed the distance, you had to act fast to survive. One more point is that the Consoles at the time could only render a short distance, they worked this to make the unrendered locations appear to be fog. This added to the atmosphere of the game (not knowing if enemies were in arms reach of you made every decision you make critical). Since most games are now so advanced, they rely on suspenseful jump scares (an exception to this was the more recent P.T, even though it still used some jump scares).
The marketing for this was very different for western and eastern audiences. The western marketing made it seem more of an action game than a survival horror game. The reason for this was because the marketers were not sure of what the public and the target audience would make of this genre. Other games before this that were seen as horror games were like the 2D Castlevania series, they focused more on intense action, atmosphere and challenge, rather than actual scares. The only games before this that were targeted at adults were quite rare, normally they would go for older teens (Mortal Kombat Series). The Eastern advertisements (that refer to the game as "Bio-Hazard") show more an emphasis on the atmosphere rather than action and show of the 3D perspective, however the trailer has a rather joyful song as it is played. I can't tell if it is for contrast or to fool the audience.
Total War Rome 2, is part of the Total War strategy franchise. This game franchise was advertised as one of the best strategy franchises ever made. The game was made specifically for PC because consoles at the current time (7th generation/turning 8th generation) couldn't handle the performance that the game requires to work well. The adverts for this game had one thing in common, the tagline, How far will you go for Rome. All trailers had an ambience of what made the Total War series shine (the benefits, threats and strategies for running and conquering human empires, through war, assassination and diplomacy). Considering that it uses these themes and is a strategy game with complex mechanics, the target audience for this was adults and older teens who understand these issues or have played previous instalments.
Batman Arkham City is a 3D fighting action game that was made in 2011 during the 7th generation. It was made as a sequel to Batman Arkham Asylum. Even though the game was a 15 rating, it was targeted to mostly teenagers and comic book fans. It is also acclaimed as one of the best games of the year and best Arkham game. The game design was improved mainly in two aspects, the environment and the combat. While the previous game was very compact and only had very minimal space to traverse the asylum, Arkham city made it into a much larger area, where you are free to glide around the map as much as you wanted. The combat was also improved by adding more moves and gadgets without the combinations feeling too complex. The trailers for this game were mostly about the location (Arkham City) and the plot (about Hugo Strange knowing Batman's identity). The idea of the advertising was to get the teenage audience with the improvements and gameplay and to get the comic book audience with the variety of characters that people could see in the other trailers. It was a combination of both gameplay elements from the previous game put together. If this game was released in generation 4 (during the Sega Genesis and the Super NES) the game would have been marketed towards children (like other Batman titles at the time, such as the games based on the Tim Burton movies), however this shows how much the industry has changed in a few decades and how it has improved. Compare this game to the game "Batman" on the NES and see how much more evolved this is (a 2D side-scroller combined with upbeat music and stylish graphics). Previous fighting games (such as Final Fight 3) were mostly based on the beat em up style of gameplay rather than other aspects, such as story and characters. It was also marketed and sold to all platforms to increase sales and awareness. The developers knew that they did not need to advertise the game to much because of the success of the previous game. Even the name of the game "Batman" would easily sell the game.
