Visual Rhetoric

The two websites that I chose to compare were IGN and Gamespot. I frequent these two sites quite often due to the fact that I am an avid gamer. Both websites are extremely similar in both their structure and audience. The target audience for both websites would be 18-30 year old males. This is typically the age group for "gamers". This audience is also reflected on the advertisements that run on the sites, as they are video games, movies, and products that would appeal to this demographic. As far as structure goes, both IGN and Gamespot have a toolbar at the top of their page that allows the user to be directed to reviews, trailers, and various consoles. This is then followed by the main story, which is accompanied with a large image that takes up a majority of the page. Other top stories, usually around 4, are listed horizontally after the main story. The rest of the page is filled with articles that are organized by most recently published. On the right side of both websites is a list of games that were just released, organized by the best review score. This allows the reader to easily view the best games out at the current time. Even though IGN and Gamespot are very similar, I believe that IGN has a more visually pleasing website. Everything is organized neatly, and the pictures that accompany each article are scaled nicely. On Gamespot, I feel like the pictures are too large and take up take much space, leading to a jumbled website. This just goes to show how important visuals are to the average person. If Gamespot had balanced their images, the website would be much more organized, and I would be more likely to visit it.