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Senior Server Engineer
Nestled in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, The Amazing Society is a full service development studio comprised of industry veterans who are passionate about making high-quality, innovative games for the whole family. At The Amazing Society, we believe in pushing the limits of what is possible...
iPhone Game Developer - MMN
Z2Live is bringing the next generation of gaming to mobile. We have already pioneered several multiplayer technologies for the iPhone such as real time head-to-head play, in-game voice chat and matchmaking. We are currently busy building the next generation social features to go along with our multi...
Community Manager
We are looking for a Community Manager to join the Gearbox team and manage our amazing fans for each of our projects. The Community Manager should be familiar with game industry and the communities that live amongst it as well as have an understanding of basic elements of game development and social...
Audio Programmer
Gearbox Software is looking for a full-time Audio Programmer to join our game development team. Qualified applicants will meet the following requirements: Required Skills: Computer Science degree and/or 3-5 years game industry experience Strong understanding of math and digital audio concepts...
CTO
In the heart of the Los Angeles music scene, a highly motivated team is creating a new way to play guitar with your PC or Mac. Poptank wants you to help us create the next big thing in music games. Poptank is seeking to add a Chief Technical Officer to its executive team. The CTO is responsible for ...
There is something special going on in Dallas, and not a lot of people know about it. People move to Dallas and don't want to leave. It's a great place to raise a family. The cost of living is much lower than on the West and East coasts. Hate winter? Dallas has a temperate climate and very little snow. When it does snow, it's a holiday. Love summer? Well, you'll get a lot of that in Dallas, too. Arts, sports, nightlife, education -- it's all there and it's all Texas-sized.
Posted on August 30, 2010 by Aaron Thibault and Mary-Margaret Walker
Aaron, I assure you, can be serious. But he also gives great hugs!! I’ve known him for so long that we always find each other at events and conferences to catch up on family, life, work, to have a debate or two and of course to share a couple of great hugs. His zombie meal choice doesn’t surprise me at all!
MM: If you didn't go into games, what would you be doing? AT: Searching for my true calling while stunt acting for kicks.
MM: Who has been your biggest influence or mentor in the industry? AT: Jack “Stretch” Williams at Origin Systems, my first mentor in the industry. He always stayed cool under pressure!
MM: What's your favorite quote? AT: “Do nothing which is of no use.” –Miyamoto Musashi
Mary-Margaret Network is excited to announce the newest member to the AbleGamers Foundation Advisory Board! With our own Mary-Margaret Walker on the board, we are all the more excited to see this fantastic addition and the voice he will bring with him.
Harpers Ferry, WV – August 12th, 2010 – Alex Rigopulos, CEO of Harmonix Music Systems, maker of the mega-smash-hit Rock Band series, has joined the Advisory Board of the AbleGamers Foundation. "I am honored to sit on the advisory board for the AbleGamers Foundation and be a part of an organization that is striving to ensure that all people, regardless of abilities, can enjoy the fruits of the video game industry," said Mr. Rigopulos.
Women In Animation International (WIA) announces its upcoming “Battle of the Animation Bands” concert. This evening of indie music will be held in late September in Hollywood and will feature bands created at animation, visual effects and game studios.
Bands will be selected by the Women in Animation board from CDs submitted to WIA before the deadline of Friday, September 3rd. All music genres are welcome; however, music with a dance-able beat is preferred. At least one member of the band must work for an animation, visual effects or game studio.
Mary-Margaret Network is helping two great studios in Dallas with their hiring: Gearbox and Robot. Both have fantastic projects in the works, have great reputations in the area and the industry and are actively seeking game developers.
September 9th, 2010 @ 8:30am Paris - Porte de Versailles
Future Game On is a new annual event uniting game developers, publishers and researchers from the video game industry and its many branches, from professional applications to consumer-oriented games. FGO is organized by the clusters Cap Digital and Imaginove along with partners Capital Games and ACM SIGGRAPH.
FGO will encompass a series of conferences presenting top quality technical and scientific papers to a mixed industry/academia public. The event will highlight the state of the art of European video game research and will be an opportunity for major video game actors to present their latest innovations in different fields, including:
From one of the most iconic series in real-time strategy games for Windows PC comes a new way to grow your empire. Robot Entertainment has teamed up with Games for Windows LIVE to bring us Age of Empires Online. With a series that sold over 20 million copies, you can imagine the anticipation for its newest counterpart!
Looking for a way to show your dominance over your friends, or even perfect strangers half-way around the world? How about taking over their village? Or better yet, let them put in long hard hours growing it into an empire and then methodically take it all away from them piece by piece!
Using the Internet for self promotion is a great way to increase your reach and exposure without digging deeper into your pocketbook. The most important thing to remember is that not everything that is free comes without a price. All of us who work and play online can be subject to bad publicity. The key is to be aware of the possibility and have a game plan, more formally known as an Online Reputation Management plan. Online Reputation Management (ORM) is simply keeping track of all online content about you or your company and knowing what to do when you run across something negative or untrue. Many ORM companies also offer search engine optimization, but that’s a whole other article!
If you Google online reputation management you will come up with hundreds of companies that offer their services to those who are willing to pay for it, and believe me there are plenty of people who are! According to Wikipedia, an online research report from August 2008 estimated the value for such service firms in the UK to grow that year to around £60 million.
The IGDA announced that Gordon Bellamy, Chair of the Board of Directors and former Executive Director at the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, has been appointed acting Executive Director of the association effective immediately. Bellamy is a 9-year veteran of the industry and has served on the IGDA Board of Directors since 2009.
"I'm deeply excited to have this opportunity to better help game developers. Serving our members by growing a strong, vibrant community and providing them with the resources they need to succeed is what this organization is all about," said Bellamy.
"There is a lot to look forward to with preparations for the upcoming IGDA Leadership Forum, Global Game Jam and the many events of our chapters and Special Interest Groups well underway," he added.
When it’s time to dust off the resume and go out in search of a new job, it doesn’t take that much effort if all you have to do to update it is add the employment info from the job you just left. Type, type, type, proofread, print, done! That works just fine if all you want is a job exactly like the one you just left.
Unless you were lucky enough to be born with a singular talent and just one passion (Ah, the simple life!), you’re probably going to find it’s not such a straight line from one job to the next. Maybe you’re looking to make a lateral or upward move in your field and take on different responsibilities. Perhaps you’re changing careers entirely. Or perhaps you’re in a pinch and needing to apply for a temp job outside your usual field.
You out there looking for your way to get into the game industry. Yeah, you! I know what you’ve been going through. Working in the game industry has been your lifelong dream. You’ve played countless games. Built innovative mods. Gone through dozens of classes to sharpen your skills in programming, animation, design, or writing, or even all of the above. Put together a truly impressive portfolio. Written and polished a perfect resume. Called recruiters. Written to dozens of game companies. Perhaps even attended some conferences or industry events hoping to meet some professionals. You know you’re talented. You know you’re dedicated. But you still haven’t gotten that job offer. Frustrated yet?
Let me share one secret that has helped countless professionals break into competitive businesses like the game industry. Understand that most job seekers think that it’s just talent, skills, experience, and education that employers want. While those are valuable, they are not the most important thing employers are looking for. What employers really want to discover is your character, who you really are as a person.
Posted on August 12, 2010 by by Laddie Ervin and Mary-Margaret Walker
I first met Laddie three years ago at a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at Tim Campbell's home. From the moment I met him I was completely smitten with his wit, intelligence, charm and intense creativity. Over the years, Laddie developed a strong friendship with my husband, Andrew, and I have had the privilege of getting to know Laddie even better. Laddie is launching a new business and you have to read below to learn more about what he is doing next. If you get a chance to work with Laddie you will share my great admiration for him.
Aspyr Media, Inc. is seeking Mac Game Programmers! Enjoy a work/life balance that allows you to participate in the world's largest game brands and get your laundry done and play with your kids. We want to relax and have fun as much as we want the world to relax and have fun. We’re passionate about games, so much, in fact, we have made it our profession.
When a client is in stealth mode, it’s hard to spotlight them. They’re slippery. But, you can find out bits and pieces about this exciting new game studio on the interwebs. Their own web site doesn’t give anything away. They have a Facebook group, but it’s vague. If you Google them, you’ll get a few more details. Some of them are on LinkedIn.
The most important thing to know about Poptank right this minute, and why I am talking about them, is ...
Join Us for A Day of Power Networking with Leaders in the Exploding Games and Connected Entertainment Industries at NY Games Conference, September 21, 2010, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, NYC!
NY Games Conference is a dedicated insider forum for media and tech executives to network, do deals, and share ideas about the future of console, PC, online and mobile games. The conference will bring together the leading video game publishers and developers, carriers, portals, technology companies, advertising execs, venture capitalists, lawyers and analysts to discuss the future of video games and social media. The conference will also feature elements from DMW’s cutting edge series of Millennials Conferences focused on digital entertainment trends and strategies and consumer marketing for the youth market.
SCARE for a CURE is a non-profit organization that raises money for cancer related charities in Austin, TX. The main event each year is an extreme, interactive, full contact haunted house adventure that is built solely by volunteers and donations. The crew of special effects artists, set builders, audio and light techs, costume designers, make-up artists, actors and marketers work year-round alongside volunteers from community organizations throughout Central Texas to build the haunt bigger and better each year.
This year's theme is Zombie Wasteland. All proceeds will benefit Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas. For more about the BCRC, visit www.bcrc.org.
MMN's own Robin McShaffry lends her talents to create many of the spooky characters that terrorize guests each year, dubbing her the 'SCARE Makeup Queen'. Recently, her majesty answered a few questions about the blood, guts, and the undead for the SCARE Blog we thought we would share with you. Check out what Robin had to say about SCARE.
Branding is an opportunity to toot your own horn, a chance to tell others who you are, what you can do, and how much better you can do it than everyone else. Don’t be modest, flex your muscles for everyone to see! This is your reputation we are talking about here, after all. As long as you are authentic and honest...and deliver on your promise, there is nothing wrong with letting it be known how you stand apart from the crowd.
The key to developing a solid brand is to figure out your strengths (in order to toot the horn you have to know what notes to play). What is your particular skill set? What added value do you bring to the table? What are your core principles? I’m not talking about the kind of code you can write, the beautiful 3D images you can design, or the level of authenticity your games have. I’m talking bigger picture here, the essential thing about you.
September 3rd, 2010 @9:00PM FOX SPORTS GRILL 1522 6th Avenue, Seattle, WA
The Sarcastic Gamer 2nd annual PAXtra Life Party will be held on September 3rd at the Fox Sports Grill in Seattle. This year's event is sponsored by Split Reason Clothing and Sumolounge.com bean bags. Proceeds from the event benefit Children's Miracle Network Hospitals around the world through Extra Life.
Extra Life began as a small video game marathon in honor of Victoria Jo Enmon and her fight against pediatric cancer. Since that time the event has grown to raise more than $300,000 and now benefits more than 170 Children’s Miracle Network hospitals. More than 3400 gamers and 100 independent gaming communities have participated to date.
Posted on July 29, 2010 by Mary-Margaret Walker and Mark Chuberka
There are so many kinds of heroes in our lives. Mark is one of my personal heroes. All my life I have been a big believer in organ donation and this was only increased when I lost my aunt over 10 years ago because a liver didn’t come soon enough and the technology for donating a liver lobe hadn’t yet been developed. I have known Mark for years and always admired him for many reasons, but this year at GDC I found out that he donated a kidney to a non-relative because he could. Mark is also incredibly intelligent, infectiously friendly and loves what he does. After you read this interview he will be your hero too.
MM: How did you get your break into the industry?
MC: After I finished college, I was recommended by a former roommate to do some sound editing for one of the first educational cd-rom programs for Davidson in 1991. I was then hired into the sales department for that particular institution-focused program where I learned that sales are fun for me. From there, I went to Electronic Arts on the sales team and the rest is history!
Recently in this space, I revisited some humiliating lessons about interactive writing and client management from early in my career. Thinking about them made me cringe even though I'm older and (it says here) wiser. This time I'll cover a few additional lessons, but let's call them illustrations in recognizing your limits before it's too late -- and maybe even making those limits work for you.
Knowing How to be Flexible
On my first large-scale interactive project, I had just raised my hourly, but generously offered the client my old rate. They countered with something lower, pointing to many billable hours over the next few months. I thought about it for maybe ten seconds and signed the contract. I had to admit they made a compelling argument!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 from 7 pm – 9 pm (PT) 1130 Market 4th floor, 10 UN Civic Center Plaza San Francisco, 94102
Do you want more players for your games this year? How about more engaged players that spend more time in each play session? Join special guests Josh Rose (of Flying Wisdom Studios) and Joe Dunn (of e23 Games) as they give you a brain dump download of how they win in the market, and how you can too! They will cover how they combine creative design, new technology and platform agnostic virality to create game experiences players crave, share and keep coming back for. There will be a brief interactive Q&A between each speaker, so designers and developers will have the chance to get some direct opinions and strategies for some of their own games and businesses.
Harpers Ferry, WV – The AbleGamers Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to bringing accessibility to the digital entertainment space, is proud to announce Justin D. Russo, the genius graphic designer who created the iconic video game poster series that became an overnight sensation through his KickStarter project, has lent us his awesome talent. Russo has designed and produced an original SIGNED, limited edition poster to support the AbleGamers Foundation.
Called Everybody Can Game, the poster shows the collective power and camaraderie of gamers around the world regardless of ability. Three gamers salute the world of video games holding a different controller in a pose of strength and unity as if to say, “Game on, my friends.”
Personal branding helps potential employers, investors, business partners and consumers learn who you are and what you do. It is your first and most important tool of self promotion. Make it easy on yourself and make your name your brand. Use your name for your website, (myname.com), your email address, your social network profiles, and attach it to everything you do online.
Your website is where most people get their first impression, and if you give them a website that is your name, that is one more way of helping them remember you and your product. If you already have a website and it isn’t your name, or your name isn’t available, put your name all over your site. You want to be easy to identify so that you are easily set apart! And as Sheri Rubin mentioned in her article about being l33t, resist the temptation for clever profile names. More names just mean less consistency, and ultimately make you harder to remember for who you really are.
Two great companies in Austin are hiring game developers right now: Bluepoint Games and Aspyr! Tools, tech, graphics and Mac programmers take note! Join a super-energized community!
Aspyr is hiring Mac Software Engineers -- applicants need to have C++, Windows and Mac development experience, expert debugging and best practices. Aspyr is a great company near downtown Austin with a laid back attitude. Their own site says, “Life is too short to separate work and play. Instead, we have created a mutant race of organized free thinkers to help take on the daunting yet noble task of letting the world relax and have fun.”
Bluepoint Games is operating a little under the radar in Austin - not many folks know about them, but that is about to change. Bluepoint has a veteran team, a solid track record, and some very interesting work to be done. This is where you come in: they’re seeking a Sr. Tools and Technology engineer, a self-starter, with C++, C#, Mel scripting, next-gen console products and lots of chutzpah.
One Minute Job Search Insights is a series of short, easy-to-read articles designed to give job searchers little nuggets of information that can be read and digested in about one minute.
In interviews many job seekers spend a lot of time preparing for all the questions they are going to get. They think about the usual questions like “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” and “Tell me about a difficult situation you had to handle in your last job.”
They may prepare quick-witted answers to common questions such as “What do you look for in a boss?” and “What do you call your style of management?” The problem comes when that part of the interview is over and the person on the other side of the desk inquires “Do you have any questions for me?”
Posted on July 20, 2010 by Jeannie Novak and Michael E. Moore
After completing work on their book, Game Industry Career Guide (part of the Game Development Essentials series, published by Cengage Delmar Learning), Jeannie Novak and Michael E. Moore both took some time to expand on the book’s final chapter, “Future: Employment & Growth in the Game Industry.” What follows is their short list of the top most exciting changes we see taking place in the industry in the near future . . . The V-Team
Let’s start with the economy. Yes – we’ve seen a rash of layoffs and firings during the last few years. Even game industry veterans found themselves out of work. But simultaneous to the consolidation of larger game companies, a slew of small consultancies and game development studios have cropped up – some run by those very veterans, and some by relative newcomers with the entrepreneurial spirit. Some of these studios are saving a great deal on overhead by hiring employees from around the country (and even the world) to participate on what is being known as “virtual teams.”
Posted on July 20, 2010 by Mary-Margaret Walker and JP van Seventer
I had the privilege of meeting JP through my husband Andrew, while we were living in the UK. It was great to get to know the European market up close and personal. JP is a keeper in my network. He is just absolutely wonderful, incredibly smart, funny, thoughtful and creative. He believes in the past, present and future of games and he sees all three and the overlapping lessons to be learned. I’m honored to call such a powerful, humble man my friend.
MM: If you didn't go into games, what would you be doing? JP: Industrial product design or video production.
MM: Who has influenced your work? JP: Shigeru Miyamoto, the guys from Valve, through Ken Birdwells article on Cabal and through their games, of course. The makers of Advance War, and Eboy.
New channel based, digital distribution and content management platform.
Westlake Village, Calif., July 19, 2010 – Pragmatic Solutions, Inc. announced today that it has launched its new channel based, digital distribution and content management platform for gaming - mygameIQ™. mygameIQ will be providing browser based and downloadable games right to your desktop.
mygameIQ will provide a platform for AAA game titles, but will emphasize the world of Educational, Serious and Independent game titles. “By celebrating the unique world of gaming, we will create a new community of users” said Robert Brown, COO of Pragmatic Solutions, Inc., the creators of mygameIQ.
Registration for this year's Leadership Forum is now open, reserve your spot today! If you are in a leadership position within the game development industry and want to expand your leadership abilities then the Leadership Forum is an event you cannot miss. You will hear from industry professionals as they speak on what it takes to be a great leader in the game development industry. Attendees can also attend three tracks - Personal, Project, and Tools; - all focused on advancing the state of the art in game development. For the second straight year we will also be offering a Scrum Certification Course, presented by Clinton Keith.
Cavallo Point 601 Murray Circle, Fort Baker Sausalito, CA 94965 415-339-4700
The Sausalito Film Festival features 30 films over three days at Marin's stunning and sustainable Cavallo Point. In the heart of an artist's community, with the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco across the water, lies the ideal backdrop for a premiere film festival experience.
People around the world are drawn to Sausalito, certainly for its picturesque beauty, but possibly because it is so uniquely different from anywhere else. Creatives, nonconformists, the famous (and infamous) have felt its gravitational pull. Artists, writers, philosophers, rock legends and film stars have made it their home, in the company of boat-builders, bootleggers and ex-madams. In this town of characters and contradictions, an idea was born: A Sausalito Film Festival...Experience.
Develop your creativity! Learn something new! Have fun! The Art Institute of Atlanta is offering a wide variety of programs this summer, from audio to wine education, graphica to interior design, fashion to website design, cooking to video and more! These non-credit classes are for students of all ages, not seeking degrees, who want to learn new creative skills for personal or professional use. Certificate programs are also offered.
IndieCade 2010: The IndieCade 2010 Festival will take place in multiple venues across downtown Culver City, California, October 8, 9, & 10, 2010. …. IndieCade’s finalists are celebrated as the heart of the festival and the Festival is programmed for the cutting edge of the industry and is open to the public. Activities include hands on gameplay and exhibitions, big games, screenings, a dynamic conference, keynotes, parties, salons, artist talks, performances, an awards show and more
In addition to the festival, IndieCade holds a showcase at E3 and IndieCade Europe @ Gamecity, UK. Each IndieCade event spotlights the best in cutting-edge work and innovative game design talent to the public, fostering the independent design community thriving at the fringes of this major industry.
Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 6:30 PM (PDT) 6 Point Harness Studios 1627 N. Gower St., Unit 3 Los Angeles, CA 90028
Women In Animation International (WIA) has lined up an exciting panel of top uber-indie executives for a panel discussion titled “Thriving Indies,” to be presented as part of the organization’s annual meeting on Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 6 Point Harness Studios.
The evening’s program will kick off at 6:30 p.m. with a networking session, hors d’ oeuvres, wine and upbeat improv jazz provided by The Hillmen. The festivities will begin promptly at 7:00 p.m. with a presentation by David Corbett, Executive Director of Development & Production.of Rubicon Studios and a screening of the new Pink Panther & Pals animated series, co-produced and co-financed by Rubicon Studios together with MGM. Following this presentation will be the panel, “Thriving Indies.”
Entry to the event will be free for members and $10 for non-members. RSVPs are required by email to wia@womeninanimation.org
One Minute Job Search Insights is a series of short, easy-to-read articles designed to give job seekers little nuggets of information that can be read and digested in about one minute.
Do you taste the rainbow? Then I hope you’re eating Skittles® [html code: ®] and not reading your resume.
While some ‘experts’ agree that occasionally using a nice, single complimentary color to highlight titles and sections is okay, almost all resume experts and hiring managers will tell you that a multitude of colors will turn them off or even make your resume impossible to read. Take this possible scenario in three different color formats:
Women in Games @ Develop July 15, 2010, Brighton UK
Sheri Graner-Ray 'Defending Diversity' keynote
Conferences are amazing! We get to be together with people who think like we do, talk like we do and believe much the same things we do. From the speakers to the audience there is an unbelievable wave of energy that shows us change is just right around the corner and we are all part of it.
Ian Schreiber, a professor and industry veteran of 10 years, is offering an online course this summer called Game Balance Concepts (http://gamebalanceconcepts.wordpress.com/) and invites IGDA members to sign up for the premium experience with a $10 discount.
Parts of the course (which begins July 5) are available for free, but premium features require a $55 registration fee. This upgrade includes lectures (live and recorded), Powerpoint slides, Excel spreadsheets, access to the private course wiki, and direct email to the instructor.
Los Angeles West Side G.A.N.G. Hang Fourth Tuesday of Every Month - 7:00-9:00 pm Fu's Palace 8751 W. Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90033
Yes, in addition to the casual and fun karaoke/game night, the regularly scheduled event at Fu's Palace is still going on, and this month it's July 27th. Now we can get together for networking twice a month!
Let's all get together for terrific Chinese food, drinks, and networking! We'll be having this social networking event for the Game Audio Network Guild on the 4th Tuesday of every month!
Our own Mary-Margaret Walker will be giving a webinar with IGDA where she will share her insider tips on 'How to get and maintain a successful & rewarding career in the games industry.' Mary-Margaret will be talking about training, education and other resume building essentials, as well as the importance of setting goals for your career, selecting the right company for you and finding your path. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of getting to know Mary-Margaret, this hour promises to be light and entertaining while at the same time jam packed with useful insights into the industry!
Posted on June 23, 2010 by by Mary-Margaret Walker and RJ Mical
RJ and I share something wonderful – a deep affection for Noah Falstein and gratitude that he hired each of us at a pivotal point in our careers. I met RJ early in my career when I was working at 3DO. At the time, I couldn’t believe I was bowling with a man who helped invent the Amiga computer and co-invented the Atari Lynx and the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer with another yummy friend, Dave Needle. Now, RJ is just RJ - one of the many people that I tackle with hugs at conferences and parties. It’s just coincidental that he also happens to be one of the smartest and funniest people I have ever known. By the way, RJ hugs my husband, Andrew, with the same enthusiasm that he has for me. You will have to ask him about that one. ; - 0 And trust me, he is shy.
MM: How did you get your break into the industry? RJ: Well, it's a long and funny story, but the short version is that I was determined to get hired at Williams Electronics, the Chicago-based developer of the best arcade games of the time, and I worked hard and went to great lengths to get myself noticed there. Finally, Noah Falstein, now my good friend, had pity on me and offered me a job.
Posted on June 7, 2010 by (by Mary-Margaret Walker and Bruce Adams)
Bruce and I started in the games industry in the same year, same company, same project – Ultima VII and it was as wonderful as he describes. For both of us entering this world of creativity and craziness was magic. Bruce has gone on to have a very successful career and grow a wonderful family but he is still as lovable and creative as when we were building dungeons together. He has also retained his wonderful, wicked sense of humor as you will see below.
MM: How did you get your break into the industry?
BA: I had a friend, Jeff George, who was working at Origin Systems. In 1991, I had just come back to Austin from San Diego, and Jeff told me to apply as a game designer. I started working immediately on Ultima VII - The Black Gate. It was the most fun I’d ever had, and I was getting paid. ‘Nuf said.
Posted on April 15, 2010 by by Mary-Margaret Walker and Bob Bates
Bob is an amazing man and game developer and I wanted to interview and highlight him specifically now because of his recent acknowledgment as IGDA's 2010 Person of the Year. Most people would agree with me in saying that Bob should have been IGDA's Person of the Year every year since its inception for all of his hard work and devotion to the organization. It's been a privilege and a pleasure to have known him for so many years. I was thrilled when I received a compliment from him out of the blue in February for one of our newsletters. Bob and I share many things, a love of biographies and being inspired, wanting to build not tear down, wanting to inspire others to make a rewarding lifetime career and showing how easy things can be even we both sometime feel like we have hit a wall. In short, Bob, with all of his achievements has accomplished one of life's greatest goals; he is an inspiration to everyone who meets him just by being himself. By the way, if you are interested in liposuction make sure to call Zombie Bob!
MM: If you didn't go into games, what would you be doing?
BB: I'd want to be a novelist, but I'd probably actually be a teacher.
This article delves into part three of Three Important Things To Know About Layoffs. In this part we deal with advice once the layoff is actually happening or has happened. So let's dig into each of the mini-tips mentioned in that section.
* Take the necessary time and don't burn bridges. This is a crucial step in the layoff process. Like it or not this industry is as small as it is large. You want to make sure that you try to remain positive and leave your coworkers with a good impression of you on the way out, not one of a screaming, ranting lunatic. This can help you out greatly if potential new employers call for references or run into your old coworkers at an industry event. So put down the gasoline, walk away slowly, and do your best to act cool, calm, and collected. (I know, I know, that's easier said than done.)
* Remember that your former coworker may one day be your potential boss somewhere else.
What's that old adage about it raining outside with the sun still shining? The devil is getting married? The devil is kissing his wife? Well, bring on the breath spray and an umbrella 'cause it's been POURING at Mary-Margaret Network! We're drenched but the warm sunshine of new job opportunities has kept the smiles on our faces!
Mary-Margaret Network has partnered with companies working on cutting edge projects...and they are looking for YOU. THE AMAZING SOCIETY (a Gazillion subsidiary), Z2LIVE, ROBOT ENTERTAINMENT, and MOTOROLA are just a few of the companies NOW HIRING! These clients are searching for exceptional software engineers to fill roles on fun, exciting teams.
Who's ever dreamed about being a superhero? Pulling on the spandex every morning for work, tying the cape around your neck, and rescuing the world from evil doers! Join The Amazing Society and walk in their hallowed halls of heroes!
Game Developers and Music Producers, fundamentals of the perfect match
Bill Wilson, Director of Digital Strategy and Business Development for NARM, will take IGDA members on a brief tour of the internal machinations of the music business. Topics of discussion will range from content licensing deals, publishing, xml, digital supply chain, and other topics related to creating a better ecosystem for innovation with the developer and gaming community at large.
The Webinar is from 12:01pm-1:01 pm EDT . Space is limited. IGDA members only. Reserve your Webinar seat now!
Ever wonder how you can work more with musicians and audio artists to incorporate current songs and albums into your games? NARM, the national association for music retailers, runs a number of events on just this sort of collaboration.
Over 300 of the most influential decision-makers in the games industry gather for the LA Games Conference to network, do deals, and share ideas about the future of console, PC, online and mobile games. LA Games Conference - now in its 4th year - features a lively and fun debate on timely cutting-edge business topics, demos as well unrivaled access to some of the most progressive companies in Hollywood, Silicon Valley and beyond.
We invite you to join us at the event and take part in the discussion with executives, creators, analysts, press and professional gamers who will be instrumental in shaping the future of this booming business. The event is designed to be interactive like the world we live in giving delegates the opportunity to share their ideas live at the event via text message and in moderated roundtable meetings.
MMN's readers can receive 10% off registration with the promo code LAGCMMN.
Alma Consulting will provide information on how to work out what your business is entitled to and how to take full advantage of the R&D tax relief scheme. It will be a great chance to benefit from the technical knowledge of experts in the field and to learn about the recent legislative changes.
In the UK, there are significant tax reliefs available to companies, ranging from cash back payments for SME's, to tax deductions for larger companies.
According to the 2009 Annual Innovation report, R&D Tax Relief claims totaled £790 million in 2007/2008, based on almost 8.7 billion of R&D expenditure.
R&D Tax Relief forms the single largest source of government funding for business R&D. Nonetheless, many companies are failing to derive their maximum benefit from the scheme. This is mainly due to a lack of internal resources, technical knowledge or professional support to access the benefits efficiently and productively.
Every highly technical industry demands academic support for survival. Be it the PC revolution or the dot-com boom, every leap forward has been fueled by the provision of highly trained, eager, entry-level employees from the academic institutions of the world. The game industry today is no different.
Gone are the days of $100,000 projects, where companies could take the risk of hiring raw talent to learn on the job. Today's video games require 3D graphics, realistic animation, networking capabilities, artificial intelligence, sound, etc. Aside from these requirements, game development also demands a knack for crafting engaging story lines and environments. In the evolution from "Pac-Man" to "Halo", the game industry has become highly competitive and transformed into a multi-billion dollar industry. As a result of this, most junior level employees must be consummate professionals: knowledgeable and well trained. To meet this demand, colleges like DigiPen Institute of Technology and USC are providing a higher education for game development, programming and/or design, and students are turning out in record numbers.
I would like to diverge slightly in this article from the other pieces that talk about preparing yourself for layoffs by updating your profile, improving your network, passively looking for jobs, etc. Instead, I want to give one short piece of advice:
Remove the line "References available upon request" from your resume or CV.
That's it. Seriously. Any employer who will want to get references for you will expect you to have them ready when they ask. End of story. There's no need to clutter your resume with this unnecessary throwback to the 70's.
I can't help myself. One more piece of advice. If you are job hunting, even passively, and you don't have your references ready - stop and get them! Professional references only, please. Employers don't care that your mother thinks you made the best portrait of her in fifth grade art class (even if you are an artist). They want to talk to your former supervisors, clients, and professional colleagues.
So what other outdated lines do you constantly see on resumes? Tell us in the comments section.
FMX is an international specialty conference for the digital industry to discuss trends and technologies, past achievements and upcoming challenges. It's a place to meet decision-makers, learn about the latest developments, do business and recruit talent. In the past twelve years, its ambitious and challenging program has made FMX the stand out European event for the creation, production and distribution of digital entertainment, believable characters and interactive environments.
Experience four inspiration-packed days as industry leaders open their toolboxes and share their views on the creation, production and distribution of digital entertainment. Take advantage of the relaxed, focused atmosphere that makes FMX a primary meeting place of the digital community and a great networking opportunity.
FMX is glad to welcome the following speakers: Daniel Jeanette, Animation Director and Visual Effects Supervisor on "Where the Wild Things Are" and Simon Otto, Head of Character Animation for DreamWorks' "How to Train Your Dragon". Other newly confirmed speakers are the Stereoscopic Supervisors Jayme Wilkinson ("Ice Age 3") and Anthony Shafer ("A Christmas Carol") and Todd Masters, who will talk on Prosthetics
In our article "Three Important Things to Know About Layoffs" we discussed several courses of action to follow if you get laid off, or think you might. In this article we further explore the first item, keeping your profile and network up-to-date.
How do you present yourself online? Do a 'vanity' check and Google your name. Do you show up at all? Do others with your name show up instead? Is what shows up about you accurate or completely false? Are there items in the results you would not be proud of? Do what you can to start making sure that what comes up first is what you'd like the world to see.
In this day and age a lot of people have no problem spouting whatever they want on Twitter, Facebook and on their blogs. The question is how does that appear to potential clients, employers, and colleagues? Legal or not, many people will use what they see on popular social sites to form opinions of you, opinions you may not necessarily want them to have or that don't paint the whole picture.
Every industry is technology driven to some extent. I am sure that if you could find a young blacksmith they would tell you about some new alloy or furnace that is going to change their business.
In the beginning technology sells; this car is faster than the competition, this camera has more megapixels, this phone works overseas. Design, quality, user experience all matter, just not as much in the early days.
Then the balance shifts and every car is fast enough, every camera has enough megapixels, technology begins to deliver diminishing returns to the consumer.
Design and quality take over driving adoption. The technology race moves behind the scenes, now it's about fast production, flexible production, easy production, distributed production.
I went to a lot of game developer events and meetups over the last few months. What I found most interesting was how much the topic of conversation at the bar has changed over the last few years, most noticeably in the last six months.
Shop talk used to be about consoles, physics, multi-core, frame rate, memory limits, culling, texture optimizations and load times. It's shifting more and more to art style, story, puzzles, character design and soundtrack.
Dr Richard Wilson is CEO of TIGA, the trade association representing the UK games industry. TIGA's vision is to make the UK the best place in the world to do games business. Richard was previously Director of Communications at the Royal Academy of Engineering (2006-2008). Richard taught politics at Reading University and was awarded a PhD for his thesis in political theory.
Sheri Graner Ray (Senior Designer with Schell Games and author of "Gender Inclusive Game Design- Expanding the Market") Dr Aphra Kerr (Department of Sociology at the National University of Ireland Maynooth and author of 'The Business and Culture of Digital Games: gamework/ gameplay")
Layoffs happen. In the video game industry they happen a lot. Generally, there's no way to prevent a layoff as an employee and there's really no "safe" company (as last year showed). There are three things you can know and act on immediately to deal with a layoff before it occurs, or once it happens to you.
One. You can make sure you're keeping your profile and network up-to-date, even when you're not job searching. Constantly keep in touch with colleagues, read trade publications, network at conferences or local IGDA chapter meetings, and find online places where other industry people hang out. Keep your resume up-to-date (this also helps you remember achievements when performance reviews come around!) both in the normal Word/PDF formats but also online in places like LinkedIn.
Two. "Look" for jobs when you're not even really looking for a job. Put your resume into recruitment databases to get notifications of new jobs, look at job boards (like Mary-Margaret Network's job board) to see who's currently hiring and for what, and don't just delete those emails from your friends without reading. Staying on top of whose hiring and for what keeps you abreast of industry trends. The key is to use them to figure out where you may need to be in the future. For example, if you are a programmer who suddenly notices a lot of programming jobs calling for experience with C++, you will want to spend some of your free time polishing up your C++ skills. This way, if the unexpected happens, you'll be more prepared to fit into the roles ot
April 29, 2010 Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel Los Angeles, CA
#1: Fantastic Speakers, Agenda & Attendees Considered a top event for gaming industry insiders, with 60 percent of attendees at the VP or higher executive level, the LA Games Conference brings together the leading video game publishers and developers, carriers, portals, technology companies, advertising executives, venture capitalists, lawyers and analysts, and features valuable sessions on online, mobile, console and casual games, and the latest trends in investment, advertising and consumer spending.
Three focus areas of LA Games 2010 will be:
Digital Distribution
Game Monetization
Social and Connected Gaming
#2: Full Conference Registration! Conference registration gives you complete access to two days of panels, keynotes, delegate roundtables and networking. It also includes lunch, networking breaks and reception. Our rates have never been this low so make sure to register now.
Posted on March 1, 2010 by by Ellen Beeman and Jazno Francoeur
Jazno Francoeur is the Department Chair of Fine Arts and Animation at DigiPen Singapore. He kindly answered some of Ellen's questions about DigiPen and expat life in Singapore...
Ellen: What do you like about living in Singapore?
Jazno: There are so many things I like about living here that I can't even express them all! This country is safe, friendly, and culturally diverse. I spend many weekends photographing temples, attending colorful festivals and ceremonies, eating exotic foods, and traveling to countries like Thailand and Malaysia for R&R.
Ellen: If you met someone who was thinking of moving to Singapore, what would you tell them?
Jazno: There's very little culture shock when moving here. Singapore is a gateway country, or "Asia Lite" as they say here. It's an exciting place to be right now, the whole country is booming.
Ellen: As an English speaker, is there a language barrier for you in Singapore?
Jazno: You do not need to speak any language other than English. The local patois, "Singlish," takes a little getting used to, but there is no language barrier. My four-year-old daughter is learning Mandarin, though I'm still monolingual.
Serious Games Summit March 9-10, 2010 San Francisco, CA
On day 2 of the Serious Games Summit it's the return of our end-of-summit demo event which we've named the Serious Games PlayFest. If you'd like to demo your work as part of this event here are the rules and process:
You must be a registered attendee of the summit. No passes are provided for this level of participation.
Please send a link to the demo of the project on the Web. The Web link can be to a download and/or screenshots of the game. Please also include a brief explanation of the title, its sponsor, and its intended goal beyond entertainment.
You must provide your own hardware to run the demo. We prefer a laptop. You'll be given essentially a power strip and 3 feet of table space.
You can provide a single page handout.
Last year about 150-200 people came through to see demos. It was a nice way to end the summit and provide exposure to more products and ideas.
Posted on February 25, 2010 by by Evergreen Events
May 10th-13th, 2010 Seattle, WA
Byron Reeves and J. Leighton Read, authors of the ground-breaking book "Total Engagement: Using Games and Virtual Worlds to Change the Way People Work and Businesses Compete" will deliver the May 12th keynote at LOGIN 2010 adding further intellectual and business muscle to the session agenda. They will examine the lessons a wide array of businesses can learn from game developers, games and gamers in their day-to-day processes. This presentation, entitled "Total Engagement: Using Games to Change How People Work" will be shared with LOGIN attendees during lunch on Wednesday, May 12th. The 2010 LOGIN Conference is an exclusive international event for experienced game developers and deal-makers. LOGIN 2010 will take place from May 10th to May 13th at the first-rate Seattle Waterfront Marriott Hotel facing the beautiful Puget Sound Harbor.
In "Total Engagement: Using Games to Change How People Work", Drs. Reeves and Read delve into the questions of serious fun. Imagine the value if you could transfer the excitement and focus found in great games to the office. What if information workers could solve customer problems, design new software, or configure better shipping routes working inside a game environment at work?
Last Week To Register At The Early Bird Rate of $399! ($300 OFF)
2009 speakers included: Nolan Bushnell, Founder, Atari and Chuck E. Cheese, CEO of uWink and Chairman, NeoEdge Networks, Mitch Lasky, General Partner, Benchmark Capital, David Roberts, CEO, PopCap Games, Mike Yuen, Sr. Director, Games Services, Qualcomm, John Kavanagh, SVP, Videogames, Paramount Digital Entertainment, Gareth Davis, Platform Manager, Facebook, Spencer Hunt, VP, Game Production & Digital Product Development, Sony Pictures TV Int'l, Kuk Yi, Managing Director, Best Buy Capital, Bill Young, Director, Global Media Sales, Electronic Arts, Jason Oberfest, SVP of Business Development, MySpace, Bill Kispert, VP, Interactive, NBC Interactive, Alex Hackford, Head of A&R, Sony Computer Entertainment America and many more...
Game Education Summit June 15-16, 2010 Los Angeles, CA
GES Europe June 22-23, 2010 Copenhagen, Denmark
This year, the Game Education Summit goes global, and we couldn't be more excited. There will be conferences on two continents in 2010: the third GAME EDUCATION SUMMIT at the University of Southern California and the inaugural GES EUROPE at the National Academy of Interactive Entertainment in Copenhagen, Denmark!
These 2-day conferences will provide tremendous opportunities for video game education programs worldwide and the video game industry to come together to network and learn from each other.
Registration is now open for the US Game Education Summit. Click HERE for more information! GES Europe registration should be up in the next couple of days as well.
Posted on February 14, 2010 by by Michael Sinanian
?Disruption 2.0 and "Who's Got Game" Startup Competion March 10, 2010 San Francisco, CA
GamesBeat@GDC 2010 will be held on March 10th in San Francisco and will feature the theme Disruption 2.0. The one-day executive conference will explore the future of gaming and the effects of the iPhone, iPad, social media, digital distribution, and online gaming on the industry. Leading speakers will include Steve Perlman, CEO of On-live, John Schappert, COO of EA, Bryan Reynolds, Chief Designer of Zynga, Klass Kersting, CEO of Gameforge, Neil Young, CEO ngmoco, Gareth Davis,of FaceBook, and Bart Decrem, CEO Tapulous, among others. Join 400 other gaming industry leaders for a day of panels, keynote and networking. Register here to receive $50 off your GamesBeat@GDC registration using the following code: GBEATSP.
Calling all startups to enter into GamesBeat@GDC 2010's "Who's Got Game" Startup Competition! If you're a game entrepreneur, we encourage you to enter your company in the competition for the best game startup. The 5-7 finalists will be featured at the conference on March 10th and will each pitch their companies on stage in front our panel of expert judges and an audience of 400+ top executives and investors from the Gaming ecosystem. The judges will select the final winner. All 5-7 finalists will be invited to attend the conference and networking reception on a complimentary basis. Applications & details can be found here.
Posted on February 14, 2010 by by Michael E. Moore
If you're a small developer and you're having trouble finding skilled help, you might consider teaming up with a local college or university. Schools are often in search of professionals who can come in as adjunct faculty to teach specialized courses, especially courses that would be popular with students. Game-focused classes are popular because so many people want to get into games, but these classes tend to focus more on game design than the "hard" skills needed by game companies.
The problem facing those trying to break in, of course, is that the industry needs artisans - especially programmers and artists - who have specialized skills coding in C++ or creating 3D models and environments in 3ds Max or Maya. While many colleges offer some courses in object-oriented programming and 3D graphics, the instructors usually have no game industry experience, and so students are simply introduced to the basics of a language or graphics program with minimal experience in creating large, long-term projects like games. Moreover, most schools do not require students to work in teams where they learn about sharing duties and working to a milestone schedule. Finally, each department at a college may act as its own fiefdom, and therefore trying to set up an interdisciplinary course where artists and programmers work together is nigh on impossible.
Make sure your voice is heard in this year's Board of Director's Election
It is time to vote in this year's Board of Director's Election. Members of the International Game Developers Association are charged with electing the organization's leadership. This year's election has 5 BoD seats up for grabs. Voting has begun and will run until February 28th. All IGDA Members above Student level membership in good standing are eligible to vote. You are allowed to enter the voting area once, at which time you may vote for as many or as few of the candidates as you would like.
Make an informed decision: Learn about your candidates at the statements page.
Know who you want to lead IGDA? Go Vote!
If you have any questions or issues trying to vote please contact Joseph Sapp, joda@igda.org or Joshua Caulfield, joshua@igda.org.
IGDA Annual Meeting
You are invited to attend this year's IGDA Annual Meeting to be held Friday, March 12th at 12pm. Come hear from your current and newly elected IGDA Board of Directors as they fill you in on the growth of IGDA over the past year. The Board will also discuss IGDA's plans going forward to make IGDA better for each and every member. Please be aware that lunch will not be provided during the meeting this year.
Scholarship deadline March 7 Classes begin June 14
ConceptArt.Org has been given three scholarships to the upcoming program at the Art Department. Any ConceptArt member can nominate students who currently participate on the site. You have the ability to send someone to art school on a full-ride scholarship, giving them opportunity to reach their goals and creative dreams. In addition to a full scholarship, two half-rides are also available.
Is there someone you want to see make it to art and design college? Are they talented and really wanting to go to art school but just can't afford it? The Art Department is bringing an excellent opportunity for art students who are looking for a way to cover the cost of their education while studying with great teachers.
??Tuesday, February 23, 7:00PM Fu's Palace 8751 W. Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90034 US
Let's all get together for great Chinese food, drinks, and networking! We will be meeting the 4th Tuesday of every month! This is a social gathering for the Game Audio Network Guild, and anyone with an interest in game audio is welcome!
Fu's has great Chinese food, a full bar, a meeting room in the back, and an outdoor courtyard with a fountain (and a couple of working arcade machines). They have their own parking lot in the back (free) and street parking is free after 6PM.
Although the official time is 7-9pm we'll probably be there until 9:30, and if things go like last time I will be moving the Hang to 7:30-9:30pm officially next month.
Please RSVP so I can let the owner know if he needs to bring in extra staff. I hope to see you there!
Posted on January 28, 2010 by by Belinda Van Sickle
Thursday, February 11, 6:30PM to 9:00PM Alelo 12910 Culver Boulevard, Suite J Los Angeles, CA 90066 US (310) 574-7500
IGDA Los Angeles moves into February and GDC season with the second chapter meeting of the year! We invite you to join us on the second Thursday of each month as we explore current industry topics, connect with our professional peers and foster the advancement of the video game industry.
The February chapter meeting will include a round table discussion titled, "Why So Serious? The Truth About Game-Based Learning."
Thursday, February 4, 7:00PM? The Art Institute (Santa Monica branch) followed by El Torito 2900 31st Street. Santa Monica, CA 90405 US 310.481.0509
D-L-C events are held quarterly and move WIGI's mission forward to create a community interested and engaged in the gaming industry.
The upcoming topic will be "MONETIZATION IN GAMING (both in the casual and social gaming arena)". We will bring together a panel of industry leaders with a myriad of experience and insight.
Posted on January 26, 2010 by by Nicole Le Strange
Thursday February 11th, 9:30 am - 1:30 pm University of Greenwich Old Royal Naval College Park Row Greenwich London SE10 9LS Free for TIGA members/£40 for non-members
Are you ready to grow your business? Do you need more info on how to secure financing through banks and private investors? Can you spare a few hours to mingle with expert speakers who will work with you, not talk at you, about how to achieve your growth potential?
We often get questions from candidates about career path and the job market. Recently, a candidate with a background in programming and art asked Ali which of those two paths, programming or graphic arts for games, would be a better choice in terms of salary and growth. The candidate also wanted to know if there is a way to combine the two disciplines. We thought we would share Ali's response with you.
It is quick and easy to do some salary comparison research online. However, I will say that you can't be in the game industry, either as a programmer or an artist, if that's not your passion. The game industry takes dedication, time (sometimes a lot of it!), and a true love for what you are creating.
There are good reasons to enter either discipline. As an artist, you can be creative. You can also branch out into other fields like films, commercials, architecture, etc. As a programmer, yes, you'll be paid more. You can also move into other industries with those skills as well. You can do some research online to see what other industries support your skill set (based on the languages you know), as areas of growth are something you need to take into consideration. Both disciplines have good career paths that will let you learn and grow.
LOGIN Conference Seattle, Washington May 10-13, 2010.
Over the past four years, the conference has gone through a few transitions (notably, two name changes, from OGDC to ION to LOGIN), but the core identity of the conference has remained the same: the premier forum for expert developers of online games to share their experience and knowledge with peers.
Posted on January 12, 2010 by by Mary Margaret Walker
"It's in every one of us to be wise. Find your heart and open up both your eyes. We can all know every thing without ever knowing why. It's in every one of us by and by."
Lyrics by Cliff Richard, Performed by John Denver in John Denver The Muppets: A Christmas Together, 1979
Welcome to a beautiful New Year! We are only a few weeks in and the year has started off with a bang. A new year, a new decade and, as always, new hope.
Jim Henson certainly reached his target audience in 1979 when he put together his Christmas show with John Denver. Jim knew a lot of children and adults wanted to believe that peace, hope, love, joy and respect transcended the barriers of culture and religion.
For that reason and other reasons, I normally don't talk about God. I prefer instead to focus on "the brotherhood of man" and respect each person's choice for their life compass.
For the past six years, I have been involved in the creation of serious games. The purpose of serious games is not to entertain, but to teach. A serious game whose players do not find it in some way compelling will be of little value to either the players or those who created it. This "genre," for want of a better term, is expanding rapidly, and many people (such as my own core team) who are making these games are seasoned professionals with years of experience in the commercial gaming industry.
Why do we do it? Well, apart from the obvious value of earning an income, the people I know who have chosen to work on serious games, do it because they feel that they can help to make games that will not only make a difference in somebody's life - they may also help to save lives.
A couple of years ago, I did a presentation on this subject, based upon my experience with games for the military, the Federal government, and (currently) for a network of hospitals, for an event at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Here is a simplified version of that presentation entitled "The Ten Commandments of Serious Games."
Posted on December 16, 2009 by by Mary Margaret Walker
I can hardly wait for the holidays -- I need a rest! I can also hardly wait for the New Year! I love the excitement and fresh renewal that comes with January, springtime and back to school! It's been a difficult year with lots of ups and downs for all of us. I've talked to many of you about your job searches or about wishing you could hire more people. We are all seeing a slow recovery and are eager to see what the New Year will bring. Although it is just another day and another month, fresh beginnings are psychologically reinvigorating and psychology is 80% of success.
But we are only half way through December and you have time to make quality connections if you are unemployed or feel like you may be soon. Here are five important tips to help you make progress between now and the first week of January.
Pick up the phone - With the holiday spirit and the oncoming time off people tend to be more generous with their time on the phone. Right now is a good time to pick up the phone and reconnect to learn about positions that need to be filled before the end of the year (use it or lose it) or plans for new hiring in the next quarter.
Be strategic - Do not start any networking conversation with what you need. Start with short pleasantries and be prepared to ask a question that will peak their interest and give them a chance to be an expert before you ask about their hiring. It is important to respect their time so be sure to listen for cues that they need to end the conversation.
Give them the opportunity to give -- When you ask questions, it gives the person you are networking with an opportunity to be an expert. When you ask about job opportunities and they don't have any, it is important to ask them who else they think you should meet. This gives them a chance to feel good about increasing your chances of
Posted on December 16, 2009 by by Mary Margaret Walker
I can hardly wait for the holidays -- I need a rest! I can also hardly wait for the New Year! I love the excitement and fresh renewal that comes with January, springtime and back to school! It's been a difficult year with lots of ups and downs for all of us. I've talked to many of you about your job searches or about wishing you could hire more people. We are all seeing a slow recovery and are eager to see what the New Year will bring. Although it is just another day and another month, fresh beginnings are psychologically reinvigorating and psychology is 80% of success.
But we are only half way through December and you have time to make quality connections if you are unemployed or feel like you may be soon. Here are five important tips to help you make progress between now and the first week of January.
Pick up the phone - With the holiday spirit and the oncoming time off people tend to be more generous with their time on the phone. Right now is a good time to pick up the phone and reconnect to learn about positions that need to be filled before the end of the year (use it or lose it) or plans for new hiring in the next quarter.
Be strategic - Do not start any networking conversation with what you need. Start with short pleasantries and be prepared to ask a question that will peak their interest and give them a chance to be an expert before you ask about their hiring. It is important to respect their time so be sure to listen for cues that they need to end the conversation.
Give them the opportunity to give -- When you ask questions, it gives the person you are networking with an opportunity to be an expert. When you ask about job opportunities and they don't have any, it is important to ask them who else they think you should meet. This gives them a chance to feel good about increasing your chances of finding a job and increa
Posted on December 11, 2009 by by Steve Cartwright
Simple rules for casual game design.
Here's an idea for a game. So what do you think? Will it be fun?
Believe it or not, this screenshot makes more sense than many of game proposals I've seen!
The answer is, of course, no. At least not yet.
Although this is an exaggerated example, the first step in creating a fun experience is to make sure players can UNDERSTAND what they're looking at. Strive to ensure all aspects of the visual presentation are clear and direct. Power meters that looks like a clocks and timers that look like thermometers, while graphically interesting, can cause confusion to first-time players. Saying "once they've played it a few times they'll understand" doesn't work for casual games!
Let's clarify the picture a little. So... is it fun yet?
Fans of classic games will, of course, recognize this screenshot from Pitfall - a truly groundbreaking game from Activision's early days. Even though it's graphically crude by current standards, the game design principals that made it a classic still hold up to this day. But we're not quite there yet. Although players can UNDERSTAND what they see, the game so far lacks any kind of situation to ANALYZE. And since no situation is apparent, the player has no reason to do anything.
When I get approached to compose for any video game, it is exciting. When it's for a game that is a classic Nintendo title and has a unique fan base, it is VERY exciting. When Wayforward approached me to score"A Boy And His Blob" I was thrilled. I remember calling up director Sean Velasco the next day and saying "I have to score this!" "I'm the composer for this game!" "I loved this game growing up!" and other things like that.
Once I got the job and received the music document (which contained the list of music that will be needed in the game), the creative wheels started turning in my mind. I knew that the music had to capture the essence of the classic game, contain a sense of adventure, and emphasize the relationship between "A Boy And His Blob". If I made sure to capture all of those elements, I felt that there would be enough musical ideas and emotion to help tell this amazing story. On the flip side, the game had a colorful children's aesthetic about it and the art was beautiful yet simple, so I felt the music had to mimic that as well. This was not the type of game calling for the music to be over layered, textured, complex or over sophisticated. The music needed to strike the right balance of sophistication and texture, and it needed to imitate the look and feel of the game: colorful, simple, emotional and realistic. Real in the sense that Wayforward didn't want this game to feel like a comical game like Mario, but they wanted it to take on a more serious film score tone.
It's great to see accredited colleges and universities growing their degreed programs for the video game industry. It's the innovative schools that attract young minds who are not only looking for opportunities, but want to create them. Champlain College has introduced new courses to their curriculum such as Game Design and Computer & Digital Forensics. Champlain College has a unique liberal arts education combined with a professional focus. They have a can-do culture; where people with diverse talents, pool their skills in enterprising ways.
Champlain is looking for an Assistant Professor of Game Design. The program is recognized for its outstanding labs, state-of-the art software, team-oriented faculty, and strong, innovative, project-based curriculum patterned after and designed with game development industry input and support. The Assistant Professor will be responsible for creating curriculum and course development, student advising, instruction and enrichment, industry outreach and development of program presence. Experience in level design, construction and scripting is a must. The ideal candidate must have experience working with game engines such as Unreal, Torque, Virtools or similar. Candidates must also have experience working in a 3D pipeline and using 3D packages such as Maya.
February 10-11, 2010 Microsoft Gamefest 2010 Seattle, Washington
Change is a fact of life in the fast-paced and dynamic business of making games, and Microsoft is right here with you on the cutting edge. This year marks a historical movement in game creation as we disclose to you the latest technology details for "Project Natal", the technology Forrester principal analyst, Paul Jackson described as "taking things to the next extreme." You will hear first hand from the engineering teams on how we are progressing with "Project Natal" and enjoy two full tracks on the latest development and design best practices.
January 29-31, 2010 Global Game Jam http://www.globalgamejam.org/
The Global Game Jam (GGJ) was founded in 2008 as an IGDA event to broaden the outreach of the organization while giving the world an opportunity to create games in the world's largest Game Jam to date. The 1st Annual Global Game Jam was held January 30-Feburary 1, 2009 to much critical acclaim and success. With over 1600 participants in 23 countries, the GGJ produced 370 games.
The Global Game Jam was created as collaboration between Susan Gold, Gorm Lai and Ian Schrieber - three active members of the IGDA who wanted to connect the community through cooperation, innovation, creativity and experimentation. The 2010 GGJ wants to triple in size, including more locations and making GGJ a truly global event.
GGJ is a volunteer run organization, built upon the very hard work of the leadership, site organizers and, of course, the participants.
This year promises to be bigger and even more interactive. As a collaborative platform, GGJ hopes to bring game developers from all over the world together not only for one weekend, but throughout the year. The GGJ website will host tutorials and Q&A from experts in the industry. The GGJ hopes that developers take this opportunity to create new relationships and build bridges to different people around the world. During GGJ we have a unique opportunity to explore a common passion united under one theme and the same series of constraints. Through this, we hope to foster innovation and experimentation. Participants range from novices to professionals, all looking for a challenge in mechanics and design. GGJ encourages people to go outside of their usual work method and try new things. GGJ's biggest goal is to provide opportunities, help developers explore their creativity and allow everyone in our community to work togeth
The freelance business model has a big trial and error factor. Even if you always do the same thing, doing it for a new client introduces surprising variables. So let's talk trials and errors. As a self-styled writer for interactive games, I went out to seek my fortune armed with untested assumptions about an industry in which I had no experience. Although you've probably made your own mistakes in previous stages of your career, I invite you to cringe along with me as I replay a few instructively embarrassing moments.
Know What You're Talking About Imagine being so desperate to get your hands into your first interactive software project that you'll pitch one to a creative director with a vague idea, offer a first draft on spec, and deliver it as a detailed linear document -- without a flow chart. As for our discussion about compensation, I quote his email: "I know that you are new to this kind of deal, but I must tell you that the licensing of an entire technology ... costs me 2%. For me to pay you 6.5 % is out of the question ... The creation of a story line for a small component of the software will not make you rich in this environment ... sorry." Yes, sir! So noted.
February 17-19, 2010 2010 DICE Summit Las Vegas, Nevada FROM GAMEMAKERS TO NEUROSCIENTISTS; INVENTIVE AND ORIGINAL
The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences® (AIAS) announced the initial speakers for the 2010 D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit®. The event will be held at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, February 17-19, 2010, and feature a line-up of industry leaders and decision makers, and visionaries from the disciplines that are shaping the future of interactive entertainment.
"Our program for 2010 is fast becoming the most prolific line-up we've ever produced," said Joseph Olin, president of the Academy. "From the industry's most gifted minds behind some of the greatest entertainment properties, to leading edge thinkers steeped in the nature of creativity, there will be a lot to talk about at this year's Summit."
March 9-13, 2010 GDC 2010 Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA
GDC returns to the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco March 9-13 for five days of learning, networking, and inspiration. Join a global community of programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals, business decision-makers as we gather to exchange ideas and shape the future of the industry.
For up-to-date event and registration information, please visit: http://www.gdconf.com/.
Posted on November 28, 2009 by by Christopher Park
Since I wrote about DLC (Downloadable Content) as a business model concerning mainly free-to-play titles, I started thinking about the future of DLC. The eventual digital distribution model may render the retail store a little redundant, but would depend heavily on broadband connections.
DLC is a main component for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Both have weekly updates with game content. Microsoft has Netflix while Sony has been pushing the Video Store on the PlayStation Store. On the PlayStation Portable side, many developers are releasing their titles on the PSN. Along with the new PSP Minis, smaller games that would be most similar to Apple's iTunes Apps, the race is on for Sony to make the PSPGo a worthy purchase for those early adopters.
Obviously hard drive space is still an issue for full downloadable titles and having the physical media is always preferred to a failed hard drive, but with terabyte drives lowering in price, the next set of consoles could be digital download focused along with a slightly smaller retail presence. But as I stated earlier, the purchaser's internet connection has a huge impact on the success of the digital distribution model.
The game industry that we thrive in today is filled with many great ideas and many great idea makers. However, far too often great ideas and opportunities somehow get lost in the fray and sadly dwindle down to non-existence. To help reverse this, there are five key steps that anyone, at any level of game development can follow. By maximizing the methods by which an IP is produced and presented, a developer can increase their chances for success with publishing.
1 - Making Sure Your Idea Is Novel
Rule #1: Do something new. Rule #2: If you are not going to do something new, at least do something different!
If one were to break a game down to its core elements, what would they find? Sure, there is story and artwork, and of course audio; but what really makes a game?
What makes a game is gameplay, and gameplay can be translated in basic terms as the raw, visceral enjoyment that a player receives from pushing buttons on a controller. Much like story is to cinema; gameplay is by far and away the single most important aspect of any game project. When combined with story, art and sound, good gameplay becomes magic, and capturing this magic is what every designer's job should be. With this in mind, any proper original IP should be grounded in solid and preferably original gameplay. Placing gameplay into the equation first, even before story, will help distinguish an IP right off of the bat and will serve as a solid foundation upon which the rest of a game's assets can be built. But gameplay alone will not move a publisher, so before a single designer can work their craft, the development team as a whole must find their niche before deciding which direction to take. Existing market conditions must be carefully examined and evaluated, with developers keeping in mind that an IP, which in its own way caters to either a lucrative or
January 19-20, 2010 7th Annual Mobile Games Forum Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park London, United Kingdom
http://www.mobilegamesforum.co.uk
Now in its 7th year, the Mobile Games Forum is firmly established as the leading Mobile Games event in Europe. With the whole ecosystem present - operators, publishers, developers, handset manufacturers and software providers - all industry viewpoints will be represented at MGF 2010 at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London on 19th and 20th January 2010. This is your perfect opportunity to question and meet industry experts from Orange, Vodafone, 3, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, EA Mobile, Chillingo, AdMob, Walt Disney Internet Group, Ariadne Capital, PAN Vision, Flirtomatic, GetJar, Digital Legends Entertainment, Mplayit, Fishlabs, TinRaven, Mountain Sheep, Namco Bandai Networks Europe, Finblade, DFJ Esprit, Digital Chocolate, Doughty Hanson, Xendex, Ideaworks 3D, HandyGames, Fox Mobile Distribution, Handmark, Dojo Media, Real Networks plus many more. The unbeatable speaker line-up includes over 40 cutting-edge viewpoints from industry leaders.
Let's address the basics of PR for games, shall we? While social media and other technologies (like streaming video) have somewhat changed PR, the basics still apply. Despite the hype, Twitter will not save a failing launch. Neither will Facebook. Like everything in life, promoting a game requires a clear strategy and first-rate execution.
Strategy. The chosen PR firm must help developers pick the activities that best address their needs. A company about to start licensing technology will have different requirements than another launching a Nintendo DSi title, for example. Picking the right programs and targets is essential to keep PR costs low while maximizing coverage.
Execution. The team responsible for generating coverage must be adept at PR for games - ideally, each team member would be a gamer themselves. Highly-trained individuals and bullet-proof work ethics are also essential for a successful program.
Basic Activities
a) Pre-launch b) First-looks and previews c) Launch
January 8, 2010 Digital Media Insider @ CES The Venetian Las Vegas, NV
Digital Media Wire is hosting its 3rd Annual Digital Media Insider @ CES, an exclusive event for the digital media industry's key movers and influencers at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The afternoon/evening event will include two panels and a keynote focused on "Distribution and Monetization of Digital Content" from the content owners perspective. The speaking sessions will be followed by a networking reception honoringthe 2010 "25 Digital Entertainment Executives to Watch."
December 6-8, 2009 GCAP 09 Crown Promenade Hotel Melbourne, Australia
This year's Game Connect Asia Pacific (GCAP) 2009 theme, Create Innovate Thrive, will bring together the Asia Pacific region's game development industry to focus on industry improvement, success and growth. It provides the ideal opportunity for Australian and international game developers to network with industry colleagues such as publishers, programmers, developers, creative artists and with players intimately involved in digital content.
GCAP 09 will deliver thought provoking, creative and innovative topics covering programming, art, design and more from leaders in game development.
Game developers, publishers, distributors and investors should attend, along with interactive entertainment industry players and educators. Whether you're a programmer, project director, senior architect or designer, studio staff member, a new recruit or student, GCAP 09 offers real benefits.
GCAP 09 will take place at the Crown Promenade Hotel located in the bustling Southbank entertainment precinct.
Posted on November 17, 2009 by by Steve Cartwright
We all know when we're having fun - but what exactly is "fun?" Why is it that some activities are considered more enjoyable while others are not? How do we feel when we're having fun? The answers may seem obvious, but in reality there is a myriad of complex events that must occur for an activity to be fun. But, in order for an activity to feel "fun," it must first trigger the brain into releasing endorphins into the bloodstream. It is this release of endorphins that gives us the pleasurable feeling we call "fun." Furthermore, if this positive physical sensation of fun can be prolonged over a period of time, the activity causing the fun might even be considered addicting!
Endorphins
Because they are naturally produced by the body, endorphins are possibly the best way to achieve the natural high we call fun. "Chemically speaking, endorphins are polypeptides, which bind to the neuro-receptors in the brain to make us feel good. Endorphins are the reason why soldiers wounded in battle can have the strength to save someone else; why avid runners experience the so-called runner's high; and why some people are drawn to dangerous activities like car racing, sky diving and bungee jumping. In our case, endorphins enable someone to spend hours in front of a TV playing videogames!" (from "The Beta Clear CD" as published in Life Technology)
December 5-6, 2009 Flash GAMM Kyiv 2009 Hotel Lybid
Kyiv, Ukraine
Flash GAMM! is ? unique event devoted to flash games and organized specially for professional flash games developers, publishers, producers, programmers and designers, for representatives of game portals and potential investors, which purpose is to share experience, contacts and ideas.
The meeting is hours of close communication between representatives of game industry from different countries and of different specializations.
You can find more information at the official website of the conference - http://www.flashgamm.com.
December 8-10, 2009 Game Connection Lyon Lyon, France
Game Connection is a unique speed dating event for business-focused game makers. It is a one-stop shop to meet face to face dozens of targeted potential partners involved in all stages of the production pipeline, from the concept to the outsourcing, publishing, distribution and financing, in back-to-back 30-minute meetings. Where else do you get to conduct an average of 27 tailored meetings in just three days, network with the best developers, publishers, distributors and service providers of the industry who are committed to make great games?
DeVry University's National Virtual Career Fair November 4, 2009
DeVry University's National Virtual Career Fair is an exciting live event where you can recruit excellent candidates all from the comfort of your home or office. For detailed information about the event, please visit: DeVry University Virtual Career Fair or copy and paste this link into your browser: https://presentations.inxpo.com/Shows/DeVry/03-09/Tour/Exhibitor/player.html.
Space is limited and by invitation only, and registration is open now.
Mary-Margaret will be at IGC West. Thursday, she will be joining a panel at 11am called "Hiring for Growth" with fellow panelist, Colleen McCreary of Zynga. Friday at 11:30am, she will give a talk entitled "Finding a Job You Love" providing ideas on where they are and how to find them. If you want to meet with Mary-Margaret while you are at IGC West, please email her at mm@mary-margaret.com. If you haven't registered yet go to www.igcwest.com.
The 2009 Independent Game Conference West will take place Thursday and Friday (November 5-6) at the Marriott Marina del Rey in Los Angeles. This conference is aimed directly for the independent studio or development team, and is bringing great speakers and sessions in without charging an arm and a leg to attend!
Linear versus multi-dimensional - the complexities between film music and music for videogames
The creative process in writing for interactive media can be very liberal. The composer generally has much more time to try things out if he gets involved at an early stage of production. In contrast, film music usually involves one being brought in at a very late stage in post-production, leaving the composer only a few weeks' time to finish the score.
When you write music for a film you create a score consisting of numerous cues that serve the picture on a conventional linear narrative from opening to closing credits, whereas music for a videogame is non-linear. Music for a videogame requires the composer to create different cues (little pieces of music for a certain event) that can be layered and combined in a non-linear way, corresponding to scenes/events throughout the game's storyline.
Transitional smaller pieces of music (segues) need to be composed for a videogame to weave more significant pieces of music together. Parts to bridge disparate sections or themes, multiple endings, intros, harmonies, counterpoints, turnarounds and breaks have to be written depending on the intended nature of the experience and level of interaction. Abrupt changes from one segment to another can be very disruptive.
Mary-Margaret Network's Co-Founder, Robin McShaffry praised the Leadership Forum saying, "I attended the IGDA Leadership Forum last November and came away incredibly energized and enthusiastic about our industry and the bright lights who are coming into leadership roles. We're still maturing as an industry and it is gatherings like these that move that process along. This is an extremely worthwhile forum!"
The IGDA Leadership Forum will feature three distinct leadership tracks--personal, project, and studio--designed to best fit the attendees' current or projected career path.
"The great thing about the Leadership Forum is that it attracts working professionals from diverse backgrounds--large and small developers and publishers--who share best practices and real life success stories." -Heather Chandler, Program Chair
The AbleGamers Foundation, Inc. is pleased to announce that President Mark Barlet, will be speaking at the 2009 NCTI Technology Innovators Conference. Mark will be taking the stage at the Madison Hotel in Washington, DC on Monday November 16th, 2009 at 3pm.
Speaking with Mark on the topic "Games for Therapy for Students with Disabilities" will be John Foley and Stephen Yang, Associate Professor, Physical Education; Co-Director Exergame Lab, State University of NY-Cortland along with Christina Whalen, Co-Founder, Teachtown (Autism Clinical Game) and Debbie Moss, Specialist Technical Expert in Autism, Los Angeles Unified School District.
The Founder of AbleGamers, Mark Barlet brings years of practical game accessibility knowledge to the table; he has deep reach back into the gaming community and content providers. Do not miss this session.
The AbleGamers Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity that runs AbleGamers.com , which provides news, reviews, and advice on disabled technology and the accessibility of mainstream video game titles. As an alternative to Serious Gaming, mainstream video games supply many disabled individuals and veterans with rehabilitation as well as social stimulation in situations where they may be otherwise shut out of society's idea of normal everyday life.
VIEW Conference 2009 Turin, Italy November 4-7, 2009
VIEW Conference is the premiere international event in Italy on Computer Graphics, Interactive Techniques, Digital Cinema, 3D Animation, Gaming and VFX. VIEW 2009 will continue to focus on exploring the increasingly fluid boundary between real and digital worlds. Through lectures, meetings, tributes, exhibits, screenings and demo presentations VIEW will reveal the new digital frontier sweeping from cinema to architecture, from automotive design to advertisement, from medicine to videogames.
The keynote speaker for VIEW 2009 will be none other than Emmy Award Winner Michael Giacchino, composer of music for 'Up', 'Partly Cloudy', 'Star Trek', 'Ratatouille', 'The Incredibles', 'Mission Impossible III', 'Speed Racer' and 'Cloverfield.' Michael also has the score for TVs 'Lost' and 'Alias' and a long list of hot game musical theme scores as well.
Featured speakers include:
Glenn Entis co-founded Pacific Data Images (PDI), where he animated, directed, produced and helped lead the studio for over 12 years. In 2000, Glenn joined Electronic Arts and went on to become their Worldwide Studios Chief Visual and Technology Officer. Glenn Entis has earned a Scientific and Technical Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures and Arts, and is president of the Vancouver chapter of ACM SIGGRAPH. At VIEW 2009, Glenn Entis will be discussing 'The Gamification of Digital Media'.
Roger Guyett is the Visual Effects Supervisor at Industrial Lights & Magic. After 15 years of amazing audiences with 'Casper', 'Twister', 'Saving Private Ryan' and 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban', Guyett earned both Oscar and BAFTA nominations and won the Visual Effects Society Award for Best Visual Effects. Most recently, Guyett was the Visual Effe
The 2009 Mobile Excellence Awards profiles the latest in mobile entertainment, including media, marketing, and technology. This prestigious event celebrates the achievements of mobile entertainment from start-ups to applications, to studios. Join industry leaders from all walks of the mobile and entertainment industry, including interactive media, film, television, music, games, agencies, and high-tech for an exclusive VIP event and exciting evening celebrating the industry's future rising stars and Best of the Best in mobile entertainment.
To view the list of finalists for The Mobile Excellence Awards' 2009 Peoples Choice and Industry Star Award, please click here.
NetGames 2009 LIP6 - University of Paris 6 Paris, France November 23- 25, 2009
The 8th Annual Workshop on Network and Systems Support for Games (NetGames 2009) will be held in Paris, France, on November 23-24, 2009. The NetGames workshop brings together researchers and developers from academia and industry to present new research in understanding networked games of today and in enabling the next generation of future networked games.
Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):
- Network measurement and traffic modeling - System benchmarking, performance evaluation, and provisioning - Latency issues and lag compensation techniques - Operating system enhancements, service platforms, and middleware - Impact of online game growth on network infrastructure - P2P & Scalable system architectures - Network protocol design - Mobile and resource-constrained systems - Augmented physical systems - Networks of sensors and actuators - Input devices, haptics and accessibility
Performers open doors with headshots, demo reels or press clippings, but eventually they must audition for the gig. And writer auditions? Strange as that sounds, people are sometimes uncomfortable hiring a writer without a skills test. Or so they say. Maybe they want something for nothing. Maybe it just turns out that way despite everyone's best intentions. While I can't offer much empirical data, I can share my experiences of writing auditions.
"Show Me What You Got"
Before I launched my writing career, I worked for someone with an interesting typing test for new office hires. She'd listen to their hands on the keyboard to gauge their relationship to the process as well as checking their work for accuracy. I believe there's a similar principle at the core of writing auditions, even if someone isn't grooving to the rhythm of your keystrokes. Your strong resume, glowing references and drop-dead portfolio simply aren't enough. Some clients' projects or processes are so unique (to them) that they're compelled to test your skills before committing.
To you, it feels like a failure of imagination, a slap at your integrity, or another silly hoop to jump through. So do you gamely give it your best shot? Do you risk the opportunity by demanding pay-to-play or a signed contract? It depends on your hunger, your confidence in your chops, and how much you enjoy exceeding critical expectations. It also depends on your gut level of trust.
Truth be known, I don't even like Halloween or costume parties or anything haunted. I'm the biggest chicken there is, and I can't watch horror movies. Ghosts scare me and the idea that there may be life after death, or spirits lurking in the night, creeps me out. My phobia is dolls and as I get older, I'm realizing how anxious confined spaces make me feel. Basically, I'm a wuss! So why am I vice president and co-founder of SCARE for a CURE?
Simply put, my passions are giving back to the community, volunteering for good causes and helping others, even if it means facing my fears. My husband Jarrett, on the other hand LOVES Halloween; it's his favorite holiday. Every Halloween for as long as we've been married, Jarrett has built some sort of maze in our front yard for the neighborhood kids, or dressed up as the scariest monster on the street. SCARE seemed like a good compromise for us. I let him build haunted houses as long as we can charge admittance with net proceeds going to local charities.
So how did it start? In 2005 one of my very best friends was raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to meet her marathon pledge. I made the suggestion to Jarrett that we turn our annual Halloween party into a FUNdraiser to help reach her goal. With the help of ALL of our close friends (including Britannia Manor veterans Mike and Robin McShaffry) and about 30 high school theatre and drama students, our Halloween party turned into a 3,000 sq ft haunted house that wrapped around every inch of our yard from front to back. We raised $3,500 in our back yard and SCARE for a CURE was born.
On behalf of Women in Games International, we would like to express our appreciation to Mary-Margaret Network's team and WIGI members for their support of the SMU Guildhall and WIGI mixer at AGDC last month. We had close to 200 attendees from various studios, service providers and organizations in the game development community. Events like the AGDC Mixers helps WIGI continue to promote the inclusion and advancement of women in the global games industry.
Furthermore, WIGI has begun our annual 2010 membership drive. WIGI is reliant on our 2010 memberships to support our incredible events, speakers, and prizes when sponsorship dollars do not always cover the total costs. We are looking forward to 2010 having more mixers, more speakers, more prizes and many more networking opportunities for all of our members!
The rates are great with a full year membership; just $10 for students and $20 for professionals.
Other than in Night of the Living Dead, in most Zombie films the most clever, skilled, and tough people survive to the exit point or the 'hopeful dawn'.
We are in difficult times that as individuals we feel we can do nothing about personally and directly. Our government has sold off our future over a threat we are only beginning to feel. We are engaged in a hot war with a relentless enemy that springs out of the dark and just wants us dead for reasons that we don't culturally fathom.
I think zombies are popular and survival horror is popular lately because it reflects the cultural stresses that we have but it resolves them that if you are tough enough, smart enough, or fast enough in the end (as you mentioned) humanity can win. It isn't usually the college education or beauty - but ingenuity, planning, and reacting in the moment, skills most people pride themselves on. Conflict with Zombies pits our personal skills and talents against widespread problems. We cannot fix the whole problem but we can individually survive.
Sure, some people are going to end up brainfood for the zombie masses - but in the end there is hope that humanity will continue. Oh yeah, and there is lots of action and explosions.
Has someone ever said to you, "Did you hear what I said?" What they really meant was, "Did you hear the words and listen to their meaning?" Listening skills allow one to make sense of and understand what another person is saying. In other words, listening skills allow you to understand what someone is "talking about." Hearing is a physical ability, listening is a skill.
My children always kid me that I talk to myself. I tell them it's from having children. How many times do you say something and then mumble, "I might as well be talking to a wall!" Believe me when I tell you they HEAR you, they just aren't listening.
Listening is an active process. Weak listening skills lead to misunderstandings, inadequate performance, frustration, and a sense of being ignored or disrespected. It can be why a student fails a test. They didn't listen to the instructions!
There are many ways we don't "listen":
Daydreaming: One of the most common reasons is that we are daydreaming. This is especially true for students listening to a teacher or anyone attending a lecture. We "tune out" for a short while and many times miss the most important points.
Close-Mindedness: Close-mindedness causes us to shut down our ability to listen. We are so caught up in our own point of view that nothing the other party says matters. Close-mindedness is one of the most destructive ways of failing to listen in that it can ruin relationships and interfere with learning.
False Attention: This is a protection technique. We use it to pretend we are listening so as not to insult the speaker. However, it can become a serious issue when we use it all the time.
Intellectual Despair: This is a tough one, especially for students or people in training. We give up before they even start. "I just don't get it, anyway." It is a self-defeating behavior and can lead to a negative self-fulfilling prophecy.
Memorizing: This problem occurs when we try and memorize everything the instructor, lecturer or teacher is saying. Anxiety usually takes over as we try to listen to it all and as a result take away far less.
Personality Listening: Boy, we have all done this one. Sometimes we start judging the speaker instead of the content of what they are saying, whether it is based on the appearance of the speaker, the speaker's tone of voice, their demeanor, or some other factor. Allowing this to block our listening skills will inevitably hinder our learning.
Becoming a better listener requires improving behaviors and attitudes. Here are some positive actions to becoming a better listener:
Posted on September 16, 2009 by by Lisa Gualtieri and Ben Sawyer
We at Mary-Margaret Network are big fans of Ben Sawyer and Games for Health, a conference we partner with annually. Recently, Lisa Gualtieri, Editor-in-Chief of eLearnMag.org, sat down with Ben and asked him Five Questions. We thought we would share it with you.
Five Questions for Ben Sawyer
Ben Sawyer, co-founder of Digitalmill, organizes the annual Games for Health Conference, which took place in Boston last month. The conference is produced by the Games for Health Project, which is sponsored by the Pioneer Portfolio of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Leading the project, Ben has single-handedly pulled together a diverse community of people working on video games used in therapeutic practices, to teach health professionals, and for increasing education and adherence in patients with the goal of improving health through games and their associated technologies.
Lisa Gualtieri: What was your motivation is starting Games for Health?
Ben Sawyer: I started the project as an outgrowth of the Serious Games Initiative, which we had put together with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C.
The MMN team will be out in full force at Austin GDC this September 14-18th.
Robin McShaffry, MMN VP Operations, favors Austin GDC because she lives about a mile from the Austin Convention Center. McShaffry says "I will be down there for the whole event; setting appointments, taking a lot of meetings, and attending parties, especially the IGDA giant Rock Band crazy party. I love having the industry come to my town for this fun conference."
Mary-Margaret Walker, CEO, has attended numerous Game Developer's Conferences in San Francisco, but says "believe it or not this is my first time attending the Austin Game Developer's Conference. It will undoubtedly be an outrageously fun and productive week."
Ali Rogers, Recruiter, is also anticipating a busy, but productive week. "I thought last year's event was great. There were interesting speakers and topics. The line up of this year's talks look just as promising." Rogers is looking forward to seeing a big turnout for this year's show. She plans on taking meetings during show hours and hopes to "hit as many parties as [she] can" each evening.
The conference itself was held in the Baron Hall within the Corn Exchange complex (SW of Edinburgh town centre).
To begin Chris Deering, Chairman of Edinburgh Interactive (Chairman of Codemasters and former Chairman and President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe), gave an introduction and welcomed back delegates from the first day's event. He talked about how today's event is a less-formal day with some interesting sessions.
The first session of the day was "Let Avatars Speak For Themselves" given by Rob Seaver (MD of Vivox) who detailed their massively scalable voice technology for games. He went on to discuss how the technology can benefit game play and communities who are used to more traditional textbased communication. He claimed that having voice technology within your game can result in up to four times the number of people playing and extend play up to twice as long.
The second session "Evolution of Branded Games" was given by Peter Cowley (MD of Digital Media, Endemol UK). Peter was initially cross-examined by founder and former TIGA CEO Fred Hasson. He then talked about using the digital media to either enhance or surpass the television media via games. One of their projects to look out for is 1 vs 100 on Xbox LIVE. Players can play virtually using their Xbox Avatars as one of the 100 in the Audience and one player who is trying to beat them to win real money prizes.
As a teenager, I learned some useful basics about finding work. My mom told me, "Treat looking for a job as if it were your job." She also said, "Knock on every door and introduce yourself, even if there's no Help Wanted sign." And I actually found my first job by filling in for a vacationing friend, which was a successful case of "who you know."
Flash forward to 1996 and to me seeking a career as a writer for new media, specifically in the gaming industry. "Career" still meant "job" at the time. I expected to build experience and a track record by taking whatever came along until finding the sweet spot and staying there. That was the old model. But at some point, I came to accept a professional life of availability for "paying gigs." And I came to see freelancing as perpetual job training. Here's how.
Knocking on Doors
When I first discovered the Web, I was still cold-calling every business listed under "New Media" in the yellow pages -- until I discovered a new online community called craigslist. Cold calling or cold emailing was essentially targeted spamming; rather than wait for job openings, I pitched to companies that seemed to need someone like me. (I no longer recommend this method. It was never easy, and the drift toward job specialization has made it even less possible.) I spoke with important men much younger than I was, trying to roll with their jargon, acutely aware how unqualified I was. Clearly I needed to educate myself. I went to San Francisco for classes at Media Alliance, BAVC and MentorNet. I learned some basics about Mac use, HTML and game design. None of this made me an expert in anything, but I was able to (sort of) understand what the important young men were talking about.
No, this article is not about how videogames cause violence - a ridiculous idea anyway - but how games can be and are used to teach soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines how to do their jobs. The military has always been interested in ways to simulate combat effectively to provide a realistic training experience. At the top of the scale, joint exercise simulations like Unified Quest help keep the Chief of Staff thinking analytically. The Air Force has been using various flight simulators since World War II - the latest versions differ from reality only in safety, cost, and g-forces! The Navy has also been at the forefront of simulation development, particularly since, as with the Air Force, using actual vehicles and weapons can be both dangerous and prohibitively expensive. Ground forces are just starting to catch up.
As ground-based combat systems have become more computerized, the ability to provide simulation-based training in that arena has also increased. Computerized fire control systems and GPS-based tracking systems like Blue Force Tracker naturally lend themselves to simulations for training on those devices. Newer systems, such as "DARWARS Ambush", the Engagement Skills Trainer (EST) and the Virtual Convoy Operations Trainer (VCOT), teach combat skills and decision-making to junior soldiers. A simulation called "Tactical Iraqi" teaches them rudimentary language skills. Large-scale exercises are held for commanders at all levels with a game called "UrbanSim" using virtual soldiers and covering issues like dealing with civilians, mission planning, terrorism, and logistics. Video games are even used for recruitment, as exemplified by the ever-popular "America's Army."
Ever wonder about the development of games of chance? We asked Bob Ingold to give us a glimpse into his world of game development and some of the differences between "video games" and "casino gaming."
Working on real-money casino slot machines isn't much different than working on video games -- except you need a mathematician. Because slots are games of chance, it is up to the math guy to wrangle the exact weighting system of each symbol so that over the life of the machine, the casino is guaranteed a profit. Slots are rated in terms of percentage of return. A 90% slot means that over the life of the machine, the players will get 90% of their money back. That's the equivalent of about 3 million spins!
As the game gets fine-tuned, the math guy may be rebalancing the math again and again, right up until the time the game is about to ship. For example, let's say the game has a bonus feature. In order to make sure the bonus player has a potential to win a decent amount of credits, the math guy must take away some of the possible winning amounts from the base game. If you ever look at a slot machine's pay table, you will see differences in the amount of credits you can win from game to game. Three bars in game "A" can win one amount while three bars in game "B" can win a different amount. One game may offer free spins as a bonus and another may have an elaborate second screen for the bonus game.
Working on slot machines isn't much different than working in the video game industry with the exception of needing a mathematician. Because slot machines are games of chance, it is up to the math guy to wrangle the exact weighting system of each symbol so that over the life of the machine, the casino is guaranteed a profit. Slots are rated in terms of percentage of return. A 90% slot means that over the life of the machine, the players will get 90% of their money back. That's the equivalent of about 3 million spins!
As the game is fine-tuned, the math guy may be rebalancing the math again and again, right up until the time the game is about to ship. For example, let's say the game has a bonus feature. In order to make sure the bonus player has a potential to win a decent amount of credits, the mathematician must take away some of the possible winning amounts from the base game. If you ever take a look at a slot machine's pay table, you will see differences in the amount of credits you can win from game to game. Three bars in game "A" can win one amount while three bars in game "B" can win a different amount. Some games may offer free spins as a bonus and another may have an elaborate second screen for the bonus game.
Considering I started writing for online sites only close to a year ago, the dramatic increase of this alternative revenue model is staggering. The creation of different revenue streams, in the form of downloadable content, and the addition of the microtransaction model are quickly becoming the smarter and more cost effective way to create revenue. Only the widespread acceptance from the consumer will propel this model past the retail environment.
The mainstream media constantly reports that the video game industry is growing at the speed of a virus. The revenue number that continuously repeats itself is "billions." Two obvious questions arise: Are these media outlets looking specifically at retail/online sales of products? Are they taking into account the huge used game market that cuts out the publishers and developers? GameStop increasingly reports larger profits with each quarter, but most gamers should realize that the used game market's profit margin against the new releases is huge.
All gamers, at some point, have traded in a game towards credit against something else, new or used, and how many times have gamers been disappointed on the offered credit? What happens when gamers return to that very store to see their trade-in marked up twenty dollars against the credit they were given for that product? Personally, the response I have is a sigh and a shake of the head.
After spending a few too many years operating someone else's small business, I was hungry for a change. Having established that I could manage many details while keeping multiple balls in the air, I now sought a fulfilling professional use for my creative skills. It was late 1995, and I was finally Mac-literate, with a strong sense of the computer as a writer's medium as well as a writing tool. I saw how the electronic gaming world had changed since I dabbled with the all-text format in 1982. I did some self-applied career counseling via What Color is Your Parachute?, confirming what I already knew: I was ready to seek my fortune in the brave new world of gaming.
A shift was happening. Christmas 1995 was a disastrous season for game developers when actual sales failed to match over-leveraged expectations. As the industry circled its wagons and licked its wounds (and showed little interest in hiring untested writers), the Worldwide Web was at that moment turning from a hi-tech plaything into a cash cow. The public was ready to enter a different kind of brave new world -- the virtual one they could access from the comfort of their home computers. Investors were shoveling money right and left, and the angel-funded startup was the latest business model.
Posted on May 29, 2009 by by Norma Crippen and Jon Nelson
Jon Nelson most recently was the Director of Online Marketing and Strategy at Disney Interactive Studios and held similar positions at J2 Global Communications, Princess Cruise Lines and Atari, Inc. Prior to his four years at Atari, he managed various global brands at many Los Angeles based interactive agencies including Direct Partners, Rare Medium and Magnet Interactive. In addition to his online experience, he also brings with him nine years of traditional agency experience from DMB&B Advertising where he was the Senior Producer on such major brands as General Motors, Budweiser, Baskin Robbins and Blue Cross. A rare California native, Jon earned his BA in Liberal Arts/Computer Science at California State University, Northridge.
VP of Executive Recruiting and Client Services Norma Crippen caught up with Nelson to discuss his career breakthroughs, current projects and navigating the online market.
Norma: How did you get your break in the video game industry?
Jon: I was fortunate enough to be working at a company that was laying employees off and one of those employees was an Account Director that asked me to come over to a French-based company known as Infogrames as they just purchased the rights to a small video game brand known as Atari.
I recently went to a game conference in Seattle called LOGIN. Although it seems like there are game conferences every month of the year, this is one of my favorites. It's a place where plans are made and knowledge is shared.
Sure, everybody knows about GDC. Everybody goes to GDC. And really, that's half the problem. There's a sea of humanity, most of them wearing black t-shirts. There are several huge expo floors with a maze of booths. If you know who you need to talk to, you spend the whole week in meeting after meeting because everybody is there. If you don't know who you need to talk to, you spend the week shaking a lot of hands and hoping to get lucky.
LOGIN is almost the direct opposite of this. I go to almost every session and since not everybody and their dog is stuffed into the rooms, it's easy to get to know a lot of new, interesting people. The people presenting sessions are just as knowledgeable and experienced as those at GDC, but they're also not under as much pressure. So the talks are often quite friendly and promote lots of interaction with the audience. Plus, topics are covered that no other conference in the game industry is tackling such as community management, EULAs and augmented reality. They take serious looks at what the game industry will be like in five-to-ten years. I really enjoy this opportunity to look ahead: to explore the possibilities of technology and business trends and pick the brains of as many experts as possible.
Posted on May 18, 2009 by by Norma Crippen and Scot Rubin
Since 1996 Scot Rubin had a single vision: to create entertaining, authentic content for the video game generation.
Two years after launching All Games Network and the world's first daily talk show about games, he was invited to join forces with webcasting pioneer Pseudo Programs in NYC. At Pseudo, Rubin was Vice President of games and sports programming. In that capacity, he was responsible for all marketing and production of All Games Network and the NFL QB Club Channel amounting to more than 12 hours of live and on-demand programming each week.
In 2000, Rubin was lured to Hollywood (as a consultant for Comcast) to develop the video game TV channel G4 where he served as VP of Program Development, Internet and IT before finally settling in as the VP of Editorial. In 2002, he created and hosted a weekly interactive talk show and various specials. As G4 shifted away from gaming in 2005, Rubin left to re-launch All Games Productions. Since then, he has provided consulting and production services to GameSpot, Shiny Entertainment, CFP Productions, Crisp Branding, E For All Expo, Hewlett Packard, The Viral Factory, Wilshire Communications and others. Rubin was executive producer for the television pilot "Hollywood and Games" in HD as well as the documentary "As Real As Your Life."
I worked as an art manager and 3D modeler for a prominent Fortune 500 homebuilding company and I was laid off in November for economic reasons. Knowing how bad the market was, I decided to shift my focus to other fields. I attended the Video Game Exposition in Philadelphia, where I was able to meet a number of working professionals and gain valuable information and insight into the industry. One suggestion I recieved included taking my digital camera on walks and trips for photos to be used in texture maps and artistic reference. It was a very helpful piece of advice. Most importantly, I learned what type of artist the industry sought.
I spent the next month learning HTML, and by January I had created and launched my own website to showcase my portfolio. That month I had also purchased a brand new computer, a WACOM tablet with Corel Painter X, Adobe Photoshop CS4. I downloaded the 30-day free trial of After Effects to train myself, as well as attended weekly drawing workshops to scrape off the rust and update my portfolio (and I continue to update it). By spring, I noticed I was receiving more inquiries from recruiters, and wound up not only landing a short-term contract job doing 3D modeling near my hometown, but also a freelance art job to create a CD cover.
MMN asked Alan Lipton to tell us about his entry into the game industry, to illustrate how writers can follow in his path.
What kid doesn't dream about rewriting reality when things aren't going his way? As a young escapist, I was always reading stories, watching movies and losing myself in immersive play. Then I got my first taste of branching story lines while visiting the Czech Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal. It was "Kino-Automat: The World's First Interactive Movie" by Raduz Cincera. During this film, the action stopped five times, and someone would come out and ask the audience to choose between two possible outcomes, voting with the red or green buttons in the arms of our chairs. I vaguely recall a story involving a towel-clad woman locked out of her apartment, but the really important part, the sense of storytelling possibility, stayed with me over the years.
As a writer, I started exploring interactive fiction while developing my craft in college. I merrily created random scenes that suggested bigger stories, and when they started bleeding into each other, I'd build my story arc from what had happened so far and where it seemed to be going. This process included taking roll call in my journal, with each character checking in and sometimes mixing it up with the others. I started using this check-in model for my December holiday stories, where characters from my various projects represented their worlds, which were all very different flavors of science fiction and fantasy. And the next logical step was my zine [More >>]
Mary-Margaret Network recruiters reveal their secrets
Recent travels found me presenting marketing best practices to conference attendees at the inaugural Triangle Game Developers Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. I had a lot of fun participating at this conference and it was also exciting to be able to support an industry event on the east coast; based on the great turnout we can look forward to Triangle 2010!
Folks from the North Carolina development community came out in full force including employees from Insomniac, Epic and Atomic Games as well as Red Storm, Vicious Cycle, IBM and The Escapist with session topics across multiple disciplines including Game Technology and Programming, Game Design and Production, Games and Media, Serious Games and the Business of Gaming.
Conference attendees also included a number of students and others looking to land their first job in the video game industry. In particular, I was struck by the sheer number of talent attending the "Breaking In" session. With so many individuals competing for jobs, often hundreds of applicants applying for a single opening, I thought, how can you make yourself stand out among the competition?
April showers typically bring May flowers... but, for several lucky winners, a simple stop to the Mary-Margaret Network website also brought valuable prizes and smiles all around!
To build excitement leading up toGDC '09, Mary-Margaret Network staff produced a weekly blog segment to prep attendees on how to maximize their conference experience. One lucky individual won aResume Overhaul, one-page Power Resume and sample Cover Letter valued at $800.
TheResume Overhaul package was won by Dave Block (right) of Seattle, Washington, and it couldn't have come at a better time: he's currently in the process of changing career directions.
"I realized that my passion surrounded creativity and content," explained Block. "I really like building the partnerships that deliver great consumer value. So, a well-written resume will help me frame the conversations that I want to have with potential employers."
You all know it, you go through it every day: the fans just don't understand what we do. They whine, complain and claim that without any of the equipment, skill set, tools or know-how, they could do a better job.
As a volunteer scoutmaster and First Lego League coach, I work with youth a lot in my spare time. A surprising amount of that work involves educating them about just what we, the game developers, are actually doing all day at our incredibly radical jobs.
Video games are an art form, plain and simple. I don't believe it is pretentious to place video games on the same shelf as some of the great paintings or sculptures of the world; just like books, movies, and to a degree some TV shows belong on that same shelf. We're seeing this shift in the industry where ever since at least E3 2005, there has been the 'art of video games' show-case as a traveling display.
Just like one chapter of a book is not often showcased by itself, each game should be viewed in its complete form as its own work of art. And here, of course, is where the trouble starts. Video games are a unique form of collaborative art. Whereas writing is the ultimate task of the recluse, creating games requires people-often large numbers of them-working together.
In November 2005, I wrote about reactions to Governor Schwarzenegger's A.B. 1179, making it illegal for the sale of "violent video game(s)" to anyone under the age of 18. The Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) had filed suit to seek judicial determination that the statute was unconstitutional.
In 2007, Judge Ronald Whyte issued a preliminary injunction against enforcement upon determination that the statute was unconstitutional, which was appealed by the Governor's office. As of last month, the 9th Circuit rejected the state's appeal.
For background, AB 1179 defined a "violent video game" as a video game in which the range of options available to a player includes killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting the image of a human being, if those acts are either depicted: (A) in a manner which is especially heinous, cruel or depraved in that it involves torture or serious physical abuse, or (B) falls within one of three standards: (1) a reasonable person considering the game as a whole would find the acts appeal to the deviant or morbid interest of minors; (2) is patently offensive to the prevailing standards of the community as to what is suitable for minors; or (3) it causes the game, as a whole, to lose its literary, scientific, artistic or political value.
It appears game developers are back in the news again as the hell-spawned corruptors of America's youth. The same youth who would otherwise be flawless citizens, always ready to help little old ladies across the street, if not for the presence of Halo, Grand Theft Auto and any other violence-centric video games that were hurled from of the sky, Erich Von Daniken-like, to impact and direct a culture that would otherwise not have produced these works for themselves. Which brings me to probably the biggest fallacy that the hysterical blame-layers have conveniently forgotten to acknowledge:
Neither art nor commerce is created in a vacuum.
Violent video games are made because there is a market for them.
Images of violence are compelling and, like sex, sell by the truckload. Game developers are no more the top-hated, half caped, waxed moustache-twirling silent movie villains than the creators of comic books were in the 1950s when comicdom had its day in the sun as the popular scapegoat for an intolerably sullied youth culture.
Video gaming has been the new entertainment medium twice now, once in the arcade era of the 1980s, and again in the past decade of high-powered home consoles that offer unprecedented realism in the range and experiences that they deliver. Whereas the first outcry was from already established entertainment industries disliking the competition for consumer dollars, the video game industry has now run afoul of moral authorities precisely for that realism. Youtubed gameplay video clips of the usual game violence whipping boys might seem damning on the face of it, until you consider that WASDing with the left hand and strumming a mouse of anywhere from five to nine buttons with the right and emptying out a Taco Bell with a machine gun are separate skills entirely.
You all know it, you go through it every day: the fans just don't understand what we do. They whine, complain and claim that without any of the equipment, skill set, tools or know-how, they could do a better job.
As a volunteer scoutmaster and First Leggo League coach, I work with youth a lot in my spare time. A surprising amount of that work involves educating them about just what we, the game developers, are actually doing all day at our incredibly radical jobs.
Video games are an art form, plain and simple. I don't believe it is pretentious to place video games on the same shelf as some of the great paintings or sculptures of the world; just like books, movies, and to a degree some TV shows belong on that same shelf. We're seeing this shift in the industry where ever since at least E3 2005, there has been the 'art of video games' show-case as a traveling display.
Just like one chapter of a book is not often showcased by itself, each game should be viewed in its complete form as its own work of art. And here, of course, is where the trouble starts. Video games are a unique form of collaborative art. Whereas writing is the ultimate task of the recluse, creating games requires people-often large numbers of them-working together.
A How-To Guide for Game Producers and Developers (Part I)
A game producer or lead developer has at least 12 irons in the fire at all times. He or she needs to be experienced in project management, coding version control, raising and spending money, signing off on artistic and writing decisions, and, of course, structuring the audio for the game. And audio is one of the most mysterious components for many game producers. It can be very hard to communicate your desires and goals to your game audio people, and oftentimes, it feels like you and your audio team might be speaking different languages!
Because of this, I put together this multipart article series discussing what makes great game music; how it is its own unique form; and (for all you producers and developers out there) how to find and communicate effectively with great game music people to get the great game audio your project needs!
The first step to understanding what constitutes great game music is to describe what it is not. The biggest misconception in our industry is that game music and film music are one and the same. Nothing could be further from the truth! Game music is not film music, although game music is derived (or "can be derived") from film music.
Part II of IV: The Power Resume - Take aim and hit your job target
The one-page Power Resume is critical to your arsenal of career and job-hunting techniques. The Power Resume is a "must have" for executives, career changers and anyone with an extensive repertoire in a single field or across multiple disciplines.
More succinct than a full curriculum vitae and providing more depth than a business card, the Power Resume is the perfect tool for effectively presenting your skills at conferences and job fairs and serves as a handy reference of who you are, and exactly what it is you do.
The Power Resume uses smart styling and brevity to communicate your key hiring skills quickly so that potential employers can assess your worth with a glance. The easy-to-read, one-page format serves as an encapsulated snapshot of your career highlights.
Read on for more tips on crafting your Power Resume and setting your best foot forward at GDC:
What? The Power Resume captures the critical aspects of your career history in a chronological format that's heavy on information, but light on detail. The Power Resume passes the "10 second" rule using brevity, compact presentation and crisp styling. It ensures the potential employer sees what they need to know to quickly move you to the next stage in the hiring process.
Who? Executives and individuals with extensive career histories can leverage a Power Resume as a brief self-introduction to a prospective employer in the few minutes you have to make an impression at a conference. Similarly, career changers can focus specifically on their relevant experience to the industry and avoid being screened out.
If you think people don't pay attention to business cards, check out this video and think again!
When it comes to being an effective networker, presenting a well-developed personal set of business cards means serious business. Your business card is your opportunity to market yourself to new contacts, effectively communicating who you are, what you do, and how, all in a bite-sized 3.5" x 2" of real estate.
Think of your business card as the key to establishing your personal brand: one that makes a strong and lasting first impression. Like people, there is no one-size-fits-all: each business card should be unique to the individual.
Following are some universal truths that you should consider when developing your own cards:
Include the basics. This is a no brainer. At a minimum, your business card should include your name and a method for contact you. Personally, I include my name, address, cell phone, email address and website.
Drop nicknames and use your real name. If we established a good connection, my next steps include connecting with you on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook. Make it easy for me to find and connect with you.
List your areas of expertise.You want to make it as easy as possible for folks to remember who you are and what you do. List your area(s) of expertise on your card, so that people will remember what you're all about long after they've left the conference.<
One of the odd offshoots of the rise of the internet was the creation of an entirely new profession: the Community Manager. And while still in its infancy, Community Managers do something that's likely critical to your game's success: they work with your community of players.
They're there every day (and often nights), connecting people, putting out the messages that will help your game thrive, helping to nourish a positive supplementary game experience, and bringing back all of the info they gather to your dev and marketing and CS and QA teams. They're doing their best to grow a huge asset for your game: the community.
Community is even more valuable to you in tough times than it is when it's all gravy. Your CM is a lot cheaper than new content development, can help you keep customers that you would otherwise have to spend marketing dollars to acquire, and can help build brand loyalty so that even a less-than-stellar title won't take the franchise down.
Moreover, the Community Manager can help foster ties between players that add a lot to their game experience, making them that much more likely to stick around, rather than wander off to the latest new release. When players stay, they are building further brand loyalty, or, in the case of the MMO, continuing to be an active revenue stream.
Most everyone in the video game industry has or has heard a story that begins with "I got into video games by a lucky break," but most of these stories don't paint a complete picture of how the person in question was prepared to seize the opportunity with which they were presented. Volunteering in the video game fan community is an excellent way to create a path to that lucky break in getting into the game industry, and to prepare to make the most of that break. My own entry into the video game industry came after many years as a video game player, with several years of varied experience in the online video game fan community.
The original "The Sims" game and its online fan community helped me get my start in the video game industry. Even before I had acquired my own copy of "The Sims," I was aware of the game's substantial following on the Web, and I also discovered that "The Sims" allowed for user-made content to be integrated into a computer game on a scale not seen before. Both of these features interested me immensely.
At the "The Sims" time of release, the Macintosh was still using Mac OS 9, which had a thirty-one character limit on file names. This caused some fan-generated content that worked on Windows-based PCs to break on the Mac. Although I am not a programmer, I have always been interested in hands-on tinkering with tools and game systems. Within half of an hour of having the cellophane off of the "The Sims" for Macintosh box, I was on the Internet learning how to convert fan-made Sim skins for use on the Mac using nothing but a freeware text editor. This was the first step to my eventual success, in that I had developed a skill that few others had. There wasn't a huge demand for people that could convert Sim skins from PC to Mac, but there was enough of one that I was able to join several "The Sims" fan sites as the Macintosh
These days, every game developer wants to duplicate the success of Blizzard's World of Warcraft franchise: with over a billion dollars in yearly revenue and 11.5 million copies sold-why not? This kind of success is definitely achievable, regardless of the platform or genre, if a proper planning and leadership model is adopted.
Gingrich and Desmond outline a planning and leadership model that begins first by articulating the vision. Vision needs to be defined at two levels: the larger societal level and at the professional (company) level.
The first can be answered by asking a key question: where do we want our industry to be ten to twenty years in the future?
Is it about developing interactive games that improve lives or replace traditional forms of entertainment?
Or is it perhaps replacing a current model of how games are developed?
Over the course of hundreds of years, the Great Wall built and maintained by several dynasties of the Chinese empire was erected to prevent the marauding attacks of the Mongolians and marauders of ancient times. In modern times, however, the Great Wall is a relic of history, one that serves no practical purpose other than a tourist attraction for Western travelers.
In many ways, the Great Wall of China is not dissimilar to the illusory Great Wall of Hollywood as it relates to studios sharing creative assets and cooperating with game developers in building franchise titles. While "Content is King," it certainly misses the mark when control over intellectual property assets has become so cumbersome with legal and philosophical restraints, that monetization of cross-platform initiatives become secondary concerns.
As legal and business affairs counsel for both traditional motion picture production and video game developers, we understand both sides of the equation; yet the political and cultural resistance to collaboration requires intricate handling of the social, political and psychological behaviors of players on both sides of the fence. Having represented cross-platform properties, we have devised specific strategies that are useful in both managing expectations and fostering collaboration over rights as well as providing some space for discussing and negotiating asset sharing and cooperation in the two mediums.
As a veteran conference-goer, both as an exhibitor and attendee of countless recruiting, industry or technology-centric events, I approached my first GDC conference with mixed emotions of excitement and dread.
It's probably important to note: despite nearly two decades of recruiting software engineers, architects, marketing professionals and executives for the technology industry, my exposure to gaming was limited to some work done for Origin Systems in the early 90s, and as a gamer playing Sims, Ghost Recon, VietCong and Texas Hold'em.
For those who've been exhibitors of products or services at conferences, you know that being in the booth is akin to being on stage. Every person who walks up is a new audience, equating to thousands of "first impression" opportunities over two to three days. Frankly, it's exhausting work (not the "boondoggle" as described by some detractors).
With this in mind, I packed comfortable shoes, plenty of vitamin C, Altoids, cough drops and business cards and headed to San Francisco.
I was absolutely blown away by the level of enthusiasm and camaraderie witnessed at every turn. The people in this industry--from studio heads to indie developers to publishers--have an innate love for what they do...rather, what they are. Instead of coming home exhausted and worn down, I returned to Austin invigorated, excited and ready to take on the challenge of connecting people, companies and technologies to make something special happen.
I recently had the opportunity to represent the Mary-Margaret Network team in a different kind of speaking engagement.
Usually I find myself on a panel in front of industry professionals who have "been there and done that." This time, however, I was sitting in front of a group of University of Southern California (USC) students looking to land their first internship or possibly a real job.
"Easy," you say... "A no brainer."
Well it was actually one of the harder things I have ever done. Why? Because this audience listened. This audience needed the information.
Several years ago, when these students started their various avenues of study in the interactive entertainment industry, things were a bit rosier. Now fear, uncertainty and doubt seem to be the watch words.
So, I felt no pressure at all: no fear of misleading the bright and hopeful and no worries that they expected to hear genuine pearls of wisdom from an "industry professional." Still, through it all, I have to say that I think my colleagues and I did alright. As I faced the eager young faces, I knew there were positive things to say.
Twenty years ago, my mother died. Now you might find yourself wondering what this has to do with game development. The fact is, while I'd been working as a game developer for nearly six months, I never told her what I was doing. My mother had big plans for me, the most common ailment of only children. She thoroughly intended that, although I was too squeamish about everything medical (including removing the bag of giblets from a chicken carcass), too cynical about law (based largely on an internship during college where I learned that even the most reprehensible of killers deserved a decent defense in our legal system and that I could not imagine sleeping at night after defending such people) and so thoroughly disgusted by the sliminess of Public Relations (which could, of course, be parlayed into a job as Press Secretary for the White House or something similarly respectable), I would pursue medicine or law or the ever-pragmatic Public Relations.
I would be a respected professional that she could boast about at cocktail parties and have her friends admire the drive she had instilled in me to become a respected professional.
That's not how it went down.
I landed a job testing games at one of the most prestigious game companies in the country playing games for a living. The very notion would have sent her into apoplexy. So I didn't tell her about my job and left it vaguely hanging, implying that I was still doing something acceptable.
Exploring Virtual Worlds at Georgia Tech Living Game Worlds Conference - Virtually!
The first weekday after the Thanksgiving weekend, academics, game developers and gaming trail-blazers, all staggered forth from their turkey-comas to convene at the Georgia Institute of Technology for the Georgia Tech Living Game Worlds IV conference. There were great talks, much to learn and fun networking with people involved in the virtual worlds space. In order to participate fully, I didn't have to fly all the way to Atlanta -- or even change out of my pajamas!
This conference took place in multiple spaces, both physical and virtual. It was physically embodied in Atlanta, Georgia in Georgia Tech's GVU center, and it was streamed live on the web, inside of Second Life, along with multiple options available for connecting to an IRC channel and chatting during the conference. Second Lifers and IRCers were cleverly linked up so they could hear each other and communicate back and forth.
Since I was at home in lovely El Cerrito, California, I opted to try out the Second Life venue for the conference. I sat snug in my home office, sipping cocoa and wearing my comfy pajamas throughout the entire event. Most people reported having a beautiful stream of the talks, but unfortunately my sound and picture was choppy throughout. Nonetheless, I was able to glean enough from the talks and the virtual attendees' chatter to learn quite a bit and have a great overall experience.
I live in Philadelphia. And I work in video games. So, it makes sense that I went to the Philadelphia VGXPO. In fact, I was on one of the panels, discussing tactics to "break into the industry", moderated by Norma Crippen of Mary-Margaret Network." I had a great time, both on the panel and at the VGXPO, and I thought I'd do a small post-mortem on the conference.
Philadelphia is an interesting city for the video game industry. There are not many game companies here, but it is a hidden gem for recruiting excellent video game talent. Several major universities have established game design or multimedia art degrees (including Drexel University, and University of Pennsylvania). Additionally, there are many experienced web content producers working in Philadelphia for both Comcast and local network affiliates, who can transition their skills into the casual and web-based game industry easily. The expo took advantage of this by adding two new sections to their traditional consumer-based target market.
First, all of Saturday was devoted to the East Coast Game Summit, a series of panels and events geared to increase awareness and publicity about the rapidly expanding game industry on the East Coast. When one thinks of 38 Studios and 2K Boston in Boston; Bethesda and Zenimax in Maryland; and Red Storm and Epic (with a new Insomniac Studio coming) in North Carolina; one can see why East Coast game companies are viewed as a legitimate geographic market. The Summit worked under that context, running a 3 hour workshop on implementing Agile techniques for video game project management. The workshop leaders included Matt Shaw, CTO of EA Mythic, and Chris Oltyan of Zeitgeist Games. This content is almost a requirement for anyone who wants to produce or develop games, as it allows you to manage an incredi
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There is something special going on in Dallas, and not a lot of people know about it. People move to Dallas and don't want to leave. It's a great place to 
Aaron, I assure you, can be serious. But he also gives great hugs!! I’ve known him for so long that we always find each other at events and conferences to catch up on family, life, work, to have a debate or two and of course to share a couple of great hugs. His zombie meal choice doesn’t surprise me at all!
From one of the most iconic series in real-time strategy games for Windows PC comes a new way to grow your empire. Robot Entertainment has teamed up with Games for Windows LIVE to bring us 
Using the Internet for self promotion is a great way to increase your reach and exposure without digging deeper into your pocketbook. The most important thing to remember is that not everything that is free comes without a price. All of us who work and play online can be subject to bad publicity. The key is to be aware of the possibility and have a game plan, more formally known as an Online Reputation Management plan. Online Reputation Management (ORM) is simply keeping track of all online content about you or your company and knowing what to do when you run across something negative or untrue. Many ORM companies also offer search engine optimization, but that’s a whole other article!
The IGDA announced that Gordon Bellamy, Chair of the Board of Directors and former Executive Director at the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, has been appointed acting Executive Director of the association effective immediately. Bellamy is a 9-year veteran of the industry and has served on the IGDA Board of Directors since 2009.
When it’s time to dust off the resume and go out in search of a new job, it doesn’t take that much effort if all you have to do to update it is add the employment info from the job you just left. Type, type, type, proofread, print, done! That works just fine if all you want is a job exactly like the one you just left.
I first met Laddie three years ago at a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at Tim Campbell's home. From the moment I met him I was completely smitten with his wit, intelligence, charm and intense creativity. Over the years, Laddie developed a strong friendship with my husband, Andrew, and I have had the privilege of getting to know Laddie even better. Laddie is launching a new business and you have to read below to learn more about what he is doing next. If you get a chance to work with Laddie you will share my great admiration for him.
SCARE for a CURE is a non-profit organization that raises money for cancer related charities in Austin, TX. The main event each year is an extreme, interactive, full contact haunted house adventure that is built solely by volunteers and donations. The crew of special effects artists, set builders, audio and light techs, costume designers, make-up artists, actors and marketers work year-round alongside volunteers from community organizations throughout Central Texas to build the haunt bigger and better each year.
This year's theme is Zombie Wasteland. All proceeds will benefit Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas. For more about the BCRC, visit 
There are so many kinds of heroes in our lives. Mark is one of my personal heroes. All my life I have been a big believer in organ donation and this was only increased when I lost my aunt over 10 years ago because a liver didn’t come soon enough and the technology for donating a liver lobe hadn’t yet been developed. I have known Mark for years and always admired him for many reasons, but this year at GDC I found out that he donated a kidney to a non-relative because he could. Mark is also incredibly intelligent, infectiously friendly and loves what he does. After you read this interview he will be your hero too.
Recently in this space, I revisited some humiliating lessons about interactive writing and client management from early in my career. Thinking about them made me cringe even though I'm older and (it says here) wiser. This time I'll cover a few additional lessons, but let's call them illustrations in recognizing your limits before it's too late -- and maybe even making those limits work for you. 
Two great companies in Austin are hiring game developers right now: Bluepoint Games and Aspyr! Tools, tech, graphics and Mac programmers take note! Join a super-energized community!
One Minute Job Search Insights is a series of short, easy-to-read articles designed to give job searchers little nuggets of information that can be read and digested in about one minute.
After completing work on their book, Game Industry Career Guide (part of the Game Development Essentials series, published by Cengage Delmar Learning), Jeannie Novak and Michael E. Moore both took some time to expand on the book’s final chapter, “Future: Employment & Growth in the Game Industry.” What follows is their short list of the top most exciting changes we see taking place in the industry in the near future . . . 
I had the privilege of meeting JP through my husband Andrew, while we were living in the UK. It was great to get to know the European market up close and personal. JP is a keeper in my network. He is just absolutely wonderful, incredibly smart, funny, thoughtful and creative. He believes in the past, present and future of games and he sees all three and the overlapping lessons to be learned. I’m honored to call such a powerful, humble man my friend.
RJ and I share something wonderful – a deep affection for Noah Falstein and gratitude that he hired each of us at a pivotal point in our careers. I met RJ early in my career when I was working at 3DO. At the time, I couldn’t believe I was bowling with a man who helped invent the Amiga computer and co-invented the Atari Lynx and the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer with another yummy friend, Dave Needle. Now, RJ is just RJ - one of the many people that I tackle with hugs at conferences and parties. It’s just coincidental that he also happens to be one of the smartest and funniest people I have ever known. By the way, RJ hugs my husband, Andrew, with the same enthusiasm that he has for me. You will have to ask him about that one. ; - 0 And trust me, he is shy.
Bruce and I started in the games industry in the same year, same company, same project – Ultima VII and it was as wonderful as he describes. For both of us entering this world of creativity and craziness was magic. Bruce has gone on to have a very successful career and grow a wonderful family but he is still as lovable and creative as when we were building dungeons together. He has also retained his wonderful, wicked sense of humor as you will see below.
Bob is an amazing man and game developer and I wanted to interview and highlight him specifically now because of his recent acknowledgment as IGDA's 2010 Person of the Year. Most people would agree with me in saying that Bob should have been IGDA's Person of the Year every year since its inception for all of his hard work and devotion to the organization. It's been a privilege and a pleasure to have known him for so many years. I was thrilled when I received a compliment from him out of the blue in February for one of our newsletters. Bob and I share many things, a love of biographies and being inspired, wanting to build not tear down, wanting to inspire others to make a rewarding lifetime career and showing how easy things can be even we both sometime feel like we have hit a wall. In short, Bob, with all of his achievements has accomplished one of life's greatest goals; he is an inspiration to everyone who meets him just by being himself. By the way, if you are interested in liposuction make sure to call Zombie Bob!
This article delves into part three of 
What's that old adage about it 
Every highly technical industry demands academic support for survival. Be it the PC revolution or the dot-com boom, every leap forward has been fueled by the provision of highly trained, eager, entry-level employees from the academic institutions of the world. The game industry today is no different.
I would like to diverge slightly in this article from the other pieces that talk about preparing yourself for layoffs by updating your profile, improving your network, passively looking for jobs, etc. Instead, I want to give one short piece of advice:
In our article "
Every industry is technology driven to some extent. I am sure that if you could find a young blacksmith they would tell you about some new alloy or furnace that is going to change their business.
Layoffs happen. In the video game industry they happen a lot. Generally, there's no way to prevent a layoff as an employee and there's really no "safe" company (as last year showed). There are three things you can know and act on immediately to deal with a layoff before it occurs, or once it happens to you.
Jazno Francoeur is the Department Chair of Fine Arts and Animation at DigiPen Singapore. He kindly answered some of Ellen's questions about DigiPen and expat life in Singapore...
If you're a small developer and you're having trouble finding skilled help, you might consider teaming up with a local college or university. Schools are often in search of professionals who can come in as adjunct faculty to teach specialized courses, especially courses that would be popular with students. Game-focused classes are popular because so many people want to get into games, but these classes tend to focus more on game design than the "hard" skills needed by game companies.
We often get questions from candidates about career path and the job market. Recently, a candidate with a background in programming and art asked Ali which of those two paths, programming or graphic arts for games, would be a better choice in terms of salary and growth. The candidate also wanted to know if there is a way to combine the two disciplines. We thought we would share Ali's response with you.
"It's in every one of us to be wise. Find your heart and open up both your eyes. We can all know every thing without ever knowing why. It's in every one of us by and by."
For the past six years, I have been involved in the creation of serious games. The purpose of serious games is not to entertain, but to teach. A serious game whose players do not find it in some way compelling will be of little value to either the players or those who created it. This "genre," for want of a better term, is expanding rapidly, and many people (such as my own core team) who are making these games are seasoned professionals with years of experience in the commercial gaming industry.
I can hardly wait for the holidays -- I need a rest! I can also hardly wait for the New Year! I love the excitement and fresh renewal that comes with January, springtime and back to school! It's been a difficult year with lots of ups and downs for all of us. I've talked to many of you about your job searches or about wishing you could hire more people. We are all seeing a slow recovery and are eager to see what the New Year will bring. Although it is just another day and another month, fresh beginnings are psychologically reinvigorating and psychology is 80% of success.
I can hardly wait for the holidays -- I need a rest! I can also hardly wait for the New Year! I love the excitement and fresh renewal that comes with January, springtime and back to school! It's been a difficult year with lots of ups and downs for all of us. I've talked to many of you about your job searches or about wishing you could hire more people. We are all seeing a slow recovery and are eager to see what the New Year will bring. Although it is just another day and another month, fresh beginnings are psychologically reinvigorating and psychology is 80% of success.
When I get approached to compose for any video game, it is exciting. When it's for a game that is a classic Nintendo title and has a unique fan base, it is VERY exciting. When Wayforward approached me to score"A Boy And His Blob" I was thrilled. I remember calling up director Sean Velasco the next day and saying "I have to score this!" "I'm the composer for this game!" "I loved this game growing up!" and other things like that.
It's great to see accredited colleges and universities growing their degreed programs for the video game industry. It's the innovative schools that attract young minds who are not only looking for opportunities, but want to create them. 
The freelance business model has a big trial and error factor. Even if you always do the same thing, doing it for a new client introduces surprising variables. So let's talk trials and errors. As a self-styled writer for interactive games, I went out to seek my fortune armed with untested assumptions about an industry in which I had no experience. Although you've probably made your own mistakes in previous stages of your career, I invite you to cringe along with me as I replay a few instructively embarrassing moments.
Actively or Passively looking for a job?
Since I wrote about DLC (Downloadable Content) as a business model concerning mainly free-to-play titles, I started thinking about the future of DLC. The eventual digital distribution model may render the retail store a little redundant, but would depend heavily on broadband connections.
The game industry that we thrive in today is filled with many great ideas and many great idea makers. However, far too often great ideas and opportunities somehow get lost in the fray and sadly dwindle down to non-existence. To help reverse this, there are five key steps that anyone, at any level of game development can follow. By maximizing the methods by which an IP is produced and presented, a developer can increase their chances for success with publishing.
Let's address the basics of PR for games, shall we? While social media and other technologies (like streaming video) have somewhat changed PR, the basics still apply. Despite the hype, Twitter will not save a failing launch. Neither will Facebook. Like everything in life, promoting a game requires a clear strategy and first-rate execution.
We all know when we're having fun - but what exactly is "fun?" Why is it that some activities are considered more enjoyable while others are not? How do we feel when we're having fun? The answers may seem obvious, but in reality there is a myriad of complex events that must occur for an activity to be fun. But, in order for an activity to feel "fun," it must first trigger the brain into releasing endorphins into the bloodstream. It is this release of endorphins that gives us the pleasurable feeling we call "fun." Furthermore, if this positive physical sensation of fun can be prolonged over a period of time, the activity causing the fun might even be considered addicting!
Mary-Margaret will be at IGC West. Thursday, she will be joining a panel at 11am called "Hiring for Growth" with fellow panelist, Colleen McCreary of Zynga. Friday at 11:30am, she will give a talk entitled "Finding a Job You Love" providing ideas on where they are and how to find them. If you want to meet with Mary-Margaret while you are at IGC West, please email her at 
The creative process in writing for interactive media can be very liberal. The composer generally has much more time to try things out if he gets involved at an early stage of production. In contrast, film music usually involves one being brought in at a very late stage in post-production, leaving the composer only a few weeks' time to finish the score.
Performers open doors with headshots, demo reels or press clippings, but eventually they must audition for the gig. And writer auditions? Strange as that sounds, people are sometimes uncomfortable hiring a writer without a skills test. Or so they say. Maybe they want something for nothing. Maybe it just turns out that way despite everyone's best intentions. While I can't offer much empirical data, I can share my experiences of writing auditions.
Other than in Night of the Living Dead, in most Zombie films the most clever, skilled, and tough people survive to the exit point or the 'hopeful dawn'.
Ben Sawyer, co-founder of Digitalmill, organizes the annual Games for Health Conference, which took place in Boston last month. The conference is produced by the Games for Health Project, which is sponsored by the Pioneer Portfolio of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Leading the project, Ben has single-handedly pulled together a diverse community of people working on video games used in therapeutic practices, to teach health professionals, and for increasing education and adherence in patients with the goal of improving health through games and their associated technologies.
As a teenager, I learned some useful basics about finding work. My mom told me, "Treat looking for a job as if it were your job." She also said, "Knock on every door and introduce yourself, even if there's no Help Wanted sign." And I actually found my first job by filling in for a vacationing friend, which was a successful case of "who you know."
No, this article is not about how videogames cause violence - a ridiculous idea anyway - but how games can be and are used to teach soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines how to do their jobs. The military has always been interested in ways to simulate combat effectively to provide a realistic training experience. At the top of the scale, joint exercise simulations like Unified Quest help keep the Chief of Staff thinking analytically. The Air Force has been using various flight simulators since World War II - the latest versions differ from reality only in safety, cost, and g-forces! The Navy has also been at the forefront of simulation development, particularly since, as with the Air Force, using actual vehicles and weapons can be both dangerous and prohibitively expensive. Ground forces are just starting to catch up.
Ever wonder about the development of games of chance? We asked Bob Ingold to give us a glimpse into his world of game development and some of the differences between "video games" and "casino gaming."
Working on slot machines isn't much different than working in the video game industry with the exception of needing a mathematician. Because slot machines are games of chance, it is up to the math guy to wrangle the exact weighting system of each symbol so that over the life of the machine, the casino is guaranteed a profit. Slots are rated in terms of percentage of return. A 90% slot means that over the life of the machine, the players will get 90% of their money back. That's the equivalent of about 3 million spins!
Considering I started writing for online sites only close to a year ago, the dramatic increase of this alternative revenue model is staggering. The creation of different revenue streams, in the form of downloadable content, and the addition of the microtransaction model are quickly becoming the smarter and more cost effective way to create revenue. Only the widespread acceptance from the consumer will propel this model past the retail environment.
After spending a few too many years operating someone else's small business, I was hungry for a change. Having established that I could manage many details while keeping multiple balls in the air, I now sought a fulfilling professional use for my creative skills. It was late 1995, and I was finally Mac-literate, with a strong sense of the computer as a writer's medium as well as a writing tool. I saw how the electronic gaming world had changed since I dabbled with the all-text format in 1982. I did some self-applied career counseling via What Color is Your Parachute?, confirming what I already knew: I was ready to seek my fortune in the brave new world of gaming.
Jon Nelson most recently was the Director of Online Marketing and Strategy at Disney Interactive Studios and held similar positions at J2 Global Communications, Princess Cruise Lines and Atari, Inc. Prior to his four years at Atari, he managed various global brands at many Los Angeles based interactive agencies including Direct Partners, Rare Medium and Magnet Interactive. In addition to his online experience, he also brings with him nine years of traditional agency experience from DMB&B Advertising where he was the Senior Producer on such major brands as General Motors, Budweiser, Baskin Robbins and Blue Cross. A rare California native, Jon earned his BA in Liberal Arts/Computer Science at California State University, Northridge.
I recently went to a game conference in Seattle called 
LOGIN is almost the direct opposite of this. I go to almost every session and since not everybody and their dog is stuffed into the rooms, it's easy to get to know a lot of new, interesting people. The people presenting sessions are just as knowledgeable and experienced as those at GDC, but they're also not under as much pressure. So the talks are often quite friendly and promote lots of interaction with the audience. Plus, topics are covered that no other conference in the game industry is tackling such as community management, 
Since 1996 Scot Rubin had a single vision: to create entertaining, authentic content for the video game generation.
I worked as an art manager and 3D modeler for a prominent Fortune 500 homebuilding company and I was laid off in November for economic reasons. Knowing how bad the market was, I decided to shift my focus to other fields. I attended the Video Game Exposition in Philadelphia, where I was able to meet a number of working professionals and gain valuable information and insight into the industry. One suggestion I recieved included taking my digital camera on walks and trips for photos to be used in texture maps and artistic reference. It was a very helpful piece of advice. Most importantly, I learned what type of artist the industry sought.
Recent travels found me presenting marketing best practices to conference attendees at the inaugural Triangle Game Developers Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. I had a lot of fun participating at this conference and it was also exciting to be able to support an industry event on the east coast; based on the great turnout we can look forward to Triangle 2010!
You all know it, you go through it every day: the fans just don't understand what we do. They whine, complain and claim that without any of the equipment, skill set, tools or know-how, they could do a better job.
In November 2005, I wrote about reactions to Governor Schwarzenegger's A.B. 1179, making it illegal for the sale of "violent video game(s)" to anyone under the age of 18. The Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) had filed suit to seek judicial determination that the statute was unconstitutional.
It appears game developers are back in the news again as the hell-spawned corruptors of America's youth. The same youth who would otherwise be flawless citizens, always ready to help little old ladies across the street, if not for the presence of Halo, Grand Theft Auto and any other violence-centric video games that were hurled from of the sky, Erich Von Daniken-like, to impact and direct a culture that would otherwise not have produced these works for themselves. Which brings me to probably the biggest fallacy that the hysterical blame-layers have conveniently forgotten to acknowledge:
You all know it, you go through it every day: the fans just don't understand what we do. They whine, complain and claim that without any of the equipment, skill set, tools or know-how, they could do a better job.
The one-page Power Resume is critical to your arsenal of career and job-hunting techniques. The Power Resume is a "must have" for executives, career changers and anyone with an extensive repertoire in a single field or across multiple disciplines.
One of the odd offshoots of the rise of the internet was the creation of an entirely new profession: the Community Manager. And while still in its infancy, Community Managers do something that's likely critical to your game's success: they work with your community of players.
Most everyone in the video game industry has or has heard a story that begins with "I got into video games by a lucky break," but most of these stories don't paint a complete picture of how the person in question was prepared to seize the opportunity with which they were presented. Volunteering in the video game fan community is an excellent way to create a path to that lucky break in getting into the game industry, and to prepare to make the most of that break. My own entry into the video game industry came after many years as a video game player, with several years of varied experience in the online video game fan community.
Over the course of hundreds of years, the Great Wall built and maintained by several dynasties of the Chinese empire was erected to prevent the marauding attacks of the Mongolians and marauders of ancient times. In modern times, however, the Great Wall is a relic of history, one that serves no practical purpose other than a tourist attraction for Western travelers.
As a veteran conference-goer, both as an exhibitor and attendee of countless recruiting, industry or technology-centric events, I approached my first GDC conference with mixed emotions of excitement and dread.
I recently had the opportunity to represent the Mary-Margaret Network team in a different kind of speaking engagement.
