Dave Perry, 21-year-veteran of the game industry, head of Shiny Entertainment (Earthworm Jim, the Matrix game, and many others), and a very nice (and gorgeous) guy who I know via various conventions such as GDC and E-3, offers his advice on how to get into the gaming industry. Go to this site and click on "jobs" for some good resources and FAQs.

Dave Perry's Advice on Game Industry Jobs

Hello from E-3!

First, some caveats, for those of my colleagues who may be reading this but are not familiar with the blog phenomenon: This is a blog. A personal web log, an online journal, some meaningless ramblings. I am not official press, I have no formal journalistic training. This is not an article, nor is it even a weak attempt at a comprehensive review of E-3. This is just my stream of thought, and somewhat of a timesaver since every time I *do* log on, I'm getting inundated with IMs from a variety of different people who all have the same question: "How's E-3???" (grin) So, since I *do* want to answer everyone's question, but I just don't have time to talk to everyone individually, here's the Elonka's-eye-view, a quick summary of the sights and sounds and people that have streamed through my universe in the last couple days. If I don't cover a specific game that you're interested in, well, sorry, go read somebody else's blog. :) As it is, I'm worried that I'm going to write something that is going to irritate, marginalize, belittle or offend *somebody*, so I'm probably going to regret writing this anyway, but here goes . . .

First, an explanation of what E-3 is: Electronic Entertainment Expo, one of the "mecca" gatherings of the computer game industry, with tens of thousands of attendees, hundreds of different booths, and literally thousands of different things to see. It takes over multiple buildings of the main convention center in downtown Los Angeles, and can be envisioned as a loud, crowded, colorful, flashing lights and explosions and 20-story high ad banners and costumes and lasers and oh yeah, tons and tons of games, kind of event.

As for why I go to E-3. well, everyone has different reasons, but in my own case, in no particular order, I come to (a) get data about what else is going on in the gaming industry, preferably real numeric data ranging from user numbers to statistical demographics; (b) to see what the "hot new games" are, firsthand; (c) to see and be seen -- to network with my peers, to meet and encourage newcomers in the industry, and to get faces to put to the names that stream across my desktop throughout the year; and (d) to take a long deep sniff on the show floor, and grab a double nostrilful of the hype, so that I can judge for myself what's real, and what's being spun faster than a neutron star.

Next, some namedropping. I know many people in the industry, with of course many more that I don't know, but, so far, this is a partial list of those I've run across this year. The peers that I know well enough to hug, share a friendly handshake with, or wave at across the room while the turbulence of the convention pulls us in opposite directions. Some of these names are famous, some not (but should be), and some are just very cool individuals: Gordon Walton, Jessica Mulligan, Raph Koster, Rich Vogel, Jeff Valadares, John Welch, Greg Mills, Mark Jacobs, Jake Song, Richard Garriott, ... [ Read More (0.8k in body) ]

For anyone wondering why my Memestream seems quieter than usual over the next week: I'm in L.A. E3. Back soon, with ears ringing (E3 is *loud*).

Elonka :)

Electronic Entertainment Expo 2003 -- Show Highlights

Game of the Year went to "Metroid Prime". Check the link to see the list of the other games that won.

I'm still not entirely happy with the award categories, since they're very much skewed towards shelf-based games. The longrunning online games (disclaimer: my own included) are almost never eligible, since there's a core requirement in the award categories, which is that they can only go to games which were released over the last year.

Though I can see the wisdom in that requirement for some categories, I also think that it's equivalent to saying that television's Emmy Awards could only be awarded to shows which premiered over the last year, and that all series which had been running for more than one year would be ineligible -- the paradox is obvious: TV shows which were popular enough to keep going for more than one year, would be ineligible for prizes because they'd been running for too long??

I'm still not sure what the ideal solution to the problem is. The IGDA board has discussed it extensively, but not come to any agreement. Since I'm on the "Online Games" steering committee of the International Game Developers Association though, it's something that I do have the power to try and address.

One suggested solution is that there be a new category added, for something like "Excellence in Online Game Design", which wouldn't have the "new this year" requirement. Another possibility is to change the existing category rules such that online games are exempt from the "newness" requirement, or perhaps re-word the rules so that newness would apply to development within the game, but not to the game title itself.

If any Memestreams members have other suggestions on how to address the problem, I'm listening!

Elonka

IGDA Awards - And the Winners Are . . .

] SAN FRANCISCO, CA - February 11, 2003 - The International
] Game Developers Association (IGDA) has announced the
] nominees for the Third Annual Game Developers Choice
] Awards.

There are several categories, covering things such as "Rookie Studio of the Year", "Most Original Game Character", Excellence in Audio, Game Design, Writing, Level Design, Programming, Visual Arts, and Writing.

As an IGDA member, I've been randomly selected as one of the official voters for this year's awards. I've done this before, and, as usual, there are several games on the ballot which I've never even heard of, let alone played. I'd like to make an informed decision though, so I'm asking around my circles of friends and colleagues for advice. If anyone on Memestreams would like to give me a review or opinion on any of the games on the ballot, please let me know, either by posting here or sending an Email to elonka@aol.com, by Wednesday, February 19th.

If you do decide to offer a suggestion, please be as detailed as possible -- I'm not interested in comments such as, "I hear this game is good," or "It was fun" (except possibly for the Level/Game Design categories) -- I want discussion of the production values involved, since, after all, these are awards being given to encourage quality game development, and not just mass popularity.

If there's enough interest, I'm fine on starting a thread for each of the categories, but for now, I'll just list the finalists for "Game of the Year":

- BATTLEFIELD 1942 (Digital Illusions)
- GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY (Rockstar North)
- METROID PRIME (Retro Studios)
- NEVERWINTER NIGHTS (BioWare Corp.)
- TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL (Ubi Soft Montreal)

Thanks in advance for any help,

Elonka :)

Game Developers Choice Awards - Final Ballot

When I'm out there speaking on multiplayer games, or at a school or other function where I'm talking to lots of other people about the game industry, one of the most common questions that I get asked is, "How can I get a job at a computer game company?" Here's a 5-part series by the gamespy.com site, answering that question.

Getting into the Game Industry

As a member of the IGDA (International Game Developers Association), I have the privilege to nominate games for the annual awards. If there's any game in particular that you'd like to recommend to me this year, please let me know. Caution though: I'm not interested in suggestions such as "This game was really cool," or "Everyone I know plays this game." I'm more interested in things such as production values, best original game character, excellence in audio, level design, and so forth.

If you'd like to throw in your $0.02, please have comments to me, either by posting a reply here or sending an Email to elonka@aol.com, by January 20th, 2003.

Thanks!

Elonka :)

Game Developer Awards - Nominations Open