This is a presentation by David Braben from Frontier in Learning Without Frontiers 2011 on his thoughts regarding ICT being taught in the classroom and how games can be used to encourage children to engage in the subject.
More interesting is his showcasing of the £15 computer, the Raspberry Pi which comes with everything needed to program it on the computer itself much like how the Commandore 64 came with BASIC built in. David is aiming to distribute this to children through schools via a charity he is in the process of setting up.
Bizarre Creations closures its doors today. Good luck to all involved.
What is in the video is pretty much common sense but needs to be said. Interesting timing as I was linked to a Workaholics self quiz today as well.
(Source: ted.com)
Nesta Report - Next Gen »
The Nesta report came out recently which generally talks about the lack of skilled applicants coming into the games and creative industries and what can be done to improve the situation.
It generally covers introduction of STEM skills at an earlier level such as at GCSE and A-Level and improving existing courses at University.
All the suggestions and conclusions are valid and echo the thoughts of lecturers from a Games:Edu conference I attended in 2008. However, I see a problem in implementing some of the recommendations listed in the report as they generally involve in getting teachers and/or staff that know how to teach these subjects well.
Where are these people going to come from? Teachers and lecturers salaries are generally not great so what incentives are there for people from the industry to and teach? How do we train the existing teachers and lecturers?
Despite this, the report itself is definitely worth a read if you are interested in education of games or interactive media as it has a lot of data from surveys to support its findings and personally I am interested in one of its recommendations of having an online resource for lesson plans and collection of resources as that will be incredibly useful for people who are interested in the industry.
Why I left my Games Job
This is more of a reply on my earlier article of How I got into the Games Industry (which was originally written in 30 August 2007) as since then, I have left the industry and thought it be interesting to detail why for balance.
Ultimately, the main reason for leaving was for quality of life (QOL) which is a hotly discussed topic in industry circles. Each I was on crunched to some degree, some worse then others which began to take their toll on me.
When I was all new to the industry, it was all very exciting and the extra hours didn’t seem that bad but as I got older and more experienced, other things started to take priority and I didn’t want to spend all my time at work for long periods at a time.
The tipping point is when I foresaw that we were going to crunch (badly) due to a fundamental change in the project and there was very little we could to get round it. Higher ups/Middle management wanted it and we couldn’t say no to it. Then came a series of decisions that literally went against every software engineering book I have read and made matters worse in the most obvious ways. (Please note I am being purposely vague due to NDA agreements in place).
Enough was enough and I started looking for jobs soon after. It certainly didn’t help that I was underpaid due to a wage freeze and got passed on promotion twice. In short, I felt like I was working my ass off for little pay and getting nothing at the end of it which didn’t feel right especially when I knew I could be getting better.
Games Design Courses - Are they worth it?
Disclaimer: Everything here is of my own opinion and do not necessarily represent any other party’s views.
Note: When I refer to game developers, this means I am referring to everyone involved in the development of the game such as programmers, artists, producers, designers, etc.
There has been increasingly more enquires about becoming a games developer in forums related to games careers such as the ones on IGDA and GameCareerGuide. As much as I am happy that more and more people are interested in entering the games industry, the majority of these are asking on how they become a games designer and which games design course should they choose because they naturally see it as the best way to get into the industry. After all, if you want to be a plumber, you do a plumbing course. So if you want to be games designer, you do a games design course, right?
If only it was that simple.
So You Want to be a Game Designer?
Just been linked to this today and I think it is a great video in what it takes to be a games designer in the industry. It be a rude awakening for many budding designers as in my experience, they think it just it is about creating ideas and games.
The reality is that only forms a tiny part of the role and the rest is about communicating that idea and vision to the rest of the team and making it a reality.
Enjoy!
(Source: escapistmagazine.com)
i'm mid way through my masters degree. i'm studying msc 3d games modelling and have indeed though of giving up but decided to just go for it anyway.
i know your probably busy as anything but if you could spare any time at all to contact me about any tips or tricks about getting into the industry or what industry is looking for in particular within a portfolio i would be so indebted to you.
my email is - blitz1000@hotmail.co.uk
Anonymous
There is a good series of articles from Lee Winder at Blitz Games on Portfolios. It is geared towards programmers but the same rules apply about what should be shown, the quality of work and presentation of work.
Make sure the work you show is relevant to the type of job you want to get (for example, seeing a written story in a 3D modelling portfolio is just noise) and make sure it is of high quality. Anything half finished doesn’t belong there.
My old colleague’s portfolio (Max Boughen) should give you an example of work that should be in one. Bear in mind that he is experienced so his quality bar is quite high compared to what a student would be.
Network. You are more likely to get a job through a contact that you have met and talked to then through generic company application process. This also includes other students who have not yet got a job because when they do, it then becomes possible for them to recommend you and/or you apply through them.
This happened to quite a few of us on our MSc. One person got a job at EA via the application system and then pass along his HR contact contact details to us and essentially fast tracked us through the system.
You may also find that few companies will reply back. This can mean many things ranging from your portfolio and CV may need some work to the job has already been filled. You just need to keep trying and applying while improving your CV and portfolio.
Without industry experience, your application to interview ratio will be quite low which is why many recommend doing an internship if possible. Once you have a few published games under your belt, you find getting a job interview much easier.
Finally, here is a site of games companies in the world (may be outdated): GameDevMap.
To recap:
- Network
- Show only your best work
- Continue working on your portfolio
- And keep applying
Hope that helps.
Revenue breakdown for Solipskier iOS and Flash game »
It is great to see developers share breakdowns of their revenue as it does help others to project possible income. I was surprised to see only $1k generated from ad revenue on Kongregate since it was a popular game and considering it generated over $70k on iOS sales.
Still, it made a very tidy profit for two months worth of sales and look forward to seeing their next game.
