[game_edu] Brenda Braithwaite's game_edu rant at GDC

[Ian Schreiber]

I think it's unfair to say that this is a holdover from AAA, given that Brenda 
has immersed herself in social game development for the past several years, and 
her games in that space have certainly not followed traditional retail business 
models.

The huge takeaway I have from this thread: at present, four designers currently 
working in industry (including Brenda) have said that designers lacking a 
foundation of code will find it difficult to impossible to find a job in the 
current market. Five if you include me. As educators, we ignore this at our 
students' peril.

- Ian




________________________________
From: William Huber <whuber at ucsd.edu>
To: IGDA Game Education Listserv <game_edu at igda.org>
Sent: Fri, March 4, 2011 12:43:14 PM
Subject: Re: [game_edu] Brenda Braithwaite's game_edu rant at GDC

I want to add one last observation to this thread:

The code-centric perspective on game design is very much a hangover of the old 
AAA-title, retail-box, publisher-funded developer models of game development. If 
I were going to make a recommendation to upcoming game designers, it would be 
more in line with the observations of people like Amy Jo Kim (with whom I have 
had the privilege of co-teaching a course on multiplayer game design) - it is 
that innovation in game design needs to include business models within it. The 
advice to build "on a foundation of code" is useful only if you assume careers 
focused on being hired by established development houses which continue to 
produce code-heavy titles extending existing IPs, in which most of the 
fundamental design questions are taken care of by the genre and the revenue 
questions by the existing business model, in which the customer appears mostly 
to marketing departments and customer service groups.


We know that this isn't the growing, dynamic sector in gaming. I would rather 
our students understood the factors which inform gamification: communicating 
with a customer base, interpreting metrics, developing revenue models, designing 
features which encouraging virality and conversion to cash; when 
micro-transactions are effective and when they are not, etc. One thing that 
became clear over the course of the term, as we looked at case histories and 
heard from guest speakers, is that the business model needs to be considered 
initially - that there is no difference, ultimately, between game design and 
business model design for this fast-growing part of the industry. If we are 
interested in training future leaders and innovators, and not simply 
rank-and-file workers who fill the immediate short-term needs of companies in 
one of the slower-moving segments of the field, we should be focusing on social 
psychology, psychology of attention, data analysis and visualization, basic 
economics, market analysis etc., before shunting students off to computer 
science classes. That is, if we are interested in preparing them to be actual 
innovators and entrepreneurs, rather than the rank-and-file workers who will, 
according to IGDA's own data, leave the industry after about 5 years anyway.


William Huber


On Fri, Mar 4, 2011 at 12:13 PM, Steven Yau <mail at stevenyau.co.uk> wrote:

I agree with the general notion that game designers should be capable

>of making a game to some degree. However, with all the tools out

>there, I don't expect them to be able to create a new engine or deal

>with advanced AI algorithms that a programmer from a CS background

>would be able to do.

>

>They have to understand the process and underlying theory of creating

>a game just like a furniture designer should be aware of the

>manufacturing process but I don't expect them to build the tools

>needed to create the product.

>

>As long as they are aware of the process and limitations, I can't see

>why they can't be a good games designer just because they can't

>program.

>

>Steven Yau

>

>

>On 4 March 2011 16:46, John Hopson <john.hopson at gmail.com> wrote:

>> (delurk)

>>

>> +1

>>

>> Erin's exactly right about the rising level of applicants.  My company is 

>>currently looking to hire a couple of games user researchers, and the quality of 

>>entry-level candidates we're seeing is phenomenal.  Between the general 

>>maturation of the field, improved games education (thanks, guys!), and the 

>>general economy we're getting some very impressive resumes even from new 

>>graduates.

>>

>> I get it that Brenda's rant may not be literally true, but it's still really 

>>good advice.  If a design candidate wants to stand out these days, programming 

>>is a really good way to do it.

>>

>> (relurk)

>

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