I found a great article by Lewis Pulsipher entitled "Industry Hopefuls: Prepare Intelligently!". I thought it might be of use to those of you who are contemplating game development as a career.
You can find it here: Industry Hopefuls: Prepare Intelligently!
Some of the more interesting points he makes:
"When you learn game design, learn game design, not game production"
"I recall one student, 27 years old, who said after a three-day break from classes that he'd played games for forty hours during that break. That may be fun, but it won't help you get where you want to go -- in a practical sense, it's a waste of time! I encounter far too many people who think that playing games is a path into the game industry."
"Make something, don't just talk about making something. If you do that, and you have some talent, everything else will fall into place, sooner or later." Basicually what this means is that you should not just wish you were making games for living, but you should do something about it. Show your initiative and drive by studying on your own and creating something you can demo to prospective employers.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Industry Insider - January 2009
Come on in, the Water’s Warm!
by Eric Marlow
Graduation season is upon us, and some of you might be contemplating what you may do next. If you are a graduating high school student, then you may want to consider what lies ahead for you as you continue your education. If you a university senior, then it’s high-time to get out there and get a job! In either realm, did you know that you can make games for a living, and get paid well for doing it? If making games for a living interests you, then read on!
Prior to 2000, there wasn’t much opportunity in the Philippines for people interested in doing game development. Slowly over the years the number of companies has increased, and now there are at least 15 viable companies that are located here in the Philippines that are doing some kind of game development. Each one of these companies tends to focus on a different kind of development, and knowing what is out there may help you choose a path toward gaming goodness!
Are you artistic? Colorful? Creative? Do you like to draw or use a computer to Photoshop pictures? Do you like to draw comics or make your own animated films? Then you might be interested to know that there are many opportunities for you to join the ranks of game artists. Whether you focus on 2D style drawings or you have jumped into the world of 3D animation, computer games require highly sophisticated art to populate their worlds. And they require a lot of it! This is why in a typical game development studio there are at least four artists for every one programmer on a project.
Are you logical? Do you like math, physics, or programming computers? Then you might be happy to know that game companies require programmers too. Every action and reaction in a game you experience must first be programmed. Such disciplines as graphics, sound, physics, and artificial intelligence are highly sought-after skills for game programmers.
Be warned though – in both instances of game art and game programming, these are unique skills and typically cannot be obtain through traditional art or computer courses. Both disciplines use unique tools and techniques, and require an understanding of how games are constructed. You cannot easily become a game developer by taking your school’s general art or computer science classes. Your training has to include specialized courses that are tailored to the skills needed for making computer games.
But all is not lost – there are some schools located here in the Philippines that are offering game development courses as electives, and some schools are starting to contemplate full blown tracks or majors in game development. Every school is unique, and I would encourage you if you are interested in a career as a game developer to inquire about game development, and even challenge your school’s administration to offer game development courses if they aren’t doing so now. Only with the specific game-related instruction and the opportunity to work on real game-related projects will you graduate with the necessary skills to jump into game development as a career.
Game development here in the Philippines is a viable career path. But learning the craft requires passion and self-motivation to seek out opportunities to learn about the process. You must seek out ways to obtain the knowledge that you will need, and sometimes this means pushing yourself and others to dive in test the waters. Don’t be shy – come on in, the water’s warm!
Eric Marlow is General Manager and Head of Studio for Kuju Manila, Inc. Please feel free to drop an email with any questions you may have. Space permitting we’ll answer your questions in upcoming editions. You can reach him at theinsider@octobereighty.com. Game On!
by Eric Marlow
Graduation season is upon us, and some of you might be contemplating what you may do next. If you are a graduating high school student, then you may want to consider what lies ahead for you as you continue your education. If you a university senior, then it’s high-time to get out there and get a job! In either realm, did you know that you can make games for a living, and get paid well for doing it? If making games for a living interests you, then read on!
Prior to 2000, there wasn’t much opportunity in the Philippines for people interested in doing game development. Slowly over the years the number of companies has increased, and now there are at least 15 viable companies that are located here in the Philippines that are doing some kind of game development. Each one of these companies tends to focus on a different kind of development, and knowing what is out there may help you choose a path toward gaming goodness!
Are you artistic? Colorful? Creative? Do you like to draw or use a computer to Photoshop pictures? Do you like to draw comics or make your own animated films? Then you might be interested to know that there are many opportunities for you to join the ranks of game artists. Whether you focus on 2D style drawings or you have jumped into the world of 3D animation, computer games require highly sophisticated art to populate their worlds. And they require a lot of it! This is why in a typical game development studio there are at least four artists for every one programmer on a project.
Are you logical? Do you like math, physics, or programming computers? Then you might be happy to know that game companies require programmers too. Every action and reaction in a game you experience must first be programmed. Such disciplines as graphics, sound, physics, and artificial intelligence are highly sought-after skills for game programmers.
Be warned though – in both instances of game art and game programming, these are unique skills and typically cannot be obtain through traditional art or computer courses. Both disciplines use unique tools and techniques, and require an understanding of how games are constructed. You cannot easily become a game developer by taking your school’s general art or computer science classes. Your training has to include specialized courses that are tailored to the skills needed for making computer games.
But all is not lost – there are some schools located here in the Philippines that are offering game development courses as electives, and some schools are starting to contemplate full blown tracks or majors in game development. Every school is unique, and I would encourage you if you are interested in a career as a game developer to inquire about game development, and even challenge your school’s administration to offer game development courses if they aren’t doing so now. Only with the specific game-related instruction and the opportunity to work on real game-related projects will you graduate with the necessary skills to jump into game development as a career.
Game development here in the Philippines is a viable career path. But learning the craft requires passion and self-motivation to seek out opportunities to learn about the process. You must seek out ways to obtain the knowledge that you will need, and sometimes this means pushing yourself and others to dive in test the waters. Don’t be shy – come on in, the water’s warm!
Eric Marlow is General Manager and Head of Studio for Kuju Manila, Inc. Please feel free to drop an email with any questions you may have. Space permitting we’ll answer your questions in upcoming editions. You can reach him at theinsider@octobereighty.com. Game On!
Industry Insider - December 2008
Don’t Get Consolized (tm)
by Eric Marlow
“I get to play games for a living”. I have chuckled many times in using this line, but in all seriousness it’s true. Of course it doesn’t mean I play games for fun all day, but it does mean I get to play games for research purposes that I wouldn’t normally otherwise play.
I am a gamer at heart. I got into this industry because I loved games and liked to share my experiences with others. I loved it so much that I start to write articles about it, and that eventually led me to friends who I started a business with together in the games industry. But even though it is a business for me, I still play games for fun.
Given how many games I need to get through for business purposes, I am somewhat picky as to where I spend my personal time. Over the years there are many games that have caught my attention. Here’s a very small starter list of what I have played, and kept playing:
All games I play for fun stem from my love of the Falcon series of flight sims. Basically starting with the seminal Falcon 3.0, and going through to Falcon 4.0, I wasted thousands of hours in these games. Toward the end of the Falcon 4.0 development process I became involved with Microprose (the game’s developer) in the fixing the many bugs that existed in this complex piece of software, so F4 holds a special place in my heart.
Because I enjoy sims so much, my list would not be complete without paying homage to the Jane’s Combat Simulation games. Of this list there were many, but Longbow I and II, F-15, and 688i all stayed on my drives the longest. I even created word for this – the Jane’s sims had a very long “HardDisk Lifetm” with me.
The Age of Empires series of games developed by Bruce Shelley and the guys at Ensemble Studios, and those based on the AOE engine (such as Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds) got me into the real time strategy genre. From there I expanded into more recent hits such as Chris Taylor and Gas Powered Games’ Supreme Commander, or even the less complicated Command and Conquer series.
I have always been a fan of the first-person shooter genre, but like my interest in realistic flight sims, I also enjoyed the more realistic shooters such as Red Storm’s Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon. For action I loved games such as Star Wars: Jedi Knight and Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast.
And it’s true – I never really owned a game console until I started to work in the industry. I considered myself an elitist PC gamer. Never would I stoop down to playing consoles. I detested the fact that many of my favorite games were becoming more “arcady” and less hard core. I even invented another word for this – when a good PC game was ported to an Xbox or Playstation (or worse was cancelled in favor of a console version), this is what I called “being Consolized tm”. Damn you Ubisoft for screwing up Ghost Recon! The PC platform rulez!
Eric Marlow is General Manager and Head of Studio for Kuju Manila, Inc. Please feel free to drop an email with any questions you may have. Space permitting we’ll answer your questions in upcoming editions. You can reach him at theinsider@octobereighty.com. Game On!
by Eric Marlow
“I get to play games for a living”. I have chuckled many times in using this line, but in all seriousness it’s true. Of course it doesn’t mean I play games for fun all day, but it does mean I get to play games for research purposes that I wouldn’t normally otherwise play.
I am a gamer at heart. I got into this industry because I loved games and liked to share my experiences with others. I loved it so much that I start to write articles about it, and that eventually led me to friends who I started a business with together in the games industry. But even though it is a business for me, I still play games for fun.
Given how many games I need to get through for business purposes, I am somewhat picky as to where I spend my personal time. Over the years there are many games that have caught my attention. Here’s a very small starter list of what I have played, and kept playing:
All games I play for fun stem from my love of the Falcon series of flight sims. Basically starting with the seminal Falcon 3.0, and going through to Falcon 4.0, I wasted thousands of hours in these games. Toward the end of the Falcon 4.0 development process I became involved with Microprose (the game’s developer) in the fixing the many bugs that existed in this complex piece of software, so F4 holds a special place in my heart.
Because I enjoy sims so much, my list would not be complete without paying homage to the Jane’s Combat Simulation games. Of this list there were many, but Longbow I and II, F-15, and 688i all stayed on my drives the longest. I even created word for this – the Jane’s sims had a very long “HardDisk Lifetm” with me.
The Age of Empires series of games developed by Bruce Shelley and the guys at Ensemble Studios, and those based on the AOE engine (such as Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds) got me into the real time strategy genre. From there I expanded into more recent hits such as Chris Taylor and Gas Powered Games’ Supreme Commander, or even the less complicated Command and Conquer series.
I have always been a fan of the first-person shooter genre, but like my interest in realistic flight sims, I also enjoyed the more realistic shooters such as Red Storm’s Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon. For action I loved games such as Star Wars: Jedi Knight and Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast.
And it’s true – I never really owned a game console until I started to work in the industry. I considered myself an elitist PC gamer. Never would I stoop down to playing consoles. I detested the fact that many of my favorite games were becoming more “arcady” and less hard core. I even invented another word for this – when a good PC game was ported to an Xbox or Playstation (or worse was cancelled in favor of a console version), this is what I called “being Consolized tm”. Damn you Ubisoft for screwing up Ghost Recon! The PC platform rulez!
Eric Marlow is General Manager and Head of Studio for Kuju Manila, Inc. Please feel free to drop an email with any questions you may have. Space permitting we’ll answer your questions in upcoming editions. You can reach him at theinsider@octobereighty.com. Game On!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Industry Insider - November 2008
Life Gets Interesting
by Eric Marlow
For a number of months now I have had a secret. No, not that kind of secret! One that I WANTED to tell you but I couldn’t. Since February of this year our studio here in the Philippines has been in talks with Kuju Entertainment. Kuju for those of you who don’t know is a very large well-respected developer of games. Kuju’s group includes six studios over two continents. Some of their more notable products include making the EyeToy and Sing Star products, Battalion Wars 2, Geometry Wars, and the soon-to-be-released House of the Dead and Rock Revolution. Cool stuff.
What kinds of talks you ask? Acquisition talks. Life just got a lot more interesting as a result.
Late last year after our studio completed its first arcade game, we brokered a deal to convert the game to the Nintendo Wii platform. This was exciting for a number of reasons - the use of the new Wiimote controllers being one of them. Kuju’s US studio was to help us publish it with Ubisoft. Porting the game to a completely different platform was not a trivial task, especially when we did it in six languages for a global release. But we were able to complete it in record time. The game is called Circus Games, and was release in October. Big relief!
But in the process Kuju discovered they liked working with us, and they found value in keeping the relationship alive for subsequent products. As a result Kuju spoke with our former parent Leisure and Allied Industries (same parent of Timezone) and worked out a deal to transition the studio to Kuju. As of October 20, 2008 we are now officially part of the Kuju family of studios.
Our new studio name is Kuju Manila. Our goal will be to leverage our talents here in the Philippines and work with our brothers and sisters in the other Kuju studios around the world. The model in the games industry today is one of “distributed development”, and our studio here is at the forefront of this style of management here in the Philippines. In practical terms this means we work together on large projects, but we still do much of our own game development. We do not outsource. We program and manage much of the work ourselves.
I am very proud of the new Kuju Manila team and their accomplishments. The acquisition deal took a long time – far longer than anyone would have expected. Their patience has paid off. Not only have their shipped their first consumer title, they have already started work on several more games. It’s expected that our studio will be growing over the coming months, and it’s all attributable to the team’s hard work and dedication. Thanks guys!
Eric Marlow is General Manager and Head of Studio for Kuju Manila, Inc. Please feel free to drop an email with any questions you may have. Space permitting we’ll answer your questions in upcoming editions. You can reach him at theinsider@octobereighty.com. Game On!
by Eric Marlow
For a number of months now I have had a secret. No, not that kind of secret! One that I WANTED to tell you but I couldn’t. Since February of this year our studio here in the Philippines has been in talks with Kuju Entertainment. Kuju for those of you who don’t know is a very large well-respected developer of games. Kuju’s group includes six studios over two continents. Some of their more notable products include making the EyeToy and Sing Star products, Battalion Wars 2, Geometry Wars, and the soon-to-be-released House of the Dead and Rock Revolution. Cool stuff.
What kinds of talks you ask? Acquisition talks. Life just got a lot more interesting as a result.
Late last year after our studio completed its first arcade game, we brokered a deal to convert the game to the Nintendo Wii platform. This was exciting for a number of reasons - the use of the new Wiimote controllers being one of them. Kuju’s US studio was to help us publish it with Ubisoft. Porting the game to a completely different platform was not a trivial task, especially when we did it in six languages for a global release. But we were able to complete it in record time. The game is called Circus Games, and was release in October. Big relief!
But in the process Kuju discovered they liked working with us, and they found value in keeping the relationship alive for subsequent products. As a result Kuju spoke with our former parent Leisure and Allied Industries (same parent of Timezone) and worked out a deal to transition the studio to Kuju. As of October 20, 2008 we are now officially part of the Kuju family of studios.
Our new studio name is Kuju Manila. Our goal will be to leverage our talents here in the Philippines and work with our brothers and sisters in the other Kuju studios around the world. The model in the games industry today is one of “distributed development”, and our studio here is at the forefront of this style of management here in the Philippines. In practical terms this means we work together on large projects, but we still do much of our own game development. We do not outsource. We program and manage much of the work ourselves.
I am very proud of the new Kuju Manila team and their accomplishments. The acquisition deal took a long time – far longer than anyone would have expected. Their patience has paid off. Not only have their shipped their first consumer title, they have already started work on several more games. It’s expected that our studio will be growing over the coming months, and it’s all attributable to the team’s hard work and dedication. Thanks guys!
Eric Marlow is General Manager and Head of Studio for Kuju Manila, Inc. Please feel free to drop an email with any questions you may have. Space permitting we’ll answer your questions in upcoming editions. You can reach him at theinsider@octobereighty.com. Game On!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Philippines aims to become Southeast Asia's game development hub
It's a little dated, but I thought I would repost a TV segment that Channel News Asia did on the Philippines game industry. Our studio got the lion's share of face-time, and most of that cool art at the begining is ours :-)
I'll try to upload the video soon.
--------------------------
By Channel NewsAsia's Philippine Correspondent Christine Ong Posted: 04 October 2008 0027 hrs
MANILA : Game developers in the Philippines are eyeing a slice of the global game development industry, which is expected to grow rapidly in the next couple of years.
Although the Philippines is still a relatively new player in the game development outsourcing industry, Filipino game developers are confident that the country can become the ultimate game development hub in Southeast Asia.
Recognising the country's potential, Australian game development company Matahari Studios set up shop in Manila two years ago.
Eric Marlow, general manager, Matahari Studios Philippines, said: "When you make games, you have to try things that have not been done before. You need to find a culture that is not afraid of taking risks.
"With regards to the culture, this also represents a little bit of crossroads between the West and the East. So one of the big advantage of working here is that the local game developers have (an) appreciation and understanding of both types of games."
Over 20 game development companies employ about 400 game developers in the Philippines. To attract more clients from the United States and Europe, local firms are now doing shared bids for major development projects.
Gabby Dizon, president and CEO, Flipside Game Studios, said: "We are still small... and the industry is big enough that it does not make sense to compete with each other or try to bring each other down, because there is so much more work out there than we could compete for, so what we should do is cooperate with each other in bringing in more work to the Philippines."
Filipino game developers are also producing original games for the global market.
Anino Games produced the first Filipino-made computer game in 2003, which won an award in the Independent Games Festival in 2004.
Niel Dagondon, CEO, Anino Games, said: "The games that we are trying to do fits into the market that we are going to release the game in. We are slowly introducing parts of our culture into our game."
Last year, the global game development industry recorded US$7.4 billion in revenues, and this is expected to go up to US$12.5 billion in 2010. - CNA/ms
I'll try to upload the video soon.
--------------------------
By Channel NewsAsia's Philippine Correspondent Christine Ong Posted: 04 October 2008 0027 hrs
MANILA : Game developers in the Philippines are eyeing a slice of the global game development industry, which is expected to grow rapidly in the next couple of years.
Although the Philippines is still a relatively new player in the game development outsourcing industry, Filipino game developers are confident that the country can become the ultimate game development hub in Southeast Asia.
Recognising the country's potential, Australian game development company Matahari Studios set up shop in Manila two years ago.
Eric Marlow, general manager, Matahari Studios Philippines, said: "When you make games, you have to try things that have not been done before. You need to find a culture that is not afraid of taking risks.
"With regards to the culture, this also represents a little bit of crossroads between the West and the East. So one of the big advantage of working here is that the local game developers have (an) appreciation and understanding of both types of games."
Over 20 game development companies employ about 400 game developers in the Philippines. To attract more clients from the United States and Europe, local firms are now doing shared bids for major development projects.
Gabby Dizon, president and CEO, Flipside Game Studios, said: "We are still small... and the industry is big enough that it does not make sense to compete with each other or try to bring each other down, because there is so much more work out there than we could compete for, so what we should do is cooperate with each other in bringing in more work to the Philippines."
Filipino game developers are also producing original games for the global market.
Anino Games produced the first Filipino-made computer game in 2003, which won an award in the Independent Games Festival in 2004.
Niel Dagondon, CEO, Anino Games, said: "The games that we are trying to do fits into the market that we are going to release the game in. We are slowly introducing parts of our culture into our game."
Last year, the global game development industry recorded US$7.4 billion in revenues, and this is expected to go up to US$12.5 billion in 2010. - CNA/ms
Kuju Expands Into the Asian Pacific Region
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Whew - I can finally talk about it! Since February we have been in a process of acqusition by Kuju, a UK-based 3rd Party game developer. While I always had confidence the deal would finalize, it was a long road and I am just happy the process is now complete.
Suffice to say we are all very happy to be a part of the Kuju team. They have a number of excellent studios and top-notch people. While the day-to-day operations will change little (we
been acting as a full Kuju studio for quite some time now), it's good to be able to talk about it beyond our studio walls.
You can check out the official press release below. I'll post the new website link when it's ready.
------------------------------------
October 22, 2008
Kuju Group S.E. today announces that it has expanded into the Asia-Pacific region by acquiring Matahari Studios Philippines located in Manila, Republic of the Philippines. The studio will provide a corporate presence for Kuju’s fast growing studio network in the region as well as a proven co-operative development relationship with Kuju’s US studio based in Burlingame, California.
Jonathan Newth, President of Kuju Group, commented: “The partnership between Kuju’s US studio and Matahari has already shown us that there is a great opportunity to grow our talent pool through co-operative development. This approach offers significant advantages over out-sourcing and involves the team in Manila working on specific areas of development as an integral part of an overall project’s creation. The Manila team has already successfully delivered code and design components as well as art & animation assets for Kuju’s US developed projects. We will be working with the team in Manila to further expand the range of development skills they can offer to Kuju’s studios.”
Eric Marlow, General Manager of the newly formed Kuju Manila, added: “We recognised early-on the value in coming to the Philippines. The strength of the local talent pool and emphasis on creativity were the primary reasons why we set up here. We are all extremely excited to be part of such a well-respected group of developers as exists within the Kuju network of studios.”
About Kuju Group S.E.
Kuju Group S.E. is a leading independent game developer on console, PC and handheld platforms. Kuju already operates six studios globally; Kuju America, NiK NaK, doublesix, Chemistry, Headstrong and Zoë Mode.
Kuju Group S.E. is part of the Catalis S.E. media services group. http://www.kuju.com/
Suffice to say we are all very happy to be a part of the Kuju team. They have a number of excellent studios and top-notch people. While the day-to-day operations will change little (we
been acting as a full Kuju studio for quite some time now), it's good to be able to talk about it beyond our studio walls.
You can check out the official press release below. I'll post the new website link when it's ready.
------------------------------------
October 22, 2008
Kuju Group S.E. today announces that it has expanded into the Asia-Pacific region by acquiring Matahari Studios Philippines located in Manila, Republic of the Philippines. The studio will provide a corporate presence for Kuju’s fast growing studio network in the region as well as a proven co-operative development relationship with Kuju’s US studio based in Burlingame, California.
Jonathan Newth, President of Kuju Group, commented: “The partnership between Kuju’s US studio and Matahari has already shown us that there is a great opportunity to grow our talent pool through co-operative development. This approach offers significant advantages over out-sourcing and involves the team in Manila working on specific areas of development as an integral part of an overall project’s creation. The Manila team has already successfully delivered code and design components as well as art & animation assets for Kuju’s US developed projects. We will be working with the team in Manila to further expand the range of development skills they can offer to Kuju’s studios.”
Eric Marlow, General Manager of the newly formed Kuju Manila, added: “We recognised early-on the value in coming to the Philippines. The strength of the local talent pool and emphasis on creativity were the primary reasons why we set up here. We are all extremely excited to be part of such a well-respected group of developers as exists within the Kuju network of studios.”
About Kuju Group S.E.
Kuju Group S.E. is a leading independent game developer on console, PC and handheld platforms. Kuju already operates six studios globally; Kuju America, NiK NaK, doublesix, Chemistry, Headstrong and Zoë Mode.
Kuju Group S.E. is part of the Catalis S.E. media services group. http://www.kuju.com/
Industry Insider - October 2008
Playing Games in Tough Times
by Eric Marlow
In any industry there are always ups and down. The dot-com bust earlier in the decade is proof that what goes up will come down – eventually. And with a looming financial sector “crisis” in the in the US right now, what may be in store for our gaming passion?
Well, if past experience is any indication, very little, Games have proven to be a very resilient sector when it comes to the economy. As it turns out, consumers believe there is much value in purchasing a game. And as a result they may be more likely to spend their hard earned money on a game rather than something else, such as a movie, DVD, or other forms of entertainment such a theme parks.
And it’s true! Games are a great value. For the price of p2700 or less you can buy a top-quality game that will bring you many hours of enjoyment. I recently completed Metal Gear Solid 4 in 23 hours - I know this because the game logs my playtime and reports it back to me at the end of each act. That’s only p117 per hour! And by many comparisons this is a short game. Arcades such as Timezone continue to be a good value too. And of course there is nothing preventing me from exploring the multiplayer aspects of the games or playing them repeatedly on harder levels. Bonus content comes out from time to time as well. So you can see that video games offer customers a high value over more fleeting entertainment options.
Where there may be an effect on games by this crisis is further up the chain. Understanding this requires a bit more insight into how the game industry works. Simply put – what is going on now in the financial industry is a crisis in credit. Credit is something that companies can use to obtain loans and other infusions of capital intended for growth. With tighter credit may come reduced growth opportunities for companies that use credit to fund their projects. Hence, those AAA games that require $10-20 million dollar budgets may be harder to finance.
This may affect certain game developer’s direction, as some studios may rely on credit to support their game development process. But more impactful may be the effect on publishers – they are the money engine that drives this industry. With credit harder to come by, publishers may take a harder look at their upcoming titles and cut back where they can. Most probably this will affect the big budget titles, but it’s possible we may see the effect on smaller games like Nintendo DS or Wii games too.
The good news is that the popular titles that are assured of big revenues will probably be unaffected. The initial effect may be most felt by marginal games where potential revenues are unknown, or where budget overruns and quality control issues are hurting a game’s completion. As a result of these industry factors, some titles may be cancelled altogether because the money used to fund their development may be better allocated to other more profitable games. Since the development time on many of today’s’ games exceeds two years, we may not see an impact for a while.
Since spending money on games instead of other forms of entertainment is a good value, I know I will sleep better knowing that my gaming passion is a smart way to save money. See! You may have been a smart shopper and you didn’t even know it!
Please feel free to drop me an email with any questions you may have. Space permitting I’ll do what I can to answer your questions in upcoming editions. You can reach me at theinsider@octobereighty.com. Game On!
by Eric Marlow
In any industry there are always ups and down. The dot-com bust earlier in the decade is proof that what goes up will come down – eventually. And with a looming financial sector “crisis” in the in the US right now, what may be in store for our gaming passion?
Well, if past experience is any indication, very little, Games have proven to be a very resilient sector when it comes to the economy. As it turns out, consumers believe there is much value in purchasing a game. And as a result they may be more likely to spend their hard earned money on a game rather than something else, such as a movie, DVD, or other forms of entertainment such a theme parks.
And it’s true! Games are a great value. For the price of p2700 or less you can buy a top-quality game that will bring you many hours of enjoyment. I recently completed Metal Gear Solid 4 in 23 hours - I know this because the game logs my playtime and reports it back to me at the end of each act. That’s only p117 per hour! And by many comparisons this is a short game. Arcades such as Timezone continue to be a good value too. And of course there is nothing preventing me from exploring the multiplayer aspects of the games or playing them repeatedly on harder levels. Bonus content comes out from time to time as well. So you can see that video games offer customers a high value over more fleeting entertainment options.
Where there may be an effect on games by this crisis is further up the chain. Understanding this requires a bit more insight into how the game industry works. Simply put – what is going on now in the financial industry is a crisis in credit. Credit is something that companies can use to obtain loans and other infusions of capital intended for growth. With tighter credit may come reduced growth opportunities for companies that use credit to fund their projects. Hence, those AAA games that require $10-20 million dollar budgets may be harder to finance.
This may affect certain game developer’s direction, as some studios may rely on credit to support their game development process. But more impactful may be the effect on publishers – they are the money engine that drives this industry. With credit harder to come by, publishers may take a harder look at their upcoming titles and cut back where they can. Most probably this will affect the big budget titles, but it’s possible we may see the effect on smaller games like Nintendo DS or Wii games too.
The good news is that the popular titles that are assured of big revenues will probably be unaffected. The initial effect may be most felt by marginal games where potential revenues are unknown, or where budget overruns and quality control issues are hurting a game’s completion. As a result of these industry factors, some titles may be cancelled altogether because the money used to fund their development may be better allocated to other more profitable games. Since the development time on many of today’s’ games exceeds two years, we may not see an impact for a while.
Since spending money on games instead of other forms of entertainment is a good value, I know I will sleep better knowing that my gaming passion is a smart way to save money. See! You may have been a smart shopper and you didn’t even know it!
Please feel free to drop me an email with any questions you may have. Space permitting I’ll do what I can to answer your questions in upcoming editions. You can reach me at theinsider@octobereighty.com. Game On!
Industry Insider - September 2008
A Primer – Who’s Who in the Games Industry
by Eric Marlow
When I first started to work with games professionally, there were a number of terms that befuddled me. After all, when I went through school there were no game development classes, so what I know was self-taught. I would have appreciated some kind of primer on who the various parties are, and what do they do. This becomes important as you seek to place yourself in the industry and work with others.
Developers - as a “developer” you are generally tasked with the software coding, 2D and 3D modeling, and animation of the game. You must design how the game will look, play, and feel. But there are different kinds of developers, and knowing what kind of developer you are will give you a better idea as to your responsibilities and who is ultimately responsible for the game’s success.
1st Party Developer – this type of developer is actually part of a company who makes game consoles, hand-helds, or other hardware platforms. Although they may be formed as teams inside the larger corporation, they may be just known by their parent company’s name: Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. Occasionally they may brand themselves inside the bigger company to distinguish what they work on: EA Black Box Studios (Need for Speed), and EA Tiburon (Madden) are good examples. They are typically fully-owned by the parent company, and as such their employees reap the benefits of working directly with the company who pays for and publishes their work.
2nd Party Developer - 2nd party developers sit somewhere in-between the corporate-owned entities of 1st party developers, and the independent 3rd party developers. They are usually completely separate from the hardware makers, but they have a unique relationship with them and usually tied to them through formal relationships or long term contracts. They become known for their affiliations with the hardware maker, and may actually be acquired by the hardware company at some point. Examples would be: Level 5 and Insomniac Games.
3rd Party Developer – this kind of developer is the most common type of developer. Not aligned to any particular platform, most 3rd party developers do concentrate on types of hardware (i.e. consoles, PCs, or handhelds). But given the nature of the available work, many 3rd party developers tend to make themselves available on most major platforms such as those made by Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and the PC. They typically have good relations with all hardware makers, but over time they may start to focus on a particular platform. Examples include: Id Software (Doom, Quake), Epic Games (Unreal), Kuju (Battalion Wars, SingStar), and Valve (Half-Life). Many popular 3rd party developers go on to be acquired by the big publishers – such developers include: Bioware (EA), Pandemic (EA), Red Storm (Ubisoft), and Blizzard (Vivendi, now Activision Blizzard).
Publishers - Historically a publisher was the big fish in the pond that took games and brought them to market. From the outset they are responsible for funding the development of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party games, marketing them, manufacturing them, and then passing them to distributors and retailers to stock on their shelves. Companies such as Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Sega, Activision Blizzard and THQ are the biggest players in the market. Now this link in the value chain is a bit more nebulous - a number of large 3rd party developers are distributing their products directly as digital downloads, thus bypassing the traditional publisher/retailer arrangement. In-effect they are becoming publishers and retailers themselves. Valve is a good example of this type of company with their Steam system. Companies that operate mostly online MMOs, such as eGames and Level Up are also considered publishers, as they take the online games and provide the backend, localized support.
Distributors – these are companies that sit in-between the publishers and the retailers, and they are responsible for taking the software boxed products and moving them to the retail outlets. Big publishers like EA, Activision Blizzard, and Ubisoft have their own in-house distribution groups, and may move products directly to the large retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target, and GameStop. Distributors typically handle smaller stores and overseas outlets beyond the reach of most publishers. Distributors are usually less-known companies, and include the likes of Ingram Micro, Tech Data, and Navarre.
Retailers – retailers are the brick and mortar stores people are familiar with. Here in the Philippines, Datablitz is one of the biggest. Department stores and mail order houses can also be game retailers too. In the US, companies like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, GameStop, Costco, Amazon, and Best Buy are well-known. Beyond the physical stores, a retailer can also be vendors who sell their products digitally, such as the Steam system by Valve. For the arcade platform, Timezone can be considered a retailer.
End-Customer – the entire process would mean nothing without YOU, the end-customer. As an end-customer you are responsible for turning over your hard earned money to the retailers so you can play your games. You may buy your games directly from a physical store location (like Datablitz), through net cafes that connect to online publishers, through mail order, or through digital downloads. As an end-customer, your desires play a key role in not only what games are available, but how you receive them.
Please feel free to drop me an email with any questions you may have. Space permitting I’ll do what I can to answer your questions in upcoming editions. You can reach me at theinsider@octobereighty.com. Game On!
by Eric Marlow
When I first started to work with games professionally, there were a number of terms that befuddled me. After all, when I went through school there were no game development classes, so what I know was self-taught. I would have appreciated some kind of primer on who the various parties are, and what do they do. This becomes important as you seek to place yourself in the industry and work with others.
Developers - as a “developer” you are generally tasked with the software coding, 2D and 3D modeling, and animation of the game. You must design how the game will look, play, and feel. But there are different kinds of developers, and knowing what kind of developer you are will give you a better idea as to your responsibilities and who is ultimately responsible for the game’s success.
1st Party Developer – this type of developer is actually part of a company who makes game consoles, hand-helds, or other hardware platforms. Although they may be formed as teams inside the larger corporation, they may be just known by their parent company’s name: Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. Occasionally they may brand themselves inside the bigger company to distinguish what they work on: EA Black Box Studios (Need for Speed), and EA Tiburon (Madden) are good examples. They are typically fully-owned by the parent company, and as such their employees reap the benefits of working directly with the company who pays for and publishes their work.
2nd Party Developer - 2nd party developers sit somewhere in-between the corporate-owned entities of 1st party developers, and the independent 3rd party developers. They are usually completely separate from the hardware makers, but they have a unique relationship with them and usually tied to them through formal relationships or long term contracts. They become known for their affiliations with the hardware maker, and may actually be acquired by the hardware company at some point. Examples would be: Level 5 and Insomniac Games.
3rd Party Developer – this kind of developer is the most common type of developer. Not aligned to any particular platform, most 3rd party developers do concentrate on types of hardware (i.e. consoles, PCs, or handhelds). But given the nature of the available work, many 3rd party developers tend to make themselves available on most major platforms such as those made by Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and the PC. They typically have good relations with all hardware makers, but over time they may start to focus on a particular platform. Examples include: Id Software (Doom, Quake), Epic Games (Unreal), Kuju (Battalion Wars, SingStar), and Valve (Half-Life). Many popular 3rd party developers go on to be acquired by the big publishers – such developers include: Bioware (EA), Pandemic (EA), Red Storm (Ubisoft), and Blizzard (Vivendi, now Activision Blizzard).
Publishers - Historically a publisher was the big fish in the pond that took games and brought them to market. From the outset they are responsible for funding the development of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party games, marketing them, manufacturing them, and then passing them to distributors and retailers to stock on their shelves. Companies such as Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Sega, Activision Blizzard and THQ are the biggest players in the market. Now this link in the value chain is a bit more nebulous - a number of large 3rd party developers are distributing their products directly as digital downloads, thus bypassing the traditional publisher/retailer arrangement. In-effect they are becoming publishers and retailers themselves. Valve is a good example of this type of company with their Steam system. Companies that operate mostly online MMOs, such as eGames and Level Up are also considered publishers, as they take the online games and provide the backend, localized support.
Distributors – these are companies that sit in-between the publishers and the retailers, and they are responsible for taking the software boxed products and moving them to the retail outlets. Big publishers like EA, Activision Blizzard, and Ubisoft have their own in-house distribution groups, and may move products directly to the large retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target, and GameStop. Distributors typically handle smaller stores and overseas outlets beyond the reach of most publishers. Distributors are usually less-known companies, and include the likes of Ingram Micro, Tech Data, and Navarre.
Retailers – retailers are the brick and mortar stores people are familiar with. Here in the Philippines, Datablitz is one of the biggest. Department stores and mail order houses can also be game retailers too. In the US, companies like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, GameStop, Costco, Amazon, and Best Buy are well-known. Beyond the physical stores, a retailer can also be vendors who sell their products digitally, such as the Steam system by Valve. For the arcade platform, Timezone can be considered a retailer.
End-Customer – the entire process would mean nothing without YOU, the end-customer. As an end-customer you are responsible for turning over your hard earned money to the retailers so you can play your games. You may buy your games directly from a physical store location (like Datablitz), through net cafes that connect to online publishers, through mail order, or through digital downloads. As an end-customer, your desires play a key role in not only what games are available, but how you receive them.
Please feel free to drop me an email with any questions you may have. Space permitting I’ll do what I can to answer your questions in upcoming editions. You can reach me at theinsider@octobereighty.com. Game On!
Monday, September 08, 2008
Industry Insider - August 2008
Piracy - the Underground (and Totally Illegal) Economy
by Eric Marlow
(Rant mode On)
Two months ago I wrote a Playground Insider article about the problems with piracy from the point of how it impacts the typical game developer. Recently I was reading an article by a local Pinoy gamer in the online magazine The Escapist. The article was entitled “Piracy and the Underground Economy”. The article was so misguided I felt compelled to respond.
In his article, the author states there is a local underground economy that supports the duplication and distribution of pirated games and without putting too much spin on it, he seems to imply this is ok and should be allowed.
Hopefully this isn’t perceived as coming from “just another foreigner who doesn’t understand how things work here”, but I’ve lived in Asia for over five years and I’ve been living in the Philippines for over 2 ½ years. I run a game studio, and I deal each day with the security of intellectual property. I think I’ve accumulated enough information and appreciation for how things work here. Without a doubt it is unfortunate that the economies of developing countries make it difficult to indulge in games as a hobby. And the author does correctly portray the relative high costs of games when compared to similar discretionary spending in the US or Europe.
What I believe though that is misguided is that it is ok to support such activities just because the cost of owning legitimate game products is out of reach for most citizens. On many occasions I have used this simple analogy: I know I am fortunate and I do make a good living. But I cannot easy afford a BMW or Mercedes Benz. Does this mean it is ok for me to go and take one off the lot? Is it ok to have groups of people out there who actively support the sale of illegal autos, just because most people can’t buy one? Just because a product exists, is it ok for me to take one even though I can’t afford it? Of course it isn’t. But yet there seems to be the sentiment that it’s ok to pirate games, software, and music just because they are too expensive.
Why is there this difference? Maybe because pirating is easier than stealing a shiny new BMW off the lot? Maybe there is less risk of the law catching up to them for pirating games? And maybe it is because “everyone is doing it” gives people the sense that the social stigma associated with piracy doesn’t apply to them?
The author of the article also lays claim that eradicating piracy in the Philippines will hurt local economies, those businesses supporting it, and the people who are employed. He also notes the loss of tax revenue that would occur if the laws were enforced. Now, I haven’t examined the accounts of these local vendors, but it’s a safe bet they aren’t fully reporting the revenue to the BIR. That would be more easily understood if they gave you an official receipt with each purchase, but most do not supply an O.R., hence that tax revenue becomes as underground as the products they sell.
Where the businesses and employees of the piracy trade are concerned, I am sorry that I cannot feel more sympathy for them, as they are doing something that is just not right and damaging to my chosen profession. Times are tough for sure, but I’d rather see them finding ways of supporting the legitimate sale of games rather than supporting an economy that derives its very essence from the income generated from sales to such customers. A sale to a customer willing to buy illegal products does nothing for the industry, and maybe the author of the article wouldn’t be the starving artist that he says he is if more people paid for his products.
Do I have any answers? Unfortunately no. The obvious approaches such as regional encoding, copy protection and the like do not work very well. Possibly games, software, and music that must be verified online is the only way to go, as it works fairly well for games like World of Warcraft and other MMOs. But there are always new countermeasures in place to circumvent the protections. The only true weapon we have to fight with right now is education and giving people a better understanding of how their actions affect the very industry they are taking from. Maybe then the stigma will be placed back on those who improperly take from the industry. Lacking solutions to the problem does not justify such a position.
(Rant Mode Off)
by Eric Marlow
(Rant mode On)
Two months ago I wrote a Playground Insider article about the problems with piracy from the point of how it impacts the typical game developer. Recently I was reading an article by a local Pinoy gamer in the online magazine The Escapist. The article was entitled “Piracy and the Underground Economy”. The article was so misguided I felt compelled to respond.
In his article, the author states there is a local underground economy that supports the duplication and distribution of pirated games and without putting too much spin on it, he seems to imply this is ok and should be allowed.
Hopefully this isn’t perceived as coming from “just another foreigner who doesn’t understand how things work here”, but I’ve lived in Asia for over five years and I’ve been living in the Philippines for over 2 ½ years. I run a game studio, and I deal each day with the security of intellectual property. I think I’ve accumulated enough information and appreciation for how things work here. Without a doubt it is unfortunate that the economies of developing countries make it difficult to indulge in games as a hobby. And the author does correctly portray the relative high costs of games when compared to similar discretionary spending in the US or Europe.
What I believe though that is misguided is that it is ok to support such activities just because the cost of owning legitimate game products is out of reach for most citizens. On many occasions I have used this simple analogy: I know I am fortunate and I do make a good living. But I cannot easy afford a BMW or Mercedes Benz. Does this mean it is ok for me to go and take one off the lot? Is it ok to have groups of people out there who actively support the sale of illegal autos, just because most people can’t buy one? Just because a product exists, is it ok for me to take one even though I can’t afford it? Of course it isn’t. But yet there seems to be the sentiment that it’s ok to pirate games, software, and music just because they are too expensive.
Why is there this difference? Maybe because pirating is easier than stealing a shiny new BMW off the lot? Maybe there is less risk of the law catching up to them for pirating games? And maybe it is because “everyone is doing it” gives people the sense that the social stigma associated with piracy doesn’t apply to them?
The author of the article also lays claim that eradicating piracy in the Philippines will hurt local economies, those businesses supporting it, and the people who are employed. He also notes the loss of tax revenue that would occur if the laws were enforced. Now, I haven’t examined the accounts of these local vendors, but it’s a safe bet they aren’t fully reporting the revenue to the BIR. That would be more easily understood if they gave you an official receipt with each purchase, but most do not supply an O.R., hence that tax revenue becomes as underground as the products they sell.
Where the businesses and employees of the piracy trade are concerned, I am sorry that I cannot feel more sympathy for them, as they are doing something that is just not right and damaging to my chosen profession. Times are tough for sure, but I’d rather see them finding ways of supporting the legitimate sale of games rather than supporting an economy that derives its very essence from the income generated from sales to such customers. A sale to a customer willing to buy illegal products does nothing for the industry, and maybe the author of the article wouldn’t be the starving artist that he says he is if more people paid for his products.
Do I have any answers? Unfortunately no. The obvious approaches such as regional encoding, copy protection and the like do not work very well. Possibly games, software, and music that must be verified online is the only way to go, as it works fairly well for games like World of Warcraft and other MMOs. But there are always new countermeasures in place to circumvent the protections. The only true weapon we have to fight with right now is education and giving people a better understanding of how their actions affect the very industry they are taking from. Maybe then the stigma will be placed back on those who improperly take from the industry. Lacking solutions to the problem does not justify such a position.
(Rant Mode Off)
Industry Insider - July 2008
A Day in the Life…
by Eric Marlow
This column is all about being an Insider. The whats, wheres, whys, and hows of being a game developer. So I thought it might be interesting to give you a sense of what it might like working in a game development company. What’s it like on the INSIDE today?
First of all, please allow me this one caveat – I can only tell you so much. The nature of game development is such that we must at times not disclose certain aspects of what we are doing. This may mean we cannot talk about what products we are working on, nor can we discuss certain technical underpinnings of how we make the games. This is simply for self-protection. If we opened our big mouths too wide, our competitors may get wind of what we are doing and come up with their own products to compete with us. But eventually the veils of secrecy lift themselves, and we can talk more freely about what we are doing. Unfortunately for the next few weeks until our publisher announces the title we are working on, we can’t say much about our current project.
As I write this article there is a lot of activity going on in our office. We are nearing completion of our first home consumer game. All I can say is that it is a next gen platform game, and it will be the first time such a product has been developed in the Philippines. It’s a very exciting time for local game development!
It’s possible that most of you who read this article have a basic understanding of what it takes to make a game. A game is nothing but programming and art, wrapped with creativity and inspiration. But as they say the “devil is in the details”, and right now as we near completion of our product we must make sure that everything is working as it was intended. Testing the game is taking priority right now. All aspects of the game must be examined – not only to see if the game works correctly, but to make sure that any recent changes have not adversely affected the game. We must test the bounds of the game, including playing the game literary for hours at a time. Sometimes when software runs over a long period of time, “leaks” may occur as the software accesses the system’s memory, and these leaks tend to clog up the works. Obviously we can’t let this happen.
One aspect of game development you may not realize is modifying the software so it can be run in different countries. This processes we call “localization” – meaning we change the software to meet the local cultural, language, and regulation body requirements. Mostly this involves the translation of the on-screen user interfaces and dialog into the country’s native language, but there is more to it than that. Right now we are changing the included English into French and Spanish. Other language will follow. If you have ever noticed how much written language is in a typical game, you will know this is not a trivial task. There will be NTSC as well as PAL versions of the game too.
One practical aspect of running a game company is that you have to plan around the project transitions. This means that as one project comes to a close, there may be another one that must be started. Because the entire staff may not start the next project at the same time (some pre-production and design work must begin before programming and 3D models can be developed) this is a good time to allow some of your staff to hone their skills. Right now we have a number of team members spending their day doing research and test projects. Game development as an industry is constantly changing, and without knowledge of the newest techniques we may fall behind. This is also a good opportunity for us to create some “demos” – example art and programming we can show others during the marketing phase of our studio.
Oh, and as I finish this article it’s lunchtime, and many of the employees are playing DOTA. Well, we are a game company after all…
by Eric Marlow
This column is all about being an Insider. The whats, wheres, whys, and hows of being a game developer. So I thought it might be interesting to give you a sense of what it might like working in a game development company. What’s it like on the INSIDE today?
First of all, please allow me this one caveat – I can only tell you so much. The nature of game development is such that we must at times not disclose certain aspects of what we are doing. This may mean we cannot talk about what products we are working on, nor can we discuss certain technical underpinnings of how we make the games. This is simply for self-protection. If we opened our big mouths too wide, our competitors may get wind of what we are doing and come up with their own products to compete with us. But eventually the veils of secrecy lift themselves, and we can talk more freely about what we are doing. Unfortunately for the next few weeks until our publisher announces the title we are working on, we can’t say much about our current project.
As I write this article there is a lot of activity going on in our office. We are nearing completion of our first home consumer game. All I can say is that it is a next gen platform game, and it will be the first time such a product has been developed in the Philippines. It’s a very exciting time for local game development!
It’s possible that most of you who read this article have a basic understanding of what it takes to make a game. A game is nothing but programming and art, wrapped with creativity and inspiration. But as they say the “devil is in the details”, and right now as we near completion of our product we must make sure that everything is working as it was intended. Testing the game is taking priority right now. All aspects of the game must be examined – not only to see if the game works correctly, but to make sure that any recent changes have not adversely affected the game. We must test the bounds of the game, including playing the game literary for hours at a time. Sometimes when software runs over a long period of time, “leaks” may occur as the software accesses the system’s memory, and these leaks tend to clog up the works. Obviously we can’t let this happen.
One aspect of game development you may not realize is modifying the software so it can be run in different countries. This processes we call “localization” – meaning we change the software to meet the local cultural, language, and regulation body requirements. Mostly this involves the translation of the on-screen user interfaces and dialog into the country’s native language, but there is more to it than that. Right now we are changing the included English into French and Spanish. Other language will follow. If you have ever noticed how much written language is in a typical game, you will know this is not a trivial task. There will be NTSC as well as PAL versions of the game too.
One practical aspect of running a game company is that you have to plan around the project transitions. This means that as one project comes to a close, there may be another one that must be started. Because the entire staff may not start the next project at the same time (some pre-production and design work must begin before programming and 3D models can be developed) this is a good time to allow some of your staff to hone their skills. Right now we have a number of team members spending their day doing research and test projects. Game development as an industry is constantly changing, and without knowledge of the newest techniques we may fall behind. This is also a good opportunity for us to create some “demos” – example art and programming we can show others during the marketing phase of our studio.
Oh, and as I finish this article it’s lunchtime, and many of the employees are playing DOTA. Well, we are a game company after all…
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