Industry Vet to Young Devs: You Might Never Be AAA

[Sehnsucht Engel]

I don't see why it would matter if you're working on an AAA title or something else, as long as you get to work with what you want to do. Games.

 

[Ghaleon640]

Yes it may be a bit of a downer speech, but it is soemthing that people need to understand. If you're going to go to the industry, know the risks. In another thread some studio or something said that they only hire .4% of applicants. It doesn't mean people shouldn't follow their dream, but like every job, people need to understand the consequences. And with this one, the reality of possibly never rising above doing whatever someone else tells you is a possibility, even if you somehow manage to get into the industry in the first place.

Yes it sucks, but I thank this guy for giving it straight.

 

[Drake_Dercon]

Ehh... I find that ideas imported into other mediums tend to become... less. Especially movies to games. I'm not saying not to take the universe and do something with it (star wars did ridiculously well, ST:O looks cool, Avatar could have had a good thing) but converting pre-existing property into a game? I take issue with that. It doesn't help the industry. It makes the whole thing stagnate. If you want to do that, go into TV so you can do spinoff series and come up with some game concepts or find someone who can. It's really easy.

Hack n' slash. Four characters (emphasis on the chemistry). Uses Cyborg implants to give heightened abilities.

Character 1: Female. Tech gives sword and increased agility (DPS). Name: Samantha Hawking. Character: intelligent, if a bit agressive. Role: Brains

Character 2: Male. Tech gives sniper rifle and temporary cloak (Ranged Support). Name: Sun Tao-Ming (huzzah for google). Character: Fairly quiet, a bit no-mercy. Role: Tactical. (Optional romantic sub-plot with character 4)

Character 3: Male. Tech gives AOE abilities, plasma weapons (Control). Name: Rich Jameson. Character: Moral, hates conflict (dark and troubled past). Role: Party mediator.

Character 4: Female. Tech gives increased endurance, repair abilities (Tank/Healing Support). Name: Catherine Lakan (google ftw). Character: Cynical, saracastic, fairly hardened. Role: Brawn/Medic.

Premise: The year is 2143 (bungie rule, try to find it). Humans are colonizing their fourteenth planet when the three local sentient species (one stand-alone (eight limbs, say, but bone inside flesh) and a race that shares its mind with a symbiote (six-fingered grey-purple humanoids with a ban on pointy ears that are slightly taller than humans), the symbiote looks like a long lump along their spine and outside looks like a red worm with teeth), revolt, taking over human technology which involves vehicles that resemble modern mining equipment only even bigger and hovers. The tanks, dump trucks and exo-suits are all yellow. Cyborg tech that is visible is gleaming white. The characters fight on humanity's side but will likely switch back and forth over the course of the game. Unlike Pokahonatavatar, which I'm realizing this is staring to look like, the natives are not without guilt. Fighting the humans, their goal is to eventually take their technology and wipe out the humans on other worlds for holy glory. Also, they have a medieval society and tech, let's say.

There. Done. Now you come up with something. I DARE YOU.

 

[LaughingJester]

It's been said here many times but truly, what a terrible thing to say to aspiring developers who look up to guys like this.

 

[Baby Tea]

When did we go from "Everyone is special" to "You'll never fulfil your dreams".

A little spirit crushing, isn't it?

I don't think it's "You'll never fulfill your dreams".
I think it's "Be realistic".

For example: I'm a radio producer. I went to school to learn how to write copy, how to produce a commercial and imaging for the radio, and how to voice it. I can do accents, funny voices, I write creative commercials, and I produce things in creative ways...occationally. Most of the time, that's not what happens. I write the same schlock that ever retarded client thinks they want (Really? You have "friendly and knowledgeable staff"? Wow! Nobody has ever said that before!), I voice things with the same 'radio voice' voice, and I produce things with voice over a music bed.

Some people don't want fancy or creative. They want 'finished'.

But also, there is room, when the situation arises, to be creative within the confines of a given job. This happens far more then 'go ahead and write/produce/voice what you want', and it's just as challenging and freeing. The guy wants a commercial for a concert, but how I arrange my voice, my effects, the music, and how I read it makes it my own. I can phone it in, or I can fill the boundaries of my job with every ounce of creativity it allows.

That's the reality of working in a media industry like that: You won't always be working on Halo.
I'm not working on Virgin Radio, or Z103 imaging.

But I can make what work I do have my own, creative piece.
Even when there are boundaries.

If that's discouraging to anyone, then they are in the wrong industry.

 

[Taunta]

FalloutJack to Industry Vet: "Pull the other one!"

A veteran of the industry says originality may never come to younger developers in one sentence, and then harps about Halo in another. Uhhhh...Halo really isn't that unique or special. It has an immense popularity, but it's JUST ANOTHER HUMANS VERSUS ALIENS GAME! Sheesh, give us a break here. The last thing we need is for some guy to be delivering his mopey anecdotes to his peers. Here's a clue for you: If humanity were to quit imagining and lose all creativity or desire to grow and learn, IT DIES!

"Industry Vet to Young Devs: You Might Never Be Original"
directly followed by:
"Longtime game developer Dave Ellis says that young designers should accept the fact that they may never work on a AAA title like Halo."
Wait...what? AAA titles are often some of the least original, because big studios don't like taking risks on untested concepts. Indy games are often some of the most original, and it's not as hard to get a job in that field (as long as you're willing to live on ramen for a while =P).

You missed the point. He doesn't mean "original" as in "No one's ever thought of this idea before", he means "original" as in it's its own IP. Which is why he goes on to talk about follow-up games for movies.

+1. I'm glad I'm not trying to get into the video game industry right now, what with the huge influx of qualified students taking that path already. I think I'd blow my brains out if I worked my ass off for four years just to get hired by the studio working on the video game adaptation of Hop.

That's his entire point though. If you work your ass off for four years, you should be glad to be hired by any studio that pays well, even if you aren't working on the new blockbuster IP. Not everyone is going to sit down with a keyboard and be the next J.K Rowling.

I was skeptical of this at first, but then I read more, and I don't see this as trying to discourage young developers, but instead to not scoff at licensed games, just because they aren't original. Hmm, interesting.

Yeah, that's what I mainly got from this. Something like "No job is beneath you" or something, taking any opportunity you can get to be creative or something.

Still, not the most cheerful news. Not like I expected to work in a AAA studio, but still, I can dream can't I?

Sure you can. But there's a difference between "dreaming" and "expecting". If you dream too high, fine, but if you expect too high, then you're setting yourself up for failure and disappointment.

 

[Scars Unseen]

*cough*indie*cough*

 

[Susan Arendt]

FalloutJack to Industry Vet: "Pull the other one!"

A veteran of the industry says originality may never come to younger developers in one sentence, and then harps about Halo in another. Uhhhh...Halo really isn't that unique or special. It has an immense popularity, but it's JUST ANOTHER HUMANS VERSUS ALIENS GAME! Sheesh, give us a break here. The last thing we need is for some guy to be delivering his mopey anecdotes to his peers. Here's a clue for you: If humanity were to quit imagining and lose all creativity or desire to grow and learn, IT DIES!

"Industry Vet to Young Devs: You Might Never Be Original"
directly followed by:
"Longtime game developer Dave Ellis says that young designers should accept the fact that they may never work on a AAA title like Halo."
Wait...what? AAA titles are often some of the least original, because big studios don't like taking risks on untested concepts. Indy games are often some of the most original, and it's not as hard to get a job in that field (as long as you're willing to live on ramen for a while =P).

You missed the point. He doesn't mean "original" as in "No one's ever thought of this idea before", he means "original" as in it's its own IP. Which is why he goes on to talk about follow-up games for movies.

+1. I'm glad I'm not trying to get into the video game industry right now, what with the huge influx of qualified students taking that path already. I think I'd blow my brains out if I worked my ass off for four years just to get hired by the studio working on the video game adaptation of Hop.

That's his entire point though. If you work your ass off for four years, you should be glad to be hired by any studio that pays well, even if you aren't working on the new blockbuster IP. Not everyone is going to sit down with a keyboard and be the next J.K Rowling.

I was skeptical of this at first, but then I read more, and I don't see this as trying to discourage young developers, but instead to not scoff at licensed games, just because they aren't original. Hmm, interesting.

Yeah, that's what I mainly got from this. Something like "No job is beneath you" or something, taking any opportunity you can get to be creative or something.

Still, not the most cheerful news. Not like I expected to work in a AAA studio, but still, I can dream can't I?

Sure you can. But there's a difference between "dreaming" and "expecting". If you dream too high, fine, but if you expect too high, then you're setting yourself up for failure and disappointment.

Very well said. Glad someone actually read the entire story.

 

[Jumplion]

Sure you can. But there's a difference between "dreaming" and "expecting". If you dream too high, fine, but if you expect too high, then you're setting yourself up for failure and disappointment.

Oh believe me, most every day I think "You're not special, you're not unique, you're probably end up in a standard dead-end job. Do something that will make you special, unique, and go for it." I try to push myself by being both realistic and idealistic.

I do want to get into the entertainment industry, primarily film and/or video games at the moment. Specifically into that, I do enjoy animating and that is a very flexible field from what I understand. I doubt I'll be directing the next "Toy Story" any time soon, but dammit I'll climb that opportunity ladder with one hand if I have to.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

If that's discouraging to anyone, then they are in the wrong industry.

You can hardly blame them when from playgroup(kindergarten) they are told they are special. Especially when they watch programmes designed to make you think you have a chance of being the next great thing.

For someone to come out and tell you "Yeah, you probably will have a shitty job, but you can make it YOUR shitty job" seems a little the other way.

For instance: Media Molecule, Mojang, Bay12, Novio... I bet they were told similar as well.

 

[Nimbus]

Between the recent success of Minecraft, the birth of the Free-To-Play model for AAA games, the recent explosion of the indie scene, the advent of motion controls, the success of digital distribution, and the idea of cloud gaming, I am eternally convinced that "Never" is a word that does not exist in this industry.

(Also it doesn't hurt that I just watched the entirety of Gurren Lagann in one sitting and every atom in my body is overflowing with optimism...)

So go ahead young developers! Show him what you can do! Show him the meaning of the word "original"! Grab the future with your own hands!

(Okay, maybe that was a bit much...)

 

[Susan Arendt]

Folks, "original" in this sense means "new IP" not "new and creative idea."

 

[Asuka Soryu]

I gotta admit, when I heard "Barney Kombat", I imagined, Barney Gumble from, The Simpson's fighting people in the Bar.

 

[theklng]

i'm not going to disagree with the man, but you set your standards and ambition yourself. you want to make something worthwhile, you'll have a drive to get there somehow. if you settle for mediocrity, well, you turn out like the guy in the article.

 

[Mordwyl]

Why would I want to join a triple A studio if I want to make original games anyway? All the good franchises started off with very humble origins, I won't see this changing soon.

 

[maantren]

This is similar to James Cameron telling an audience of film students that they're unlikely to ever work on something like Avatar, but that it is possible to find satisfaction in other projects. It's good, realistic career advice. Breaking into the 'AAA' side of the games industry will soon be at least as hard as breaking into big budget movies - probably more so, given all the movie people who are crossing over - and I personally think a LOT of young hopefuls are being sold a bill of goods as to their prospects.

(And yes, you can always go indie)

Cheers

Colin

 

[Chemical Alia]

If I had to settle for Barbie's Pony Adventure 12 as my first title to work on, I would have been grateful and ecstatic, and getting my first portfolio together and getting my foot in the door of the game industry was the most stressful and borderline depressing time in my life D:

My first game job was at a AAA studio as an artist intern, and from there I went on to get a full time job at another AAA game company. I love the game I'm on, and the creativity I'm allowed to express with my work, yet I have many friends at other big studios who are extremely stifled in their duties, or are working for crappy contract pay with no benefits or health plan. I would much rather be working with a small, focused, and fun team on a stable indie project or licensed game than be exploited or worked to death on a project that happens to be extremely popular. I think that what's most important is how satisfied you are with your position, and how much you enjoy your work.

But if working on a AAA game is really your goal, with the right focus/marketing of your abilities, a good networking base, and some persistence/luck, it should be entirely possible.

Also, "orginal" = "original IP" in the context of this article, or what?

 

[Baldr]

I was sitting on that session yesterday at ECGC. The speaker was saying it may be almost impossible to get a job on a AAA game, but was talking about his career writing and designing for licensed games for other media like Ben-10 Alien Force and Despicable Me. While those games not be a big and popular as a AAA game, I still think they would be fun to work on. There also another side to the industry that growing rapidly that I work in is Serious Games: Instructional and Simulation games for corporations and the Military. I sometimes find it more interesting and challenging than an entertainment game.

The bottom line is while it may be extremely hard to find a game job for a AAA, there are a ton of non-AAA game jobs out there that are still just as fun and excellent career opportunities.

 

[Jfswift]

Follow your dreams. Don't listen to people like Dave Ellis.

 

[Baresark]

Why would any self respecting young developer get into the industry to work on cookie cutter games? All AAA titles are made for maximum profitability, meaning they are not really all that innovative. I am a carpenter, and I work under the assumption that I get work because I can actually do better than other people. This is how business is motivated by people. People think they can do things better than other people. This guy thinks AAA titles are the top, but I don't consider them the top, and I am willing to believe that there are other people out there who think the same as myself. I would love to work on a huge mansion and be given creative control, but I love my job even though that hasn't happened for me yet.

Edit: Game developers do not make great money, they will not ever make great money either. Notch has made fantastic money through innovation and fun, but he is an anomaly. As more and more developers enter the market, real salaries will decline because you're not special at all.