I have moved my blog to be with the rest of my on line stuff.
The new blog location is:
http://www.elecorn.com/blog
Thanks!
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Game Spoke: Who SHOULD Win the Console War? Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft?
Notice I said who SHOULD win, not who WILL win. I think we all know Nintendo is going to win. Something I must say I'm very happy about and, to toot my own horn, something I predicted long before the launch of the new consoles.
Check out my discussion with Victor HERE.
Thanks!
Check out my discussion with Victor HERE.
Thanks!
Game Spokes
So my friend Victor and I have decided to formalize a few of our discussions ons on video game related stuff. We're calling them "Game Spokes".
The discussions will be posted on Victor's blog at FlatRedBall. We'll probably get one up every week or so.
Here is our first "Spoke":
Component vs. Layered Systems
It's a bit programmer heavy and a little dry, but most other spokes we do will be much more general.
Check it out!
The discussions will be posted on Victor's blog at FlatRedBall. We'll probably get one up every week or so.
Here is our first "Spoke":
Component vs. Layered Systems
It's a bit programmer heavy and a little dry, but most other spokes we do will be much more general.
Check it out!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Hidden Path Entertainment
Oh by the way, I'm now working as a Senior Graphics Programmer for Hidden Path Entertainment. The place is awesome! We share ideals about game development and I'm working with great people on some really awesome projects. I'm getting to do tools stuff as well as graphics and prototyping.
What Games Really Need
So my wife finished reading the book "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer. Apparently it's kind of like the new Harry Potter.
Anyway, I was interested in her background because she was formerly a stay at home mother of 3.
So her books have been on the top sellers lists for an amazingly long time. In fact her latest book "The Host" is the current #1 best seller found here http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/bestseller/index.html as of today.
The key thing that go me is this. She never planned or had dreams of becoming a writer. She didn't write the story to be sold or even to show it off to friends. She wrote it because she loved the process and loved seeing where the story would go. It reminded me of something an art teacher once mentioned. He said he paints for himself. He doesn't paint to please other people. It also goes along with that Brad Bird of Pixar said in an interview here:
http://gigaom.com/2008/04/17/pixars-brad-bird-on-fostering-innovation/
He makes movies for himself, to satisfy his own creative vision.
Here's a video of a talk Stephenie gave at BYU (former grad there) , the last few seconds are the best part where she talks about "true writers":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bjqAWK8YLQ&feature=related
So now where I'm going with this.
People in the games industry are getting way too caught up in "innovation" and "the next big thing". We don't need people focusing on that stuff. We need people focusing on making a wonderful vision become a reality. A vision with meaning. We need people who care about the game and care about what kind of experience they are giving out there. We need less worrying about what's hot and more brilliant passionate vision made reality. Disney was able to get people excited about his films and "make them their own". We need people that care more and believe in what they're working on. As a head of a project, if the people on your team don't have the vision for your project, you need to help them catch it and make them believers. I think that can be done for most anyone. Even if a game is not their ideal, they can catch the vision of the experience the game is trying to give.
As far as where innovation fits in, it's a means to an end. Great innovation is the byproduct of progress towards a clear goal. I've had lots of innovative things happen on my personal projects, but it was never because I wanted to innovate for innovations sake. It was because I wanted to do this, or have the player feel like this, or experience that. With that goal in mind, I would come up with ways to make that happen. Innovation that does not lead towards the goal of the game is pointless and should be thrown out with anything else that doesn't contribute to the desired player experience.
On Caster, I'm focusing on making it the game I want to play, the experience I want to have and want to convey to others. It needs to go out the door with my seal of approval and none other.
I think that's why I've been hesitant to consider publishing deals. After I've made the game, I'm done. Anything after that is work and gives me no motivation.
Anyway, just some scattered thoughts...
What's your take on it?
Anyway, I was interested in her background because she was formerly a stay at home mother of 3.
So her books have been on the top sellers lists for an amazingly long time. In fact her latest book "The Host" is the current #1 best seller found here http://www.nytimes.com/pages
The key thing that go me is this. She never planned or had dreams of becoming a writer. She didn't write the story to be sold or even to show it off to friends. She wrote it because she loved the process and loved seeing where the story would go. It reminded me of something an art teacher once mentioned. He said he paints for himself. He doesn't paint to please other people. It also goes along with that Brad Bird of Pixar said in an interview here:
http://gigaom.com/2008/04/17/pixars-brad-bird-on-fostering-innovation/
He makes movies for himself, to satisfy his own creative vision.
Here's a video of a talk Stephenie gave at BYU (former grad there) , the last few seconds are the best part where she talks about "true writers":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
So now where I'm going with this.
People in the games industry are getting way too caught up in "innovation" and "the next big thing". We don't need people focusing on that stuff. We need people focusing on making a wonderful vision become a reality. A vision with meaning. We need people who care about the game and care about what kind of experience they are giving out there. We need less worrying about what's hot and more brilliant passionate vision made reality. Disney was able to get people excited about his films and "make them their own". We need people that care more and believe in what they're working on. As a head of a project, if the people on your team don't have the vision for your project, you need to help them catch it and make them believers. I think that can be done for most anyone. Even if a game is not their ideal, they can catch the vision of the experience the game is trying to give.
As far as where innovation fits in, it's a means to an end. Great innovation is the byproduct of progress towards a clear goal. I've had lots of innovative things happen on my personal projects, but it was never because I wanted to innovate for innovations sake. It was because I wanted to do this, or have the player feel like this, or experience that. With that goal in mind, I would come up with ways to make that happen. Innovation that does not lead towards the goal of the game is pointless and should be thrown out with anything else that doesn't contribute to the desired player experience.
On Caster, I'm focusing on making it the game I want to play, the experience I want to have and want to convey to others. It needs to go out the door with my seal of approval and none other.
I think that's why I've been hesitant to consider publishing deals. After I've made the game, I'm done. Anything after that is work and gives me no motivation.
Anyway, just some scattered thoughts...
What's your take on it?
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Radiant Machine No More, Viva La Indie!
I currently work for a game company, Radiant Machine, that is part of a larger company, SolutionsIQ. Sadly, SolutionsIQ has decided to close it's gaming division after we finish our current project for Wizards of the Coast. I'm not sure why they've decided to do this, but for whatever their reasons, the short of it is I'm looking for opportunities elsewhere. My latest resume is here. Any leads would be much appreciated.
In better news, I met up with some fellow Seattle indies last Saturday night and had a blast! Attendees included Amanda Fitch and Bryce Jonasson from Amaranth Games and Keith Sink from Piddlepup Games. I'm more pumped than ever to finish up Caster and have it ready for Casual Connect in July!
In better news, I met up with some fellow Seattle indies last Saturday night and had a blast! Attendees included Amanda Fitch and Bryce Jonasson from Amaranth Games and Keith Sink from Piddlepup Games. I'm more pumped than ever to finish up Caster and have it ready for Casual Connect in July!
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About Me
- Mike D. Smith
- I am a full time video game developer and a part time indie developer. I have a wonderful wife and 3 kids.