[game_edu] Open Letter

[John Hopson]

Hey folks,

            Susan forwarded me some of your discussion and I'd like to offer a couple of follow-up comments.  The rules and recommendations in the article are essentially the ones I follow on a daily basis when I work with product teams to get changes made to games.  The tone of the article is certainly snarky, because that made it a more fun article to write and (I hope) to read, but the content represents the best way I know to work with dev teams.  I have to prove the ROI of my suggestions, I have to work within the developer culture, and I have to find "magic bullets" that fix their problems within their budget and schedule.  It's not necessarily the way my research persona wants to do things, but it's what creates the maximum impact of my research on my products.

The other thing I'd like to mention is that while the article clumped "the games industry" as a single entity, that's obviously not true.  Some parts of the industry are vastly more accessible than others.  In particular, the "casual games" folks (web games, cell phone games, xbox live arcade, etc.) are in a much better position to experiment and try new things than most of the industry.  Their projects are smaller and have more room for risks and experimentation than the AAA blockbusters, and a single convert can take your work a lot farther.  Those types of games are also more suitable for work in a classroom or a research lab.

My favorite comment on the article was when one of my early reviewers told me that I switched back and forth between identifying myself with the researchers or with the industry.  Well, yes.

John Hopson


________________________________
From: game_edu-bounces at igda.org [mailto:game_edu-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of Susan Gold
Sent: Saturday, November 11, 2006 4:20 PM
To: IGDA Game Education Listserv
Subject: [game_edu] Open Letter

I think one of the unsaid Education SIG goals is about creating bridges to industry. I think that we all have a lot to learn from one another.  To accomplish just that, I have invited John Hopson to join our listserv. I think that the discussion online can only be furthered by creating a two way dialog.

As many of you know we are working feverishly on creating the right kind of portal to games related education, we have a large curriculum program that is about to start online. We are going to ask each of you to participate of course. Currently we are looking for some testers to help us in making the experience smooth for the rest of us. Please contact me if you would like to assist while we work through beta.

The IGDA Education SIG Curriculum Workshop/GDC content will soon to be finalized. Drew Davidson and his committee have already organized an R&D Industry Panel as a part of the workshop. Personally, I could not sit through another HR chat on how to do a demo reel. The Workshop will be very hands on this year, even working lunches. We have a lot squeezed into two days, and plan to make this a tremendous learning opportunity for each of us. I am sorry that I can only offer a teaser of things to come. Many more details to follow within the week.

Susan
--
Prof. Susan Gold
IGDA Education SIG Chairperson
education_sig at igda.org


"There's this game where you put in a dollar and you win four quarters. I win every time!"
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