gewgaw

Brian and I were chatting the other day about mindfulness and how critical it is to successful creative practice (especially group practice) – and I was reminded of this post which I made while I was still up at EA in Redwood Shores.

At the time, I was very, very busy making my first “real” game – and struggling with the politics and pressures of group work. Going from graduate school (highly constrained, mostly solitary work) to development required adjustment… and then, going to a huge new IP team (70+ people!) took yet another leap. I look back at those long days, and feel a mixture of relief and resignation. They were not easy – but I wouldn’t be here without them. Every trial has it’s purpose.

I have become increasingly interested in myths of trial and transformation since my trek to Bhutan & subsequent changes in my work and personal life. I’m currently absorbing all manner of info about the creation of characters and worlds – thinking about how we transform, and tell stories about it. This includes reading about Disney and the creation of the original Disney park here in CA, a mishmash of early anime from Japan, The Power of Myth, and academic writing about UI and early computing.

Despite similar threads – I’m in mind state exactly opposite to the one that generated the early post. It’s a beautiful, open period of cross pollination, where my daily practice (which is in a large part about structuring and strengthening the creative energy and output of our team) is generating myriad connections to a superstructure of meaning deep in my core.

This core is comprised of thoughts about narrative, social learning, creativity and myth that I’ve been weaving together since my first visit to Cambridge, in high school. From Blake to Buddha – it is this feeling of “finding the thread” that keeps me learning and creating. It is the feeling… the moment, that I live for.

This state of mind – and all that supports it (family, friends, team, community) is what I’m most thankful for this year.

Greetings from Nottingham – host of GameCity 09!

This year’s festival has been a fantastic blend of talents – wonderful animators, artists, game designers, hackers and academics from around the world. Even tho we are mid-festival, I wanted to take a break and report on its fantastic events!

This is in no small part due to the blend of talking and performance that permeates the festival. Today, for example, I attended a panel on creating media about/for games which featured a live performance of GameBoy synth, and showcased the festival’s “mega=mix” of pixel-art tribute animations:

These were created for the festival by the same amazing team behind the Oxfam “Face the Music” spot – which takes basic game concepts and blends them with a message about climate change to create something truly remarkable:

But that’s just the beginning! Other performances included live playthroughs of Crysis (!!!), karaoke, the passionate singing of game reviews, and the especially cool paper folding session (plus artful arrangement) that culminated in a session about the glory of Elite.

And – as part of my visit, I conducted a live performance of Flower, which was truly wonderful. Not only was the game projected on lovely gauze screens in a beautiful old building… but as I played, flower petals were dropped from above, floating down into the atrium.

My favorite part of the experience was definitely the sound – which filled the hall, reverberating and mixing with the voices of spectators. That was really spectacular. Post-performance, we had a few questions about our new game (sorry – it’s still under wraps!), requests for more Flower content (maybe, someday!) and many lovely compliments.

Many thanks everyone who worked so hard to create Flower (you guys just ROCK!), the team that helped set up the performance (it worked!!) – and of course, to all who attended (you were fantastic)! It was such a pleasure to play for everyone and I think it’s definitely something we should do more often, with all sorts of games.

Finally – three cheers to the organizers of GameCity! Congratulations on creating a wonderful mix of discussion, debate, performance and play!

Warren’s new game is now officially announced, and on the cover of this month’s Game Informer. Fantastic, fantastic news!!

In addition to coverage of the game in the mag – GI has posted a piece on Warren’s relationship with Mickey (includes a great video interview) which is EPIC in and of itself. Watch and you’ll see that his dedication to creating a fantastic tribute to Mickey comes from a deep, deep love of the character and of animation, in general. Yes, really, seriously!

On a recent trip to the park (to see the re-vamped Fantasmic show), Warren shared his encyclopedic knowledge of the company, characters, films and rides. What’s more, his genuine enthusiasm came through in every interaction with guests, staff and the park itself. Browsing pins near the Haunted Mansion, stopping to admire the afternoon parade, cruising through It’s A Small World… nothing passed without insightful, passionate comment. I can not *wait* to play the finished game!!!

So excited to see this awesome effort finally getting out there in the press. Congrats to Disney and the whole Junction Point crew!!!

In prepping for my UX talk, I came across this great post on what it takes to be a great UX designer. Concidentally – this is *also* what it takes to be a great Game Designer.

I get asked about this topic often – especially in email, from aspiring designers & students.  So – here is a slightly streamlined version – with a few key edits to emphasize the connection:

#1: A Deep Understanding of People
If you don’t understand people, you won’t be a good game designer. It takes talent and empathy to understand how people enjoy playing – and to play with them! This isn’t something just anyone can do.

#2: Competence in the Basics of Procedural Design
Designing a process/system of rules is difficult! You need tools to help you define and structure your work. For me, this means breaking designs down into three elements: mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics. For you – it could be just about anything! Whatever works: find it, and get comfortable with it. Procedural Design is an art – but it is also a science!

#3: An Awareness of and Interest in Technology
It isn’t essential that you code every day – but it is essential that you are fluent in the tools and technologies of your medium. Period.

#4: Verbal & Visual Communication Skills
Game Design is all about abstractions… until suddenly they are concrete and very expensive to fix. You must be able to clearly communicate your ideas and the research findings they’re based on before that happens.

You must be able to verbally describe everything from squishy player motivations to rigid, detailed sequences of events. But words can have different interpretations – so you should be able to supplement verbal communication with visuals. You don’t need to be an artist, but you do need to be able to sketch your ideas on a whiteboard and create clean, clear prototypes on paper.

#5: Moderate Familiarity with Business, Deep Familiarity with Your Business
You need to understand the basics of how the business world works in order to effectively elicit and understand business goals. On top of that, you need to be familiar with why your customers find your games valuable. To do that, you must deeply understand the commercial context in which they are acquired, shared, enjoyed and discussed.

#6: The Ability to Quickly Learn a Subject Matter Area
Game designers must understand and craft the player experience from multiple perspectives. Deep knowledge of relevant subject matter creates context for that understanding. Read widely, experience widely – and you’ll often have good backup material in a pinch!

#7: Mediation, Facilitation, & Translation Skills
While player goals can be uncovered through empathetic, open-minded research, business goals are often much harder. Different disciplines & departments often have different or even conflicting goals. Keeping these groups on the same page is critical. On top of that, then you have to make it work in whatever technological context is required. This job is not easy.

#8: Curiosity, Creativity & Vision
You need these 3 skills to innovate consciously and (more importantly) to encourage innovation in others. This means having an ability to envision the big picture and the drive to craft details – from system designs to tuning targets.

#9: Passion
Game Design is a worldview – something you just can’t turn off.

Passionate Game Designers constantly watch people & analyze their behaviors. They can’t help but redesign bad experiences in their heads after suffering through them – or sifting through good ones to find key learnings. Obsession with details, especially the “why” of things – this is what ties it all together.

If a passion for Game Design is all you have, that’s a good place to start. That passion will drive you to cultivate the rest and success will soon follow.

I ended up using this example as a key point in my talk – to underscore how UX designers and Game Designers are essentially the same thing. It created a great launch pad for the dialog I had in SF about why “juicy feedback” isn’t just a game thing – and why being a “gamer” is actually crucial to good UX research. So lucky to have found it!!

Huge kudos and thanks to the original author, Fred Beecher who took the time to write these down in the first place. You are a fantastic communicator!!

Looks like I will be in SF for “Park(ing) Day” – a celebration of parks taken to the streets. I’m going up to the city for the UX Week conference – and attendees have been encouraged to submit a design! The park should take up 2 parallel parking spots for $200 or less.

Here’s what I submitted – inspired by a desire for something simple & thrifty, contemplative… with minimal water requirements:

Transient Bonsai Appreciation Park

Flooring: Soft, earth-toned cotton sheets, held down along edges with smooth river stones.

Content: Small bonsai placed at measured intervels within the space, at ground level. In front of each bonsai is a large, soft pillow that you can sit on, so as to appreciate the bonsai’s smallness in the scale of the city.

Requires: a few modest but beautiful bonsai (can be purchased in Japantown), cushions & some flat sheets, 1-2 bags of river stones.

• Bonus #1: Sand can also be poured inside the sheets, in a rectangle below the bonsai to create a zen-garden feel.
• Bonus #2: Extra stones can be used to create a small sculpture near each bonsai, or be given away as totems from the experience.
• Bonus #3: Bonsai can be donated to conference organizers post-display, to encourage continued focus on small, beautiful, living designs!

Looking forward to the trip, and the UX park designs!!!!

Silvio’s team has gone live with their latest project – now available for the iPhone!

Do you love vinyl toys? Do you love having fun? Then what are you waiting for? Go check it out!

Type for yourself!!

PS: It runs in real time!!

I might just marry the reverend.

:)

This response is also interesting… kind of like ‘Yeah, art games that are good are hard’ – which we all know is true. My take might be that ‘I look forward to seeing them evolve’ rather than ‘Most of the pitches out there suck’…. but at least the dialog is happening!!

Great to hear people discussing the value of games-as-art up on Destructoid! Go go go!

Last night we had an IndieCade meeting at the house and as part of the work, were discussing our core values as an event. In touching on our “is” and “isn’t” lists I randomly suggested that we are “not gameists” – in that we don’t define what’s viable as a festival participant by a particular, pre-concieved notion of game. I said it as a joke, but as we talked it through, it gathered a bit more steam.

I will be pondering this a bit as we head off for the TGC company retreat today. Gameism. What defines gameism? Are you a gameist? Discuss!

Early this September, I’ll be heading over to the UK to speak at dConstruct in Brighton. This excursion, a talk at UX and potentially Picnic, as well as a visit with Gonzalo in Uraguay (November) will give me an opportunity to continue the thread on UI and play activity that I began earlier in the year with my GDC Micro Talk on game layer designs for HOME.

While developing the ideas for that talk, I had the opportunity to speak at length with folks all over – from Imagineers to academics to developers – and beyond. This trend continued – as conversations about the design of public space are incredibly engaging to people from all walks of life, and central to the ongoing debate about regional development, public transportation, economic trends and ethical consumer behavior.

In the past, I’ve blogged about Christopher Alexander (I still read Timeless Way every year or two) and Jane Jacobs, and Umberto Eco’s Travels in Hyper Reality. Now, I’m looking into books that explicitly focus on the design of entertainment landscapes: theme parks, urban entertainment centers, and the like.

This reading frenzy began with Designing Disney, which Warren got me on our last trip to the park here in Anaheim. Walking the ‘Land, talking about its design is always fun – but was amplified by his encyclopedic knowledge of Disney lore. And, as he suggested – there’s a wealth of information in Hench’s book which makes it essential reading for any game designer.

Digging around in leaf-node literature on park and entertainment construction – I’ve found interesting nuggets in unlikely places – like Developing Urban Entertaninment Centers – a late 90’s adver-book on “category killer”, megaplex retail design by the Urban Land Institute. While creepily capitalist in its language, the scholarship within it is sound – echoing theories that Jacobs, Alexander others presented decades ago. What’s more – it contains a lot of the same arguments for iterative design that you see in traditional game design tomes. (For a special treat – try replacing the phrases like “destination” and “retail” with “MMO” and “boxed-game”):

In large part, the distinctiveness of a destination development derives from the design of environments that create a sense of place for patrons and a strong presence for tenants. Rather than the predictable interior courts and shopping corridors that characterize malls and retail centers, destination developments have reintroduced the streets, piazzas esplanades and variations in facade that are the sine qua non of great cities…

…There is greater complexity in shaping the distinctive environments that define destinations. Developers must address the individual demands of retail and restaurant tenants for a wide variety of presentations that permit street front access, strong brand identity, and multilevel spaces. Creating engaging public places and overall identity and sense of cohesiveness while trying to meet competing tenant demands not only requires a skillful development team but a whole new approach to design.

Developers of destination projects engage in an interactive design process, adjusting and readjusting plans throughout the predevlopment stage to address the various requirements of tenants percieved consumer preferences, the particular demands of the site and often the standards set by public codes.

The soft costs associated with creating the sense of place that contributes to a project’s distinctiveness are considerably higher than those for the formula-like configurations of malls and shopping centers. In addition to the design costs related to an iterative process, the design team often is expanded to include scenographic artists, landscape achitects, special effects designers festival planners, graphic artists and branding consultants.

The hard costs associated with common spaces, tenant facades and store interiors are also higher than those for other forms of retail development. A central challenge in making these projects economically feasible therefore becomes the assignment of costs among the developer, the tenants, the public sector and in some cases even the corporate sponsors. Most of the forerunners in creating destination projects have seen these costs pay off in increased rents and sales.

In other words – when it comes to user interface and experience design, you get what you give. We really believe this at TGC – and design accordingly.

I happen to believe that presentations follow the same input/output model applies to presentations – so I’ll be thinking a lot about these ideas over the next two months! Have suggestions on books I can dig into along these lines as a I prep for my talks? Call, text or email me. I’m game!

… from his trip to Develop – where he spent some time talking to folks about the benifits of “soft fun” and emotional gameplay:

“Most games provide only primal feelings—and in general, power fantasies,” said Chen. “I loved these feelings when I was younger, but as I get older, I start to wonder about the other feelings I can have.”

The evolution of games experimenting in a larger emotional spectrum was something Chen hoped would be analogous to the early film industry. Originally fixated on thrilling the audience with footage of speeding trains, as the audience grew it became necessary to offer more involved and subtle productions.

“This is a time when user experience innovation has much more potential to develop video games than technical,” explained Chen. “If the feelings that you provide in your game are unique, then your game will be unique.”

As advice, Chen offered some lessons he had learned from the development of Flower, such as the discovery that in the attempt to make a “fun” game, the team had blunted the emotional impact.

“Sometimes hard fun is your enemy,” said Chen, “but it’s too easy to try and make a hard, fun game, as it’s almost all we know.”

Instead, developers are going to have to look at games as art if they want them to be treated as such, he said. Though Chen admitted that this was a topic about which many in the industry are “jaded,” he concluded that it was important that designers think as deeply about “what they wish to share with the audience,” as an artist would.

“Artists draw on their life and time, and reflect on that,” he said. “As designers, we have to think about what we want to share with our audience, what we want to tell them, otherwise we’re only wasting their time.”

Jenova also acknowledged our new project, which continues to develop these ideas – and gave a special shout-out to Sony for all their support and encouragement. Yay!

Interesting article on teen media habits includes comments on how kids interface with music, games and film as well as news, television and social media like Twitter.

No teenager Robson knew reads a newspaper regularly since most “cannot be bothered to read pages and pages of text while they could watch the news summarised on the internet or on TV”. The only newspapers that are read are the cheaper tabloids and freesheets.

His peers are also put off by intrusive advertising so they prefer listening to advert-free music on websites such as Last.fm to traditional radio. Teens see adverts on websites – pop ups, banner ads – as “extremely annoying and pointless,” Robson said. However, “most teenagers enjoy and support viral marketing, as often it creates humorous and interesting content”.

He stressed that his peers were “very reluctant” to pay for music and most had never bought a CD, with a large majority downloading songs illegally from filesharing sites.

Money and time are instead devoted to cinema, concerts and video game consoles. Downloading films off the internet is not popular as the films are usually bad quality and have to be watched on a small computer screen and there is a risk of viruses, Robson said.

What’s interesting is that aside from the comments about Twitter & music, I’d have to say my buying habits are similar. And even those first two categories lag in comparison to other peers, generally.

Maybe I’m devolving?

:)

Having just returned from a trip to SF where we spent a day at the awesome new Academy of Sciences museum – I laughed aloud at this particular trooper pic. But really – there are so many brilliant images that it’s best to just watch the slideshow.

So best!!

Danah interviewed on the concept of an “email sabbatical” impact of email on relaxation and vacations – and life, in general. What’s so interesting is that it really does surface the tension between email for connection vs. email for work vs. email for obligations in the future – as she says “getting into the queue”.

Very similar to sentiments expressed at Lift, in and around discussions of technology addiction – such a phenomenon that you can get some pretty neat stuff out of the phrase on Google Images.

:)

Once again, Jones is bending and reshaping the mold of minds with his preso on The New Negroponte Switch. Included is new excitement from Shulze/Webb re: mapping and visualization. Now, everywhere I look I’m seeing adventure! New perspectives, new ways of seeing – new messages for a new time.

It’s funny how things work out. Images from HOME burned into my brain yesterday, and today it turns out I’ll be seeing it premiere here next week, thanks to Hollywood Hill. It’s easy to get sad when thinking about how much work we have to do to fix the bugs we’ve introduced in the last few generations – but at least we know now that the bugs exist. Maybe it’s the producer in me talking – but I feel hopeful, and inspired! Creativity at the office, brainstorming with the Impact Lab, IndieCade planning, new pets, happy garden, loving friends & family – there is just so much to be connecting to and grateful for.

Thank you, universe. I am working to give back as hard as I can!!

Dug up some more random things that have been sitting in the “to post” pile – some of them for a looong time:

The Power of Mimicry – an interesting post from a while back on how some games capitalize on this fundamental human drive. A snippet:

The vast majority of modern videogames have a large component of mimicry. It added enromously to the appeal of a game like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (although this game was designed and structured in such a hardcore, challenge-oriented fashion that it could never appeal just for its mimicry), it is probably the chief reason that World of Warcraft is now outpacing the Everquest brand in terms of subscribers, and it is perhaps the principal reason for the astronomical success of the recent Grand Theft Auto branded games.

The power of mimicry can be seen in the success of games for which this is the primary form of play. Sim City had impressive success for its day by offering the mimicry of building a working city, but was limited by its focus: although creating a city was entertaining, it didn’t engage a great many players for an especially long time, in part because of its inherent complexity and emotional distance. In creating The Sims, Maxis offered a game of mimicry with a much wider appeal – and critically, a game with the potential to appeal to women.

It is not that mimicry appeals more to women than men, rather, it is that the types of mimicry that we are culturally indoctrinated into differ by gender. Boys tend stereotypically to play with toy cars and weapons – and games incorporating mimicry of vehicles and weapons tend to have an agonistic (competitive) bias. Girls tend stereotypically to play with figures (dollplay) and domestic situations (playing house). These play activities had not been provided as the focus of play prior to The Sims, because no-one had considered women a worthwhile target audience – thanks in part to gender biases in games industry employment. 10 million units and many satisfied customers later and (astonishingly) the industry still doesn’t recognise the significance of mimicry to hitting a wide audience.

Consider this: MySims & the Blox’s both include an element of playing with toy people, animals and blocks – which kids in Western culture do regardless of gender. Coincidence? It’s a long read that I still haven’t fully unpacked – but since I’m waiting for my Wii Update (so I can play my copy of BBBP!!) I figured I’d post it.

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For all my photo nerds out there – have you seen this awesome article on variable focus photograph technology?! This tech makes it possible for you to digitally re-focus a single exposure. Blade Runner – here we come!!!

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Here’s the link to the Introduction to Game Development – a huge book made from the IGDA Education Committe’s Curriculum guide! Longtime readers will remember the guide as my first IGDA contribution… a project that lasted over 4 years and introduced me to the developers who have shaped my life. At the time, my advisor warned that focusing too much on the curriculum would delay my graduation date. D’oh!!!! Ian – why are you always right??

But on the flipside: that was a decade ago – when, as a graduate student in CS, I realized that there was no way for me to study games, other than to talk to actual game developers in person (and build them on my own – blindly, slowly). Our first Education Summit at GDC 2002 (that’s right – I didn’t *always* have red hair!) introduced developers to several brand new college and graduate-level programs including one at MIT and another at CMU.

And today? I work at a company FOUNDED BY USC GAME STUDIES PROGRAM GRADS!

Is that not *awesome*?! If that much change is possible in just 10 years – imagine what the next 40 will be like!!

Lots of great things going on that I have been meaning to post… especially as we roll up to EEE.

For starters – Ari and Ori over at Hollywood Hill have announced their latest awesome program: THE IMPACT LAB!

We are pleased to announce THE IMPACT LAB – a new joint venture between The Hollywood Hill and USC’s Games Institute, to build a new generation of videogames for real-world social change (aka Games for Change).

The Hollywood Hill’s event Social Change Videogames: The Next Frontier” on May 7, 2006 at Lawrence Bender’s home introduced our members to this new movement. Among the speakers were the founders of the NYC-based Games4Change trade association, as well as some of the game developers who have pioneered the early-stage games.

With our focus on the role of innovation in social change, The Hollywood Hill has always seen tremendous potential in the development of new types of videogames that can tackle the significant problems the world faces – from global warming to hunger and disease. Over the past year we started exploring a partnership with USC’s Game Institute that would combine the strengths and resources of The Hollywood Hill and its entertainment community, with USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, Viterbi School of Engineering, and Annenberg School of Communication.

This new lab will focus on the development of games that have real-world consequences – where the user’s actions in the game directly translate into real-world change. We plan to ramp up to an output of approximately 10 games per year, helping to develop a set of standards for the industry as well as measuring the real-world impact of the games as they are launched.

The Impact Lab will be based out of The Hollywood Hill’s new event facility and HQ, The Catalyst Center. Funding for the lab and its games is provided by Armchair Revolutionary (www.armrev.org), and partner foundations and sponsors.

Games for change, built in collaboration with USC’s awesome game design talent! Wish them luck – or better yet, contact the ‘Hill about sponsorship opps!

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Next up: IndieCade is ramping up for E3, and has also just closed submissions for the fall festival – to be held in Culver City this October… did you remember to submit?

I have joined the ‘cades advisory board – and am SUPERSUGOIEXCITED to announce that Keita will be joining us at the event as well!! Right now I am trying to whip up a few cool, on-site events for the weekend days of the festival (outdoor games, especially events that are fun for kids). Ping me if you have ideas and would like to participate… and I will certainly posted more info as the program evolves!

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And LBNL: Jennifer’s new story just posted on the Escapist today – you can read it here!

It’s official – I’ve got a new job! As of June 1, I will be working at ThatGameCompany – purveyors of fine interactive, digital experiences the likes of Flow and Flower:

On the one hand – this is a superexciting development. But on the other – it is a sunset of sorts. The conclusion to a series of discussions, inquiries and internal musings… evidenced by the post below, which I wrote in November of 2008 but never posted.

Today started at 8 am with a Spielberg meeting – and ended at 11 after a 4 hour focus test. From morning till night, every hour of today was about making sure things went smoothly, getting things out of the way for my team, and generally staying focused on the important discussion at hand. Exhausted at the end of this day, I took a long bath, curled up with the HBR – and ended up daydreaming about the future.

I have gathered a lot of experience in my short time as a professional developer. And because of my cross-disciplinary nature, I am atypical. Happy in a brainstorm creating new IP or hashing out a budget, I’m also quick to jump at a chance to play something new, offer tuning advice, or build a level. I love designing user experiences, but have discovered that I enjoy growing people & teams. And just getting things done, of course. If it’s a challenge, and the cause is good – I’m in.

This makes career planning a bit difficult. If I were soully focused on climbing the ladder – I’d hop from short project to short project, asking for title bumps and raises. It’s a common strategy for managers and (it seems) fairly successful within larger companies. But because I care more about ideals (good game, good team, player/creativity focus) than ends – I often have a hard time articulating exactly where I want to be in the next 3 years – let alone 5.

Lately, it seems like I’m facing a crossroads. I can continue to hone my skills in production and creative direction…. or begin looking beyond single teams, dealing with larger group and even, possibly, company cultures. I can keep contributing to a single, large organization – or branch out to touch a variety of businesses, in a more advisory role. Stay in product or branch out to process. Ship or consult.

This dissatisfies me. My ideal job is a lot like the one I have now: I teach part time, I work on a small, creative and iconoclastic team, and travel to consult on games when needed for higher-level, blue-sky thinking. If I could find a bit more time to sleep and exercise – I’d be very happy. Especially if I recieved recognition for all facets of my contribution.

But it seems that the further “up” you go, the harder it is to maintain a cross-contributor role. Maybe it’s about scheduling – but I also think it’s about being in the right culture. So I’m thinking a lot about where I am, and where I might like to go.

Reading this HBR article on recruitment, I was struck by this “Talent Compact” – a framework of key strategies for attracting and keeping high-functioning, cross-contributors like myself:

• Brand: Known for excellence; Leading global company; Inspirational leadership
• Opportunity: Challenging work; Accellerated career track; Continual training/development; Competative pay
• Culture: Authenticity; Meritocracy; Connection; Talent-centricity
• Purpose: Guiding mission; Global citizenship; Committed to the region

A closer look at our interviews gave us new insights into how these four factors work in concert. We found that they could be united under two guiding principles: promises made (the combination of brand, opportunity, and purpose) and promises kept (most significantly, employees’ day-to-day experiences within an organization’s culture). All four factors play a role in all aspects of the talent management process, but each influences recruitment and retention in different ways. (See the exhibit “A Framework for Attracting and Retaining Talent.”) Promises made and kept affect any quest for talent, but the intensity of competition in the fast-growing BRIC and other economies makes strong differentiation urgent. Most companies continue to believe that a big salary and a name brand will suffice to meet their needs, but a local company that creates genuine opportunities and exhibits desirable cultural conditions will often win out over a Western multinational that offers higher pay.

This article was focused mostly on growing talent in emerging markets: thus the reference to a commitment to the region, and global citizenship. While reading – I asked myself what the ideal organization would be committed to for me. What is key to retaining my passion for games, for user-focused design, and overall – great entertainment that breaks the boundaries of what has come before it?

It’s got to be a commitment to the customer. A drive to create games for people – not just games that we know they will buy – but games that will inspire and delight them in new ways. I’m fine with selling product – and understand that good business drives our opportunity to create games at all. But underneath it, I yearn for dedication to creating what’s next, new and fresh. Taking that risk – because it’s the best way to new business.

Will my next job be in line with this goal? Can this promise be made – let alone kept? Especially now – when times are tight, and playing it safe seems like a good idea: where can a passionate contributor like myself set her sights?

I remember the night I wrote this post – I was tired and uncertain of what I was really “trying to say”. Read once – it sounded a bit like the whambulance to me. Read the following day, it sounded more like an open call for job proposals. And in a week’s time… honestly, I was too busy to really bother figuring out what it meant. File for later, under “something will happen”…

Well – it’s clear now what happened, in hindsight. We made a kick-ass game and with the help of some extremely dedicated individuals shipped it on time. Everyone, from the most seasoned execs to the newest of newbs brought something unique and special to the game – and then, we were done. Looking up from my computer, I knew it was time to move on.

Can the Talent Compact be made in our industry? I’m not sure – but there is surely only one way to find out. Wish me luck as I step off the cruiseliner that is EA and onto the schooner that is TGC. Open waters ahead may mean hard work – but it is certainly an adventure worth looking forward to!!

Boom Blox Bash Party ships today in North America! Our very first reviews are rolling in and looking good! It’s the moment you hold your breath for. What a feeling when it all comes together (or in this case – blasts apart!)!

It’s especially great to think of folks toying around with Create Mode and submitting playable levels to the new online community. Regular readers will know that this has always been my favorite feature… and that I’m *superpsyched* to see new levels popping up on the game’s official YouTube channel, some of our fan channels, and Facebook page.

Damn, it’s a great time to be a gamer!! From Bonsai Barber and MadWorld to Deadly Creatures and Boing! Docomodake… there are a bunch of crazy new ideas out there! As each console settles into it’s own online niche, strange fruit can (hopefully) flourish. Heck – Even the King of All Cosmos has a new lease on life, after a little plastic surgery! Rainbows! Sheep! Everyone hustle!!!

Here’s to innovation and experimentation in all its forms! More small, strange and crazy games! GO GO GO!!

Back at last!

This year’s GDC was packed full of fantastic events and no sooner had I returned home than work spun right back up! Add taxes and warm weather – and suddenly it’s been over 2 weeks without a single moment to post.

To start my GDC week in review, I wanted to post the slides to my GDC Microtalk – which I gave alongside a host of talented speakers on Thursday at the ungodly hour of 9am!! Thanks to all you dedicated conference goers who after a night of partying turned up to see Richard and the lot of us do our rapid-fire takes on the concept of “play”.

My talk was focused very concretely on looking at Play as it happens in Sony HOME. I’ve taken the liberty of adding notes to the preso post-facto… which describe the gist of my talk (I don’t speak from notes – too prone to improv!).

:)

Keys takeaway from this talk is that I used “the 4 C’s” (Creativity, Collection, Competition and Community) to brainstorm different activities that could be layered over the existing architecture of HOME to create a fun, expressive and reactive space that people wanted to return to over an over.

I’ve had several requests for these slides – please download and share them with anyone who you think might be working in a similar area! I want to see these sorts of games popping up all over the place, ya hear? No excuses! Get out there and build us some fun!!!

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Update: Brandon has posted a nice article covering the talk, as well!

Well – after a week of the flu, pushing to zero bugs and a bunch of craziness (including my birthday!)… I’m finally gearing up for GDC! Finalizing the press schedule for Bash Party, my talks, meetings, parties and lunches. Wow – how does a week in the future go by so quickly?

A highlight this week was definitely my visit The Mirman School, for their annual celebration of Women in Science and Technology. The students were so bright, enthusiastic and genuine… gasping out loud when they heard that the keynote speaker was someone who worked on video games!

It has been a crazy push this last month, for sure. Between finalling the game, playing games for the Experimental Gameplay session, and prepping my talks.. there have definitely been times where I wonder why I spend so much time volunteering outside of work. But then – I have an experience like yesterday – and am reminded that it’s because I love sharing my love of games with others. There’s nothing better than giving that joy back to the community!

Especially when you can do it with a game! Seeing the kids giggle and gasp as they toppled toweres of blox, explored underwater and outer space physics… it was like having my birthday all over again. And IGN’s first hands on with BOOM BLOX Bash Party mirrors this experience as well! Just knowing that this game will get out there and provide so much entertainment makes the labor pains fade from memory.

Now for some quality time with our peers! Can’t wait to see and play what you’ve all been up too – discuss the state of our industry, and make plans for the year to come. It’s going to be a great one!!