Industry Analysis

Industry Analysis

A guest post from our media expert:

A recent American study has concluded that as many as a million people, worldwide, are highly addicted to playing with model railways. The condition affects mainly middle aged males some of whom are alleged to spend up to eighty hours a week, involved in what experts have described as a 'dangerously solitary pursuit' and 'a compulsion that interferes with normal life.' A significant percentage of the respondents within the study suffered from agitation when they were unable to play with trains, or missed sleep or meals to tend to their layouts, or source small industrial shunters, online. In the extreme phases of addiction, men may regard personal hygiene as a waste of time, suffer from weight gain and disrupted sleep patterns, avoid phone calls from friends and find themselves lying about time spent tinkering with low reduction gear boxes. men are perceived to be in danger of losing all social skills and ceasing to interact with their families altogether. 'We don't know where this might go in the future,' said a commentator on a recent television chat show. 'After all, technology is developing all the time, and we have no idea what this kind of thing might be doing to their brains. These men seem to prefer lurking in their own attics, fiddling with ever more extensive layouts, rather than socialising with the oppposite sex or interacting with other human beings.'

Playing with model railways is admitted to be a largely male pursuit. Although the average model rail enthusiast is a middle aged man, companies make a determined effort to target young children while their parents ignorant of the dangers purchase whatever railway books and toys their children request. The addiction is fuelled by occasional conventions at which participants are encouraged to spend large sums of money. On a recent panel show, a media celebrity announced that many mass murderers had confessed to playing with model railways at some point, thus demonstrating an unambigious connection between model railways and psychosis. She further stated that travelling by real trains was infinitely preferable. 'It's giving these men access to houses, strange headwear and unregulated model railway kits that's the problem,' she said. 'These activities promote sexism and are as addictive as cocaine. I would never ever participate in any activity which associated model trains with entertainment. This kind of event isn't just disastrous for the company it's bad for its creditors and investors and bad for the Scottish industry as a whole. The coalition government, intent on withdrawing support from the industry, should take note. It's very hard to get people 'off benefits' if you are also creating the very conditions which jeopardise jobs.

But can we learn something from this? Perhaps we can. In an industry which is changing and developing so quickly, perhaps it was inadvisable to concentrate efforts on a project huge, so expensive, and something which would take so very long to develop. Something dare we say it so very macho. It seems to us, that gambling a great deal of time and money on any single project is a risk only worth taking if the project in question is part of a classic franchise with a certain 'buzz' remaining from previous iterations.

But hindsight is easy. If the gamble had come off, we'd all be on the sidelines cheering. All the same, smaller, more flexible companies which can react to current situations Tag Games, another Dundee based company, springs to mind are likely to do better in this very difficult economic climate. Realtime was a company we wanted to work for, a company we admired but it was also a supertanker of a company, and they are notoriously difficult to slow down and turn round, when faced with oncoming hazards. All the same, our sympathies are with the whole company there, but for the grace of God, go most of us. Let's hope a buyer is found, and that many of the jobs can be saved.

I would like to begin by stating that I am far from a games industry veteran, and not the of all gaming knowledge. The tips below are generated from my own personal experience, although I imagine many people will relate to them. The who know they do any of the above will likely they can write. It is almost a sad fact of life that writing is one of those skills which falls under the can do that category, whether it be technical, analytical or creative. create design documents because is deemed the easy option compared to and art. should writing the design document be the easy option, if done properly? There are many who state that the most important program a designer must use word processor, but you be surprised as to how many cannot use one. There are many wannabee who become far too hung up on the story of a game. can all understand the and is likely judged as discussed However, designer may never go near the story of a game, even more so the junior ranks. To achieve good storytelling in games the combined of the whole team, which means the small games you create with your college friends will have minimal story (Point and click adventure being a possible exception). if you are very much a creative designer, and not particularly technical (mod community, scripting, etc), there is a lot more you can do than simply writing down story ideas. Design puzzles, doodle, draw use MS Paint (yes!), put together a combat or damage system, use your imagination. I have to say I do not see learning within the programming discipline. It is a heavily aptitude based skill, with a you can or you can factor. If you are thinking of undertaking a Computer Science or Games Technology degree, then my advice would be to give programming a year. If you genuinely practise and throw everything at your coursework, but no sign of improvement after this point, then cut your losses and get out. save you a lot of stress later on. It will not get any easier and as the material becomes more abstract will become even confused. I got a degree in Pure Maths so I not saying this lightly. are not Programmers! I must stress this.

Nine times out of ten, those us who aspire to be successful in the creative industries will come across this breed of person. They get away with it, and it is something I feel strongly about. You may come across this type when asking for career advice will take heavily sceptical tone, remind you of how hard it is to make it big, of the miles there is between you and your dreams. Vapid, thoughtless bullshit basically. Remind them that you are not a 14 year old who just wants to be famous. You are probably passionate, dedicated, talented, qualified, above all just asking for some friendly tips! These people probably back on the industry, and have likely been burned by sideways promotions, bad decisions, or their own general negativity. This is sad for them but don let it affect you.

I understand that I mentioned being realistic with regard to game writing, but I must stress the difference between being practically realistic on occasion, for your own development, compared to being a complete realist. We all know that not everyone become a Hollywood star, but to me, these never truly believe that anything good will happen to them. To get experience with no experience

This is the main problem facing graduates looking to break into games, and sadly I have no easy answer to this. The best I can come up with is never to up. Try everything you can possibly think of. Go to conferences, make friends in high places or even in low places (any contacts in the industry good), undertake slave labour cough I mean internships, make small get a position in the department; always be working on your own projects in your free time. You have to find a roundabout way, and get a bit lucky! So long as you are enjoying what you do, none of this time will be wasted.

I think it a great shame that story driven games have been to a great extent sidelined by market. It fair to say that traditional point and click adventure games have been superceded by action adventure games. This, I feel, is a natural progression. The wherewithall to include real time action based sequences became available and developers jumped at the chance. This certainly a game concept to the public. The slower paced adventuring elements remained and became integrated into the bigger picture. A similar fate befell arcade versus many beat ups; the idea of melee combat against many CPU controlled opponents became a central gameplay system of the action adventure game.

This is, however, not an excuse for overlooking the story element of games. In my opinion, there are far too many games which a story onto the minute to minute gameplay. The result is an action montage in which rash and persistent gamers feel the need to one hundred percent complete the game, with all collectibles and achievements/trophies. The enough argument does exist. If it sells, why change it? But this doesn help the serious problem of stagnation. I see it happening already with the creativity dwindling away within this so called creative industry. Fewer risks are being taken, more franchises with number of sequels and there are, of course, fewer opportunities for new and aspiring developers. My list could go on and on.

This is why I support new IPs every step of the way. Heavy Rain is one such. It a mature, story driven, interactive drama, following the actions of four very different people, as they track the Origami Killer, a serial killer on the loose who drowns his targets, leaving only an origami figure and an orchid on the victim body. Even the synopsis on the back of the game box had me intrigued. Although far from a traditional adventure title, it is the modern day equivalent, focussing fully on the story. It a game where memorising complex strings of buttons is not necessary. It is also a much needed game, something a bit more sophisticated and imaginative for the older, indeed less stereotypical gamer. Or perhaps that should be a more general statement. There is a problem. It is one that affects any young person who about a career in the video games industry and at the last count that was a great many young people. Just look at the courses offer, as we plan to do over the next year or so. It is a problem such magnitude that suggestions as to how it can be remedied would be very welcome indeed.

How does a young graduate, with a reasonably rigorous degree from an excellent university, a strong cv, plenty of enthusiasm, and a certain amount of work experience, well, to put it bluntly, more relevant experience? Enough experience, in other words, to begin to be for job within the games industry that doesn involve a tremendously short, zero hours contract (advances on two months, anyone?) on minimum wage with no possibility of advancement.