There's so much negativity surrounding the local game development industry these days, I think it's high time we look at some of the positives. Personally, I think 2011 will be the best year for us in ages, and I've got 10 solid reasons to back that up.
What do you think?
Thanks for writing this Mr
Thanks for writing this Mr Yug. I am a student at AIE and I have been getting quite depressed over a lot of the articles and posts on here, its nice to have a bit of hope. I was interested to hear about Ea melbourne and sega but I don't suppose you are going to drop any more hints about that huh?
No problems! And no, I'm
No problems!
And no, I'm still probably under an NDA from when I worked at Sega, and EA Melbourne will announce what they're up to soon enough :)
There's a new blog on the
There's a new blog on the Sydney development scene in relation to the recent improvement of funding for NSW at:
http://selfinducedcoma.com
Might be of interest to some...
I hear there has been huge
I hear there has been huge redundancies at THQ in Brisbane?
Are they pulling out of Australia????
14
"We have let 14 employees go at our THQ Australia studio. In the normal course of business, we expect to adjust our workforce both up and down as required by project needs"
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-02-27-job-cuts-at-thq-austra…
I guess everyone gets jumpy
I guess everyone gets jumpy at the first word of redundancies.
Oh I heard it was a lot more,
Oh I heard it was a lot more, phew!
Sad to see more job losses though.
what about those who are
what about those who are looking at getting into character and environment modelling and texturing.
I'm studying a animation degree and I want to get in to character modelling or environments. These small indie games need neither of these. I don't want to work on iphone games. I want to work on next generation games using the latest game engines. There is a little bit of work around for that but the majority of work in on small online or iphone games that I have no interest in.
Emmigration and Burgers
Overseas, basically, or a very long wait making burgers and animating in your spare time.
EA, THQ
EA and THQ are doing work on the current gen consoles. It won't be easy to get in to either of those places, but it's possible. If you're unlucky with them you could always try your hand at film in the mean time. The other option is to look overseas.
Beggars can't be choosers
Unless you're an incredible character/environment modeler you probably won't be able to work on "next generation games using the latest game engines" here -or- overseas. Maybe you shouldn't be so picky.
That said, if you are incredibly talented you'll easily be hired.
What’s wrong with iphone
What’s wrong with iphone games?
You can work developing your skills on an iphone games for a number of years and then look to advance, rather than expect to begin at the top of the industry.
5 Years ago your ambition and expectations would have been realistic. Nowadays you have no choice. Local game devs who hire juniors will most likely be iphone-based, barring very rare exceptions. Overseas developers will not be interested in you unless you are a clear prodigy. Barring either of these unlikley outcomes, your goal is unrealistic. If you don’t like that, then I would suggest looking into a different industry.
What's wrong with them?
They're boring, puerile and not in the slightest bit challenging. Mobile gaming is the red-headed stepchild of games.
Generally
That is a bit of a generalisation, true as it often is. Mobile gaming CAN be good, and there are examples. Still, there are good reasons people may not wish to work with them, depending on their interest in creating games. If someone was interested in creating games as a powerful cultural text for the delivery of narrative and meaning, mobile games aren't the best choice. Still, it doesn't change the reality.
Hi, 2006 called, it wants its
Hi, 2006 called, it wants its attitude back...
Sounds like games isn;t a
Sounds like games isn;t a career for you then.
Mobile vs Console / PC gaming
"They're boring, puerile and not in the slightest bit challenging. Mobile gaming is the red-headed stepchild of games."
Do you honestly believe that? There's nothing in the way for developers in making deep and rich games on mobile hardware (which is fast reaching PS3 quality in visuals). In fact, FPS's, RTS's, racing games, all the complex genres you've come to expect on consoles and PCs are already on mobile games.
The divide between mobile and console gaming has been getting ever so much smaller that I'm predicting that pretty soon mobile gaming will be synonymous with gaming in general. Console and PC games will offer a visual edge, but that will be it.
As for the original poster preferring to make content for console games and not mobile games - developers will be making million+ polygon models for mobile games in no time. It won't be long until we see extensive use of normal maps and all that stuff on mobile games. Infinity Blade is a just a tiny taste of what's to come.
I think you're being a little
I think you're being a little optimistic about the "fast reaching PS3 quality in visuals" comment there Souri - sure mobile games are looking better and better but they are not even remotely close to PS3 quality yet - hell the 3DS and "NGP" - which are brand new and soon to be released dedicated gaming platforms respectively - are not at that level yet (the NGP is supposed to be pretty close, but still falls short). I don't think mobile games in their current form anyway are ever going to rival mainstream consoles and PC's in terms of visuals.
There's also another feature of consoles and PC's that mobile games are yet to effectively emulate, and that's control schemes. Playing games on button-based handsets is cumbersome at best, and for everyone who likes touchscreen based control pads, there's someone else who hates them (mostly because portions of the screen are covered up by your fingers). The upcoming Sony XPeria Play is looking to at least try to address this with dedicated gaming controls, but it remains to be seen exactly how effective that will be.
We're not really even hitting million+ polygon models now with the PS3 and 360. Those systems can easily draw that amount (and more) on screen, but you'll be hard pressed finding a single model with that many (it's reported the characters in Uncharted 2 had somewhere in the vicinity of 80,000). We probably won't be seeing that kind of detail until the next generation of consoles, and it's a loooong way off in the distance for mobile games.
I'm not saying there's no future in mobile games...there most definitely is. I'm not saying the technology is not constantly improving, because it is. It is not however at a console level at the moment. By the time it reaches the level of the current consoles, the consoles will still be *at least* a generation ahead, and that's going to remain the case for the foreseeable future. Which is perfectly fine, because mobile gaming doesn't (and shouldn't) compete with console/PC gaming. It is its own niche.
Then of course you have the argument about market saturation, the dollar value of mobile games and how many of them you need to sell to break even, let alone start making a profit. Not every game can be an Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja. One has to wonder where the money is coming from to keep churning them out if you are struggling to even make back the costs, and how long you can keep doing that for.
NGP
The NGP was indeed what I was referring to as a mobile device reaching PS3 quality - I guess Hideo Kojima seems to be the catalyst for starting that idea when he brought it up during a NGP tech presentation. Having just checked, it looks like Sony engineers were quick to shoot that down, saying that it's more like between the PS2 and PS3 in power.
However, considering the next-gen consoles won't be making an appearance for another 4 or so years (Xbox 720 in 2015?, and I'm assuming the next PS will be around then too), there's plenty of time for mobile gaming hardware to catch up. What was the CPU in the iPhone four years ago? 300mhz?
A lot of console games use million+ polygons. A million+ model is created and a normal map generated and put on a much lower polygon model to give the illusion that it's much more detailed. I don't see why mobile games won't be utilising normal mapping when more power is available, and for the original poster who didn't want to make content for "mobile games", I was pointing out that it won't be too long until there won't be a clear distinction between the kind of art you make for the mobile and console platform. Both have their small casual games, as well as the top tier triple-A productions.
Touchscreen vs console controllers - to be honest, console controllers have become a clusterf*ck of complexity. It really has. Just playing some PS3 games and seeing the amount of actions assigned to every button is mind boggling. And for certain genres, controllers aren't even good for it. First person shooters and RTS's for example. I agree, the main issue with touch screen gaming is that your game covers the screen, but for the most part, controlling on the touch screen seems to work well with many games.
I think we're arguing on
I think we're arguing on semantics here but just to make sure we're on the same page, the generally accepted definition of "mobile games" are games on mobile phones. Devices like the DS, PSP, 3DS AND NGP are portable consoles...the games available on those systems are generally in a different ballpark to games you get on mobile phones. When we talk about mobile games we generally aren't talking about the games on those systems. Those systems are primarily gaming devices that can do other stuff. Smartphones are primarily phones that can do other stuff, including games. There's a distinct difference between them. And with that being said, mobile games are still a very long way off the consoles.
Mobile hardware isn't quite progressing nearly as fast as you think it might be, either. If we use your example of the iPhone, in 4 years the CPU speed has gone up by around 400MhZ (interestingly all of the iPhone CPU's are actually underclocked) and even right now, we seem to have hit the proverbial brick wall that PC CPU's hit quite some time ago (no phones seem to be surpassing that 1 Ghz barrier). But while PC CPU's started going multi-core, I'm not sure phones can follow suit - the cooling in particular is going to be an obstacle.
PS3 and Xbox 360 systems and games are (generally) targetted at gamers, so the amount of buttons isn't really an issue. You'll notice though that for the more casual games crowd, we've got the Move and Kinect now, as well as a variety of other peripherals (guitar controllers, skateboards, dance mats, etc). The Wii's controls are certainly not complex at all - the SNES had more buttons on the controller than the WiiMote does. As for FPS and RTS games...well...there's a reason those games are better on PC :) It's worth noting those genres don't really work on touchscreens either. Yeah the touchscreen controls work for the most part with mobile games, but it's always felt like a compromise. I don't think touchscreens will replace proper controls anytime soon, and not just because of the fingers covering the screen issue, but also because many gamers just like feeling the reassuring "click" of physical buttons being pressed.
So the already ageing
So the already ageing consoles won't be upgraded for another four years. That really sucks as consoles are already holding back the evolution of gaming. I'm so sick of games being ported from console to PC. I understand that money is a big part of supporting consoles over PC but I feel its really holding back the games industry from moving forward. I have been a gamer since the late 80's and in the past five or so years the evolution of gaming has slowed down so much. In so cases I feel some games have gone backwards to make them more appealing to a wider audience and forgetting about the gamers that have supported these titles for years. I have not been blown away by a game since elder scrolls 4 oblivion. That was released in 2006, five years ago. This years line up is looking great lets just hope that these games are not disappointing toned down console ports for the masses. Well one good thing about a lack of great games to play is that I get more work done and don't waste time playing games.
Rage Against People, Not Machines
Respectully, I must disagree. Certainly, there have been a lot of half-arsed, terrible console ports coming to PC. In the past we've had the opposite problem, though to a lesser extent. If I had to choose, I would say I am a PC gamer, but that doesn't meant that the consoles don't offer some great titles.
One game, in recent times, has recaptured that child-like, wake up at 4 before school glee of gaming for me. That game was Valkyria Chronicles, on the PS3. It was a truly beautiful game, though I doubt it came close to pushing the boundaries of the system. We'll see developers grow more creative and get more out of the systems over time, and Microsoft and Sony's offerings aren't technically defficient to begin with.
Though you are right to be offended with poor ports, without console gaming the industry would not have advanced nearly so much as it has. Console gaming, for better or worse, is the lifeblood of a good portion of the industry and without it, we'd have missed out on some excellent works. We're looking at the next generation of consoles in 2015 or so, and I expect that we'll continue to see both great games and terrible ports even then.
Mobile Gaming? Redheaded Stepchild?
Someone who posts ridiculously and anonymously would say something along these lines. Mobile gaming seems more the way of the future. I've been a core gamer for many years, yet these days I log more hours on my iPhone than I do my PS3, and I even include watching Blu-Rays and streaming media in that count.
Mobile gaming can be challenging however for the moment the epic gaming is left to the consoles. As processing power becomes cheaper, things that can manage PS3 quality graphics are soon to be common place in your pocket. Even the iPhone bolsters some incredible looking games, Infinity Blade tops my charts.
Even Nintendo and Sony have seen just how intimidating mobile gaming has become as the Wii U lets you game on the go and the new Playstation Vita is like a PS3 in your pocket. The future of gaming will be dictated by portability, ease of use and how close to a digital swiss army knife it can become. I mean why would I need anything else when my phone can call, text, email, calculate, take notes, pictures, etc... etc...
In fact it is all the other aspects that are included in mobile devices that could allow for more artistic games as well as some expanded creativity in current game models. But hey, that's just my five cents!
well the great thing about
well the great thing about studying animation is, that the games industry is not the only industry to work in if you wan to do 3d modelling. I just want to do 3d as a living doesn't have to be in the games industry. I would love to work in games development but if my skill set is not useful for iphone games which it isn't well there are heaps of other industries where it can be used. And if I was to move overseas why wouldn't they hire me if I have a solid folio. I have seen a lot of jobs over there and they ask so little in the way of experience in comparison to the jobs advertised
here.
Foreign Opportunities
The games industry is a reasonably competitive field world-wide. Experience is always a premium. That said, despite what you'll hear, with little experience your chances of employment overseas are much, much higher than they are domestically. I know quite a number of people who have left the country and gone straight into work with companies such as SEGA and even Blizzard.
The difficulty in getting a
The difficulty in getting a job overseas lies in the fact that its a pain for them to organise it via their immigration/foreign worker laws.
You need to offer enough to justify the company from hiring from their own talent pools, and if you don’t have a lot of experience, that can be very difficult. It's certainly not impossible, but for a lot of people the option simply isn’t realistic.