by Annie | Jan 28, 2011 | Game Design
The latest issue of In Focus magazine focuses primarily on the VFS game design program. Take a...
by Annie | Jan 24, 2011 | Game Design
I am not a social butterfly by any means. Social caterpillar, maybe. But after a weekend at the Game Design Expo surrounded by people passionate about game design, I’m starting to grow quite fond of networking. I prefer to think of networking as making friends. You never know when you might hit it off with someone or find someone who shares common interests and aspirations. Sure networking can be incredibly intimidating. You’re almost guaranteed to run into awkward situations. But keep in mind that people are there because they want to get to know you. So be yourself, ask honest questions, and be an attentive listener. That’s all there is to it. I can’t begin to tell you what an amazing experience the Game Design Expo has been. Meeting so many people so interested in game design makes me fall in love with it all over again. Here are my top five moments from the weekend: 5. Coat Checking I was up at 5am Saturday morning. Why? So I could get to the Expo by 6am to help with setup and coat check. Volunteering to hang up people’s coats for 4 hours might not sound like the most glamorous job, but it allowed me to get to know a lot of the attendees and speakers as they arrived, ready and excited about the day. 4. VFS Open House I think yesterday’s open house was one of the largest that the VFS game design program has ever held. Me? I got to help man the main VFS booth, meeting dozens of potential students interested in diving into the field of...
by Annie | Jan 10, 2011 | Game Design
Coming up with an original game concept is quite possibly the most fun and difficult piece of the game design process. Sure, iteration and fine tuning down the road can be riveting as well, but it’s the open ended realm of possibility during the initial brainstorming phases that allow for infinite imagination and creativity. And of course, as with all open ended endeavors, progress can be daunting, if not paralyzing. With creativity comes great risk. Team brainstorming means allowing others to see what’s inside your head. To discover that perhaps there isn’t much in there after all. Just as writers happen upon writer’s block every so often, game designers can experience similar droughts, often brought about by that inner critic taking over the creative process. Is my idea good enough? What will other people think? Has it been done before? Tons of self-help books have been written on this very topic, so I won’t attempt to dissect the creative process and try to provide empty bits of advice on believing in yourself and sticking with it. Personally, I find the brainstorming process both exciting and stressful. I can almost feel the electrical impulses dancing around my neural synapses, firing up parts of my brain that often lie dormant. I heartily believe that there’s no such thing as a bad idea; just ideas that may not be good yet. Right now, at the heart of the brainstorming process for our final game design projects, my notebook is quickly filling up with unripe ideas. Ideas itching to be dug up and brought to...
by Annie | Jan 4, 2011 | Game Design
With air this cold, huffing and puffing is no picnic. You see, I’m a biker. No, no, not the kind with the leather jacket. I’m talking about bicycles. I started biking to school at the start of term 1 and have developed quite an affinity for my time on the road. Now, I’m not a hardcore biker by any stretch of the imagination. I bike in street clothes. I switch to super easy gears on hills. My bike has a bell. But despite my sometimes unavoidable grimace at the mention of biking, I’ve grown to love it. Dearly. It’s the only time of the day that I have entirely to myself. Just me, my bike, and the road. No emails, no phone calls, no projects, no deadlines. Some of my best game ideas have come from these bike rides. About a month ago, I got a flat tire. With little free time to fix it, the tire remained flat and my bike remained indoors. For over a month. Today was my first day back behind the handlebars. The funny thing about taking a hiatus from biking is that you never forget how to ride the bike. You just forget all the little things that go with it. The red light I’d always tried to speed past. The sequences of gear shifts I’d used for uphill and downhill stretches. The cold morning wind. But as soon as my foot pushed down on the pedal, it all came rushing back. It felt like coming home. I biked past familiar neighborhoods, saw familiar scenes, smelled familiar smells. Before I knew it, I’d...
by Annie | Jan 2, 2011 | Game Design
Ever wonder about the man behind Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros., and Wii Fit? Take a look at the recent New Yorker article on Shigeru Miyamoto that profiles Miyamoto’s playful curiosities about the world around him, his insatiable passion for analysis, and his seemingly effortless ability to infuse fun into every part of...
