What this course will do:
Teach you a brief history of games (board, card, simulation, and computer)
Define what a game is (and isn't)
Provide basic game design philosophy
Demonstrate various historically significant games in-class
List and define the sequential process of how games go from inception to post-publication
Instruct you on industry journalism and have you write a game review
Define the roles of the huge cast in the game industry (i.e., who does what)
Provide you with 'intellectual combat' against other students in The Arena of Ideas
Describe project pre-planning documents
Teach you the fundamental principles of marketing
Illuminate the other side of the game business (the analog game industry)
Teach you how to write a Concept Document for an original game
Teach you how to quickly 'pitch' that idea to the class
Give you a chance to critically evaluate the game ideas of others
Game Project Management is both an instructional and ‘how to’ course designed to teach you the background of the game industry, how games are made, by whom, why, and the fundamentals of critical evaluation of game ideas.
What this course won’t do:
Tell you how to design a game or manage a project as part of a team (those courses come later)
Teach you how to actually publish games yourself (although a great deal of insight on this subject is provided, this is not a specific course goal)
Education without application is worse than worthless; it's a waste of time and money. This course, Survey of the Game Industry, provides carefully targeted classroom lectures, supported by provided instructional materials (including this web site), to provide your education. But the Graded Course Project of making a Solo Pitch before a body of review, where this instruction can be applied, will cement these lessons, plus the life lessons of individual excellence and success, into an experience whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This class provides a clear window into the world of making games ― a world where you see; look, learn, and live what a life making games is really all about.
Here's the news that drives this class from the Game Developer's Salary Survey:
“All positions are highly competitive, and none of our clients wants to settle for less than the best-qualified candidate,” says game industry recruiter Mary Margaret Walker, president of Mary-Margaret.com Recruiting and Business Services. On the other hand, “it is equally true that our candidates are not desperate, and expect a lot from a potential future employer.”
So what puts a candidate in the most-qualified bracket? Understanding the business of game production with a big-picture perspective on a project is a big advantage. “Everyone wants talent that can understand a production schedule, people that are able to stick to a common goal, from programming to art to design,” says Alzahov. Now that teamwork and flexibility are key assets, some companies’ layoffs are opportunistic, according to Jill Zinner, president of game recruiter Premier Search. These layoffs might target people who have a lot of experience in the industry but aren’t willing or able to adapt to new technologies and production models. These castaways are then having a tougher time finding new homes as the game business matures, according to Zinner. “They’re going into other industries, business and edutainment industries. A lot are going into cell phones and handhelds.”
