“The best way to learn games is to play games. The best way to make games is to work.” – Alan Emrich
Your Weekly Homework:
Be sure to read the Review Sheet (which contains more information than the classroom lectures and you are responsible for knowing everything presented here) and the Required Reading section of the web site.
Course Textbook, Game Development Essentials: An Introduction
Chapter 2, Player Elements: There is a lot of ground to cover next week, and part of it is demographic. Who game players are, who you are, why you play games, and how your generation is different from those before you are all important matters to consider. In this chapter, you’ll receive important background information on: Player Motivation, Geographics, Psychographics, Demographics, and Applying Player Markets to Genres, Platforms & Applications.
Your Graded Course Project Homework:
Essentially, you’re repeating the last two week’s homework assignment with yet another twist. That is, you must come up with exactly one (and no more than one) idea for Atari, but this time you can select any game category that Atari sells. You can use one of the ideas you’ve already come up with or, better still, go once more to the Atari web site and see if you have a better game idea inside you if given a free hand. I need your absolute best idea for everyone concerned (the publisher, the developer, the customers, and the critics).
However, this week you’re going to read the Review Sheet first, recall the lessons, stories, and examples from the lecture, and try some of these the approaches to being more creative that you’ve just learned. I think you’ll like the ideas you come up with a lot better if you can use your Explorer, Artist, Judge, and Warrior to your best advantage!
Want to know if your game idea will kick ass? Take this 10-Minute Game Sales Potential Test. it's amazing insightful and will help you to understand your idea's potential (and the game industry in general) a lot better! Here are the core questions:
The Test
Is the Game Distinctive?
- Does it stand out viscerally?
- Does the gameplay stand out?
Does it involve the player socially in a unique way?
- Can the Game Reach a Large Market?
Is the idea behind the game easy to communicate?
Is the game based on something the market already knows and loves?
Is the target market large?
That’s it. The more questions you answer “Yes” to, the easier your game will be to sell.
Next class you will hand in your draft solo pitch presentation for my inspection. This will be a complete Inception (or “Executive Summary”) Document for your game idea.
That is, you need to devise one more idea / Inception Documents for a game in any category that will save Atari U.S. (Documentation: 10 points; Presentation: 25 points; Evaluation Sheet: 10 points; Week 11). Bring a draft copy of your documentation next week to class for instructor inspection.
Inception Document: A short document containing an overview of a game's key concepts. This is generally used as part of a Pitch Packet for soliciting funding for a game project and includes:
The game's title (and subtitle) [Optional: add an appropriate cover concept image]
The game's High Concept, Hook, and One-Sentence Marketing Description
A bullet-point listing of the game's key features
A succinct narrative description of actual gameplay
[Optional: Concept art and screen mock-ups]
[Optional: A controller diagram (if one is used)]
For more information, go to the Graded Course Project page.
