Digital Play

Game Retreat

2009-01-29T21:11:00.001-08:00

The Game Development retreat is on Friday Nov 7 to Sunday Nov 9. A couple spots still remain.

The retreat is at the Frogmore House. Students will pay about $75.

Some interesting attendees are at this retreat (I'll keep adding to the list):

Julie Haehn has several years of experience (and stories) in both electronic and analog games, from her time spent at Sandlot Games, WizKids, CheapAss games, and now Microsoft.

Andy Megowan of iWin Games will give some tips for developing a better game. He will also talk about his transition from game programmer to producer to entrepreneur.

Andy has written such articles as:

Stories That Write Themselves: Letting your games build their own worlds
Down to the Bone: Better Games through Deeper Themes

Andy is currently the Creative Director of iWin Games. Before iWin Games, he was the creative director at Sandlot Games from 2002 to 2007. Before that, he worked at Monolith Productions in Bellevue, Ion Storm in Austin, and Interplay Entertainment (1994 - 1997). Before entering the digital games industry, Andy worked at theme parks and location based entertainment (e.g. GameWorks).

Michelle Gamboa has spent most of this decade as a game tester for Microsoft.

Rob Stevens is an alum of the UWB business program. He is a game industry veteran, having spent the past 7 years as an independent consultant and freelance journalist. He will be staying at the Frogmore house and is available for help on assignments and your game project.

We're still hoping that Peter Becker, a former IP attorney on Xbox will also be at the retreat.

Final Presentation Schedule and Final Deliverables

2008-11-30T19:59:00.000-08:00

You have 30 minutes for your final presentation including Q&A. You should really plan for an 18 min presentation.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

1. Sorority Life
2. Tammy Brokaw's Group (Andrew, Alex)
3. Tiffany Brokaw's Group
4. Panagea Studios
5. Dual Genesis (Brian, Joe, Kylea, Kenji, Jeff, Kyran)
6. Jamison, Kate, Ritesh, Matt, Josh

Thursday, December 4, 2008
(Meet for breakfast & class in UW2-131)

1. Jon Barber's Group
2. Nathan's Group
3. Blue Line Studios (Walker, Jeremy, Niel, Mike)
4. Easeo Studios (Owen, Ellen, Aaron, Ethan, Sara)

The team projects and peer evals are due at my office on Tuesday, Dec 9, 2008. The deadline time is noon. If you don't submit peer evals, then points are lost.

The prototype peer evals can be found here: Sample Peer Review

Tomorrow's Speaker - Joe Hauck

2008-11-17T09:33:00.000-08:00

Joe Hauck, former SVP of Wizkids and VP of Wizards of the Coast and Magic (TCG and MOL) will be stopping by tomorrow to talk about marketing and branding of properties. Will be fun! See you tomorrow.

Class Tomorrow - Greg Leeds CEO Wizards of the Coast

2008-11-12T10:56:00.001-08:00

Reminder that for the first hour of class tomorrow we will have Greg Leeds, President/CEO of Wizards of the Coast coming in to talk and take your questions. Little info on Greg. Before joining Wizards earlier this year, Greg spent seven years at Hasbro where he headed up International Marketing and helped to develop Hasbro’s global brand management methodology. Prior to that he led Hasbro’s Boys group and had extensive experience in marketing, operations, and sales at both Samsonite and Procter & Gamble.

For the remainder of the class, we will have each group briefly discuss their projects and take questions/suggestions/feedback from the rest of the class.

See you tomorrow!

Whirled Flash Game Challenge

2008-11-11T15:27:00.000-08:00

Noticed this in the Whirled Newsletter. If you are interested, you might want to consider submitting a game to this contest. You can also check out their site along with an interview with the creator and CEO of Three Rings.

Winter 2009: BIS 493 / CSS 490c: THE STATE OF PLAY

2008-11-10T11:28:00.000-08:00

This course is focused on virtual worlds and is taught by Wanda Gregory. It's taught at T/Th at 1:15 - 3:20pm. Even though it's upper division, you may feel free to approach the instructor for permission to register. It builds upon what was learned in the Discovery I class.

The title of the class is: THE STATE OF PLAY: THE STATE OF PLAY: DIGITAL CULTURE, PLAY, IDENTITY AND VIRTUAL WORLDS

Megatrends of Game Design Part 1 & 2

2008-11-05T19:27:00.000-08:00

Two articles you might find interesting discussing trends in game design today.

The Megatrends of Game Design, Part 1

The Megatrends of Game Design, Part 2

For your next paper, you might consider writing about one of these trends.

China to add tax on virtual goods profits

2008-11-04T13:32:00.000-08:00

Saw this article on several game sites. Apparently China's State Administration of Taxation announced it will impose a 20% income tax on profit from virtual money. What do you think?

Advergaming

2008-10-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

I'm curious what the class thinks about advergaming. Just saw this article on Gamasutra. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Little Big Planet Review

2008-10-29T08:56:00.000-07:00

Game review of Little Big Planet in the New York Times. Game looks pretty interesting.

Campaign Rush

2008-10-28T19:51:00.000-07:00

Not only are there campaign ads appearing in racing games, but in case you haven't seen Campaign Rush you can play a click-management game (think Diner Dash/Cake Mania) which takes place in a campaign office. CR was developed by Persuasive Games for CNN International. You can even create an account and choose your party to compete for the best score.

HerInteractive Intern Position

2008-10-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

Here is the info regarding the intern position at HerInteractive which will start in January. Sounds like 40 hours/week is optimal, but they are willing to work with a candidate's schedule. Position reports to the Executive Producer.

If you are interested, email me your resume and I'll forward along.

Summary
This Internship position is responsible for supporting the Her
Interactive product development department with test execution including
testing the upcoming release of the next Her Interactive Nancy Drew game
through the beta testing phase as well as ad hoc research projects.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
TESTING
* Focus Group Testing
o Set up test cases for testers (i.e., Saved Games)
o Observe testers and write down relevant observations
o Collect data using MS-Excel
* Test execution
o Execute test cases
o Maintain records of test execution
o Enter issues into bug database
* Beta test management
o Address and mail correspondence
o Replicate discs and correspondence
o Respond to tester issues
o Keep track of beta testing data using MS-Excel and MS-Access
* Other tasks as requested

RESEARCH
* As directed, play computer games and write reviews.
* Research trends in computer gaming and female play preferences
* Collect visual and audio reference for art and production
department
* Archive game assets and documentation
* Create game design documentation
* Maintain periodical and book library
* Other tasks as requested

Required Knowledge, Skills, Abilities
* Familiarity with MS-Excel
* Familiarity with computer games
* Highly organized and responsible
Education and Experience
* At least 16 years of age
Helpful Knowledge and Experience
* Working towards degree in game design, production, usability,
testing or marketing
* Knowledge of Her Interactive product line
* Knowledge of testing fundamentals
* Familiarity with MS-Access

Avatar Murder

2008-10-24T11:44:00.000-07:00

Any thoughts on this? Better watch your Maple Story characters! Tokyo Woman Jailed for Avatar Murder.

Amazon Acquires Game Portal

2008-10-22T20:12:00.000-07:00

Another article from Gamasutra. Reflexive, a casual game portal and developer was acquired by Amazon. Here's the article Casual Portal/Developer Reflexive Acquired by Amazon.

Building Social Communities for your Game: A Primer

2008-10-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

I just saw this article on Gamasutra and thought you might find interesting. The article is entitled Building Social Communities for Your Game: A Primer. Check it out!

Back to Blogging - Week 5

2008-10-21T15:45:00.001-07:00

Last week, you submitted a response paper and thus given a "holiday" from blogging about the readings. This week, it's back to the blog. Here are last week's readings:

Wallace, M. “Anonymity is not enough,” The Escapist, February 28, 2006.

Kim, A. Nine Principles of Community Design (discuss in class)

Oldenburg, R. Chapters 1 and 2, The Great, Good Place (First 10 pages are online)

Wellman, B. and Guilia, M. Net Surfers Don’t Ride Alone”

Boyd, D. Why Youth Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life

Goffman, E. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, pps 1-58

Optional Reading

What Defines a Community? (6.5 minute youtube clip)

Little Brother, Cory Doctorow

2008-10-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

For those of you who enjoyed True Names, you might want to read Cory Doctorow's latest book, Little Brother. As stated on his site, downloads of all Doctorow's books are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike license, which lets you share it, remix it, and share your remixes, provided that you do so on a noncommercial basis. Enjoy!

Week 3 - Student Comments

2008-10-10T00:22:00.000-07:00

Week 3 included a number of readings. I have included the online readings below. Feel free to comment on the readings or class activities and lecture.

Jenkins, H. “Convergence? I Diverge.” Technology Review

Yee, N. The Psychology of MMORPGs: Emotional Investment, Motivations, Relationship Formation, and Problematic Usage. Social Life of Avatars II.

Hejdenberg, The Psychology Behind Games

Donath, J., Identity and Deception in the Virtual Communities

Bruckman, A. Gender Swapping on the Internet

and in the online reserves: Salen and Zimmerman, Rules of Play

Response Paper Homework

2008-10-08T23:58:00.000-07:00

Response Paper #1 - Bring at least two copies of your response paper. Submit one copy to an instructor. Be prepared to give the other copy to another student. You should also obtain another student's paper for you to markup (Due Thursday, Oct 16 at Class)

Response Paper #2 - Due Oct 30. You should markup another student's paper (#1) with your writing tips. You should not miss problems that involve the first 15 tips in the "Pocket Style Manual". Hand in your marked paper to an instructor. You will also submit your second response paper to an instructor. THIS SHOULD BE A ONE-PAGE paper!

Response Paper #3 - Due Nov 6, another ONE-PAGER

Response Paper #4 - Due Nov 13, yes, another ONE-PAGER

and THAT's all because then you have the PROJECT!

Pew Study--Teens, Video Games and Civics.

2008-10-02T21:42:00.000-07:00

Interesting report recently published by the Pew Internet and American Life Project entitled Teens, Video Games and Civics. The report shows how games, often perceived as the downfall of youth today, can cultivate teen civic engagement. It actually challenges some of the long held stereotypes about gaming.

Week 2 - Student Comments

2008-10-02T11:33:00.001-07:00

This is where you will post your ideas and responses to class activities. On Tuesday, Sept 30, Wanda gave a lecture (Second Lecture) that provided an overview of the industry. On Thursday, you were "studying games" and thinking about the experience and the intended audience.

You may post your thoughts and/or respond to others. See you soon.

UWB Student Music Club

2008-09-30T03:13:00.000-07:00

Those of you interested in the music club may contact Rob Christmas at Rob.Xmas@gmail.com or Joe Crotty at crottykid@hotmail.com Both Rob and Joe are passionate about music as a business. Rob has been singing and producing in the local area. A couple people have described Rob as similar to Stevie Wonder.

Rob says this about himself: I've been playing music since I was old enough to stand on my own two reasonably clean feet. My family moved to Seattle when I was four. In High school, I played all the talent shows, sang in choir and acted in a play or two. During my first year of college, I focused on nothing but my songwriting until I met producer/composer Roger Smith,("Tower of Power" keyboarist who topped the smooth jazz charts with his #1 hit "Off The Hook"), and we decided to make an EP. Along the way, I've been able to meet my hero's like Stevie Wonder, Peter Frampton, and Ramsey Lewis.

Online Class Materials

2008-09-24T23:45:00.000-07:00

You will find many of the class readings at the online reserves. You'll need a UW NetID to access the articles. If you don't have one, you should read the instructions here. If you want to talk to someone in person for your NetID, visit the computer lab in UW1-102

Course Online Reserves

Syllabus (Updated version always posted here)

First Lecture

Second Lecture (Sept 30, 2008)

HW Writing Style (Oct 6)

Writing Tip: Wordiness (Oct 21)

Response Paper Tips (Oct 23)

Business Models 101: Pitching - Revised Slides (Oct 23)

Editing Checklist (Oct 26)

Creative Destruction and the Future (Oct 28)

Business Models and the Sabre Case (Oct 28)

Final Project Requirements (Nov 4)

Sample Peer Review (Nov 24)

A few of you have asked for some material on business dynamics. Alan will address this topic in a future lecture. You may peruse last year's handout on writing business plans. In it, he defines how to construct a business model ("The sacred 5 elements").