Very, very related - "Don't do for money what others do for love"
The great video game exodus
91–100 of 149 posts
Re: The great video game exodus
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
One other parallel that interests me comes up in this article. Frank D’Angelo got into games because he loved them as a kid. And that's ultimately what guaranteed that he'd be treated poorly: so many people want to get into games that there's always another sucker to take his place. It's the same thing with acting. The number of people who want to be Hollywood actors is much smaller than the number of people who end…
The problem with Hollywood is that a pretty face and sexy body is valued more than good acting. When market value of a good is diminished to a single dimension (which is sexiness in case of Hollywood) it's a sign of market commoditization with price being the single advantage. And a highly commoditized market is a cruel place. Always.
The blockbuster leads tend to be very attractive, but in general there are plenty of famous actors who aren’t.
Re: The great video game exodus
#93I’ve been a game developer for decades. Companies that are categorically in the game industry tend to be full of shitheads and oversized egos. I have mostly solved the problem by working in game organizations within BigCos.
Re: The great video game exodus
#94The talent pool for game designers and developers is very broad and, sorry to say, very shallow in places. It's like the talent pool for screen actors.
There are ten thousand hopefuls for one hundred decent jobs. Many of them are motivated by good things: respect for the games they've played, a hope for success, and the motive of the Blues Brothers ("We're on a mission from God!")
This means the executives in the game business can get away with exploiting people, in the ways this article describes.
I know a young female aspiring game designer who's been laid off a few times, dissed,, blamed for silly stuff, and generally mistreated. One exec even tried (without success) the casting-couch schtick on her.
Her diligent work to learn her craft (rigorous BFA, internships, lots of practice) hasn't helped as much as it would have were she an aspiring software engineer, accountant, plumber, or truck driver. It's a problem with the blockbuster approach to game sales.
Many people are trying to solve this problem. Unity and Unreal lower the barrier for indie game developers. Humble Bundle did a good job getting exposure for indies, and still do even after the Steam buyout. The free-to-play model (with small ongoing transactions) has potential to stabilize game-publisher finances.
But the big win will come when games of various sizes can all succeed. Standing in the way of that is the superstar / blockbuster business model.
In the meantime, I hope my young friend gets an executive position.
Re: The great video game exodus
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
Which areas do you think have large demand and low supply at the moment?
Maintenance, everybody wants to work on greenfield but there is a ton of maintenance work out there.
It's easy to slide into a maintenance role. I wouldn't say the pay is especially better. There aren't "maintenance engineers" making substantially more than "development engineers".
Re: The great video game exodus
#96Very, very related - "Don't do for money what others do for love" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16792942
But isn't this the exact rule that Bill Gates violated when he moved to build a software business at a time when software development (for personal computers) was mainly a hobby?
Re: The great video game exodus
#97I think the video game industry is literally run like the movie industry except there is no union to help the people who make the actual magic happen unlike say the entertainment industry. I realize that some hate unions but some things on this world literally could not happen unless we respect people, their time, and their families. Some things are worth more than money and I"m grateful for the games I get to play.…
Are you seriously suggesting government funding for video game development? There's no way I'd be willing to have my tax dollars wasted on that.
Re: The great video game exodus
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem with Hollywood is that a pretty face and sexy body is valued more than good acting. When market value of a good is diminished to a single dimension (which is sexiness in case of Hollywood) it's a sign of market commoditization with price being the single advantage. And a highly commoditized market is a cruel place. Always.
Looks are often a prerequisite, particularly for women, but they aren't valued more than acting ability. There are scores of models who are more attractive than your average big name actor who fail to break into Hollywood because they can't act.
If most Hollywood movies featured mostly ordinary looking actors but with excellent acting, then I would've agreed with you that the acting ability is valued more.
There are a few genius actors that made their way into Hollywood because of acting, not looks. But they are an exception to the rule. The vast majority of movies are mediocre and feature rather attractive actors (actresses in particular) whose acting is very basic and non-remarkable.
Re: The great video game exodus
#99Extraordinarily long hours, toxic open office work environments ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6vCBQKN0F8 ), poor management guided by auteurs with nothing to back up their plight and a culture of being outed when you're too old, or overpaid, is why I'm no longer there. I think the best answer to this is the fact you can very easily still create outside of these environments on your own. The trouble is finding th…
Created this account to echo your comment; I strongly encourage everyone who is curious about entering the industry (especially youth/students) to view this brief and cogent video.
Seeing it brought back many fond memories of auld.
Re: The great video game exodus
#100I think the video game industry is literally run like the movie industry except there is no union to help the people who make the actual magic happen unlike say the entertainment industry. I realize that some hate unions but some things on this world literally could not happen unless we respect people, their time, and their families. Some things are worth more than money and I"m grateful for the games I get to play.…
> there is no union to help the people who make the actual magic happen Seeing the number of turds that Hollywood produces continuously, I fail to see the promised "magic" that unions help create.
It's a good thing your taste in art & entertainment isn't the bar by which the medium is measured then.