How to Kickstart a Game Project in 3 Easy Steps

Have a great idea for a video game but no money? No problem! Follow these 3 easy steps to Kickstart your dream game! 

1. Be a famous, world-class video game industry talent!

2. Have a sequel to a beloved and well-known video game!

3. Create a brilliant campaign to promote your game and grab the attention of your players!

Now, just lay back and wait for millions of dollars to roll in! 

The Secret to Being a World-class Video Game Designer

Who wouldn't want to be world-class? The trick if you're a video game designer? Stop playing so many video games

Who doesn't want to be extraordinary in whatever they do including video game design? I mean, who doesn't want to be the goddamn Batman? There's actually a significant body of work about achieving world-class behavior popularized by Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers" and Colvin's "Talent is Overrated". Its the 10,000 hour rule - to be world-class at something, you need to practice it for 10,000 hours.

Originality in Video Games and Speaking in German

When creating successful video games, truly original thinking is rarely a virtue. Oh yeah, that's right - I went there.

Let us start with the very basics. Video games are commercial art. The art part is all good times and laughs but the commercial part puts food on the table. And so, assuming you wish to live with a bit of financial security and die with both of your ears still attached to your skull, you will have to consider the audience for your game and whether they want to pay for it. And so then, like so many things, originality in video games creates a lot of Sturm und Drang among professionals. But it's rarely a black and white issue, rather its shades of gray - not to mention black and blue at times.

Video Games and the Art of the Fail

They say success has many fathers and failure is an orphan. But I say failure has dubious parentage but everybody sure wants to stare at the ugly little bastard. 

I have had my fair share of exposure to cancelled games, aborted projects, shutdown services, less-than-spectacular releases and thunderous earth-shattering meteor impacts. And make no mistake, failure is a spectator sport.

Why Game Development Experience is Largely Overrated

Why the "experienced" old dog game developer probably hasn't learned the tricks you really need.

Have you ever had the experience of listening to an exalted Deity of Game Design - and you suddenly realize what they are preaching is hopelessly out of date? Let's face it, experience in game development is highly over-rated. As hiring managers, we chase experienced candidates because it gives us a warm, reassuring feeling to have a CV with a long list of years behind it. Hiring is scary - a bad hire can be disastrous in so many different ways so hiring "experience" is a balm against our fear of lost development time, burned budgets, morale problems, lawsuits, etc.

The problem is that "experience" is an illusion.