As a part of this industry, it is a requirement that I play current games. Mostly I want to capture the essence of the experience, to appreciate the play mechanic or technology or story, and so playing a game for 100 hours is really not necessary. As a game creator, it is vital to do this on a regular basis for a variety of reasons.

In the last six months I have only fully completed a few major console games (in campaign mode – Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Portal, to name a few), and I am well on my way to completing Crisis Core on the PSP. Many games have gone unfinished (an hour or two in, or maybe five or six hours in). But in the last week I have taken a side step into Grand Theft Auto IV’s Liberty City and I want to talk about it, because I think I am going to try to finish this one.

So far, I have about six hours of game playing time. There are a hundred points of statistics that the game captures while you are playing (but these aren’t important for you as you are playing, just sort of interesting all the same). The game says I have completed %12 of the missions. If this is true, it will take me a long time to get to the end because I only play a few hours per week.

So far, here’s why I am living a few hours per week in Liberty City:

This game is the single biggest entertainment launch in history across all mediums.

This game has a very high metacritic score — the quality of the game is the pinnacle of today’s marketplace in terms of technology and user experience.

The writing is amazing. Among the best dialogue written yet in this medium.

The physical mo-cap acting is really great.

The universe is realized in stunning detail. One word: EPIC.

The music is perfect.

The player’s sense of power over the environment and over “people” absolutely impacts real-world self-esteem and stress in a more powerful way because of the high level of “realism” in this generation of game technology. This is really fascinating to experience personally.

Employing this power over the environment and over “people” is a choice. Do you randomly kill “people” or do you simply play the story line?
Game developers at Flashpoint Academy are discussing this product daily right now, sharing experiences and discussing how the game could have been improved. One thing we all agree upon: young people should absolutely not have this game. This is purely adult entertainment — 18+ for sure. If you know anybody with an Xbox 360 or PS3 with children in the house, lock this game up!

Monday, May 12
Jeff Kliment
Newest Rec Arts faculty, coming onboard June 1. Former faculty at San Francisco Art Institute, former lead sound designer and project manager at LucasArts, and former music recording / Foley / ADR engineer at Russian Hill Recording.

Tuesday, May 13
Jun Mhoon
CEO of I Am Music Online, Jun is a digital aggregator / content supplier for iTunes, Amazon, Real Network, Napster, eMusic, Google, etc.

(more…)

In our final Year One Game Project Production course at Flashpoint Academy, two game teams are building up for a sprint to the finish. Time is short. Resources are limited. Critical design and planning decisions are in progress right now. Can everyone pull it off? The student team leads are kicking into gear under faculty guidance to make things happen, and work on the next big milestone is under way.

There are some really invaluable pieces of advice your new game team should keep in mind, and it is truly important for our students to follow these points as they work on these final year one projects in our game studio.

1. Keep it simple.

Why keep the game simple? Well, the reasons for keeping it simple mostly point to limiting production risks and alternatively potentially making the game more accessible and possibly more fun (and then…more successful, and maybe even complete). Production risks can include getting in over your head in terms of how much time it will take to complete various tasks along the way both in the creation of assets and in the development of technology. Further, it is easy to get “ambitious” in the creative process without a real market need for features or eye candy or to serve the core of the product’s unique selling advantage. This can often times only be assessed after considerable work has been done on a game, after which point it might be too late to fix major problems or reach the deadlines.

2. Remove production bottlenecks.

Some main issues here center on management and technology. Appropriate delegation of tasks and oversight really make a huge difference in the efficiency of various teams. Big projects require lots of hands in the mix. They all have to work together and use the tools in concert. This means that everyone needs to be on the same page, and people need to promote the utmost in mature communication and professionalism. On the technology fronts, it is key to make game content data driven. With small projects and inexperienced developers, this is often a critical point of failure, usually leading to people saying, “Oh, we have to wait for the programmer…again.” When fifteen people are waiting for one person to get something done, that is NOT good. Plus, most game teams have or require people to be dynamic and willing to do more than one particular thing. Pitching in as much as possible on the critical tasks at hand wherever they exist as directed by the team leads is a normal process in game studios. When team leads don’t do their job, express your concerns to others in a positive and appropriate manner. Your feedback may prove helpful to everyone.

3. Work hard and make the deadlines.

Okay, this seems like a simple piece of advice. But here’s what you must do: Listen. Take notes. Prioritize. Focus. Complete the tasks. Review the work. Communicate and collaborate (don’t just make random decisions on your own — check with your team or you manager! Chances are you can use some advice on how to tackle things, especially the first time).

So, in short, remember these three words and it will help you along the way:

“Simple”
“Bottlenecks”
“Deadlines”

Good luck teams!

Flashpoint students attended Chicago’s private preview screening of Iron Man on Monday, April 28th at AMC 21 River East Theater.

Jimmy Tomasello (Guitar Program Manager from The Old Town School of Folk Music) performs for Studio Recording III at Flashpoint.

(above) Jimmy Tomasello on acoustic and vocals  

Rob Fetters, Chris Arduser, and Bob Nyswonger, also known as the Psychodots, came into town this week for four days as part of our spring PRODUCTION-IN-ACTION. Part I took place Monday and Tuesday in the Flashpoint music recording studios as the band re-recorded Not a Pretty Face with Bernie Mack (below) engineering. During the afternoon session, RA students took the controls, punching through vocal parts for verses and choruses.

Part II takes place today and tomorrow on a soundstage where FP Film students will be involved in the shooting of a video for the song with Peter Hawley directing and Amy Rising producing.

Game and Animation students, who helped with our set-up on Monday, are also creating a game to go along with the video.

All in all, it’s another terrific immersive-learning experience for FP students.

Bernie, 
Just a quick note to let you know once again what a truly great experience we had yesterday.  We were so happy with the whole process and the sound of the CD.  I really can’t wait to hear what it will sound like once you and the students do some work to the tracks.  Everyone was so professional and friendly and made us feel like we were in great hands.  I think all of us felt that if the opportunity came around, we’d be thrilled to come back for another session.  Again, thank you so much.
Gail Katz
 

(Above)  Band Group Photo

(Above) Gail Katz on Vocals