Mailbag #4

As promised, here is that follow up
Mailbag Episode.

And wouldn't you know it, our good
friend Erin Siegel is back

to help us out with some more
awesome drawings,

while Allison catches a breather.

We still got a lot left to squeeze
in, so let's get right to it.

Are you ever gonna do that episode you
mentioned about Voice Acting,

putting Role play back in RPGs
or Genres or any of those other ones?

We will ... probably get
to all the episodes we´ve

put in the "Future Topic" category
at some point.

Because James spends most of his
Time runnig a consulting company

and holding a full professorship.

Extra Credits episodes tend to get
written as they overlap

with problems, he is thinking
about in his work life.

But like I said all these things will
probably come up sooner or later.

I don't actually need help with the
research project itself,

but my topic is similiar to what you
guys covered in an episode once.

Where do you guys find your
research sources ?

Hmm... that's tough.

We don't acutally keep a list of
footnotes for the episodes,

and some of the Information can't
really be shared anyway, because

James gathered it from industry
people he works with.

Other than that though, all the information
we use is publicly avaiable on

the Internet or through the
US library system.

We try very hard to keep things that
are speculative in a speculative voice,

like the possibilities of tangential learning,
for example.

We also try to always call out when we are
making a logical leap in an episode,

and suggest other valid possibilities.

But we're gonna miss this one
sometimes, so

fact check us and dig deeper
wherever you can.

That's actually something I'd love
to see come out of this show.

I got so many cool game ideas.

Is there any way i could pitch
them to a Studio?

Well here is the thing.

Everybody has got Ideas

In fact, people in game studios
usually have a lot more ideas,

they want to work on, than
they'll ever be able to ptoduce.

Unfortunatly this means, nobody is
really gonna be

interested in your game ideas.

However, prototypes are a different matter.

If you could put together a
prototype,

that really shows off what you're
trying to deliver.

That is something that publishers
will potentially look at.

There are thousands of ways
to make connections

and get people to notice your prototype.

But conventions are usually a good
place to start.

Next question.

Is there any place i could apply my
Psychology or Economics

or whatever degree in the game industry?

Most designers and producers i know,
came from disparate backgrounds.

James, for example, took his
undergrad in classics.

But if you are looking for an
industry job

more directly relevant to your field.

That may be a pretty tough sell.

Only giant companies like Microsoft

devote ressources to
dedicated psychologists.

And only companies, who build
their entire game

around some non-game related discipline,

like Economics in EVE online,

hire those fields specifically.

It could happen, but it is a long shot.

How do you get into game localization?

There is a small number of companies

that handle a lot of the localization
work for the game industry.

Just google "game localization"
and you'll find most of them.

See if they have any openings,
or even just

send them a resume with your skills.

Just be prepared.

You'll have to have a strong
grasp of the langugage,

you are translating from, and an
impaccable command

of the grammar and idioms of the
language your are translating into

Are there any game design books
you would recommend?

First and foremost James recommends
Jesse Schell's "Book of Lenses"

After that he also suggests

"Rules of Play"

"Designing Virtual Worlds"

and another book called

"On Game Design"

If you are already a professional
Designer and have those already.

you might also check out "Game Feel"

It's got a interesting and different
take on the art of game desgin.

But other Books like
"The Design of Everyday Things"

"Understanding Comics"

and "Flow"

Are also an essential part of the
game designer's library.

Don't strictly limit yourself to books,
specifically about game design,

to learn how to be a better game designer.

Is there a reason you haven't done a
"Video Games & Violence" episode?

We've toyed with this one a lot.

The problem is that there is just not
enough

good data regarding the real effect

for us to say anything definitive.

You've heard us complain a few times

about the fact, that most of the
studies done in this regard

are funded by groups with highly biased
political agendas regarding games.

And that goes for both sides
of the debate.

From within the industry
as well as from without.

We touched on it a little

in the "non-combat gaming" episode.

But we could do an episode

on why violence is such a common
theme in videogames,

from a design perspective.

If that sounds interesting to any of you.

just email, tweet or facebook us and say so.

We'll add it to the stack.

Next.

What do you think about EA's
Origin service thus far?

Well the E.U.L.A. bugged James enough

to not buy Battlefield 3 on the PC.

And I can think of plenty of things
we don´t like about Origin.

But lots of other people have already
made those complaints

and we seem to do a lot of
EA bashing on this show.

So instead I'm gonna list off some of
the things we do like about it.

Most importantly it's a sign that
EA realises that

physical product sales won´t carry
them through the next decade.

Which is a positive change.

EA is a big player in this industry

And it would do a lot of damage
if they were to collapse.

If you look at all their studio acquisitions
over the last decade.

And how quickly they shut down many
of the companies they have acquired.

You'll see that they have been groping
for some answer

as to why they simply are no longer
profitable the way they used to be.

Origin may be the first step towards
a real answer to that question.

And a sincere acknowledgment that
the market is changing.

Besides, even thoguh Steam has been
a fantastic digital platform.

A little competiton can only mean
good things for digital distribution.

But all of that said.

They need to fix their dumbass E.U.L.A.

Do you see a way for Latin America or Africa

or other, seemingly absent markets, to become
more relevant in the realm of games?

Latin America certainly will.

And soon.

James does a lot of work there.

In fact if you google the words

"video games brazil"

or "cnn argentina video games".

His work will probably be the first
thing that comes up.

Latin America might even be a future topic down the road.

We'll see.

As far as other regions go.

We have less experience there

India is probably gonna be viable
within the next decade.

Turkey already has a pretty good MMO market going,

but these things really go on a case by case basis

We'd like to use the Big-Mac-Index,

look it up it's a thing,

as an off the cuff indicator of wether
or not

a country will be a reasonable market
for video gams in the next decade.

If it takes the average person in
a country

more than an hour of work

to afford a Big Mac.

Then there's probably a lot of other
things that need to be done

before they are really ready to be a thriving video game scene.

Is there a way we could get the show
close-captioned or translated?

We're all pretty slammed beneath
our current workload

But we would love to see the show
be accessible to more people

I'm not a 100% sure what would
need doing

through blip or PA TV

But if anybody out there is
willing to volunteer.

We'd be happy to look into a closed
caption edition.

As far as translation goes

It's something we're working on,

but could use some help with.

We'd like to put the show up on major
gaming sites in other countries

So more people can find it,

but our progress has been pretty slow.

If any of you happen to work for
that kind of major site

or simply want to tell us

who's the best source for gaming
infromation in your country.

Please email us.

That would be amazing.

And that is all we got time for.

I'll plan on scheduling these Mailbag Episodes
a little more often from now on

and we're gonna try to organize
occasionall live stream Q&As

so we can answer more of you
guys questions.

But for now thanks again for all
the questions.

Thank you Erin for helping us out once again.

We'll see you next week