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All the gamers, non-gamers & game-lovers! Today let’s do something more than mere game-playing. Let’s delve deep into the gaming world. Let’s meet the real heroes behind the virtual heroes; Come; let’s see if the Gaming Industry has anything to offer you more than game-play & also what is the future of this industry?
I know that you love to play those games. But if I ask youwhat does ‘Game’ mean, chances are there that you’ll laugh at me. But this casual laugh will defuse the glory of the bunch of creative people who make the games for you. A Game is a bunch of specialized applicationsdesigned to play on computers, consoles, cell phones, devices & these days, on the internet known as Online Gaming. And there’s somebody who make these super-exciting fantasy world. Of course, it’s not a one-man army. The team consists of Game Developers, Game designers, Programmers, Animators, Graphic designers….and so many of them. The number of people involved, however may vary. Small studios may have multi-tasking employees while big studios may employ many workers for a single task. But no hurry. We will meet all of them. You must be thinking how do these people get there? Well, that is the Gaming Industry.
OMG! Even games have an industry! Yeah. They do. Games are not only for playing, dear. They also provide job. But not to all & sundry; to creative & highly skilled people only. Wait. You don’t need to be a geek for that. You are welcome if you are a regular guy with passion, devotion, creativity & not to mention high technical skills along with strong sense of Maths, Physics & Statistics.
Well, now you definitely know that making Games is not a child’s play. It’s a serious job & certainly a big business. Creating these games is really, really complex & believe me or not, quite time consuming too. A standard game may take 1-3 years to complete!
Now you must be thinking what job-profile(s) you may be offered with? Not to worry. A plethora of opportunities are there waiting for you. A quick look is here. Let’s start with the big fishes of this industry-
- Game Developer-The games developer job title covers a broad area of work and there are many specialisms within the industry. These include:
- quality assurance tester
- programmer, with various specialisms such as network, engine, tool-chain and artificial intelligence
- audio engineer
- artist, including concept artist, animator and 3D modeller
- producer
- editor
- designer and
- special effects technician.
- Game Designer- . A Game Designer actually understands the logic behind the game, game play, the rules and structure of a game and the creative part. Like a director of a movie, the Game designer controls the artistic & technical elements of the final output. The Designers are the dreamers of the game.
- Writer-creates the fat or slim rulebook for you-the gamers.
- Programmer- to him, a game is a series of codes & coding languages so he is the grey matter in the brain.
- Network Programmer- writes the codes for online gaming.Certainly these are the people who does the talking part/ communication part with other systems.
- Art Director- works upon the art-section of a game be it 2D or 3D. The lead-artist decides the overall look of the game. He also works as the creative manager.So he is like the fashion designer who takes are of the charm of the game.
- Modeller- builds 3D/2D characters & environment.
- Animator-digitally controls the models.
- Game tester-ensures the quality of the game.
NO. This is not the end. In fact, these are just a few of the many. There are Lead Designers, Content Designers, Game mechanic Designers, Level Designers, Lead Programmers, Artificial Intelligence Programmers, Graphic Programmers, Physics Programmers, Tools Programmers, User-interface Programmers, Lead Artists, Concept Artists, Sound engineers, Musicians, Executives, Producers, Publishers…..PHEW.
The ability to articulate new & fresh ideas is a must in this industry. Apart from that, educational qualifications matter too. (Remember I told, game is not a child’s play)…
- To be a Game Designer, there is no set route , a college degree on Game Design or Graduation with reasonably high level of industry experience and knowledge. Will be helpful. Also you need expertise in a bit of scripting language., creative skill and MUST be able to understand the user point of view on how a user will feel the game.
- For the role of a programmer, a Science Graduate with adequate knowledge of physics , mathematics/statistics & a deep understanding of the programming language ( I am not saying only Python or C++, LUA or C# , I am talking about logical programming also ) as well as of Operating System is needed.
- Wanna be an artist? Expertise at & talent of forms, lines, colour, theory, drawing, anatomy and the ability to visualize -MUST.
- A specific technical training will do for an Audio artist, who will be doing background score or VO or normal music . It requires hard understanding on what type of composition is required for the game .
But whatever you choose let your CV speak on behalf of you. Experience really counts.
Working in the Gaming Industry is both rewarding & fun. Fun because, you join here as you love it & rewarding because the salary is hefty. But certainly you have to show that you’ve got talent. DON’T join this industry ONLY for MONEY .. join only if you have the passion.
So you can guess the future is bright for the deserving candidate. The scope in the Gaming Industry is wide. The gaming technology is widely used from the medical to the marketing sector, not to mention Defense, Legal, Airline, Railways, Mines, Education & last but not the least Entertainment sectors.
Especially in recent times, the Gaming Industry in India is growing at first rate. The segment of iPhone & Android is booming fast. A stupendous increase of high-end mobile phone users, availability of DTH connections & significant growth of the urban income has pulled out Gaming from the mere fun-zone to a much serious & profitable industry. The Gaming Industry in India is expected to reach 38 billion by 2015. In the outsourcing, India offers significant cost advantage. so this is another sector where Indian Game Industry has the potential to shine. In India, women hold a strong position in the target audience as among the players, 45% are women. Gaming will certainly continue to become much more mainstream & accepted. After all, it has come a long way from the black& white 2D games like Pong to the life-like shooters of Battlefield 3.
The rapid progress of this industry compels me to think that one day we will all have our very own virtual identities, as the rapid growth of the simulation system oriented solution. For that, the huge talent-pool needs to be properly channelized. But sadly, some widespread weird misconceptions are keeping many talented people ignorant about the possibility of this segment.
