The Games Game May 2009

Getting nowhere fast (May 2009)

Hey Tom,

I've been busting my butt at my job but I'm getting nowhere. I've got all the makings of a producer but I'm still stuck doing grunt work. With lousy pay, too. When I first got hired nine months ago, I was ecstatic. I thought this was going to be such a great job. But this sucks. Nobody wants to make my game ideas. And sometimes I even get yelled at for playing games. So what am I supposed to do?

Nowheresville

Dear Nowheresville,

You remind me a little of the guy I answered in my August 2007 column. Like him, you need to be patient. These things take time. Nine months is not at all a long time to work in the game industry. You may think you don't have a lot to learn, or that you are not learning anything in this "apprenticeship" phase you're in. But you do have a lot to learn. And I hope you are learning a few things about the games game.

I'm also reminded of something President Obama said recently: "Things are never as good as they seem, or as bad as they seem."

Sounds like you had exaggerated expectations for what it would be like to work in the game industry. It seemed like an ideal thing, until you got in and discovered the reality. And that reality is that experience really is important. It's not just about education or a little bit of knowledge. It's unrealistic to think that once you get into the industry, the folks with three or four years experience are going to be bowled over by your game ideas, or to accept your authority as a producer just because you have a degree (or whatever it is that you have that makes you say you've got the "makings of a producer").

And now that you're in the industry, I'm sure it doesn't really suck as bad as you say it does. I mean, you could be a sandwich-maker at Arby's instead. Would you like that better? I mention that example because that's a job I had for a while when I was your age (and I had to apprentice for a while before I could be the sandwich-maker!). Let me tell you, no matter what "grunt work" your boss has you doing at your game company job, it's a whole lot better than a lot of other jobs.

And you said sometimes you get yelled at for playing games on the job. When somebody comes in and interrupts me while I'm playing a game, they usually apologize for the interruption. So I have to make some educated guesses as to why you might be getting yelled at. Maybe you're playing a game that was not created by your company. Maybe it's even a game that's not particularly useful in providing information (from the point of view of your superiors) about the game you're working on at present. Or possibly you're playing it excessively (and not getting your assigned tasks done in as timely a fashion as your superiors would like).

And maybe my use of the word "superiors" is rankling you as you read this. This is one of those "much have you to learn, Young Jedi" kinda things. I hope you'll learn it.

(c) 2009 Tom Sloper

Tom Sloper's game biz career began over twenty years ago at Western Technologies, where he designed LCD games and the Vectrex games "Spike" and "Bedlam". There followed stints at Sega Enterprises, Rudell Design, Atari Corporation, and Activision. In 12 years at Activision, Tom produced 36 unique game titles (plus innumerable ports and localizations), designed four games, and won five awards. Tom worked for several months in Activision's Japan operation, in Tokyo. He is perhaps best known for designing, managing and producing Activision's "Shanghai" line. He is currently consulting, writing, speaking, teaching, and developing original games. Find out more at Sloperama.

© 2009 Tom Sloper. All rights reserved.