The Games Game September 2009

Personal Philosophy (September 2009)

Hi Tom,

I want to become a game designer, but my biggest concern is that I may become a sellout and violate my idealistic design philosophy. These big game companies are always selling out. The first game in a franchise has great new ideas, but then they just cater to the lowest common denominator, the almighty dollar.

If I'm working for a game company, I'll have to make compromises on my ideas, then more compromises. Over time it can all be eroded away and the end result can look nothing like my original concept. What I don't want is to ever hear somebody say to me, "you've changed, man. It used to be about the games."

Can a game designer take a job in a game company and still stay real, stay true to himself and his ideals? If so, how?

Not4Sale

Hello Not,

You shouldn't have to sell out. But yes, you will find yourself needing to make compromises. The question you'll have to resolve is where to draw the line. And you'll also be able to reconcile your principles with the necessities of the business world by dint of the fact that you also have your private life. You can keep it about the games. Actually, you need to.

Compromises can sometimes mean nothing more complicated than accepting reality. I would have remained 30 forever if it was possible, but of course it wasn't. I had to accept the fact of going "over the hill" when my 31st birthday arrived. (Nowadays I guess the line is drawn at 21, but let's skip over that!)

We all have to strike the optimum balance between our ideals on one hand, and the cards that come our way on the other. Some great films have dealt with these difficult choices, for instance "Michael Clayton" (portrayed by George Clooney) and "Disclosure" (based on the Michael Crichton novel and starring Michael Douglas). It is a struggle that just about all of us have to go through at one time or another.

You have to be smart in choosing which hill you want to die on. If your employer wants you to make a bloody violent game that idolizes drug dealers, or espouses some other sort of philosophy or point of view that's anathema to your personal ethics, you have to choose whether to work on it or to refuse, knowing that refusal might mean you lose that job. And it would not be unreasonable to throw off a job that would require you to lose your soul. But if you just abhor the fact that the new game you're asked to work on is a sequel or a knockoff, it would be foolish to quit your job over something like that. At least that's where I draw the line. It's your life, so you choose where to draw yours.

There are two parts of your life, and they go on simultaneously, like a cloth that looks gray but is actually made of black fibers and white fibers intertwined. In your professional life you'll perform duties required by your employer. But after hours and on weekends, you have your own life and your own time. An artist who's making game graphics as his day job ought to be able to create personal art in his spare time. Someone who works in game design professionally might write personal fiction in his off hours. One can negotiate that into the employment agreement.

We all have to serve an "apprenticeship" of sorts to build up our creds. Once you've established yourself as a creative force to be reckoned with, then you can strike off on your own in any direction you desire. It's unavoidable that you will change. But you can always keep it about the games. Actually, you have to keep it about the games, in order to make games that are fun to play.

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.