Monday, March 26, 2007

Collins College School For Design and Technology

First off, let this video speak for itsself:



Now that you've endured that...

What an insult! I laughed along with everyone else when I saw the last campy commercial these guys put out. I even thought they might have done it on purpose to gain some sort of cult following on the Internet, via viral marketing. Now, I'm not so sure.

What are they trying to say about the game industry? That we are a bunch of gloating kids sitting in cushy armchairs, slamming back Mountain Dew and high fiving each other in disbelief that we were smart enough to take courses at Collins to become Game Designers?

What do they think we do all day? Just sit around and talk the game into existence? Two guys in a dark room with a game controller in their hand, mystically making games happen with a twitch of the thumbstick.

We are professionals at what we do. We have to spend thousands of hours painstakingly making and sometimes remaking all of the elements that go into creating what people see when they unwrap the game packaging. We learn new tools with every game, we learn new programming and scripting calls, we create something from nothing more than an idea...

Making games is not all about leather chairs, high def tvs and low lit brick rooms. It's about using a pc that might be 4 years old, on tools that may or may not work all the time, and ideas that may or may not work out. It's about spending all of your time whether you are at work or not thinking about your game. It's about working your ass off on a product that may or may not sell. It's about being passionate about what you do, and putting everything into it.

What an insult to the people that make those classes even possible. To try to portray our careers as nothing more than a couple of guys kickin' it really ticks me off. If this is how they lure people into signing up for their classes, I really wonder what is included in the curriculum? How to high five and still get a high score? How to best decorate your lavish brick walled office?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your description of what a game designer really is is a lot more inspiring to me than that commercial.

Its ridiculous. We have a school here offering a 2 year degree in game design that is similar to that. It shows kids playing video games for like the whole commercial. What sort of lazy unmotivated people is that trying to bring into the industry? =/

Unknown said...

You sound very bitter about your office space.

Steve Kramer (a.k.a. Saavedra) said...

I'm not bitter at all, it's about reality. Do you think we all get replacement PCs every six months?

My office looks just like every other boring office you ever saw with cubicles, except you see game stuff on the walls and game stuff on our screens. Trying to make our industry seem glamorous is silly.

Anonymous said...

yeah work is work regardless of the type of work it is. It is sad that they are trying to make it seem like an easy job when it actually takes a ton of skill... but then again perhaps next month a video will slip out on the net of the SOE devs drinking mountain dew and high fiving each other:P Just joking of course:P

Anonymous said...

I watched tha commercial and laughed.

They don't mention the 60-80 hour work weeks or times you stay up all night waiting for a new build or times where a feature has to be cut due to time, and you have to think of something else ASAP.

Any company is like that. When the game actually does come out, you're relived to see it. And then you go through it again. It's about as glamorous as a nosebleed.

But nothing compares to that feeling of seeing people enjoy what you helped make. That's what I love.

Carly Janine Gutierrez said...

Hey, I read them at the old blog too! But I like your new one a lot. =)

The Dread Pirate Guy said...

It's a jackass commercial, as if games are made by using just a game controller.

Well, unless their engine is completely based off RPG Maker, then they might have a case.

Otherwise... no.

Ryan Shwayder said...

Tighten up the graphics on level 3.

Anonymous said...

I go to this school and trust me, none of us are proud of that stupid commercial. I'm in the Film & Video program, but from what I've heard from the Game Design program, many of the students drop out probably due because they enter the program with the state of mind of that commercial.

Whenever we (students and faculty) mention these commercials, we always laugh. The commercial is just a poor attempt to get students in.

Anonymous said...

We think that that commercial is completely ridiculous too, and we're not even game designers. Here's our take on that commercial - I hope it brings a smile to your face.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVKy0JzX_4I

Enjoy!