Day One - Saturday

I arrived in Philly about 20 minutes early, and that was good because I was stuck in 15 minutes worth of traffic to go the one mile (if that) to the convention center. By the time I parked and found the conference, which was one of about three or four events being held in the huge convention center (easily comparable in size to Moscone West in San Fran), it was almost a quarter past the 10am start time. Luckily they were behind schedule setting up and the first session was delayed until around 10:30. However the keynote, which was given by Microsoft Game Studio's Director of Global Marketing, was about getting into video games marketing, which isn't really quite up our alley here at GDNet. So I left the room and wandered back upstairs to check out the huge expo hall, so big that the conference couldn't even fill the entire space. Like I said, this is primarily a gaming conference so they had nothing but games games and more games. Over 40 vintage arcade cabinets were clustered in two groups and open for free play. They had everything from Paperboy (I never even knew there was an arcade version) to Lunar Lander to Defender to Star Wars and games I never even heard of. Not only that, but NES, N64, Playstations, Wiis and Xboxes were also set up in areas around the floor playing classic games, and two LAN centers were hosting Crysis and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. Various other booths had PCs running those two games and more, like the PC Guitar Hero III version, Portal and Team Fortress 2. Never have I seen such a gaming mecca, it's like dying and going to gamer heaven.

Breaking In Panel

L to R - Steve, Paul, Robin, Fiona

Moderator, Christopher

But I didn't have much time to sit around and play. I indulged myself in a few favorite classics for nostalgia's sake and then spent most of the time taking pictures and running into people, like Tommy Tallarico, who was there to deliver a keynote the next day, and Susan Gold, who I had met out in Eugene for IndieGamesCon earlier last month and was speaking about getting into games education and women in game development. Before I knew it 11am had rolled around it was back downstairs to catch the next session, which was a panel moderated by Christopher Erhardt, VP of Production and Associate Dean / professor at DigiPen. The four panelists were

• Robin Chenoweth McShaffry, Co-founder and VP of Operations at Mary-Margaret
• Fiona Cherbak, VP of Marketing at Gamerecruiter
• Steve Reid, Manager/Director at Red Storm Entertainment
• Paul Chen, VP of Marketing at Marshall Media Inc.

The next question was aimed at the developer lifestyle, and the common misconception that the game industry is "loose" - that people have flexible hours and can dress however they want to work. Again Robin stepped up first to say how tough the game industry was, but then she turned to Steve and admitted that he's a pretty laid-back individual, and Steve smirked at that as he sat slumped back in his chair. He certainly looked laid back. When he sat up to speak into the mic he was still resting heavily on crossed arms. He agreed with Robin that the industry is a pretty tough grind stone, and detailed how they worked at Red Storm, which entailed the concept of "code hours". According to Steve developers were expected to be in the office coding from 10-4. Some came in early, some came in late and stayed later. So that's a little bit of flexibility. He also talked about playing games in the office, discussing "strategic" vs. "personal" game playing, where strategic game playing is obviously when a deveoper plays a game to study it or learn from it to apply towards their own projects and is more common than personal game playing in the office space.

So how about ways to increase your chances of landing that position? Well Fiona detailed the first step for you to perform, which is a self-assessment to determine exactly what it is you want to do in the industry. There are so many specialized fields these days that it is very easy to focus and get very good at a single one. Once you decide on this, it's passion and determination that take you the rest of the way. Also be sure that you're working on your communication and people skills as well, since you will have to work in a team envrionment. Take on public speaking, group projects and look for internship positions. Remember that your skills as a developer can only take you part of the way. The final question Steve has his employees ask themselves about potential hires is "do I want to work with you?". If you can't get along with people, your skills are completely and utterly worthless.

What are some good entry-level positions? Robin listed several, including internships, Quality Assurance (Q/A, or game testing), P/R and Marketing, and junior-level positions sometimes advertised by companies (junior programmer, junior artist, junior level designer, etc). if you're looking to become a programmer, Steve says to make sure you're ready to receive a tech test and have studied in the language that the studio you're applying for is working in. Said Robin, Designers generally include writing samples and game mods in their portfolios. Artists, besides having a ton of drawings in their portfolio (which should be tailored to the game studio you are applying for) should continually seek to improve their craft by drawing each and every day. Everyone on the panel agreed with this last point.

The floor was opened for Q&A and a line of people formed behind the floor mic. The first question was what books were good for people looking to break in, and Fiona listed Paid to Play and Get in the Game as two personal favorites. Another question asked what fields are most available. Steve responded by saying that at Red Storm they had like 50 artists, 30 engineers, 12 designers and 4 producers - so the answer there was anything involving asset production was on the upswing. Next question asked what the biggest mistakes were in interviews, and Paul's response was the first impression. "You have 30 seconds" he said about making that first impression a good one, so make sure you give a strong handshake and look the person directly in the eye. Fiona's advice was to not place your student status (if you are a student) at the top of your resume, or people will read the rest while considering you as a student. The following question was whether or not you should move to a city (like LA or San Fran or Austin) before trying to find a job. Steve responded saying that if there was a good chance of getting a job, or you're sure of landing a job, moving first would make you more favorable. A good way to judge yourself is to look at the games the company had recently shipped and ask yourself whether your work is as good or better than what they produced. Finally, a question was asked about interview materials. Fiona sad for artists mainly 3DS Max and Maya work should be included in the demo reel, with multiple samples showing improving skill and the use of tools to show you are keeping up with the fast emerging technology. Paul suggested that you try to tell a story with your reel as much as possible to capture people's attention. Robin suggested that you show flexibility in your work, like being able to design models in both low and high poly. In terms of programmers submitting code, Steve suggested that the code be focused and targeted towards the position you are applying for (don't send them an entire game engine for an AI position). It doesn't need to be a full game or have to reflect on any of your past projects. Furthermore, the code sample could carry you through to success if you're easy to talk with but people have trouble getting a read off you in terms of skill.

Calling it a day

Unfortunately that was the meat of the first day. There was a session on games education but I decided to skip it in favor of catching the screening of Spencer Halpin's Moral Kombat. By the time I walked out of that the lecture was finished, and after that they only had a resume review session. As for the movie, I walked out after realizing it was just the same old trash I've been hearing the past few years; There was nothing ground-breaking about it or anything that would lead people to believe games aren't the cause of violent behavior. Anyone who watched this video would leave with their own opinions completely intact, it was quite pointless. Apparently later in the day the had Jack Thompson himself appearing in the same theater for an open debate session. The line stretched almost the length of the entire hallway, and huge bodyguards were handing out Code of Conduct flyers to all the attendees and searching through everyone's bags upon admittance. I hear the debate didn't get out of hand, and as far as I know no one was ejected. I spent my time in the expo, checking out games.

Day Two