Unit 12: Task 1 (Alex Winrow)

Sony Computer Entertainment

Sony Computer Entertainment was founded in 1987 as a subsidiary of Sony specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry. It is probably most well known as a manufacturer, researching, developing and producing all of the Playstation line of consoles, including the PSP. SCE also owns several internal studios such as Naughty Dog and Team ICO, making SCE a successful developer as well. Often it publishes many of the games produced not only by internally owned studios but also second party studios that work exclusively for them such as Sucker Punch Studios who have produced the likes of the Sly Cooper series of games and inFAMOUS.

Design – Design is in charge of creating an idea and concept for a game.

Programming – Programming is in charge of all the programming and code used in the game.

Art – Art is in charge of everything from concept art to texturing.

Game Designer – A designer has to come up with a concept for the game, designing and conceiving the rules and structures that will make the game fun to play. They then have to explain their idea to the team they are working with in order to get their vision across, usually doing so with a “design document”. The design document will include sketches, notes and various other things that will give the team an idea what the finished game should be like. Later on the designer will often oversee the production of the game, making sure it is coming along as planned. They may focus their attention to one particular branch of development such as level design or storyboarding.

3D Artist/Modeller – A modeller will create and render 3D models of characters and props, ready to be used in the game. They use concept art to assist them in what the final product should look like although they are often overseen by a lead designer or art director.

Physics Programmer – A physics programmer will be dedicated to the creation and development of the physics used in the game, such as gravity. They may, along with other programmers, develop a new physics engine that they can rework and reuse in future games.

Sound Programmer – A sound programmer will devote their time to the game’s sound engine if the game in question makes use of surround sound or stereo. They have to make sure that each sound is triggered correctly and implemented in the right way.

AI Programmer – An AI programmer is responsible for the development of the games logic. They may focus on one particular part of the AI such as enemy tactics or pathfinding. Sometimes they create their own language to simplify the programming of AI for their game. This also helps other members of the team, such as level designers, have a better idea of how they can program the AI for certain parts of the game.

I would like to work in the one that isn't modelling.

Motion Control: More and more games are utilising motion control these days, adding to the gaming experience by allowing the player to truly interact with the game. The Nintendo Wii was the first gaming platform to make use of motion controls in most (if not all) of its games, the idea being that this new way of playing wouldn’t just offer a more realistic experience but would also provide a simplified way to play for non-gamers. Motion control has become ever more popular due to the success of the Wii with many companies providing similar options for many of their products, such as Sony’s sixaxis which allows players to tilt their controller to control certain aspects of games.


This is the Nintendo Wii's remote control that brought Motion Control into the public's eye

Music Games: Music games entered the public’s attention with game series like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. These games allow players to “play” their favourite songs by hitting a series of buttons in time with the music. The reason behind the success of these games lies not just in the choice of music that appeals to almost everyone but also in the peripheral’s that are used to play the game. These game specific controllers provide a more entertaining method of playing the game by offering a control scheme that is simple to learn but difficult to master, appealing to hardcore gamers as well as non-gamers. This type of controller, along with the game’s concept, allows players to pick up and play the game within minutes providing optimum enjoyment. Because of their success the budgets for the games have gotten bigger allowing the developers to buy the rights to use particular artists songs, resulting in games such as The Beatles Rock Band.


Rock Band is played using a variety of intrument inspired peripheral’s

User-Generated Content: User-Generated content is an ingenious way to increase the life of a game whilst creating a community and getting the player involved. It allows the player to create something such as a level or a new character design and share it with other players over the internet. By doing this they are giving other players a reason to keep on playing the game. It’s because of this reason that more developers are giving players different ways of generating additional content for their games. Many just provide a level editor, allowing the player to design and create their own levels, and a network to upload it onto like Little Big Planet. However, some developers like Valve actually give their players a full development kit allowing them to create everything from new stages to mods.


Valve's Source SDK allows their players to create almost anything that can then be implimented into their games.

I liked your information on User-Generated Content but a movie would of been good.

Employment Contract
The purpose of an employment contract is to set the terms of your employment. This will include what the company expects from you whilst you work for them and what they will give you in return. Employment contracts are very similar in all lines of work, even in the games development industry.
However, the game industry employment contract is more likely to contain clauses about confidentiality and inventions. This means that the contract will probably contain a clause that requests you don’t share any of the company’s secrets with people outside the company, especially any competitors. It may also mention what will happen to you if you break this clause and share secret information around.
It’s also common for an employment to include a clause that states that any inventions you come up with during your time with the company are automatically the property of the company. This usually means that any game ideas you create during your term of employment belong to the company, even if the game decides not to create the game.
License Agreements
When a publisher wants to make a game about a movie, or other licensed media, the publisher and the movie IP owner execute a contract spelling out the terms of the license. When you're working on a licensed game, your work will be guided by the terms of the license. The contract spells out exactly what the publisher is getting the rights to use. For example, if the license is for the latest sequel to a blockbuster film and the movie studio expressly wants the publisher not to use certain characters from the previous film (due to ownership issues) they will mention this in the contract.
Licensing Contracts don’t last forever, many of the license agreements will run no more than 5 years. This is because after 3 or 5 years the publisher will probably lose any interest in a game product.

Ethical
As games are becoming more popular these days some games have grabbed the attention of the public and the media for all the wrong reasons. Violence, racially insensitive language and even scenes of a sexual nature have become increasingly common in the video games produced today, often met with controversy. It is no surprise then that many game developers have to question their moral ethics as well as those of their audience when creating a game. For example, if a game studio was to create a game were you play as a cowboy who travels through the wild west shooting and killing native American Indians they may have no problem with this concept. However, they may reconsider this idea as certain people may find it offensive. Sometimes, games can be so violent or disturbing that they are banned in countries. This is a serious issue, because if a game studios game is banned it won’t be sold anywhere thus making the studio lose money.