You Have a Great Idea for a Video Game – What Should You Do?

Maybe you have thought up a really neat and unique idea for a video game

and you are thinking "If I can just get in touch with the right people I can sell it and make a lot of money. And I get to see my idea turned into a game that people will play".

Well, that may be true, and it is possible to do but, to be honest, it is very unlikely. Developing a video game takes a lot of work. A typical game for today’s mass market takes a team of people two years and thousands of hours of work to create. There is a tremendous amount of work involved and much of this work is very creative which can be expensive.

Maybe all of that is a bit discouraging and if you really think you have an idea that is unique there are some things you can do and I will explain the steps and processes you can take to move your idea for a game out of the world of fantasy into the world of possibility.

The big obstacle to getting your idea made into a game is the question of who is going to do all that work? It is an important question. A group of people have to believe in the idea and have to do the work to take it from idea to reality, and generally you have to rely on yourself. If you believe in your idea you need to be the person that will spearhead the work and get it from idea to reality. If you can do this, and if your game is unique and different the rewards can be astonishing.

Three Possible Paths to Success

There are three possible ways to get a game made from your idea:

Get in touch with a heavy hitter in the game making industry and convince him or her that your game is worthwhile. He or she will then set the wheels in motion for your idea to be bought and developed. (This is highly unlikely although it has happened on rare occasions) Companies will occasionally buy video game ideas and keep them for future potential projects.

Get in touch with independent developers with game design skills and get them to come on board with your idea. You have the ability to allow them to patch together their time in developing your game. Gamedev.net is a good place to network and find people for this endeavor.

Spearhead the development yourself. Learn some basic game making skills and put together a group of people willing to spend time (and money) on your game. You become the evangelist for the game and the Project Manager. (This is the best option if you want to succeed and it answers the question of who is going to do all the work - You!)

Protecting your Idea

You probably have questions about your idea and how to protect it from being stolen. Well, I guess this is a possibility and maybe it has happened but it is unlikely. It goes back to the fact that it takes thousands of hours to take a game from idea to actual game and the number of unique ideas is relatively unlimited but here are some things you can do to get started in protecting yourself.

The Problem of Copyrighting Ideas

Ideas cannot be copyrighted! It sounds funny but it’s true. You can research this on the official government copyright website. So, just having an idea means you have very little. If you draw pictures of your game and hopefully develop your idea into a game you can get copyright for those things. In any case here is some help with protecting yourself.

Send yourself a letter!

Put together an exhaustive package of materials about your idea. Include a summary, pictures, drawings and anything else that will describe your idea then seal it in an envelope and mail it to yourself registered mail. When you receive it you sign for it but do not open it. Leave it sealed. This gives you an amount of legal protection that establishes a time line for your idea.

NDA's (Non Disclosure Agreements)

A Non disclosure agreement is a legal contract between two parties. In this case it is between you and the person you want to reveal your idea to. It can be a useful tool that will help you protect your rights. Generally it outlines the confidentiality of your idea and prohibits the other party from using the idea. If you are serious about your idea you should do some research on NDA's and even speak with a lawyer about them. Outside of the United States these agreements are often referred to as Confidentiality Agreements and sometimes they are referred to as Secrecy agreements or Confidential Disclosures (CD's).

Okay let’s get started with something solid you can do

No matter which of the three paths you want to travel down there are some things that you can do to get your idea rolling on its path toward becoming a real video game.

1. Write out a very extensive overview of the game. Make it as detailed as possible. And put this in the package you mail to yourself!

2. Draw up pictures and artwork of game scenes, characters, maps and anything else that is unique about the game. In effect you are creating a library of images in the game. Put this in your package too!

3. Write up an executive summary - This is a one or two page summary of the game idea and it outlines the things that make it unique. This is your introduction to people in the gaming industry and it is the first thing you can give them so they get a grasp of your idea (of course you would get an NDA first!)

4. Start your research into the game industry. Hang around forums where developers and game makers chat and start learning about what it takes to make a game. You can make some good contacts and there are hordes of people willing to give you solid advice and some help with your dream. gamedev.net is a great place to start

5. Start learning how to make a video game! It is totally possible for a person with average computer skills to develop a single level of a game or a portion of a game. This can be used as a calling card and example for what the game would be about.

If you want to follow step number five and learn how to make your own game there are lots of resources available that will help you learn how to do it relatively inexpensively. With lots of perseverance you can even create the whole game yourself and have it ready for sale.

The Paragraph you might not want to read

Okay, after going through all of that I am glad to see you are still with me. But, if you are thinking all of this stuff about NDA's, sending letters, writing up summaries and putting together packages just seems like too much work then you can see my point about making a video game from your idea. It takes a lot of work and if you are not going to do the work why should somebody else? If you really think your idea is a great one then I recommend you find the time and the motivation to make it happen! Nothing worthwhile is ever easy and hey it is totally possible that your idea can someday be an actual game. Every game ever made first started out as just an idea.

On Being a Video Game Programmer - The Perks and Pitfalls

What is it like to work as a video game
programmer? It is considered by many game-playing children to be a dream job. Is it actually as good as it sounds? It certainly is an interesting life. However, as with anything else on this planet, there are both positive and negative sides to working as a video game programmer.
For the last 7 years I have worked as a video game programmer at three development studios: Activision/Treyarch, Visual Concepts and DiscoPixel. I have published titles for the Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo consoles. This article is a summary of some of the perks and pitfalls that I have experienced through my work at these companies.

Perk #1 - Make Games!

This one is pretty obvious, but the biggest perk of working at a video game studio is that you will be MAKING games. You will be helping build the next great game that potentially millions of people will play and enjoy. There's an amazing satisfaction that stems from knowing that you helped make something big.

Perk #2 - Play Games!

In addition to testing and improving your current game every day, you'll also be playing games made by other companies. There are few jobs out there where sitting down and playing a newly released console title is considered research. Companies definitely want you to stay on top of the technology and features of new games, and the only way to do this is by playing lots of games. At the companies I've worked at, I've never seen anyone get reprimanded for playing video games during the day.

Perk #3 - Independence

A great aspect of working as a video game programmer is the independence you are given. It is rare that you'll have a manager breathing down your neck or double checking everything you do. To get hired into a development studio you need to already have excellent programming skills, so you are given a lot of freedom to make many decisions yourself. You may be assigned a general task to complete, but how that actually should be done, as well as how long it should take, are often up to you.

Provided that you can get your work done, the companies I have worked for generally seemed to be very willing to let me work on my terms. When I was tired or bored or lazy I could go play a game or relax somewhere without anyone complaining. Happy employees with improved morale make better games.

Perk #4 - Fun Office Environment

Everybody that works at a video game studio has one thing in common: they love games. If they didn't love playing games they would never have been hired to make them. Because of this, the office setting often has fun or quirky things anywhere you look. Many people bring strange new objects to show off or play with during the day.

Most video game studios have lots of games and toys lying around to keep its employees entertained. A few things that I have come across at various studios: Arcades with free coin-op games, foosball tables, ping pong tables, razor scooters, board games, action figures, puzzles, daytime basketball games and giant stuffed animals.

Coming to the office still means you're going to work, but there's no reason why it can't also be fun.

Perk #5 - Free Soda + Snacks

This perk is maybe not important to everyone, but it's nice to know that you won't go hungry working at a video game studio. I've never met a video game company that hasn't offered free soda and snacks as part of the benefits of working there. I suppose being loaded up on caffeine and sugar helps boost productivity. During long days at the office, companies will typically provide free dinner as a thank-you for staying late. One company I worked for served fully catered meals from assorted restaurants every night for many weeks.

Pitfall #1 - Long Work Hours

Making video games is a lot of work. The amount of time needed to make the latest game seems to be growing exponentially. Development teams continue to get bigger and bigger every year, yet somehow the amount of work per person doesn't seem to get any smaller. Games are very complicated. Also, the nature of games is that they must be fun, which is not always so easy to accurately pencil into a schedule. A lot of experimentation is needed, especially with new game concepts.

Before a milestone and especially a few months before a game is released, the work day will be very intense. The work has a way of very quickly piling up. New features and old bugs suck away all of your time. Working long nights or weekends is not uncommon. Fortunately, employees generally care about the games that they are making, and their passion helps energize them through these occasional long shifts.

The stress can get overwhelming, too. At one company I had a giant stack of bug reports waiting for me on my chair when I came into the office. I would work all day, scrambling to fix the bugs as quickly as possible, working on full blast all day and night. I'd go home for a couple hours of sleep, but when I'd return to work there would be a new, even larger stack of bug reports waiting for me.

Typically after a project has shipped there will be a period of downtime where the employees can get a chance to relax and recover. The work load will suddenly significantly reduce. One company gave bonus vacation time after a project shipped, and another put employees "on call" for about a month, in which they only had to come to the office if there was some kind of problem. It's nice to know that your long work hours do not go unnoticed.

Pitfall #2 -Choosing What to Work On

Working on your own video games in your free time is a lot of fun. You get to choose exactly what game and tasks you want to work on, focusing only on the fun stuff. Anything boring can be safely ignored since the only audience is you. Unfortunately, this is not the case for large video game studios. There are many tasks to be completed, some of which are not too glamorous. Fixing console manufacturer standards violations or building data tools is not very exciting, but it still needs to be done by someone in order to ship the final product.

These tasks typically are given to people who are just starting out in the video game industry, perhaps as a rite of passage, but probably just because nobody else wants to do them.

In addition to the possibility of working on less glamorous tasks, you could be assigned a project that you are not fully interested in. Typically the company will let you work projects that interest you, but this is not always possible. A particular project could be falling behind schedule and it needs a few more employees to fix some bugs or add some new features. Or, the project you are interested in already has enough workers.

I think that the passion of the employees working at a video game studio is crucial to the success of that game. If you are not excited about what you're working on, it will show up in the game you're creating. To avoid any misunderstandings or letdowns, before deciding to work at a particular company, it's important to find out what game you will be working on in addition to what tasks you will be assigned.

Pitfall #3 -Pay Not as Good (Maybe?)

I've heard from a few people that the pay working as a video game programmer is not as good as the pay working at more conventional companies. Business database programmers, for example, could be earning more money. This could be true. However, choosing your profession is not just about the pay. You spend a large percentage of your life at your job. Money is not everything. Choosing something that you enjoy is important, too.

I thought the pay at the companies I have worked at was very reasonable. There is also a large potential upside from royalty checks coming from a game that sells well, which has sometimes turned out to be significant. You will definitely not be living as a pauper if you get a programmer job at a video game company.

Conclusion

I hope that this article has been helpful towards learning a little bit about working as a video game programmer. As with everything in life, there are pros and cons to this profession. If what you have read sounds good to you, I hope you find that dream job making the next great bestselling game.

Rent Games Online

If you love playing games but can’t buy new video games that are expensive, you may try using online rental services to get your favorite video game titles on rent. Renting video games online is extremely simple and a cost effective way to play the games of your choice. When you learn how useful and trouble-free these systems to rent games online are, you will repent for not joining these online video game rental services before.

When you sign up to become a member of an online video game rental service, you will need to pay a subscription fee per month as long as you continue with your subscription. Irrespective of the number of games that you rent, you will need to bear no additional cost except this monthly subscription fee. If you feel that your online video game rental service provider falls short of your expectations and can’t provide what was promised, you may even terminate you membership at anytime. No penalty or additional cost will be charged in case you return them all the rented games.

Joining the online rental service provider of your choice is the first step to rent games online. After you join, you have to to pick the video game titles that you want to rent. You can do this by exploring or browsing through the online rental service provider’s site. Once you find the games of your choice, click on them to add to your list. After you confirm your list, the service provider will send you one or more than one titles (based on your payment plan). Once you take delivery of the games, you may keep them as long as you want.

After you have finished playing the games, you can return the titles very easily. As most of these online video game rental services provide free shipping, you have to return the games in a prepaid mailer which would be sent to you. After receiving the returned game titles, they will dispatch the next titles based on your priority list. If the title on top of your preferred list is not available at that time, they will send you the subsequent titles marked on your list. You can include new game titles or modify your choices in the list whenever you like to.

Renting video games online has its own benefits as compared to purchasing video games or getting the titles on rent from local stores. Firstly, local stores have limited editions of video games whereas you can access thousands of video game titles by becoming the subscriber of an online video game rental service. Moreover, as no late fee or due dates are there, you can keep the games till you have played them the umpteenth time. It often happens that you want to hang onto a great game to finish the different levels and it may take a week or more. A local store won’t allow you to keep the rented games for so long. In addition to this, if you rent games online, you won’t have to face the hassle of reaching the local store, getting stuck in the traffic, standing in the lines, etc.

Renting video games online as a substitute of purchasing them is a cost-effective method. You can change a title immediately if you detest it and get a substitute in return. However, the majority of “brick and mortar” stores do not permit you to return any opened software. So, in case you dislike a game, you can do nothing but regret on having paid for it. That’s why it is wise to rent games online and enjoy playing them without paying a fortune.

Play New Games on Your Mobile Phones and be the Winner

It can be truly said that everybody is busy in the present world. In our day to day life, we feel bore and then when we do not have any work to do. The mobile phones are the great blessings for modern people as these help to play exciting games.

There are different kinds of free mobile phone games. When you buy a good mobile phone then you will also find a couple of games within that. But sooner or later you would get fed up by playing these games. Then, what will you do? If that mobile phone lets you download mobile phone games from the Internet then it would be beneficial for you. Select some websites which have got exciting and adventurous games. Download games for your mobile phone to spend your leisure time more enthusiastic.

There are Websites which let the game lovers download free mobile games and do not even ask for a single penny. However, an ordinary handset has no facility for downloading games from the websites. So, it is necessary to have a handset which has an advanced feature for downloading joyful games.

Companies like Nokia, LG and Samsung offer mobile phones which are actually designed to play 3D mobile phone games. These 3D games are much popular among game lovers. When you play these games, you will find their realistic features. For example, if you are playing a cricket match which is a 3D mobile game, then you may feel if you are on the cricket ground. So, as soon as you buy an advanced mobile phone from above mentioned brands, then start playing adventurous 3D games and be the winner by getting the highest scorer.

Some of the names of the popular mobile games are Travel Genius, Knight Lite, Sky Force, Open Transport and Meltdown. Apart from these games. there are infinite games which are available on the Internet. Before you download these games you should try to go through their previews. It would help you to decide whether these games would be interesting or not.

Travel Genius is a knowledge enhancing mobile game. If you would like to enrich your knowledge regarding the geography of the earth, then this game would help you a lot. By playing this game you will know more about the continents, oceans, countries, history, popular personalities and also about the important inventions.

Knight Lite is also an interesting mobile game. It is based on a fairy tale in which Guide Vesuri the knight goes out for rescuing the princess. On the way he meets evil characters like Tik-Kari, the Viking King. This is a perfect mobile game which would challenge your talents and skills. So, download this game on your mobile phone and thus, help the Knight in meeting the Princess. There are many Websites which offer these games as free mobile phone games.

Learn About First Person Shooter Games

An action game is the one in which you need to use weapons, reflexes and special moves available in the game in order to beat the opponents so as to move ahead in the game. Action games are very popular as they are fun-packed and exciting. That being said, there are different types of action games. Fighting games, shooter games, maze games are some of the types of action games that are very popular among gamers.

A shooter game is the one in which the player needs to use the weapons available in the game so as to kill the enemies. There are different types of shooter games. One of the most popular types of shooter game is the first-person shooter game. Third-person shooter, tactical shooter, light gun shooter are some of the other types of shooter games.

First-person shooter games are very popular among gamers who love to play fast-paced games that require quick reflexes in order to beat the enemies. In a first-person shooter game, you need to control a character and you play the game from the perspective of the character which allows you to concentrate on shooting and combat. In a first-person shooter game, you don't get to see the character that you're controlling as you play the game from his perspective which gives you the feel of being there in the battle zone. In first-person shooter games like Doom, you need to kill the enemies with the help of the weapons that are available in the game.

Also, different first-person shooter games offer different types of weapons and different types of enemies. In Doom, you've aliens as your enemies whereas you've humans and aliens as enemies in some shooting games. Doom is a typical first-person shooter game as the difficulty of the game increases as you make progress in the game. Different types of weapons, armors are provided at different levels and you need to choose weapons appropriately so as to kill the enemies easily as a single weapon is not very effective for all the enemies.

With the development in technology and Internet, a number of multiplayer online first-person shooter games have been developed. In an online multiplayer first-person shooter game, you play online with players from all around the world. In online multiplayer first-person shooter games, you get to interact with players from all around the world while enjoying the first-person shooter games online.

You can make teams online so as to kill the enemies easily. Counter Strike is one of the most popular online multiplayer first-person shooter games. In Counter Strike, you form a team of players, pick the weapons, decide the location and then fight enemies. With-in the game, you can interact with team partners so as to form the strategy in order to trap the enemies and kill them.

Apart from the first-person shooter games that focus mainly on shooting, there are some first-person shooter games that focus on both the storyline and the shooting. Half-Life is one such game. In Half-Life, you control a character and then you're put into a different kind of world where you need to find clues and kill enemies silently so as to move ahead in the game. In Half-Life, you need to interact with the characters available in the game to find the clues and weapons. It's a bit different than the traditional first-person shooter games that focus mainly on shooting.