I am in need of inspiration to get out of the depression I'm feeling from the current state of the game industry. Documentaries, interviews of old game developers, articles, anything.
I was a wee kid during the 90s, growing up through elementary with the prospect of one day becoming a game developer. All those cool games being out and the companies that thrived during that time excited me. I use to read articles and watch videos of the joy of this. I couldn't wait to go into this wild frontier of video games and make my own creations.
After learning programming and studying game design...here I am. And I have never been more disappointed. I feel like I no longer have a place in this industry. The excitement has dwindled as the market becomes more closed and platforms continue to be pointed toward the non gamer. The thrive of publishers happily taking your proposals, as long as they were good, has decreased to non existence and it seems the best thing you have these days is being an indie. What a word that is. I don't like that term at all. What happened to just calling ourselves game developers?
Did I make a wrong life choice? Or has the business changed to the point that fledglings like myself will barely make it.
>>2862327
I always heard the industry and large companies treat their devs shitty. Just make games you want to as a hobby for fun. I think that is the most rewarding.
Here is a 90s vid that shows internet flame war drama is nothing new.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhRpgPKNaGs
>>2862365
>dat old ass jazz transitions
lol
Still good video. Thank you
u dun goofd, kill yourself
the best days are gone, i feel the same way, well not that bad, about all the time i spent learning japanese only to realise i will never live in the 90s bubble GLORY era Japan.
whats all this little girl high school moe shit nowadays?
fucking wank
only shenmue can save us now, pls help op
you have the skills.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbrSmqnegIk
>>2862327
not OP but i'm studying Digital arts (animation, graphic design and videogames), not because "I LIK MURIO UND I WANNA WORK ON NINTND!!!" but because i recognize im skilled in the area and any other carreer would've been complete burden and tragedy, i really enjoy doing these things (program vidya, do animation etc..:) and i always had the question of wtf was i to do after i finish, i know the industry is slick shit right now and probably wont be better later, i entered a depressive state too, like you and im not sure if i ever got out of it but what keeps me going is that you might not end up somewhere remarkable but at the very least you'll be doing stuff you like, of course, im not looking forward in joinning a company since it's becomming the codemonkey sort of deal
Not vidya, but here's one of the best pinball documentaries ever. It will give you a new appreciation for pinball if you never really paid attention to it before:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmYsexIiSvQ
>>2862327
if you have a game design 'degree', you got scammed, they're useless, the gaming industry wants people with comp sci or software engineering backgrounds
some people enjoy working on big-budget games. the pay is good but the stress is often high and the hours can get very long indeed, especially when the final deadlines come rushing up
for indies, your chances of success are quite low, and unless you come to be a big player, your financials are always shaky
personally, i love making games and will always do it as a hobby, and maybe i'll quit my job if i ever get good enough... but not a second before
>>2862410
I'm a programmer, so I'm fine. Computer Sci degree.
>>2862418
I don't know. That's why I'm here.
>>2862389
>whats all this little girl high school moe shit nowadays?
They don't have children anymore, freaks and weirdos are the only ones left playing videogames.
>>2862418
Dont worry all school is a scam to put people in debt so they can fail exams for material they had to teach themselves because the professor is a retard.
Can someone explain how a studio gets a license for brands, like cartoon or movies?
>>2862327
I work as a developer and you made a lot of assumptions about the industry that simply were never true. Publishers were never just waiting in line to give money to projects as long as they were good, like any industry it was always a bigger issue of knowing the right people and not burning bridges. It still is.
Many of the interesting games we got from that era started out as something else, and only got the funding because of what they were meant to be, not what they ended up being. Chrono Trigger didn't start as a standalone game, it was just going to be a Seiken Densetsu. Link's Awakening was going to be just a port.for ALTTP. Happy accidents rather than big plans.
You seem to have idealized the industry based on your enjoyment of the games it produced. You thought you'd love working on this as much as you enjoyed the product, not realizing it's a job same as everything else. When I did, I quit college.
You did make a wrong decision specializing in something without knowing if it was a market you really wanted to be into, but your skills can be used on something else or you can, as you noticed is an alternative, go indie. There are a lot of them, but you can do the games you want forever so long as your rent money doesn't depend on it (have a day job until you don't need a day job anymore). I quit Game Dev college and ended up joining the industry, while many of my classmates who didn't quit probably will be stuck in unrelated jobs the rest of their lives.
Whatever hand you're dealt, the moves are still yours. Get things done.
>>2862443
A depressing post, but a respected one no less.
>>2862440
It's usually one of two ways, either the licence holder hires a company to make them a game (the quality of which varies from developer to developer), and then there's developers that want to work with a specific IP, so they ask for permission from the license holder. Those seem to be the more inspired and natural games, with characters that would do well in a video game as opposed to taking anything and "making it work".
>>2862462
So I assume the asking part is no different from giving a proposal, except them having rules for what to include and what not include. I remember reading about licensing deals and that was the gist of it.
>>2862464
More or less. It is their IP after all.
I'm currently studying comp sci with the hope of becoming a game dev. If that doesn't work out at least I'll have a degree I can do other stuff with.
Even if I end up working as a drone just programming some small part of a big company's game, with no creative input on my part, I think I can manage it. I know that's a risk I have to take getting into the industry. I think the best thing I can do is to create a portfolio of my own smaller games, do some indie stuff while I'm in school so there's something to put on my resume.
OP, I'm not in the industry yet. It'll likely be years before I am. But it's important to separate making games from the act of playing them. Playing games is fun. Making them? Making them is a fucking horrible chore that sucks. It's work. It's not fun. Most people don't get to be "the idea guy". Best you can do is take the job you can get, and force enough of a drive to make your own games you can be passionate about on your own time. It's gonna be fucking hell, anyone who wants to end up in this field has to accept that. You said you watched old documentaries and stuff, well there have always been people spending WEEKS in the office coding 24/7 to get the job done, ordering food in or sending one guy out to pick stuff up. Then later in documentaries they talk about how hard of a time they had working on the game, to the point there were adverse effects on their health. People have always had to subject themselves to misery to make it in this industry. If you want to be great you've gotta follow in their footsteps.
Sorry if I'm coming off as pretentious with this long post when I'm just some nobody, I'm talking to myself as much as I am you at this point. Gotta stay motivated no matter what.
Time to get off 4chan.
>>2862327
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0bOGi-tKGQ&index=227
This video was so hard to find.
It contains previously unseen videos of a beta version of OoT.
There are videos like this all over youtube of old game demos and presentations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1t6iNG28zI
http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/
Make sure to read through some of these. It's really amazing how open the devs at nintendo were to Iwata.
>depression over the current state of things
Don't you have job, school, or something else to worry about? Video games should and always be a hobby, not a lifestyle.
>>2862584
Why can't a hobby be something to worry about? Say the school/job scenario is going as well as it could be, but a big bright spot in life is beginning to dim. It's reasonable to worry about something you care about even if it's not life's priority.
>>2862327
>After learning programming and studying game design
>studying game design
Sorry OP, you fucked up.
>What a word that is. I don't like that term at all. What happened to just calling ourselves game developers?
then dont call yourself indie. problem solved.
just give yourself a studio name and call yourself a developer.
that said, the "indie" market seems to, (a lot of pretentious hipster shit aside) be the place where some of that feel and atmosphere you crave is.
hell, bunch of games currently in development are directly inspired by the pre Gen 7 gaming industry. (more pre 6, really, but gen 6 still had some good stuff- industry wasnt total shit yet)
Strafe
Drift Stage
The 90's Arcade Racer
Grip
Hat in Time
BloodstainedMighty no. 9 and Red Ash
even stuff like Power Drive 9000 or Hyper Light Drifter, which aren't particularly inspired by "the old industry" are instead more the kind of unique ideas that the mainstream gaming industry is incapable of giving unless it's name is From Software, which is basically still making King's Field.
tl;dr being an "indie" isnt all that bad, and many of those big names you used to idolize started out small too.
>>2862584
It's different if the hobby you were passionate about is slowly dying and imploding on itself right before your eyes
>>2863508
Except it's not, vidya is bigger than ever.
>>2862327
Becoming a game developer was never easy. Be the change you want to see; make games that you yourself want to play.
>>2863497
It's a shame Drift Stage controls like ass with its psychics worse than Circuit Beat and 90's Arcade looks like it'll never be finished, Valve will announce HL3 release before this game see the light
>>2862584
No. Video games are one of the most important things to me.
>>2863516
its in development. the fuck do you expect from beta demos
>>2863516
>90's Arcade looks like it'll never be finished
that game is definitely vaporware.
shame, because it really nailed the aesthetic
>>2862443
A realistic post. I didn't go to school for games (well not focused on it) but for comp sci engineering. Kind of shit but I got a good job that has places to go, so I'm going to work hard and invest wisely so that I can eventually afford early retirement, then start cranking out games while living off of dividends. My wants in life are very simple so I don't expect to worry much about 'oh I can't buy game X' and besides games are shit anymore so it's not a big problem :) but in seriousness, I really do think I want to make games at some point, but it will never be my source of income. That won't lead to good work, I think. I need the freedom to work like an artist would, but with, you know, food and a house.
>>2863510
As is often the case when something implodes.
Besides, we aren't just talking about the financial side of things. Some companies may be better off doing the same shit Konami as done, but that wouldn't be good for us.
>>2862327
making games has never been easier. Even on my Facebook I keep seeing ads by online tutorial companies wanting me to learn the Unity engine. We have tools they wouldn't have dreamed of in the 1990s. You can even make everything in pixel art if your art skills are weak, Steam is full of shit like that.
why did you want to be involved in video games? do you just like playing them, or do you like to understand how they work, and how to make puzzles and courses for other people to work through? Do you like stories? Building worlds?
>>2862448
>>2862443
Not that depressing anon, that anon is showing that you have more power than you think.
You don't have to wait for publishers to take your ideas, the power to make a career in game dev (if you so choose) is yours if you're willing to step up to the plate.
I did way better than my peers in college because I knew going in that the degree wouldn't buy me anything. I worked a lot harder because I knew that's what really pays off. This is different for different fields (I studied music and cognitive science) but I was able to get a psych job and start a business thats doing well immediately upon graduating because I knew a good life wouldn't come to me with a liberal arts degree tons of other people have.
My advise to you is to recognize that you don't need to go to college to learn comp sci. If you can afford it like I could (I was on scholarships), stay there and make it your temporary life purpose to get really good at coding & work on game design & related skills when you have time. Build good relationships with your professors so they can hook you up with jobs and contacts.
When you graduate, get a job and make games! dont stop making games until it stops being fun/rewarding (it may happen and you may realize game dev isn't for you, its okay).
Good luck anon & please make great games!
>>2862545
Fun Fact: Yasunori Mitsuda, the composer for many early Square titles, worked so hard on the score for Chrono Trigger that he'd often pass out, culminating in getting stomach ulcers and having to be hospitalized.
That's dedication.
>>2862365
that Jelly Boy platformer by Ocean was Europe only... I may have to check that one out
>>2863950
damn
dude did a good job though
>>2862403
Pinball is /vr/ I'm the faggot that made a recent pinball thread - but thanks
