Op Ed

[Feb 26, 2013, 10:37 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

GameSpot.com - The Emotional Price of Making Video Games.
Regardless of the best intentions of those involved, executives or otherwise, the care and attention required means that work-life balance becomes a major issue on any game project. "It's exciting and energizing, but it's almost a reality-show-type environment," Hawley explains. "You're stuck in a room with a bunch of like-minded individuals, 20- to 30-something dudes. It's just not healthy. It definitely develops these Lord of the Flies-type situations. You've spent so long together that you develop a group craziness. You witness the very pinnacle of sleep-deprived in-jokes, and songs that are unique to the group. To this day I can't hear Journey without thinking of Burnout, because Alex [Ward, Criterion's creative director] would play it every single morning."

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Re: Out of the Blue

Feb 26, 2013, 18:20

killerpony

Spoken like someone who hasn't shipped a bomb. Often as a developer you smell the stink of a failing game much more keenly (you're much closer to it for longer), but you're still sad when it's panned on ship. Add in the idea of crunching for X months on that bomb and well...yeah, it hurts. At the end of the day though, you're still making games for a living. Well, unless you're not, due to being let go.

Re: Out of the Blue

Feb 26, 2013, 17:00

panbient

Rigs wrote on Feb 26, 2013, 13:34: I feel bad for some of the devs because this can be a soul crusher... Only if they're incredibly naive. Most developers can smell the stink of a bomb just as much as a reviewer or consumer, but they're contractually obligated to put on a brave face and toe the company line.

Re: Out of the Blue

Feb 26, 2013, 13:34

Rigs

Indeed...I've said the same numerous times when asked why I don't get 'into the industry' that I'm always talking about. Precisely because I don't want it to become a job. It's like when I would help anyone that called me with their computer problems, it got to the point that people were calling at 3am about every and any little thing, preferring not to learn how to fix the problem on their own, just rely on me to do it. It got so I was sick of messing with hardware and Windows in general, even on my own system, that I finally put my foot down and said, 'Enough!' and now I don't help nearly as much as I used to and I made it very clear why. Like with any hobby, it can get to the point where you get burnt out on it. And if it's your livelihood, which means you can't just take a break from it and come back later, then you have a serious problem...Not quite what the article is talking about but still...

Also, this is why I don't bash on game devs for games that didn't live to their potential, such as the recent Aliens: Colonial Marines debacle. No matter what came of it, someone obviously put some serious heart and soul into the game. Just because it came together badly doesn't mean people didn't work their asses off to make it. As I said when the reviews started coming in, I feel bad for some of the devs because this can be a soul crusher...

=-Rigs-=




'Now we gave you a promise! And we are bound by that promise. And damn you for asking for it! And damn me for agreeing to it! And damn all of us to Hell because that is exactly where we're going!' -John Sheridan, 'And All My Dreams Torn Asunder', B5

Re: Op Ed

Feb 26, 2013, 13:08

jdreyer

I work in the software industry, and I love games, but I'd never make game software. It would ruin it as a hobby for me.




Stay a while, and listen.

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