People, Games & Opportunities. This is EA's official people social network blog, where you can access the latest news, developments and opportunities in EA World and have your say!!!!!!
EA is very proud to be a member of Skillset in the UK.
What is Skillset? Well, Skillset is the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for Creative Media which comprises TV, film, radio, interactive media, animation, computer games, facilities, photo imaging, publishing, advertising and fashion and textiles. Their aim is to support improvements to the productivity of our industry to ensure that it remains globally competitive. They do this by influencing and leading; developing skills, training and education policy; and through opening up the industries to the UK’s pool of diverse talent. Skillset conducts consultation work with industry, publishes research and strategic documents, run funding schemes and project work, and provide information about the challenges that face the industry and what we need to do to overcome them. Lastly they also provide impartial media careers resources for aspiring new entrants and established industry professionals online and over the phone. Whether a freelancer looking for training information, a student furthering knowledge of industries or a public agency partner, Skillset aim to provide all with easy access to the information required. To learn more, click here.
Leading the way for the videogame sector in the UK is Executive Chair, Industry Statesman Ian Livingstone who presides over a prestigious council with representatives from EA, Sony, Microsoft, ELSPA and TIGA amongst others.
Many students in the UK are confused by the explosive growth in degrees, particularly those focusing on videogames. What should they study? Where should they study? Are some Degrees ‘worth more’ than others? What are the Degrees to avoid!Through a very thorough review process, Skillset accredits the best Gaming Degrees in the UK, (with Industry support). This is a key guide for students as games degrees have received a bad rap and some have been hastily put together. The goal….to help students best decide.
Skillset have again been at the forefront of the skills agenda. At a recent event they brought together some of the most talented animation graduates from the UK’s most industry-savvy courses together under one roof in Soho for industry to meet. Even better is that they filtered the best of the current crop too- into the best new breed of 3D, 2D, and stop frame animators! As well as a great conference, Skillset arranged for an informal exhibition space allowing the best graduating students from Skillset Accredited degree and postgraduate courses to showcase their innovative and inspiring work. A new addition for the 2010 showcase was a screening room to view selected student work.
Hey all. Exciting news in from Animation 10. The judging over, the awards have been given and it is a privilege to give readers an insight into one of the most prestigious Animation competitions across the world.
Credit to Manchester University for driving this great initiative in the UK. Underpinning this competition is the desire to ensure that school children gain confidence with using computers and essentially learn how to have fun with technology. Of course, the end product is the creation of compelling animated shorts. Due to these great aims, EA is proud to be a title Sponsor, (thanks to EA’s Kate Booth of the Outreach team for driving EA participation).
So what is Animation 10 all about? UK schoolchildren aged 7-19 are invited to create an animated film using their computer, and submit it to the competition. Entries can be from individuals, or groups (of up to 4 members) and should be about a minute long. Animation 10 only accepts animations created using one of the following approved packages: Alice, Scratch, Greenfoot, Flash(includes pre-Adobe Macromedia Flash), or Serif.
Next up in our Career Paths series is…..a Producer.
An EA Producer is responsible for ensuring the successful delivery of a game to a high creative standard. Producers oversee the whole lifecycle of the game from concept to launch. Their role is to ensure that Game Designers clearly define the game concept (i.e., its ‘X’ or the unique idea that makes it stand out from other games), and the market positioning of the game (including defining the target audience). The Producer must then ensure the game stays on target throughout the whole development process. Producers provide the link and liaise between the development studio and the marketing and sales departments. They work with marketing to ensure the maximisation of the game’s marketing and advertising strategy and budget. Producers also co-ordinate the release of screenshots and demo discs with the game’s marketing manager, coordinate the outsourcing of audio, cutscenes, and language localization, and oversee focus tests on early versions of the game.
So take a look at this video from Matthew Jeffery, Head of Global talent Brand, giving an insight into the role of a Producer, what skills and experience EA look for…and a great definition of what a great Producer looks like.
Again, if this interests you….and you want to explore a career as a Producer….EA is hiring across the globe today…take a look at www.jobs.ea.com
The Project Manager (PM), also called Development Director (DD) at EA, is a critical role and responsible for ensuring the successful delivery of a game, on time and within budget. Prior to production they carry out a detailed analysis of the game design and work out the project ‘milestones’ (specific targets that have to be met by certain dates), agreeing upon these with the key technical and creative managers, such as the Game Designer, Art Director and Lead Programmer. The PM/DD then works out a schedule for the project and decides the personnel and equipment needed. They control the financial resources and negotiate all contracts with suppliers and contractors. Once development is underway, the PM/DD monitors the team’s progress against the schedule. They must be able to prioritize when production deadlines are a concern, manage risks, and plan for contingencies. Finally, the PM / DD is responsible for all people management on the team and entasked with motivating and developing all staff under their management and develop their career.
For more information watch this EA Career Paths insight video on Project Management by Matthew Jeffery, Global Head of Talent Brand……if this interests you, take a look now at www.jobs.ea.com and look at the latest Project Management vacancies across the globe today.
Career choice is not easy. Global Head of Talent Brand, Matthew Jeffery, provides us with an insight into the tough choice many face…working in film or games.
Let me know your views on what he has to say.
EArl
Opinion Piece: Matthew Jeffery…….’Career Choice: Working in games or film’?
Look back a few years. Gaming was seen as the awkward cousin of film. Like the spotty geek sitting at the corner of the school disco, waiting to be asked to dance. Film & film production was seen as the career destination of choice for top creative talent, the hot mover of the disco. People in film looked at the games industry and were frustrated that they could not bring their creative spark across into the industry without being limited by the technology at their disposal. Working on a PS2 or Xbox, challenged creative talent but not in ways they wanted as memory limitations really curtailed what they could bring to the party. Work in film on cutting VFX productions or come into gaming with block text & graphics. Easy choice. Fast forward that to today and how things have changed.
Just consider for one minute how far the games industry has come and the innovations that we have already seen. Look back to the 1970′s when gamers were feasting on the likes of Pong, Space Invaders and Pacman, simple games visually but albeit with fun gameplay. Now fast forward to today when we look forward to graphical tour de force games like Crysis 2, NFS Shift and Dante’s Inferno. That’s a stunning achievement and testament to how far the games industry has come. But this is not just about visuals. Games are interactive, running in real time, with complex AI, physics engines all running online for millions of gamers to play and enjoy….but more of that later!
Only last week the games industry had another WOW moment with the announcement of Project Natal by Microsoft. The idea of playing games with no controllers but based on body scanning technology that records your movement in real time and comprises of voice recognition technology. That’s a WOW moment. Imagine playing football with no controller or driving a car hands free…all now stunning realisations about to be brought to the market. Watching the promo video by Peter Molyneux of Milo was also stunning. Imagine a computer character that you can interact with, that can identify basic emotions and hold conversation with you. WOW. Now imagine working on that technology, making new games incorporating it? Now that’s a fun, creative and intellectual challenge…..and imagine the possibilities of what this technology can create. And this is only one form of technological advancement in gaming, not even mentioning the new games in development with real 3d!
Let’s contrast that briefly with film. There are many WOW moments across the history of film. Who can forget Ray Harryhausen’s ‘Clash of the Titans’ and the stop go motion of those beasts from the deep; ‘Tron’ with the first incorporation of CG…the stunning lightcycle chases; the inspiring effects from ‘Star Wars’ and those mesmerising space battles; ’Terminator 2′ and the liquid nitrogen effects of the Terminator chasing Arnie through the hospital and morphing through the iron bars..then getting his gun stuck; Spielberg’s classic, ‘Jurassic Park’, with Dinosaurs that really did feel real; ‘Toy Story’ the first full length CG animated feature, to this day still stunning. All WOW moments that had us on the edge of our cinema seats in awe and mouthing ’How did they do that’?
But in some ways, the immense trickery and visual brilliance of the VFX houses have anaesthetised audiences, as we are now used to their brilliance. In fact we come to expect it. Take ‘Transformers’, a superb film. But seeing Megatron or Optimus Prime transform is mightily impressive, but we are used to grand VFX and we expect to see it and almost demand more and more effects when we watch a film. Hence, currently, the WOW effects in film feel like they have hit the pause button.
Interaction is a huge bonus for the games industry. In film the film director takes you on a journey, they take you through a roller coaster of emotions, all on their linear ride. They control what you see. In games, YOU control, what you see, what you do, how you interact, the camera angles. Developers are even happy to provide you with the tools to create your own games, like Spore and Sony Classics like LittleBigPlanet. This all involves a lot of technical challenges for creative talent.
So when you sit down to make that career choice, think of the future….think of how much you want to be challenged in your career and where the games industry has come from and where it could be in another 20 years! Who knows. Virtual Reality? Full 3D? Neural Gaming? What we do know that we will have great fun pushing the limits of technology to their limits and beyond as we continue to entertain millions of people. One final thought to leave this discussion on…………….
Burnout Paradise sees the release of Big Surf Island DLC this week…that’s a whole brand new island for the game. Now consider this. Criterion Games, the developers behind this game, are recruiting now, take a look at www.jobs.ea.com Think of the technical challenges they face behind this game including; running the game at 60 frames per second, real time physics, full car deformation & splintering, taking the game online, with 8 gamers racing together, lag free. Wowsers, that some challenges and that is just scraping the surface.
Captured your attention? Join us in a career in gaming…………………..
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