Capture the Essence. What IS the Game?

One of the challenges of building a video game as a project manager is trying to define the "essence" of the experience. You have to define that essence as early in the process as possible because it is going to help drive every aspect of the game for you. When there is a choice in development, you should always take the path that is most strongly tied to the essence.

For instance the essence of a game like Pac Man could be described as "collect dots and avoid ghosts." Once you have the essence, you write your game around that, which in turn generates the remainder of the features that support it.

The game's essence is inextricably linked to each part of development so that every aspect of the project melds into one. The project manager's role is to continually ensure that the game is on track and to ensure everything supports it, and continually redirect the team toward the goal as the project moves forward. When the team internalizes this behavior, the project begins to take on a life of its own. Your job, as a project manager, is to ensure that their creativity is allowed to flourish as long as deadlines are met.

Additional features in Pac Man that support "collect dots and avoid ghosts":

• Eating Power Pellets that allow you to eat ghosts
• Earn additional points for eating multiple ghosts in a row
• Enjoy mini-cut scenes that bring out the character of the ghosts
• Collect special items at certain times

Question each of your project's features reason for being. Do they each support the main essence? If not, they gotta go. Or maybe they can be re-imagined. The choice is yours to explore.

Are Videogames Becoming Marketing Machines? Yep.

The Marketing Cycle May be Complete. 
Are games becoming marketing machines? I believe so, and it may just be another evolution of the game industry's business model.

The goal of every commercial game is to attract players and earn income for the developers. To do this, developers incorporate every aspect of marketing possible, so that users want to tell one another about it in some way or another. After all, word of mouth is the best marketing tool.

(Social) Word of Mouth
First, creating a story that interests a customer enough to participate (or creating a place a player can create their own) is core to inviting them into an interactive experience. The better the story, the longer they play. Once players are engaged and enjoying themselves, the game can allow you to share your progress, so those players are your best marketing tool.

How did the Game Industry Integrate Marketing into its Products so Fully? 
Business models in the video game industry have constantly evolved. Beginning with a "buy it once" model with software literally sold in "baggies," over the years there were other evolutions including the "try and buy" and monthly subscriptions. Downloadable content for previously purchased games has added extra revenue to developers after the sale. A very successful model is "Free to Play" (F2P), where customers receive a free game, but to enhance their experience they may purchase virtual goods through real money micro-transactions. This is very prevalent in current mobile titles, where customers prefer free downloads because they can try a game with no financial risk.

Designing in-game virtual goods and a way to encourage but not force (i.e. market them) players to purchase them is the core to turning a game into a business that can support a development studio.

In addition to micro-transactions, there are also opportunities for in-game advertising can be used. Done well, integrating advertisements in games in ways that create more immersion into the experience (Pennzoil ads in a racing game) or enhance gameplay (ask a player if they would like to watch a video to earn additional fuel for a tractor in a farming game) can help game developers earn extra income on F2P games.

The Final Loop?
This leads to an interesting situation... marketing of the F2P game drives players to the game, and once they are playing the game, they are encouraged through play to purchase virtual goods, which are in-turn marketed to the player within the game experience. Adding the ability to socially post those purchases continues the game doing its own marketing. In-game advertising allows the game to market even more products.

So, what do you think? Are games marketing?

My Password Technique - What's Yours?

Is the beginning of the year a good time to change your passwords? Seems as good as any!

Here's my password "plan" to avoid using the same password on different URLs and hopefully prevent me from having to change ALL of my passwords at one time if there's a hack in one of my online profiles, etc.

I use a basic password that I customize for each URL. Then, I take the URL I'm logging into and pull two letters from it, capitalize them, and then add a weird symbol.

For LinkedIn, where my basic password is "pasword24" I would use something like: pasword24LI!

It's something I can remember and has lowercase, uppercase, numbers and a weird symbol. That way, all the passwords are similar and unique (to the point of a 2 letter ID that may be similar on different sites, like LinkedIn.com and Life.com (both start with LI).

You may want to use something that isn't a word or have duplicate or concurrent numbers or letters (which is why I deleted the second 's' and didn't use 21). I've been hit with that before and nothing's worse then having to have a special password once you've started working like this.

The secret to making things go faster? Trust.

IT'S ALL ABOUT PEOPLE

Making awesome products with amazing people in a big hurry on the edge of the technological knife is fun! But it's not easy. Starting three video game studios in Austin has proven that to me without a doubt. Luckily a lot of people have helped me along the way. 


Thanks to those awesome people, I have over 20 years of Product Development and Project Management leadership experience producing, designing, and contributing to over 200 popular games on just about any platform you can name. It has been a great ride and I can say with authority that when you have a transparent environment with trust in your fellow employees, things just go faster. 

IT'S ALSO ABOUT YOUR ENVIRONMENT

Trust can flourish if you allow it.

Create an environment and culture where there are no "surprises," personnel are allowed and encouraged to make mistakes quickly, a complete "Tree of Trust" can flourish, mistakes are celebrated and hopefully not repeated, and listen to and support the team's needs however you can. The love and effort you put into your culture shows through in the products you create, so make it awesome!

STORYTELLING, EMOTIONAL JOURNEYS, AND ROCK STARS

I love building teams to make great experiences. It's been my fortune to have had the ability to own the project vision for many of the projects I have worked on and having that responsibility has been very exciting. I love telling stories and taking people through immersive, interactive, meaningful experiences that allow them to explore their emotions. I love building community around these experiences so people can share their emotional journeys with one another. When people tell me how my products have given them a positive emotional experience, I am always grateful for having had the opportunity to be part of their lives. 

TIME TO HIT THE STAGE!

My role as a leader is like being the Road Manager for a band, in that my team members are the rock stars and my job is to make sure they have a gig, it's been marketed, their instruments are on stage in tune, the sound system is ready, and the fans are pumped up. All they have to do is make the music and rock the fans! When they're finished, I make sure they get a chance to sign autographs and have a new town in which to play. When the members of my team tell me they had a great gig because I have provided them guidance, authority, responsibility and assurance so they can be the best they can be, I am humbled. 


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Billy Joe Cain is the Business Development Director for Meta 3D Studios (www.meta3dstudios.com) in Austin Texas. He has worked for Electronic Arts and started three game studios in Austin, TX. Since 1992, he has created games such as Wing Commander: Prophecy and SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman.

Meta 3D Studios creates apps, games, and provides development support from art to code. If you need help, that's what we do.  

Please connect with him on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/billyjoecain

Ever had a Game Killed? Wow. It sucks. Here's how to deal with it.

As an Executive Career Specialist in the video game and technical industries, sometimes my background as a developer may have some bearing on how you should manage your career. I've told these stories to others over the years and it occurred to me that they may be able to illustrate a point Mary-Margaret has made in her blog post: "You are a Free Agent and That's Not Bad News."

LET'S GET STARTED

After working yourself to the bone on a game, pouring your heart into it, sometimes it is necessary for the game to die. Whether it's financial constraints, a change in market demands, the right personnel leaving the company, a lack of development progress, a lack of cohesion with the development team or some other reason, it is still painful. 

After an event like that, it is hard to decide to put your heart into your next game. It's a really difficult task and can seriously affect your emotional state. 

I am going to try to be vulnerable in this article, and since these stories are real, I hope that I don't offend anyone by being too honest.

I have been on a lot of projects and the ones that stand out as the most painful are the biggies that got killed. I'll start with the first and go to the most recent. There are others I skipped and many left out. And there are plenty after 1999, too. Maybe I'll write those up one day. Let's get on with it!

RIP: WING COMMANDER II SNES 1994-1994

CAUSE OF DEATH: MARKET CHANGES

We survived. The game didn't.

The first project I was on that was "killed" was pretty weird. It was an adaptation of Wing Commander II on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. I had been working on it until just before it was to ship, and then I had to go to England to work on Rugby World Cup 1995. The game was in the final stages of testing when I left and I was able to provide some design / data editing support while I was away. 

The game was approved by Nintendo, but the publisher, Pony Canyon, decided to not move forward with publication because it was the end of the SNES's life cycle. So the game does not even exist now. No copies. Nothing. Not even a backup. That is horrible. That thing was FINISHED! Very frustrating, but not as bad as it could have been. We could have been at 95% and have had it put to sleep. 

At least for me, it wasn't too bad; I had already moved onto a high profile project and was embroiled in making it get out the door. That helped my sanity greatly but I am certain it wasn't good for the others that had finished it.

Lesson learned: Get on another project that is moving quickly. It'll help you cope. At least it did for me.

RIP: CYCLONE ALLEY 1994-1995

CAUSE OF DEATH: LACK OF COHESION

I remember working on this for a year. This one had a few big issues, and the death knell was that the product owner didn't know the platforms we were trying to launch on. 

When he was asked during a product approval meeting what we thought about doing the game on Saturn (the game system), the answer he gave was that we'd do the game on every planet! Umm.... The final nail in the coffin. Bam. 

Lesson learned: Have the right people with the right answers in front of the right budget committee. 

RIP: PROWLER 1995-1996

CAUSE OF DEATH: FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS

This one really hurt. I was brought on after it had been in production for a while. For well over a year I worked a lot of overtime with a lot of people. Then it was killed.

No. It was a MECH game.

Prowler suffered from a lot of problems. It started as a 3DO game and since that market was changing, we moved it to PlayStation. That cost time and money. Always a bad sign. There were issues on the development team with project direction, we were using tools that were constantly evolving that required rebuilding the game models too frequently and the game's scope exceeded its budget. 

Without going into too much detail, it was ultimately killed in favor of other projects that needed funding in order to meet financial goals of Electronic Arts. 

Lesson learned: Pay attention to the power of the most important projects at the company. They may eat resources when they need them most. Most importantly... yours.

RIP: WING COMMANDER PROPHECY: PLAYSTATION - 1996

CAUSE OF DEATH: FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS

It was GOING to be awesome.

The PC version was the biggie. We knew it. But our group had console experience. Eventually the decision was made within Electronic Arts that the whole company had to make 25% cutbacks in salaries. Our executive producer was new at EA and made the decision to follow through on this mandate. I know it was immensely hard for him. He summoned me along with a cadre of other managers to an offsite to help determine the fate of our group. 

It was not long before it was apparent that the adaptation of Prophecy to PlayStation was not what was going to make the most money for the group, as we had to consolidate everything toward the main SKU. This was a harsh lesson to learn and it was unbelievably hard to deliver this news to my friends that I'd worked with for years. It still haunts me.

Lesson learned: If you are not working on the company's lead title, you are constantly on the chopping block, even when you don't think so.

RIP: CRIMSON ORDER - 1999

CAUSE OF DEATH: FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS

This one was pretty much out of the development team's hands. The company was funded by winning a lawsuit against a larger company and the owner wanted to get the remainder of the funds owed. Allegedly so it would find the remainder of development. 

The owner went through the studio, filming how the projects were being made, and created a really cool video showing our progress. We were really excited to see that happen because we saw it as great marketing so we could get more press. 

Turns out that the right person saw it and realized we really needed the cash and that we were doing the right things, because the owner won the lawsuit and got the extra money. 

Then the owner took the money and the football and went home. Had the total right to go home. The trouble was that we didn't want to. 

Lesson learned: Everything can blow up at any time. 

There is a Silver Lining

Games get killed. Quarters come and go. Companies die. If you are going to work in an industry where your projects are pulled out from under you after almost killing yourself, you need to be aware of the dangers you face. And you should be aware of how much it hurts. 

There IS a silver lining here. The people you worked with on these projects also suffered this pain. Do your best to remember the good times: the first time you could play it, adding a new feature and experiencing it, the long nights in design sessions, a great meal shared with your team, or whatever stands out to you. These people may be the bridge to another job or you may be their bridge to another job. They'll also be there to validate your pain.

Lesson learned: In the end, the only thing that matters is relationships.

Being Ready for the Kill

Too much paranoia here, but be
aware that it MAY be up there.

No one knows when the end is near, really. You want to think you do, but you do not. 

The best thing to do is keep your resume up to date. Always. Manage your online reputation. Pay attention to what's going on in the industry. Who is hiring? Go to local networking events. Stay in contact with your co-workers / friends / family that may be able to help you find new work. Start an IGDA group for your area. [Insert your own idea here.]

Lesson Mastery: You are your own recruiter. You are the only person that can really make these things happen. GO UPDATE YOUR RESUME NOW! 

Final Thoughts

Help is totally okay to ask for. Really.

If you have real problems after a project death, talk to someone. These are serious life events. When you are out of control of a stressful situation it can have real repercussions on your mind and body. Talk to a professional. I am not kidding. There are people I have worked with that suffer from PTSD from the overtime on and death of a project we worked on together. They have had to get help, but I fear it was not fast enough and they didn't realize just how bad it was for them. Learn from their mistakes. 

And most of all, get yourself back into something creative that YOU are in control of start to finish. Take a class, find a hobby... just do something. Something that matters to you. 

I'll end this with an invite for you to talk about your projects that were killed. How did that affect you? We're all in this together. Maybe you just need to talk about it. Like me!

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Billy Joe Cain is an Executive Recruiter with Mary-Margaret Network (www.mary-margaret.com) and focuses on the video game industry. He has worked for Electronic Arts and started three game studios in Austin, TX. Since 1992, he has created games such as Wing Commander: Prophecy and SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman.

Please connect with him on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/billyjoecain

Speaking on Two Video Game Panels at Wizard World Comic Con in San Antonio 8/2/14 and 8/3/14

I have been lucky enough to speak on one of Genese's panels at a previous Comic Con in Portland so I'm very excited to be part of this one as well. Thank you, Genese!

If you make it to the San Antonio CC, come by and say hi, even if you don't make one of the talks. I'll be there geeking out with my kids I'm sure!

Here are the descriptions of the talks:

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VIDEO GAMES AND OUR FUTURE: WE’RE ALL GAMERS
Saturday, August 2nd
1:00 - 1:45PM
ROOM 214

Veterans of the video game industry join forces for this highly-anticipated panel. Don't miss Genese Davis (The Holder’s Dominion; MMORPG.com; The Gamer In You) Billy Joe Cain (Wing Commander: Prophecy) Joe Currivan (Producer - BattleCry Studios) and Antonia "Toni" Phillips (Live Producer - Electronic Arts; BioWare) give their insight on everything ranging from creating futuristic video games to delving into themes that span the most prevalent elements of pop culture. Get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at video game story details, gameplay features, and the influence video games possess in both video game culture and pop culture at large. These high-power panelists will discuss the past of video game culture as it compares to today and how "gamification" is making it possible for everyone to become a gamer.

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WHAT VIDEO GAMES CAN TEACH
Sunday, August 3rd
2:00 - 2:45PM
ROOM 212

Join this high-powered panel divulging how much of an impact video games can have on people's lives in-game as well as offline. Parents advocating for a learner-centered approach often bring up the question, "Won't my kids just play video games all day?" Although the answer to that is multi-faceted, we know that no experience is devoid of learning. And, in fact, some may have more opportunities for development than we first believe. Join our featured panelists Genese Davis (The Holder’s Dominion; MMORPG.com; The Gamer In You) Robert Bell (Minister of Games - Enspire) Billy Joe Cain (Wing Commander: Prophecy) and Garry Gaber (Game Designer; Artist; Director; Founder - Escape Hatch Entertainment) as they discuss the benefits and potential drawbacks to video games and how to navigate both. This high-powered panel will plunge into video game culture and its social development divulging how video games affect our lives and education.

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Wizard World - Billy Joe Cain

How to Reach the Hiring Manager

​​Do you need more than one resume?​ ​Do you need to tailor your resume to the job you are applying for? 

Help the Hiring Manager
As a hiring manager, a custom resume is always a help to see how someone specifically fits the job role. The easiest way to get a hiring manager to cut to the chase is to make the resume tailor-fit to the role.

Why does a Hiring Manger Need Help From ME? 
Hiring managers are overwhelmed and have a lack of time to read between the lines. They may have a stack of other resumes that have been customized with specific details clearly delineated so they can match them to the job, and if your resume requires them to guess about your skills at all, you get tossed. 

There can be a disconnect between the job role and the resume's "soul." Your resume needs to emphasize your strength in that job specifically, not in the general career. They can tell if you really want it. Prove your interest in the job through your intent toward how you build your resume. Otherwise, you get tossed.

What if the Hiring Manager Isn't Reading Resumes First?
Often, an intermediary, such as a HR representative, is used to "filter" out the "obvious" resumes that aren't fits before they go to the hiring manager. The intermediaries are your biggest critics and the single biggest chance you will get tossed (by a human. See Applicant Tracking System, below).

When your resume goes through a human intermediary, this creates additional levels of communication breakdown. This means someone perfectly qualified gets tossed in the trash. 

Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
These are programs that "read" your resume automatically and dissect them. There is so much to say here, it would need its own blog. This is a constantly changing effort between applicants and employers, so the effort put into this challenge is ongoing.

Top Reasons You Get Tossed Into the Circular File

• The intermediary may not understand the position or qualifications well enough to know how items on your generic resume are really relevant to the position.
• The intermediary may not understand what "equivalent experience" means to the hiring manager. Find a way to make equivalent experience match up with the job description. 
• The intermediary may be going down the job description top to bottom and if your qualifications are like "Where's Waldo?", they may give up looking. Make it easy to find the relevant parts. Ideally you can even reorder your resume to make it even easier.
• Applicant Tracking Systems. (See above).

Think About it From Their Point of View
They are trying to winnow down a huge stack to a manageable number, and they may be sorting through a huge stack of resumes. Make it easy to get in the "yes" or even the "maybe" pile. Has that candidate seemed to care enough about your opening? Do they care about working here? Get someone else to pretend they are the hiring manager. Get someone else to pretend they are you, and you role play as the company representative. 

Final Thoughts
You want this job. You want this salary. Hiring managers want to hire someone that solves their pain. They are trying to make the best decision for their team, and are ready to spend a lot of money for it. You have one chance to get their attention to get them to BUY.  Get really serious about this. Then go back and edit your resume to make it custom. 

Your Career is More Than Your Next Job - It's Your Mission. Want Help?

For those of you that are attending Casual Connect in San Francisco, you can come get the answers to the above questions and get advice to navigate your own career. 

On 1pm, July 24, 2014, at Casual Connect in San Francisco, CA, Mary-Margaret Walker shares the best practices in resume writing and formatting at an exclusive workshop on July 24th. This workshop focuses on helping you build your resume, express your accomplishments and maximize your confidence.

Most people who can articulate a path to their goals frequently find they do not need to leave their current job in order to meet their goals. If you are already seeking your next role, let us make your resume land in the YES stack.

Specific Topics Covered: 
 • Resume Mechanics (What’s an ATS?)
 • Keywords
 • Formatting
 • Content Layout
 • How to speak about accomplishments
 • What about LinkedIn?
 • Typos, grammar, and editing.


Attendance requires a ticket, and is limited. Sign up here now!

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Billy Joe Cain is an Executive Recruiter in the video game industry and has worked for Electronic Arts and started three game studios in Austin, TX. Since 1992, he has created games such as Wing Commander: Prophecy and SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman.

Please connect with him on LinkedIn and mention you read his blog! www.linkedin.com/in/billyjoecain