How I Saved the Gaming Industry 252
Posted
by
CmdrTaco
from the lazy-is-an-attribute dept.
from the lazy-is-an-attribute dept.
Jamie found a nifty blog entry where indie game designer Jeff Vogel writes about game engine and art re-use. He is criticized for not rewriting his core engine for a decade. It's an amusing little rant with thoughts that actually might apply to anyone working in engineering.
But You Can Be Like Activision! (Score:5, Funny)
Most people will dismiss this idea out of hand, saying that I don't know anything about the realities of the business. And they are probably right. I'm just a dumb, little nobody. But I am running a profitable game company. But Electronic Arts and Activision (the company that owns Blizzard!) are losing bazillions of dollars.
Maybe you should pay yourself $15 million a year [joystiq.com] and then hire a bunch of middle management and pay them more than the developers that do all your actual work. Be sure to insulate yourself from any actual work. That's when you can be considered "in the know" about the gaming industry or more specifically "in the money laughing as consumers suffer through your titles." Then you too can siphon off funds while your company languishes in the red just like the big guys.
I should have posted sooner (Score:5, Funny)
I was going to post my blog entry on how I single-handedly saved the porn industry.
It's a heavy burden, to save an entire industry (Score:5, Funny)
I, for one, know what it's like to try to save an entire industry as well.
Before I arrived here as BadAnalogyGuy, I saw Slashdot sinking quickly into an ugly morass of old car analogies.
I try to bring a broader perspective to Slashdot analogy making. And I like to think that I've been successful so far.
It's a tough job, but god knows if left to your own devices, you slashbots would simply keep talking about cars and roads.
Re:I should have posted sooner (Score:5, Funny)
But then you couldn't do it because your single hand became busy?
Re:It's a heavy burden, to save an entire industry (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I should have posted sooner (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I should have posted sooner (Score:4, Funny)
4?! I thought nasal sex was limited to dolphins...
Re:But You Can Be Like Activision! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:It's a heavy burden, to save an entire industry (Score:3, Funny)
PAG is long dead. But by all means, tell me more about his "profits".
Stupid Flanders.
Re:But You Can Be Like Activision! (Score:3, Funny)
I either get paid more or the company pays more taxes.
Thats cute.
Ding (Score:4, Funny)
Corporate America.
I'm surprised the shareholders aren't out in the streets with pitchforks.
Re:But You Can Be Like Activision! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:But You Can Be Like Activision! (Score:1, Funny)
I was one of those hardcore developers that eventually worked their way up to middle management (by accident) at a software company ... one of those guys who scorned anyone who spent more time in outlook then an IDE. Now that I have done the actual work of a middle and senior manager I laugh at how little I really understood about what my previous bosses had done and the pressure's placed upon them. Responsibility is work even if it cannot be judged in lines of code; understanding what and every developer is doing, keeping them on track and negotiating with customers is 10x's harder then one could ever imagine and was definitely a sign of my lack of maturity at that time. I long for the lack responsibility I once had where I could scoff that no one worked as hard as I did and I could not imagine any amount of money being worth what any CEO has to deal with on a day to day basis where you are not just managing a dozen or so people but the lives of hundreds (or thousands) of employees while balancing the investments stockholders and justifying their continual investments.
Re:It's a heavy burden, to save an entire industry (Score:5, Funny)
Nice. It's even got that new car analogy smell.
Re:If I had a billion dollars (Score:3, Funny)