Spp3 - Jobs at Playfish 5

Playfish are very similar to Mind Candy in the way that they design games for multiplayers, however the majority of Playfish's games are facebook application games, so millions of people can see and potentially play these games. The company is based in London which is ideal because like I have mentioned before this is where I intend or will be moving to when I leave university.

Playfish are currently recruiting for the London office and there is one particular job that has caught my eye.

Game Artist

London, UK

As a Game Artist at Playfish you will be creating art for games across multiple platforms, primarily web and mobile. This includes creating characters, environments and UI. You will be involved in the complete development process from start to finish and have a strong influence on our overall product. We are looking for people with strong foundation art skills, solid understanding of colour and the ability to take something from concept to completion. We believe that raw talent combined with a positive attitude is what is needed to make great games!

If this sounds like you we would love to hear from you!

Key Requirements:

-Strong foundation art skills, solid understanding of colour and the ability to take something from concept to completion
-Experienced with Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and similar
-Varied portfolio
-A wish to learn from others and be in constant development
-Someone who is open for input and enjoys working in an iterative and agile process
Specific Flash knowledge is a plus
-Ex demo-scene and/or relevant game experience is a plus
-Most important of all, you need to love games!

Please send your CV including any demo's and examples to inserting “Game Artist” in the email subject line.

The reason why I like this particular job is that it has a variation of requirements. You have to draw...I love drawing. You have to have experience in Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash...I have that experience. My portfolio currently under construction will be vaired. I want to learn new aspects of gaming and I love games so it seems like this job was written for me.

However a very BIG issue that I know will come up is that I'm a graduate and I'm worried that they want someone who's already had experience, the rate of pay wasn't mentioned either so could this also be an issue? I don't think that would be but really the main thing that I'm looking for is a place that I'm going to enjoy working not how much do they pay me.

PRP - Artefact 2 Update

Well artefact 2 is completed and I have to say that I really enjoyed doing it. This morning I went into Moorlands primary school and intereviewed a year 1 class about games and learning.

The children were lovely and very enthusiastic to give me answers though when listening back to the recording some of the answers were hard to understand but it has given me an idea on what children think about gaming.

I started off by asking quesiotns about what game they played at school, names were mentioned like ace monkey's, rigby and superstars. Though some of the children found it hard to explain the games I could see that they knew understood how to play the game but just had diffuculties explaining them.


From certain questions it was obvious that boys are still the ones showing a stronger passion for computer games, even though the girls mention games and are able to explain the learning games in more detail its the boys who show more enthusiam towards playing the games.

When it came to talking about games out of school it was Nintendo that was mentioned almost everytime. I got the impression that the children love the interactive elements that Nintendo offers with the consoles. What I was paeticularly surprised at was that these children play on the games that I also enjoy playing. For example Mario Kart and Super Mario bros was mentioned on numerous occassions.

I think now that I have spoken to the children I can see that the enthusiasm is there but it is shown more when they are playing interactive games. My next artefact could maybe look into how more interactivity could be used in a learning environment.

After the interview the the teacher said that I was allowed to come back for a whole day!! and do tests, it is not until 22nd March but that will give me time to create more tests that I could create to help invovle the children, maybe possibly introduce the Nintendo Wii if I'm allowed. We shall see.

Spp3 - Job hunt, Mindy Candy 4

Well I'm still on the job hunt for the spp3 module (and moi of course) and it was my boyfriend who came across this company for me.

Mind Candy was launched in 2003 by Michael Smith. It is one of the leading developers for social multiplayer games. One of its more popular games is called 'Moshi Monster' The company also caught my eye because of this game and I hope that it will help me in my PRP project, but I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about the jobs in Mind Candy.

The company are currently recruiting a 'flash character animator' and a 'flash/actionscript developer' however they quote
"we’re always happy to receive speculative CVs for positions we’re not actively recruiting for."
So I could be in with a chance.

The reason why I like this company is mainly because its what I would like to do in the future, help design games for kids. Hence why my research project is based around this as well. I find the whole concept of designing games for kids interesting and with the company not being that big it looks like the company has a friendly atmosphere.

The main application process is a standard CV and covering letter and I think that I am going to apply for this job but this means that I am going to have to adapt my cv to reach the criteria that they are looking for. Luckily for me they have employee profiles and a blog so I could potentially pick up ideas on the companies interests via these sources.

PRP - Second Artefact, how to interview children

Research shows that you have to prepare an interview with children differently to how you would with any other interview. Young children will tend to be more nervous around people who they are unfamiliar with. When I prepare for the interview I have to take this into consideration, they don't know who I am and so it could be quite daunting for them.

I found this article from a site called 'Newslab' a site dedicated to giving advice to journalists. I came across an article 'How to interview children' and the article provided some useful advice about to interview children.

Look for children who are directly involved in the issue you are covering. Talk to them in their own environment, where they are most comfortable.

A good way to do this is in the classroom where they are at school and in an environment that they know. I am hoping that having them in a group they will be with everyone they know so I will look less intimidating. I could make it into a group discussion.

Listen. Listen more than you talk. Ask fewer questions than you might of an adult. Let the child fill the silence.

When I plan my questions I will have to think about how to word them. If its going to be a group discussion then I could perhaps use the same question but let the a number of children give their opinion.

Crouch or kneel when talking to little kids. Don’t stand above them and put a stick mic in their faces.

I must remember to be friendly and not intimidating in any way, so kneeling does sound like a good idea. I have to take all these things into account if the interview is to be successful and I can get good feedback. When talking to the children I must be patient and wait for the child to finish what they are saying, even if they are struggling I must be patient. The children have the information that I need so if they are comfortable with me being around then I will get better results.

Client - 2nd meeting

Well its been a while for client but I have returned to Southampton this week to focus on PRP and Client. This evening I met up with Jess to catch up on both our ideas and to capture some images for the site. So this evening for 3 hours I have been with Jess taking images (nearly 300!)and discussing ideas for the website.


I spoke to Jess about hosting as she is not very aware about how to purchase a domain name. When I had a look for a hosting name for 'streetbeatz.com' they were all taken but to my relieve Jess told me that she does not want this and instead wants the name to be 'www.streetbeatzdanceacademy.com' and it is avaliable so the name is safe.

I received an email a few dqays ago showing images of the uniform and Jess mentioned today that she wanted a page for the uniform, so I will have to rethink the site map slighty, only slighty because she is happy with what I have done so far so just a bit of tweeking.

Jess is also interested in trying to add video content to the site so I may have a look for a simple plugin that will allow Jess to add her own video content, we agreed that I would help her the first few months the site is up and running just so she gets the hang of editing the website by herself but I am pleased that she is still eager to get the site up and also willing to help me in whatever way possible. It is certainly making my life easier.

Spp3 - University of Bristol 4

Its been a while since I mentioned postgraduate courses, mainly because I have no interest in taking one however when searching some postgraduate courses I came across a few that looked particularly interesting.

I have decided to minimise my search down to Multimedia in the south area. Main reason is because if I was to ever do a postgraduate course I would be looking in the south, for costs I would prefer to live at home whilst studying just to make money matters easier so, I might as well look at the courses in the south.

One that particularly caught my eye was in University of Bristol

Course title: Advanced Computing - Internet Technologies with Multimedia MSc
Course type: full time
Duration: 1 year
Fees: £4450
Entry Requirements: A good (at least upper second-class) Honours degree in a Computer Science or related discipline. International equivalents are also accepted.

About the course

This programme aims to introduce you to the most important aspects of networked applications and digital media information. Graduates will be equipped for a wide variety of employment in computing, business and the entertainment industry, and will have the opportunity to be leaders of the media revolution and its emerging technologies.

The programme will also give you the knowledge and experience to continue studying for a PhD, or to enter a career in research.
(This description can be found here)

What did I like?

What caught my eye was that the course offers a wide variety of resources that potentials freelancers need. From looking at the course description and learning schedule the course is not only designed to help students gain a more thorough knowledge on web designing and databases but the course also takes into consideration oher aspects that effect the internet i.e. mobile internet, law and the economic aspect of IT. Things that could be very useful in the future.

The only thing that I worry about is that I my strongest learning method is 'doing' and not 'listening' I rather learn via step by step instructions and looking at the description I have a feeling that this may involve quite a few lectures and 'Sarah + lecturers = not much focus'

The application deadline is not till 1st August so there would be plenty of time to apply, so I may keep looking around for a few weeks.

PRP - Artefact 2

After a very time consumming and many many hours spent sending emails my first artefact has been complete and after presenting my results I have been given the go ahead for artefact number 2!



As you can see in my evaluation of my first artefact below I did not expect the results that I recieved and so a change in direction was needed in my artefact designs. I thought too quickly and assumed that I already knew the outcome... well I was wrong and so I thought that it would be good to inteview the opposite to teachers, and that would be the pupils.

In previous blog posts I have mentioned that I have been in contact with my old infant (now primary) school. After a few emails and meetings they have agreed to let me interview the children. I am going to have to think carefully about how I talk to them though as they are only in year 1 (age 5-6) but my main aim is to find out:

- What do they know about games
- What do they enjoy about learning/school
- What activities do they enjoy participating in

They are going to be general/simple questions because I know that they maybe a bit nervous having a random person comming into their classroom asking them questions so I have to make sure that I come across as a friendly person.

Potential Issues

- Children may get nervous and not speak given me little information.
- Wording the questions that I need to ask maybe difficult because it has to be said in a easy to understand format.

Positives

I have managed to get a school willing to help me with my research project. When I mentioned my project to other peers the majority said that I wouldn't be able to do much however here I am with an interview planned.