fl0wer - The Beautiful Game

A great interview with a game maverick:

Q: Why don't you play games anymore?

Jenova Chen: I still occasionally play games, but I don't play a lot of new games because I feel that games have to be - for adults like me - more relevant to my life. When you go out to an art gallery or go to see a movie, you're expecting the film [or art] to either inform you on an intellectual level about certain aspects of life or entertain you on a deep emotional level.

I think a lot of games fail to educate you on an intellectual level, and the emotions they evoke are relatively primal. They are too shallow. Games are very good at making you feel excited, feel thrilled, and feel addicted, but these are the feelings that are very primal - that younger kids or teenagers will respond very well to. As adults we expect to feel something more complex and more sophisticated.

So you want to work in game audio?

Project BBQ has recently released the 2008 reports, including one on the topic of Game Audio Careers and the different titles and skills that are currently at large.

Included is a Game Audio Skillset Matrix that attempts to pull all of this info together for easy digestion.

Bob over for a list of resources, courses and programs in Game Audio, and a snapshot of what the Game Audio industry looks like.

Group Report: So you want to work in game audio?

Rawk!

wWise: SoundSeed

You better believe it!
We all need new tools in our tool box once and awhile, and Audiokinetic has really come through with their new Sound Seed plug-in.

While the process is currently a bit academic, the finished results and size thereof are a true testament to a creative bunch of people trying to solve the industries foremost current challenges: memory & diversity.

It starts with a bang and a pow, lets see how we end up after some experimentation.

Check it out: SoundSeed

Game Developer's Front Line Awards 2008: FMOD

Here's a nice write up of the FMOD audio middleware solution I did for Game Developer Magazine recently.

Game Developer's Front Line Awards 2008: FMOD

I have to say that tools like FMOD Designer, AudioKinetics wWise, and in-house tools that scale across the digital divide are totally enabling my particular niche and profession within the game industry.

Now if someone could find a way to work some knobs into an interface for implementing sound, I think I'd be all set! then again, maybe I'm just nostalgic for hardware?

Happy New Year!