Game Plan: The Insider's Guide to Breaking In and Succeeding in the Computer and Video Game Business

By Mark Loparco, Cecilia Barajas, Alan Gershenfeld

Book Overview

The $20 billion computer and video gaming business is the fastest-growing entertainment medium in the worldaeon track to surpass both the movie and record businesses. More than 200 million computer and video games are sold to the 140 million gamers in America every year. "Game Plan: The Insiders Guide to Breaking In and Succeeding in the Computer and Video Game Business" is the first book that clearly explains how to get a foot in the door to this incredibly dynamic and exciting field. This essential guide includes everything job seekers need to know about: - How the computer and video game business really works- How to break into the industry- How to get your dream game made- The many different jobs in the field- Surviving and thriving in the marketplace Three top game veterans provide all the information readers need to begin their search: Alan Gershenfeld, former senior vice-president of Activison Studios, Mark Loparco, one of the industry's top edutainment producers, and Cecilia Barajas, an acclaimed game producer/ director and a design consultant on hundreds of games. "Game Plan" also features expert advice by top gamemakers from such leading game publishers and developers as Electronic Arts, Activision, Microsoft, Midway, LucasArts, and THQ. No matter what your background or job qualifications are, "Game Plan" will help you to decide which area of the video and computer game business appeals to you the most, and how to attain your goals of working in the industry. For anyone who's ever dreamed of one day making a game, or is simply curious if this is the field to go intoaethis book is a must-read.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312275048
• ISBN13: 9780312275044
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.8" x 5.4"

Customer Reviews

The best I found

So I am a ex-professional programmer, CS educator who has spent some time in the game industry. I did a little survey of books about "getting into" game programming: this was the best book I found. The authors actually asked others in the industry rather than just making stuff up based on their own opinions. The advice tends to be realistic, which makes it sound like common sense. For programmers they reccommend a degree in Computer Science from a good school. Not exactly rocket science, but what were you expecting? There's good stuff in here, which makes it a head and shoulders above much of it's competition. Too many books try to tell you that all you need is networking and a can do to get a job in games - this book at least attempts to be truthful about the qualifications games companies look for.

Game Plan: Breaking into and Succeeding in the Videa Game Business

Game Plan, a tag-team effort between Alan Gershenfeld, Mark Loparco, and Cecilia Barajas, is a detailed account of what developers, publishers, and all other aspects of the game making market, are interested in for new recruits. If you don't know the difference between a developer and a publisher, this is the book for you. It starts out on the basic of basic of levels, defining everything, from game console to mmo. If on the other hand, you have been in the market for some years, and are seeking to forward your career, this is the book for you. It explains what you should do to get noticed by the big guys. It explains what you should do to get your dream game made, so you can sit in front of your screen for days on end, staring in awe, at the your own idea, made into a multi-million dollar production, making sky-rocket sales. Or, if you just like to read for the heck of it, read this. That is, assuming you don't absolutely hate video games and everything to do with them, at the very bottom of your heart. As I was reading it, this book ended up getting me so excited, I was ready to go home and teach myself programming with nothing but an online manual, an open-source language, and 2 hours. But of course, that didn't work out. An excellent and interesting read, which may or may not keep you up at night, depending on your devotion and drive to create games, and that stands for a lot, considering it is a non-fiction book, which I normally despise.

Great little book

This 280 pages are for sure the most simple, direct and usefull text about the game development careers. We not only get the all picture, also great advices and directions in what we have as options in this game business, I recommend this reading not only for programmers (like me) but to everybody who feel lost and is looking for some path to follow. I tooked 2 days to read it, very clear writing.

Full of details, I couldn't put this book down.

I am currently attending college for a BA in game software engineering. I saw this book and I knew I had to read it. The authors are very knowledgeable about the game industry. I am really impressed with the amount of resources listed in the back with websites, schools, software companies addresses, and suggested readings. This book is perfect for anyone looking to break in. I finished the 280 pg book in less than 2 days. It is written very well, and it is very easy to follow. I will be using this book for a long time to come.

Finally!

Until I read this book the world of computer gaming seemed mysterious and impenetrable--an elite group of smart, young people having a great time at "work." Well, it's still clear that an elite group of smart people get to do this kind of work, but GAME PLAN shows you how to join them. Barajas, Gershenfeld and Loparco demystify the process of breaking into the game business and break it down into useful information, concrete steps and practical advice that anyone serious and dedicated can--and will want to--follow.