Gamasutra Member Blogs: From Crunch To Breaking In

Author: by Staff

In highlights from Gamasutra's Member Blogs, our bloggers write about crunch from a student's perspective, requiring students to have a DS in the classroom, and trying to break into the video game industry. Member Blogs can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while invitation-only Expert Blogs -- also highlighted weekly -- are written by selected development professionals. Our favorite blog post of the week will earn its author a lifetime subscription to Gamasutra's sister publication, Game Developer magazine. (All magazine recipients outside of the United States or Canada will receive lifetime electronic subscriptions.) We hope that our blog sections can provide useful and interesting viewpoints on our industry. For more information, check out the official posting guidelines. Here are the top member blogs for the week: This Week's Standout Member Blogs - A Student's Perception of Crunch Time (Finlay Thewlis) Finlay Thewlis hasn't experienced crunch firsthand, but here's an interesting perspective on crunch from a student who's looking to enter the field of video game production. For his effort, Finlay will receive a lifetime subscription to Gamasutra sister publication Game Developer magazine. - A Gamer's Story (Alistair Jones) Alistair Jones wants to break into the industry and land a dream job as a game designer, but it hasn't been too easy… at all, apparently. - A DS In Every Class... Not A Bad Idea (Kirk Williams) Kirk Williams says that schools could benefit from requiring students to have a DS: "Math and reading exercise in digital form, electronic syllabuses so the parents and students can have a digital copy of the curriculum all school year, and a paperless school." - A Whole New Level of Emotional Engagement ( Nicholas DiMucci) "Quantic Dream, with their newest release Heavy Rain, may have cracked the emotional barrier between developer and gamer," writes Nicholas DiMucci. Click through to see his guilt-ridden argument. - A Bifurcation of Games and Audience (J Whisler) J Whisler suggests that there are really only two types of games: "Gamey Games" like Plants vs. Zombies and Counter-Strike and "Play-Me-Games" that are more about story and experience like Fable or God of War. Does J have a point?