Areae, Inc. is a company dedicated to taking the tired old virtual world and making it into something fresh and new. Something anyone can jump into. Something where anyone can find something fun to do or a game to play. Something where anyone can build their own place on the virtual frontier.

The other guy in the company’s team is John Donham, VP of Production, who has many years of working on massively multiplayer games. In my opinion, Raph and John form the Dynamic Duo and I’m sure they will churn out something that is different from Second Life.

By the way, the studio is currently looking for a lead programmer, senior server programmer, artist and many others.

No more boring virtual crap via GamesIndustry.biz

Post from: Play Designs

So how much money do video game designers make? Well, that depends on different factors. The industry has been reporting ranges from 50k-200k with some making even more. How much video game designers make is dependent on their skills and experience.

However, it’s really hard work and passion to keep you going like an Energizer bunny at the end of the day.

Thanks Ingrid for the tip!

Post from: Play Designs

Qualifications:

5+ years of professional experience as a staff or senior level software engineer
High proficiency with C++
Bachelor’s degree in computer science or equivalent experience
Familiarity with STL
Experience with source control processes
A passion for games and game technology

Learn more

Post from: Play Designs

Mass Nintendo DS Effect via Planet GameCube

Post from: Play Designs

Responsibility:

Development of a Next-Generation GameFramework based on CryEngine 2.0
Work on various aspects of porting to PS3 and creating solutions to get the utmost out of the PS3
Cross platform code development
Create and maintain documentation
Complete all tasks in a timely manner and to a consistent high quality standard

However, this leads us to wonder if Crysis would become a PlayStation 3 title. Interesting.

Crying Out Loud for a Programmer via Pro-G

Post from: Play Designs

(I bet you were expecting me to write a long drawn out, heart wrenching and worrisome story, weren’t you? Well, quite frankly, I’m not that creative. Plus, I don’t like tales of heart wrench and worry. They make me cry like a little baboon.)

So, I was looking at GameDev again, because they’re totally awesome, and happened to stumble upon (actually, I’ve seen it a million times before, just never clicked it. Since I thought I would be boring and post a jobs link today, I figured it would be a good day to click on it. Man, am I good) this awesome link that has a bunch of different jobs listed with different gaming companies.

There never seems to be a shortness of people who need game developers, which is totally awesome. There are 94 jobs posted on this site alone! EVERYONE in the WORLD is creating games apparently, and they want YOU to help them! JOIN NOW or PERISH!

[pic of baboon found via able travel. isn't he cute?]

Post from: Play Designs

In the gaming industry there are lots and lots of different paths you can take when you’re looking for a job in the Game Development field. Gone are the days when a couple of people sat around programming a game where a stick figure talks to another stick figure and maybe rides on a stick figure horse with a mohawk. Gone also are the days where the most indepth form of music that a computer could reach was a midi file, which consisted of a lot of organ like music and beeping. Not that organ like music is bad or anything, it’s just not up to the calibur of today’s games. Now, games have their own crappin’ soundtrack that you can buy at your local Best Buy. Also gone are the days where my hair was permed and short. It looked like an afro. Seriously man, those days sucked.

I was surfing IGDA’s webiste and I found this cool guide of the different paths a person can take if they want to work for a gaming company. You can click on each of the links they’ve provided and they’ll give you a cool breakdown of all the different positons a lot of companies have.

Now, if only I had some talent… maybe there’s a website for developing talent and maybe I can get paid for it!

Post from: Play Designs

So, you’re sitting at your desk, bored with nothing to do. You’ve beaten all of your games and there’s nothing else out there that appeals to your attention span. Well, why not make your own game? “What,” you may ask, “Make my own game??” Yeah, well why not? Any one can do it, really. All you need is a good story, with appealing characters and a good plot. Well, all you need is a good story AND the proper tools. And just like Emeril, “BAM!”, you can create yourself a game.

Okay, so yeah, maybe you don’t know how to program and, well maybe you don’t know how to draw either. Ohhh, but you don’t have to. Isn’t that great?!

There are also plenty of tools out there that you can use to put your game together. And there are even tools that you don’t even have to draw for. Ever hear of a little game called Neverwinter Nights? Oh yes, that fun little game created by the makers of Baldur’s Gate has added a tool that you can create your own stories playable by others. And what’s great about that is that there are plenty of websites out there that you can advertise your games on and thousands of players may even download it and play it if it’s a good enough story.

BioWare, the people who created Neverwinter Nights, are even putting on a great contest right now. They’re allowing people to submit their best stories through the prose of game. If your story is good enough, you might be one of the lucky people to work for Bioware. Take a look at their “A Contest That May Become Your Career” contest. That’s a lot of contesting, right there.

Here’s a small snippet of what is to be expected from you:

“Here is what you need to know to enter:

BioWare asks for writers to create a Neverwinter Nights module to tell their story using the Aurora Toolset. There are a lot of options to consider when creating a module in the Toolset, but it is important to remember that BioWare will only be interested in the writing.

When hiring writers, BioWare looks only at your writing; not the areas, not the special scripting, and not the combat. We evaluate only the characters, the dialogue, the plot, the non-linear structure, and the flow and pace of the story. To be eligible for this contest, please submit a Neverwinter Nights module that follows these parameters:

• A maximum of four characters. One player character and a maximum of three non-playable characters.
• A maximum of 3500 words in total including dialogue and setting.
• You must tell a complete story in the form of a traditional BioWare side-quest and account for different endings/ multiple resolutions.
• You are only allowed to use one 4×4 area in the Toolset to tell your whole story.
• No combat or special skill use.
• Just use the NWN retail toolset; don’t use any community add-ons.
• Some additional guidelines to keep in mind:
• Dialogue should be no longer than 2-3 lines at a time.
• Do not use modern slang.
• Use a medieval fantasy setting.”

It looks like it doesn’t even have to be a good game, as long as it’s a GREAT story. So, if you have Neverwinter’s Night, get to writing. Otherwise, buy it, because it rules. And because I said so.

Found via [BioWare]

Post from: Play Designs

• Lead Web Software Engineer
• 3D Environmental Artist
• Customer Service Representative
• Technical Animator
• Telecom Administrator
• Associate Software Engineer – Tools

Mmmmm… HOT.

Post from: Play Designs