This Saturday 2/25,  join Game Center Professor Katherine Isbister at the Game Innnovation for a full day of interaction design, soldering, and programming!  This free, all-day workshop will get you thinking and making games with new kinds of interation.  More information on the Game Innovation Lab site: http://gil.cite.poly.edu/2012/02/07/one-button-workshop-for-one-button-games-rsvp-now/

RSVP is required, join now!

On February 14th at 7pm bring someone you love to to Babycastles to hear Game Center staffer Dylan McKenzie, Game Center student Grant Reid, and Max Sebela discuss their  new game with a talk entitled: “Do You Love Me? A Talk About Love, Trust, and Data Collection”.  It’s part of a larger evening of cool lectures on issues of Gender and Love also featuring talks by Jared Sorensen & Luke Crane: “Roll for Romance: Gender, Crossplay and Romance in Roleplaying Games” and Lizzie Stark: “LARP Love, Not War: Scandinavian Methods for Sexy Roleplaying”.

Check here for more details and RSVP.

Do games belong in the university? Do you need a degree to make games? What can we get out of studying them? What is the connection between research and design? Join us for a spirited conversation with the faculty of the NYU Game Center to discuss the complex relationship between games and higher education. Frank Lantz will moderate Katherine Isbister, Jesper Juul, and Eric Zimmerman as they debate these important issues and discuss the work they are doing to create a shared vision for the study of games at the NYU Game Center.

The talk will begin at 7:00 PM in room 006 in the lower level of 721 Broadway, and is open to students, faculty, and the general public. We welcome everyone, whether your research and teaching is related to games or you are simply curious about this rapidly evolving field. Please come, and feel free to bring any interested NYU colleagues.

Space is limited, please RSVP here.

With classes back in session and 2012 officially under way, it’s a good time to start setting the tone for the next few months. You’ve probably already set some goals for yourself – playing more games and making more games not least among them. If you’re an aspiring game developer, I’d like to add one more resolution to your list…

Set up date for coffee.

Take a local game dev out for coffee!

Love life aside, if you’re just starting out in the games industry, coffee dates are a thing you should be doing Right Now. Rather than a distant goal to work towards, this is something you can do as a student or someone who’s still looking for their “break.” It’s available immediately, it doesn’t take much time, and it’s inexpensive.

Step 1: Find a local game developer whose work interests you. They might be working in a role that you’re hoping to pursue, or they could be in a different role but creating games in a genre that you find appealing. As long as you have a sincere interest in the experiences they have to share, they’re a good candidate.

Step 2: Reach out to them! Generally this means by email, though if you’re familiar with the politesse of social media those outlets can work too. Be genuine and friendly, and express your interest in chatting with them about [Thing You're Interested In] over a cup of coffee or tea. Don’t be pushy.

Step 3: Prepare your questions. If your local dev accepts, start prepping. Obviously you don’t want to interrogate them, but you do want to come with specific questions in mind. Generally, you should ask about their personal experiences, ie: How would you describe your career path? What’s your day-to-day like? What are the perks (and downsides) of working on x type of games? A few broader questions can be fine, but mostly steer clear of loosey-goosey pseudo-philosophical brain teasers. Of course, if you’re chatting with someone who you know eats that stuff up, then you’re free to go all in on “games as art.” Your mileage may vary, but err on the side of not wasting someone’s time!

Step 4: Meet! This should be the easy (and most fun) part. The guidelines here are pretty intuitive: don’t be late, wear clean clothes, smile and make eye contact. Refer to your questions as desired, and feel free to take notes.

Step 5: Follow up.Thank the person for their time at the end of the meeting, and make sure to send them a follow up email thanking them again. If you had any other quick questions you can add them here. If you thought the meeting was successful, you should contact your dev from time to time to keep in touch.

Do’s and Don’ts

DON’T push for details in the first email. You’re gauging interest at this point, nothing more.

DO find someone approachable. Targeting junior or mid-level people is a good place to start. Their experiences are likely more relatable, and they’re almost more likely to be available.

DO give people an out. Make it okay for them to say no without feeling bad: “If you’re too busy to meet, I completely understand.”

DON’T be defensive, angry, or disheartened if your game dev can’t meet with you. Move on to the next!

DO be flexible about time and location. You should always do your best to work with their schedule and travel to a location convenient for them.

DON’T rely on Starbucks having empty seats. Scope out the area around where you’re planning to meet, so that you can easily head somewhere else if it’s too crowded.

DO offer to pay for the person’s drink. It’s a small gesture to show that you appreciate their time. It helps that coffee is a lot cheaper than a nice dinner!

AT YOUR OWN RISK you can suggest grabbing beer instead of coffee. The benefit of suggesting coffee is that it’s very neutral. Most coffee shops offer a variety drinks which cover a range of dietary options. Suggesting beers or drinks at a bar implies a more personal connection and can put someone in an awkward position. I’d advise against taking that chance unless you already know the person.

What if I can’t meet someone in person?

If you’re able to see someone in person, you should definitely keep a face-to-face meeting as your goal. Digital communication is a poor substitute for chatting in meatspace. That said, meeting in person isn’t always possible. If you live in suburbia and don’t have reliable access to a major city like NYC, for example, it can be particularly difficult. There’s also the not-unlikely chance that someone you really want to talk to lives hundreds of miles away.

Don’t despair! You can (and should) still make an effort to reach out to these devs. However, I’d suggest a slightly different approach. Generally, a cold email has a better chance of garnering a reply if you’re suggesting meeting up to continue the conversation. This shows that you’re invested in the person’s response and that you value the experiences they have to share. Since you don’t have that going for you when the game developer you want to connect with is on the opposite coast, it’s best to establish your sincerity in another way.

This is one of the biggest reasons I’m such a fan of Twitter. You can follow the updates of people who share your interests, even those who have your “dream job.” If you’re amiable, engaged, and don’t come across as a raving sycophant, Twitter fosters a great sense of community among like-minded people. In the past, if I wanted to get in touch with someone I followed on Twitter, I’ve used a quick and easy two-part method.

Step 1: Message the person, asking if they’d be okay with you sending them some questions via email. If you’re polite and they’re not incredibly busy, they’ll likely get back to you with their email address.

Step 2: Send them an email. Give a (brief) summary of your background, then get to your (brief) set of questions. Thank them twice: at the beginning of your introduction, and again for their time at the end of the message. You really want to keep things as short and sweet as possible, especially if you don’t regularly communicate with this person.

Twitter’s a particularly good platform for digital introductions because you can find lots of game developers working on all types of games and the sense of close community makes everyone more inclined to take a minute to talk. Thanks to this spirit, I’ve been able to talk games writing with the Lore Lead of Rift, volunteering at GDC with a Community Manager of Guild Wars 2, and modding with a game designer for Skyrim. I didn’t follow these folks on Twitter so I could mine them for info, but thanks to the community, when I had some questions they were there to help. Recently I’ve fielded questions from people interested in moving to NYC to pursue indie game development, so in turn I try to do my part to keep the good will circulating.

If you are really adverse to using Twitter – and some people certainly are – cold emails can work. The best way to go in this case is to quickly establish how you know the person (or found out about them), and why you’re contacting them. You can get into the short summary of yourself and your questions after that, but you shouldn’t go more than 3 lines with your reader wondering who you are or why you’re emailing them.

To wrap it all up…

You may have been thinking to yourself, “You know, this seems pretty applicable to everyone, not just game devs.” If you have, you’re right – you got me! Coffee dates are an excellent tool for almost anyone interested in breaking into a field, or making a career transition.

That said, I do think they’re particularly useful for young game developers. The games industry can be very difficult to navigate, especially if you’re approaching it as someone completely new. There aren’t many examples of traditional career trajectories when it comes to working in games, so the best way to find out more is from the anecdotes of the people who’ve cut their own path through the jungle.

If you’re someone who hasn’t set up a coffee date before, now’s the time. Take a moment to think of someone you could feasibly meet with, and find a way to get in touch with them. Do it right now, and make 20-minutes-into-the-future-you proud.

Tonight the NYU Game Center will be hosting the New York Videogames Critics Circle Awards Show!  Unfortunately for many, we filled up  our RSVP list on the first day and had to turn down many of you because of it.  But because of your interest in the event, we’ve decided to live stream it for you all to watch from the comfort of your home.

The stream will go live around 7:30PM EST at the following links:

http://www.livestream.com/nygamecritics?t=690999

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nygamecritics

Thanks for your interest in our events and we look forward to speaking with you all and hearing what you have to say about the event on the stream!

On February 8th, Frank Rimalovski, the director of the NYU Innovation Venture Fund, will give a short presentation on all of the resources available at NYU to support entrepreneurs. For those uninitiated, the NYU Innovation Venture Fund is a seed-stage venture capital fund created in 2010 to invest in startups built upon NYU technologies and intellectual property.

NYU excels at turning federal research dollars into patentable inventions. In recent years, it has converted intellectual property into more licensing income than Stanford, Columbia, MIT, Harvard, and the University of California system. In two decades, over 100 startups have been built on NYU discoveries and innovations.

To reserve a spot for the lecture, please fill out the following form: http://bit.ly/xpAhKD

The New York Videogame Critics Circle in conjunction with New York University’s Game Center is happy to announce the host and entertainment for its first annual awards ceremony on February 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the Cantor Film Center.

Logan Cunningham (the voice of The Narrator and Rucks in Bastion) will host.

Bastion’s Darren Korb and Ashley Barrett will perform music from the game during the event.

“Bastion is not only a terrific game. It features pitch perfect acting by Logan Cunningham and what should be Grammy-nominated music by Darren Korb and Ashley Barrett. We are just extremely proud to have them as part of the program,” says Critics Circle founder Harold Goldberg.

In addition, Bill Plympton, the legendary, twice-Oscar-nominated animator will present an award.

Plympton’s most recent full length masterpiece is “Idiots and Angels.” He was nominated for an Oscar for Short Animation in 1987 for “Your Face” and in 2005 for “Guard Dog.” In the 1990s, Plympton’s work was the subject of a computer game called “Take Your Best Shot.”

Dan Radosh, the Emmy award-winning comedy writer for The Daily Show, will also be one of the presenters.

Radosh himself has written about videogames. One of his last pieces as a journalist was an insightful piece in the New York Times Magazine about Beatles Rock Band. Prior to his stellar work with Jon Stewart, Radosh worked for the groundbreaking Spy magazine and published stories in The New Yorker.

Finally, various members of the Critics Circle themselves will present awards at the ceremony.  “It’s one of those times where I can honestly say that a splendid time is guaranteed for all,” says Goldberg.

A limited amount of tickets to the 1^st Annual New York Videogame Critics Circle Awards will be presented for free. For a free ticket, RSVP at http://bit.ly/Ay44c7 .

Contact: Dana Whitney, dana@oneprstudio.com

Courtesy of http://nygamecritics.com/

Are you considering applying for the Game Center MFA? Join Director Frank Lantz and Game Center faculty for a series of open Q&A sessions to answer all of your questions about our new MFA program in Game Design.

Read all about the program at http://gamecenter.nyu.edu/academics/graduate and then bring your questions to the information session. For those of you that can’t visit live, we will be streaming the information session at http://www.twitch.tv/nyugamecenter. Each session will include a brief presentation on the program, followed by your questions.

RSVP required only if you will be attending the information session on-site.

Game Center MFA Information Sessions
721 Broadway, 9th Floor Lobby
New York, NY
Streamed live at: http://www.twitch.tv/nyugamecenter

January 31, 2012 at 7PM – 9PM
RSVP Here

February 13, 2012 at 10AM – 12PM
RSVP Here

February 24, 2012 at 3PM – 5PM
RSVP Here

NYU Game Center is hosting a Global Game Jam site where students and local developers will be challenged to create a game in only three days!

The Global Game Jam (GGJ) is the world’s largest game jam event occurring annually in late January. GGJ brings together thousands of game enthusiasts participating through many local jams around the world. GGJ is a project of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA).

Last January, the Game Center was proud to host a very successful location for the Global Game Jam 2011. We were one of the largest game sites in the world, bringing in folks from all around the New York area to meet the challenge of making a game in 48 hours. In addition to this success, one of the games made at the Game Center, Ned, You Really Suck the Life Out of the Room was selected by Gamesauce as one of the top 10 games from the 1,487 games made. We look forward to another great year!

More than one hundred people have already reserved a spot for the event so be sure to RSVP right away!

RSVP here: http://bit.ly/xjod4y