by Willy Franzen on February 23, 2010
Apparently my parents and sister have engaged in a never-ending series of online Scrabble games played via iPhone. I’m with my parents in Florida right now, and every five minutes they’re bugging each other to make the next move. It’s crazy. Free online gaming has hit the masses, and it isn’t pretty. There are tons of new online gaming companies, and while some are focusing on bringing new gamers to the market, others are more focused on gaining ground with serious gamers. Culver City, CA based Riot Games is a perfect example of the latter. They are behind League of Legends, a free online role-playing game that is set in an imaginative world. The game has been downloaded more than a million times, and Riot Games has received $20 million in venture capital investment based on the game. $8 million of that investment came from a Chinese gaming company that has a huge user base, so this is very much an international play.
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by Willy Franzen on December 4, 2009
As a kid I wasn’t a total video/computer game junkie, but I certainly spent my fair share of time sitting in front of a screen playing games. One of my favorites was a game that I played on my Mac called The Secret of Monkey Island. I figured that the game series had been discontinued long ago, but it appears that a relatively new company called Telltale Games has resurrected the series while also developing some new story-based games. Telltale Games is based in San Rafael, CA, and, as they put it, they are “the first and only studio to release interactive episodic content on a monthly schedule.” They seem to have found an interesting niche in the gaming industry, and they’re having success across platforms that include Wii, Xbox360, and the PC.
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by Willy Franzen on November 16, 2009
Usually when I’m talking about jobs in gaming, I’m talking about jobs in the video game industry, but today “gaming” means something a little different. We’re going to take a look at WMS Gaming, a Chicago based company that produces the machines that you find in casinos. I found out about them from Brill Street’s list of Top 50 Gen-Y Employers in Chicago (which is surprisingly light on companies with entry level jobs available—I think the #1 thing a company can do to be “Gen-Y friendly” is hire new grads). WMS was founded in 1943 by Harry Williams, a Stanford engineer, who invented the tilt mechanism for pinball machines (which prevents cheating and damaging the machine). Luckily for WMS Gaming, the decline of the pinball industry coincided with the rise of the casino industry, so their transition to focusing solely on slot machines went pretty easily in 1999. I guess people would rather win—err lose—real money than “points.”
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by Willy Franzen on August 13, 2009
After a second company used the term “rockstar” in their job postings, it became clichéd. I know that I’ve said this before, but no matter how good your coding skills (or whatever other rockstar skills employers look for) are, you’re never going to be a rockstar. Unless, of course, you land a job at Rockstar Games. If you work there, at least you’ll be a rockstar in name. You may not have a guitar, but you’ll be working for the company behind video game series like Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, and Manhunt. And for those of you who have a different taste in games, they’ve got Table Tennis for the Wii. I keep harping on the fact that the video game industry is doing well, but it’s just so impressive. Other content producers like newspapers, magazines, record labels, and move producers are struggling with changes in how we consume content, but video game companies keep humming along—and Rockstar Games is no exception.
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by Willy Franzen on July 21, 2009
Have you ever tried mochi? It’s delicious, right? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, mochi is “a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and molded into shape.” Ok, so that doesn’t make it sound good, but when it comes filled with ice cream it’s extraordinary. Now, I’m not sure why Mochi Media chose to name their company after a delicious Japanese treat, but it seems to be working for them. They’re a San Francisco based company that happens to run the largest ad network for online Flash games—they reach over 100 million gamers.
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by Willy Franzen on May 28, 2009
I’ve already written posts on Activision (Guitar Hero), Harmonix (Rock Band), and Tapulous (Tap Tap Revenge), but can you ever really get enough of the music playing video game genre? Of course not! That’s why we’re looking at JamLegend today. How are they different from the other game makers that I just mentioned? First, JamLegend is free. Second, it offers more songs. Third, you can use your computer keyboard as a guitar. Fourth and most importantly, it’s social! You can play your friends, you can play the world, and you can even enter tournaments to win prizes. JamLegend isn’t just the name of the game, it’s also the name of the company, a small startup based out of San Francisco.
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by Willy Franzen on April 28, 2009
It’s been almost 6 months since I first started talking about how the video game industry is a good place to find a job during a recession, yet I continue to be amazed by how aggressively some gaming companies are hiring. I don’t know if it’s a result of the fact that people buy video games when they’re unemployed or it’s that hard to find people to fill these jobs, but I’m shocked to see a company like Bungie with 21 job openings – many of which appear to be suitable for new grads. Now, Bungie and I go way back. I’ve been using Macs since the early 90s, and Bungie was one of the premier game creators for Macs. Although I was never a serious gamer, I definitely have fond memories of Bungie’s first huge success – Marathon. Then they hit it big with Halo. Microsoft bought them out, and they picked up shop and moved (all of their employees chose to follow the company) to Kirkland, WA.
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by Willy Franzen on April 15, 2009
One of the cool things about all of the social technologies that we have these days is that it removes a lot of social inefficiency. What do I mean by social inefficiency? How about the fact that you’re sitting in an airport waiting for a delayed flight even though your friend is 3 gates away and you have no idea. You’re probably not going to call that friend randomly, but a Facebook or Twitter update might alert you to the fact that you have someone to hang out with for the next hour or two. There are a million examples like this, and Raptr, a Mountain View, CA based startup, has created some technology to address one inefficiency in particular – gaming alone. Ok, so they’re not going to invite your friends over to play video games with you, but they will allow you to find out which of your friends are playing what video games when, so that you can link up and play together. Social gaming is huge, but it’s happening mostly on non-gaming platforms like Facebook. Raptr is trying to bring this technology to more traditional gaming systems and aggregate your information across the social networks that you already use.
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by Willy Franzen on March 27, 2009
If you’ve been reading every day for the past few months, you’ve probably heard me talk about the recession/video game paradox. When people are out of work, they often play lots of video games. (I also think that people who play lots of video games are often out of work.) Some might claim that video games sap productivity from our economy, but I’d argue otherwise. When a recession hits and lots of unemployed people start gaming, it actually creates jobs in game development. So, when you’re jamming to Rock Band 2 for 9 hours straight instead of job searching, don’t feel too bad, because your purchase made it possible for someone with a little more ambition, initiative, and drive to land a job at Boston based Harmonix. That’s how the economy works. Isn’t it a beautiful thing? If only your high score translated into dollars…
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by Willy Franzen on March 12, 2009
So, when I first typed the name of today’s company into the title field in WordPress, I wrote OMGPOOP. Most companies probably wouldn’t be very happy that I made that mistake, but I feel like NYC based OMGPOP wouldn’t mind so much. They seem to have a penchant for the ridiculous. I mean, they just changed their name from ImInLikeWithYou.com to OMGPOP. Since you probably have no idea what I’m talking about, we should probably start from the top. OMGPOP “is a place to hang out, play free online multiplayer games, chat, and make friends.” They’re very different from other online gaming sites, although it’s hard to describe how. You really need to check them out to get a feel for what they’re all about. When you land on their home page, you’ll see this: “Why hang out with your friends in person when you can do it on the internet? No need to wear clothes that way. Seriously, this is bigger than unicorns and wrestling put together.” That about sums it up.
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by Willy Franzen on February 19, 2009
If you’re sitting around playing video games instead of being a diligent job seeker, then you’re the reason that companies like Kaos Studios are on “a hiring binge.” I guess that’s a good thing because you’re creating jobs for other people. It won’t do much for you, but you can call it an act of selflessness. I continue to be amazed by how well video game companies are doing in such a rough economy. The connection between unemployment and gaming seems to be pretty clear (although the question of which comes first is yet to be answered). I’d rather you enroll in our job search training course, than buy a couple of new games, but I’d imagine that the folks at Kaos Studios would disagree. They’re a NYC based video game and their most recent title is Frontlines: Fuel of War – yes, it’s a shoot ‘em up.
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by Willy Franzen on January 30, 2009
As we noted when we featured Blizzard’s entry level jobs, video game sales tend to do really well when unemployment is high. This is one of those times that you’re probably thinking about buying a Wii/Xbox 360/PS3 and forgoing the job search for the comfort of your parents’ basement. As much fun as it might be for the first 6 months, that’s not the answer. That’s why Jason Seiden and I are announcing our 21 day online job search training course today. It’s called Found Your Career, and it’s open for enrollment. We’re offering an introductory price to the first 100 students to sign up, so get in before the price goes up. It’s a great way to put all of that video gaming energy to good use (and it’s much more affordable). Another way to put that energy to use is by considering jobs with Santa Monica, CA based Activision, the company that is behind Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, and many more games. Video games are hot now, but now’s not the time to hone your expert level skills on Guitar Hero, it’s time to hone your job search approach by developing new skills and focusing on industries that are still growing in tough times.
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by Willy Franzen on November 20, 2008
Some people seem to think that this financial crisis is a sign that the end of the world is coming. Well, I can assure you that it is not going to lead to the end of the World… of Warcraft. Why’s that? Because video game sales were up 18% from last October to this October. I guess when you can’t find a job, a new video game seems like a smart investment (you have a lot of time on your hands). I’d recommend that you invest in our job search training course instead, but that’s just my opinion. So, even if you’re frustrated by your job search, don’t give up on the World… of Warcraft. Not only can video games give you a way to blow off your steam while you’re getting pwned by your job search, they can also provide you ideas for new employers to look into. For instance, Irvine, CA based Blizzard Entertainment, the company behind World of Warcraft seems to be on a hiring binge. Maybe your 1337 gaming skills aren’t useless (and don’t tell me that you don’t need a job because you’re mining cybergold). Oh yeah, and if you’re playing Hello Kitty Island Adventure, you’re doing it wrong, n00b.
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by Willy Franzen on September 3, 2008
We haven’t been able to find any hard statistics to back it up, but we’re pretty sure that a lot of people use their dog’s name for their passwords. Just look at Paris Hilton, whose cell phone supposedly got hacked because someone was able to find her dog’s name on her MySpace page. That story has since been discredited, but it can be a fable for the 21st century. Instead of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” we will tell our kids “The Girl Who Used Her Dog’s Name As Her Password.” So, if you’re trying to guess someone’s password (which you shouldn’t be), their dog’s name is a great first guess. If you don’t know their dog’s name, guess “Max.” Apparently 1% (which is a lot) of dogs in the U.S. share that name. Marc Pincus really blew it when he decided to name is social gaming network startup after his dog. Nobody would have ever guessed Zynga – he wasted a great password.
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by Willy Franzen on December 14, 2007
Do you remember the Far Side cartoons by Gary Larson? There was one with two parents watching their son playing a video game. Both parents had thought bubbles coming from their heads with dreams of classified ads listing high-paying video game testing job after high-paying video game testing job. Their dream has come true. A career in video games is a reality for today’s college graduates. Unfortunately, those video game jobs aren’t always as dreamy as they might seem. The industry is known for a high rate of burnout; however, Insomniac Games is not one of the culprits – for the past 3 years they have been in the Top 10 of HR Magazine’s List of the Best Small & Medium Companies to Work for in America.
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by Willy Franzen on December 3, 2007
We have exciting news today at One Day, One Job! We’re offering you the chance to win this year’s hottest holiday gift, a Nintendo Wii, by sharing One Day, One Job with your job searching friends. If you want to win a Wii, visit our contest page and read the rules on how you can enter.
Since we think giving away a Wii is the best way to bribe you into becoming a One Day, One Job evangelist, we thought it would be appropriate to take a brief look at the jobs that Nintendo is offering at the entry-level. We’ve been working really hard putting together this contest for you, so we’re going to leave most of the research on Nintendo’s entry-level job opportunities up to you. You already know enough about the company, you grew up playing Mario. Here’s what to focus on…
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