Expert: Helen Joan Casper - 2/28/2006

Question
Hi,

I am doing a I-search project at school on the Xbox. As part of
the assignment I have to ask an expert 10 questions. Please
could you answer my questions.

1. What game system do you like the best?
2. Which game do you like the best?
3. Did you ever work or play with xbox?
4. What is the longest you have played a game?
5. How do you make a game?
6. Do you know if it is hard to make games?
7. How do people get the ideas for new games?
8. How long have you been playing games?
9. Would you enjoy working with games?
10. Do you know how much do game developers make?

Any other information would be great

Thank you,

Joe Muckey  

Answer
Hi Joe!

I'd be happy to answer your questions.

1. What game system do you like the best?
-- That's a hard call for me because I like them all! =) The  PlayStation 2 would be my favorite at this moment, because I am a huge fan of RPGs (especially the Final Fantasy series) and those are all PS/PS2 games.

2. Which game do you like the best?
-- The Final Fantasy series games (though the Chrono and Xeno series games are a very close second). Of those, Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 8 are tied for first place. They are so different there's no way I could choose between them. =)

3. Did you ever work or play with xbox?
-- I've played with the Xbox and the Xbox 360. It's a good, solid console and just excellent if you like online shooters.

4. What is the longest you have played a game?
-- Final Fantasy 8 took me about 4 months to complete. However, I'd have to say that if we're talking about all games ever, Sims 2 is the longest thusfar. My husband bought it for me in September of 2004 and I've been playing it since then, usually about once a week. =)

5. How do you make a game?
-- There is a TREMENDOUS amount of work in making a modern-day video game. In a nutshell, any piece of software goes through 3 main stages: design, production, and release. Within those, hundreds to thousands of people are involved over several years. They employ designers, artists, coders, historians, translators, actors, motion capture figures, modelers, testers, etc. Depending on the complexity of the game, it could take years for it to be produced and then released.

6. Do you know if it is hard to make games?
-- Theoretically, you could make a game in 15 minutes with RPG creator or make a very simple Pong-like game in visual basic in 10 minutes. Those games are easy to make if you know how to do it. However, a modern day video game is generally quite difficult to make if you are doing it by yourself. If you have people helping you, a video game could be fairly easy to make- depending, of course, on the complexity of the game.

7. How do people get the ideas for new games?
-- They get the ideas in various ways, just like anyone would get an idea for anything. Some games are based off of other games (e.g. Online Dungeons & Dragons or Half-Life 2), some games are based off of books or movies (e.g. the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings games), some are based off of historical events (e.g. Day of Defeat, WW2 fighter), some are based off of activities (e.g. Dance, Dance Revoltion), and some are just creative endeavors (e.g. Xenogears, CronoTrigger). Just as there is a tremendous amount of diversity in humans, there is a tremendous amount of diversity in video games. There really is a game for everybody.

8. How long have you been playing games?
-- Since I was very little (around 4 years old), so about 23 years now. Of course, back then I was only playing very simple games (i.e. Pong)

9. Would you enjoy working with games?
-- I do enjoy working with games. I am an administrator on two CounterStrike: Source servers and I help my husband with ideas for plug-ins and script packs. If you'd like to see some people coding for games in action, you can look around the forums there: http://mattie.info/cs/forums
Valve encourages their users to develop additions on to their games. I also have two friends who work in the video game industry and I will give them my feedback on various ideas they have. I love working with games and always have loved being around video games.

10. Do you know how much do game developers make?
-- It honestly depends on what company you're working for, what department you're working in, your level of experience, and how good you are at negotiating. In general, the average  video game developer in the United States probably makes around $60,000 - $70,000/yr.  

Let me know if you have any other questions or if there is any other way I can help!

Thanks!
Helen Casper