Hey, I can't argue with experience. I haven't been in development that long yet. I've been lucky enough to briefly work on some pretty big franchises already, but I haven't been around long enough to see a project through to the end. What I've said is just what I've heard from colleagues and their experiences. I guess…

If we're still talking AAA studios, the bonuses can actually often be pretty substantial in games. Whether or not you'll necessarily be able to buy a new mercedes with it depends on the studio and your seniority, but that definitely can happen among the bigger studios. I don't think the artists etc. of movies/tv are…

Nah, you're not alone. I totally agree on all accounts. If anything, it sounds like it's already matured to a better place than I would have expected at this point. If half of all game projects on there were "successful" (meaning they reached their funding goal, not successful as a game), I feel like that would hinder…

Interesting. I've only been working professionally for about a year and am doing well relative to that VentureBeat scale. Maybe I've just gotten lucky and have been at the right studios. I think it helps that I've been working as a contractor, so I get paid more to help compensate for lack of some benefits. That being…

I've always been fond of his "I ain't got time to bleed!"

People always talk about how terrible the money is in game dev. Maybe I've just worked at the right studios, but in my relatively short experience, it's been pretty good so far. I've worked at 4 different studios and only one of them I felt paid poorly.

Just curious, in reference to your estimated game designer salary, where'd you get that number? Also, how are you defining the "average" game designer? As in average AAA game?

While I agree with this whole cataloging movement here, I do feel that Clark, and even this response, has missed some of the true significance of games. Even the more violent, senseless ones (maybe even especially?) are powerful because they can bring people together and create relationships like few other things can.…

This chick's pretty good. She can be a little too breathy sometimes, but in general it definitely works. I'd love to see a collaboration between her and the Metal Meets... guy.

Fell asleep playing Borderlands last night. Just started a new game at like 1:30am, played for a couple hours, it all went fuzzy, then I woke up an hour after that continuously running into a wall with very little health left.

Well, you just said it yourself. The publishers are the problem then. It doesn't make sense to eliminate a franchise enjoyed by millions because publishers are being short-sighted and stupid. They are the heart of the issue, not a successful game.

Well release dates are changed and determined for reasons like that all of the time, not necessarily just because of a big franchise. If games are too similar, they'll often offset the release date. The same thing happens if a publisher is going to release two games in the same genre, they will offset them if they can…

It does seem a little ridiculous though to blame a successful franchise simply for being successful. I think the blame lies squarely on the developers that are trying to cash in. It's those studios who are avoiding any creative risk. I blame the studios that lack the steadfast conviction to stick to their creative…

I'm with you on all points, except I disagree when you say it's an "unsociable" profession. In fact, more than most jobs, games force you to interact with other people constantly. I'm an animator and I interact with other animators, character artists, TD/rigger, texture/lighting guy, a level designer, gameplay…

Keep in mind, though, that marketing doesn't just cover the advertisement. Marketing is all about determining what markets world-wide a game could be successful in. They do extensive testing and analysis on which countries like what, what consoles they have, cultural implications of the game there, etc. etc. to make…

Trailer length: 15 seconds

I'll have to disagree there. I think that film production companies have even MORE influence on a film than a game publisher. Similar to the way some studios have deals with publishers (i.e. Naughty Dog and Sony), some film production companies will let a director more or less do his/her thing if he/she has a proven…

Including Hollywood

I agree. They say this like its a bad thing, like Microsoft was just being lame and overprotective. If left to their own devices, Hollywood would have removed all of the good things about the IP and expanded on some aspect that doesn't matter to the point that it isn't even the same story and idea anymore. I say…

While I may agree with your first point, I don't think you can say it's any different in Hollywood. The EA, Microsoft and Activision of games are just the Universal Studios, Paramount, and 20th Century Fox (etc.) of movies. Production companies in movies are probably worse just because they've dominated the movie…