New year.... New challenges... Specialist Study 1

With the final year now beginning I have to really push what I have learnt over the last two years and apply it to a professional practice. Having reviewed and reflected on the last two years I feel that my route lies within the games pathway and for my specialist study I would like to pursue a game orientated project.

Why games????


So the question remains why the games industry? Below is an article from the TIGA website about the current state of the UK games industry which may provide some insight into why the games industry is the place to be in right now and definately for years to come. TIGA are the official governing body representing the games industry within the UK and even hold seats within Parliment to secure the best interests of the industry.


'The UK video games industry is the largest in Europe and the UK is a world class location for video game development. The UK boasts a substantial and highly qualified talent pool, some of the finest video games studios globally, technical as well as creative excellence, an ongoing ability to generate products that sell well globally and to create original video games IP. The UK is home to the studios that have developed video games such as Grand Theft Auto IV (the fastest selling entertainment product of all time), Runescape, the Fable series, Broken Sword and LittleBigPlanet.

The video game sector offers opportunities for growth and high value, high technology job creation for the UK. Estimates from PWC suggest that the global market for video games will grow from $52.5 billion in 2009 to $86.8 billion in 2014. TIGA’s ambition is to make the UK the best place in the world to do games business and so enable the UK games industry and the UK economy to secure a growing share of this huge market. 

The UK games development sector contributes approximately £1 billion to UK Gross Domestic Product  per annum. 

The UK games industry employs 9,000 highly skilled development staff, 85 per cent of whom are employed outside of London. 80 per cent of the workforce in game studios such as Blitz, Climax, Exient, Jagex, Kuju Entertainment, Rebellion and Ubisoft Reflections are qualified to degree level or above.   

The UK game development sector is R&D intensive. Two fifths of UK game developers have a budget dedicated to R&D. UK game developers spend on average 20 per cent of turnover on R&D.   

UK game developers are export focused. 95 per cent of UK game businesses export at least some of their games/services to overseas markets. On average, 45 per cent of a UK games business’s turnover is generated from the export of games.   

The video games sector is also low carbon in output. Most of the work in games development involves design on computers, the packaging in games is minimal and box products are relatively light to manufacture and to transport. In the future, video games will become even more low carbon in nature as the industry moves towards digital distribution.

' - (www.tiga.org)


So there's alot of figures and stats above and alot of factual information relating to the games industry within the UK but it is NOT why I as a person want to pursue this career pathway (although it is still relevant). Games for me represent our ability to create interactive escapism and it allows us to put reality on hold and dive into a world that is only limited by the imaginations of the brilliant people who create these games. I too want to be able to create something that as unlikely as it sounds in the real world, it can be achieved through a game and will still be believable to all those that immerse themselves within it. Games have always played a pivotal role within my life and have in some ways defined me as a person and so I want to be able to do that for other people an let them experience what I have felt growing up playing games.

Trailer for Gears of War 3

Trailer for Assasins Creed Revelations

Trailer for Battlefield 3

With technology advancing every single day the games of today are really pushing the boundaries and giving the audiences experiences that previously would've just sounded plain crazy. In an industry that pushes forward every single day breaking down the barrier between movies and games you really need to know your stuff so for me to start pushing towards it I really need to step up my game and hopefully this project will aid me in my ambitions.

My aim is to develop and create a playable games character within the constraints of a deadline.