Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Interview with Naughty Dog’s Justin Richmond

The idea is that you can have a load of third party support for a platform, but the developers work as separate entities from each other. You’re not going to see say the Alan Wake devs giving up their latest tech / code / features to developers at Square Enix. But if you have a very strong, deep collaborative environment like Sony has set up with their first (and tight second) parties, you start building a very comprehensive platform of development that would be next to impossible working alone. The sum becomes far greater than it’s parts.

Case and point what I saw on my Twitter with Evan Wells from Naughty Dog on April 21st:

“Loving a new feature we added to Uncharted 2 a few weeks ago. Thanks Michiel from Guerrilla Games and Alex from @insomniacgames!”

Evan later followed up by saying this:

“The new feature has to do with the way in which we render the graphics. It really helps the overall impression. We’ll give details later.”

So you know those Uncharted 2 videos and screens that have been making people’s jaws drop to the floor? Because of the collaborative environment that Sony has built up, the game is going to look a step better yet.

I for one am really excited to see what they can come up with by sharing and building upon their technology together. It’s going to be one heck of a ride. Knock Sony for an overly expensive console and for not marketing their games as well as Microsoft. But they have a beast of a first party dev team and a platform of technology that is second to none. And this isn’t a result just because of their size, but because of their open nature between each other.

While it seems Microsoft is more content spending money on exclusive DLC for GTA4, Fallout 3 and asking for an expansion in the form of Halo 3: ODST, Sony is hitting it hard to give themselves a technology base that will potentially push gaming a lot further. Hats off to Sony for not playing it safe by spending money on 3rd party exclusives that will do little to push their technology forward.

So give Sony a break. Killzone 2 for example wasn’t an example of $75+ million spent on a game. It was a big investment not just for the Killzone franchise, but also Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3, Jax and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Warhawk 2, Resistance 3, God of War 3, the Team ICO game and more.

When you have the sick amount of developer talent working together that Sony has currently, you’re building something that will have far more impact than money spent on DLC exclusives. It’s a great time to be a PS3 owner. Bring on E3.

Twitter Source

From what we’ve seen, this game looks to be topping the visual details in Gears of War 2. What’s more impressive is the fact that there is apparently no loading time at all in this game. The fact that this can be done with SO much detail and debris everywhere is quite impressive.

Below are a few examples of the lighting and layers of filter effects used in Killzone 2 that stand out.

Below are some strong game art and design educational options for those interested in this focus on the game dev process.

ITT Tech: Digital Entertainment & Game Design Degree

The ITT Technical Institutes offer a bachelor degree in Digital Entertainment and Game Design. Courses in this program offer a strong foundation in digital game design through the study of subjects such as gaming technology, game design process, animation, level design and general education coursework.  ITT Tech has 90+ campuses across the US, so finding a campus shouldn’t be too hard.

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The Art Institutes: Game Art & Design Bachelor of Science Degree

The Art Institute courses have been designed with extensive input from game-industry professionals and focus on the artistic side of games - not on computer programming.

You will concentrate on the specifics needed as a professional game artist: -Scene and set design, Motion capture, Character development, Visual storytelling, Game design strategies, 3D animation, Low-polygon modeling, Game level design, Texture mapping…. In other words, a lot of the fun stuff. : )

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Westwood College of Technology - Online: Bachelor - Game Art and Design

Strong creativity, design, computer, and problem solving skills are the keys for success in this exciting and growing field. With these specialized skills in mind, Westwood College has designed a Bachelor degree program in Game Art and Design.

As with all Westwood College programs, you’ll acquire real-world applied knowledge through our hands-on teaching approach. Best of all, Westwood also provides you the conceptual knowledge you need to be productive and successful in your new career.

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Collins College: Bachelor - Game Design

The educational objective of the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Game Design program is to provide the knowledge, skills and experience needed to prepare the student for employment in entry-level positions in the field of Game Design. The Bachelor of Arts Degree in Game Design program educates the student in professional and general education courses with an emphasis in designing and writing supporting documentation for 2D and 3D games and includes programming and a 3D animation application.

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Outlook for the Video Game Developer

Despite some economic hiccups and bumps in the US and world markets, jobs in video game development still remain in high demand. In fact, consumers seem to focus more time and their money on entertainment at home during economic slowdowns, and less on entertainment like movie theatres, sporting events and so on. So while you might hear about industries getting hit by economic problems, video game development seems to be far less affected, and the industry continues to grow with record numbers.

Game Development Training & Education

With such a high demand in video game development, it’s really important that you get the proper training so you can compete and have a strong understanding of the whole process. With such insane deadlines, there is no time to learn from the ground up on the job. That’s why it’s vital to find a good strong program or programs that will prepare you for what’s ahead. Luckily, there are game development degrees and programs that have VERY specific focus dedicated just to video game development and design.

A Game Programming degree offers a good foundation for the various vital technical aspects of video game development. This includes game engine development, artificial intelligence, scripting and more. You can expect to work with the latest development software and build a strong comprehension of the programming languages C++ as well as C#. Graduates of a Game Programming degree will be well equipped for placement in a game studio as game engine programmers, AI programmers, scripters and more. Below are some strong game programming educational options for those interesting in this exciting field of development.

DeVry University:  Game and Simulation Programming Bachelor’s Degree

DeVry’s Game and Simulation Programming curriculum prepares graduates to join the private and public sector game software industry in a variety of software development roles across the game programming life cycle, including programmer, software engineer and project coordinator. Applications-oriented, the program provides preparation in the math and physics of games; programming fundamentals; game design; modifications (MOD) and massively multi-player online game (MMOG) programming; two- and three-dimensional graphics programming; and simulation and game engine design. Also included is a full complement of general education courses, recommended by game industry experts as critical for well-rounded development team members.

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Westwood College: Bachelor - Game Software Development

Thousands who work in the video game industry say their passion for playing is what drew them to their jobs. They’ve designed this degree program to focus specifically on software engineering fundamentals and game software development. You’ll be able to apply these skills to high-tech careers in fields like game development and interactive entertainment.

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Minnesota School of Business: Associate - Programming & Game Development

The educational objective of the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Game Design program is to provide the knowledge, skills and experience needed to prepare the student for employment in entry-level positions in the field of Game Design. The Bachelor of Arts Degree in Game Design program educates the student in professional and general education courses with an emphasis in designing and writing supporting documentation for 2D and 3D games and includes programming and a 3D animation application.

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