I read an article on Kotaku recently about how some of the people involved in Insomniac’s Resistance: Fall of Man game left to start a studio in China. I find this very intriguing because it is exactly the same thing that I have been noticing about the US games industry as well… but even more so, I think this is a problem with the American culture and work ethic.
People in the US live to work. People in other countries work to live. For example, people in the US wake up every day go to work (often doing 12 hour days), then go home and sleep. This happens 7 days a week! And, I’ve seen this not only in the games industry, but in the financial, medical, and advertisement industries too. In other countries, people work their 8 hour days and guard their remaining 16 hours and 2 days on the weekends with their lives.
So this is a really an endemic problem with working in the US. Chris Pfeiffer made some really good points that I have been saying ever since my experience working in the games industry in Australia:
I am simply a guy that has been in the industry approaching 13 years and knows that something has to give. If we as an industry are going to keep raising the bar, the attriton rate of top people has to decline
and
there’s a better way to work, and live, than the way western studios currently operate
Finally, Pfeiffer expresses a point that I have been emphasizing ever since I left the coal mines at Electronic Arts:
We want to make great games while living a good life
Is that too much to ask? Do I have to move to another country to get it… right now, I think the answer is a definite YES.
This song is just too awesome for words. It’s written and sung by Jonathan Coulton I totally felt this way at my last job… as I mentioned in a previous post. It really hits the nail on the head as to how I felt about that girl.
A couple of the lines that really strike a chord with me are:
Code Monkey have boring meeting, with boring manager Rob.
Code Monkey have long walk back to cubicle, he sit down pretend to work. Code Monkey not thinking too straight. Code Monkey not feeling so great.
Code Monkey have every reason to get out this place. Code Monkey just keep on working. See your soft pretty face.
This job fulfilling in creative way… such a load a crap!
Talk about the story of my life! Jonathan Coulton you are a genius.
yah sometimes i think if i were born a guy and in US, i would be exactly like you /haha
I’ve never met anyone like this before. She is everything I want to be. She is everything I aspire to be. I have never met someone that I have so much in common with. So, why can’t I be with her? Because she found her home somewhere else.
I can’t blame her… if I found my home, I would never let it go. But, I wonder if I will ever meet someone like her again. Will I ever find my home? I know, I should just move on… and let go. I said I could before, but I can’t. I don’t know what will happen. I can’t choose who I fall in love with.
Do I have regrets? Yeah. Every day that went by that I didn’t tell her how I felt. Every night I spent wondering why I wasn’t with her. I told her I had one big regret… one that I couldn’t tell her. If we ever meet again in real life… I don’t expect to regret it.
About
Food, Travel, and Entertainment... the three most important things in life! I'm a video game player, a video game developer, a fulltime foodie, and a wandering soul. I'm passionate about life and believe in pursuing my dreams. I strive to be original and real, and I believe in meaning and truth. I'm a person in search of something... a Dreamer, a Gamer, a Traveller, a Foodie... on my longest journey.
