tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33467129470980924032024-03-13T20:30:19.849+05:30The Indian Game DesignerPoornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-56221904466909192182018-04-16T10:58:00.001+05:302018-04-20T17:58:51.323+05:30Psychology of Social Casino Players<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been meaning to write out psychology of gamers for a while. It so happened, I had to write a part of it for <i><b>Social Casino players</b></i> recently. Since I had penned that down, thought of posting it here as well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/11/24/10/42/addiction-2974642_960_720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Addiction, Amusement, Antique, Bar, Cash, Casino" border="0" height="212" src="https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/11/24/10/42/addiction-2974642_960_720.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Source: <a href="https://goo.gl/KCHxKn">https://goo.gl/KCHxKn</a></td></tr>
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<b>The ADE</b><br />
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In my opinion, any medium that can become an addiction (or a
form of it) can be reduced to two major factors: the excitement and the
release. I <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">relate</i></b> this with (what I like to call) the Adrenaline and
Dopamine effect (ADE) (not to be taken literally as I’m comparing the feeling here
more than the actual electrochemical being released by the brain). <o:p></o:p></div>
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The Adrenaline allows you to rush, give you the illusion of
strength to continue for the goal of the Dopamine release. And once you get the
Dopamine, the mood changes to relief, happiness and willingness to do it again.
Thus it becomes a loop.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The first release is crucial and ideally should be given to
the player at the earliest possible time. This is a (rigged) game design
mechanic that makes the player believe that they can achieve the goal and that
they are good. (Exceptions are always there. For e.g.: Games with punishing
mechanic. But that’s a whole other discussion.) Once the player gets their
first Dopamine hit, they are more willing to push to the next stage of the
game. They are now made to believe that they could be good at it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The idea is to put the player in a good mood.
This leads to them investing more in the game. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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For newly invested players, there is also that one win after
a series of failures that makes the release much more rewarding that regular
wins. Game design can be rigged to do that. Keeping track of a player’s wins
and losses and helping them our after a series of losses, also adds to the
trust factor the player forms with the games. This also plays in with the
gambler’s fallacy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As we move on to largely invested players, the excitement factor
takes over the release. The ‘waiting for the win’ becomes the most sought after
than the actual winning. These players are addicted for the excitement than the
release. This is the phase where you see many players who may complain that the
game is rigged (to an extent they are right, but mostly it is RNG/PRNG).
Irrespective of their complains, most of them continue to play the game.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The game designer’s job is to understand what is it that the
player looks for depending on where they are in the game and come up with a
generic system to provide it for the majority of players. This in turn aids in
coin spend which is revenue generation for the game / casino.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Risk taking<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Gamblers in general are risk takers compared to regular
people. Whether they are playing online casino or land-based, this is one of
the major factor that stays common. The game design should enable players to
satisfy their risk-taking instincts. This in turn leads to revenue for the game
/ casino.<o:p></o:p></div>
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High roller machines or high bet rooms cater to these
people. We can also experiment with smaller chunks of coins but with a chance
of only 50% to win. Bet X amount on a coin toss. Win 4X or lose them all. This
is alluring to many players and also sets them towards the risk taking
path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over time, this becomes <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the high risk, low yield model, which is
essentially what gambling works on but creates an illusion of it being the
reverse.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The ‘almost’ winning<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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When the player is made to believe that they almost made it,
the ‘so close’ feeling makes them reinvest in the game and give themselves
another chance to make the win. As a designer, frequency of cards / numbers /
reels etc can be manipulated in a way where it appears to the player that they
almost won the round. At times, mathematicians are hired to get this done right
for gambling games. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It is no different from regular games except for the math
involved. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A non-gambling example.: In one of the games I had worked
on, was a reskin of a Match3 game. I decided to update the game balancing and
level design of it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The initials levels were made intentionally easy to get
three stars for majority of the players. As the player gets invested, the
levels are made harder with a few breathers in between.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(This can be backtracked to the ADE).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a gradual decrease in the player’s
ability to get the perfect score. And the stars were needed to unlock a new
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The game had its IAPs. Two of
them were:</div>
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<li>Buy extra moves @0.99$</li>
<li>Unlock the world (in case one doesn’t have
enough stars) @4.99$</li>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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In a scenario where the player is short of 5 stars, it would
make a lot more sense to just unlock the world for the cost than buy extra
moves to gain the 5 stars. This led many to believe that the unlock will be the
driving component of the IAP. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Given the target audience, I was willing to bet otherwise. The
sense of achievement of having done a task and being rewarded for it is much
higher than what seems like taking the easy route out. (Again, exceptions are
there, but this was keeping the majority in mind).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we got the data after a couple of months
of the game release, my prediction was true. Players ended up spending way more
money on extra moves instead of opting for the world unlock directly for what
would have been a cheaper alternative.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Side note 1:</i> This
sense of achievement only dips down as the game continues to run for a long
course. Case in point: Social games</div>
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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Side note 2:</i> The
price point also plays a role here. Initially people are more willing to spend
a dollar compared to 5. (ties back to initial risk taking)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p><br /></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The look and feel<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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While this is more on the art and sound department, the idea
is to play around with what stimulates the brain. This also varies as per
regions. What works for the UK market need not work for the US market. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The sound of the coins, the animation of lot of coins etc
make a difference to the early players.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Disclaimer</i></b>: It is not limited to just these factors listed
above. I will probably write the continuation soon (or not soon) <span style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol-ext; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji";">😉</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-91437455797604360322015-03-22T11:29:00.006+05:302015-03-22T12:00:01.707+05:30Women in Games Meetup!To start off, it finally happened! A few of us as part of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/nasscomgamingforum/" target="_blank">NGF</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/129824883836393/" target="_blank">WIG</a> group (especially Shruti) were thinking about it, but something or the other always put the plan on the back burner. This time too we picked the date and announced it but later realized it fell on a festival day. We also had some trouble with the venues at some areas. But we got past all that hurdles and finally hosted this awesome meet across 7 cities!<br />
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We had Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai women joining in. We also had some really nice men who helped us organize this meet. Cheers to them!<br />
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Special mention to our one woman army in Chennai, Asmita! More power to you, girl! It starts with one :D<br />
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<b><u>Bangalore Special (21st March 2015)</u></b></div>
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<i>The Bangalore meetup had a RSVP that went closer to 18, but had only 10 women who could make it. Owing to the Ugadi festival, some women couldn't sign up either. If all that is to be considered, then we should on an ideal day hit an easy 25-30. Let's hope we see that day soon!</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Radha, Neha, Poornima, Megha, Arundhati, Garima, Pavithra, Anupam, Jennifer, Sujatha</td></tr>
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There was a Video games meetup before our WIG meetup and I headed there first. I met Arundhati there and we headed to the WIG meetup together. Arundhati is full of enthusiasm and energy and it can rub off on you! XD<br />
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We reached the venue around 2:45 pm and we had Megha, our punctuality queen, waiting there for us! She got there before I (being the organizer) did. <i>(The meetup was at 3 pm, so don't judge me! :P)</i><br />
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Next to get there was Neha, who despite not keeping well came to the meet. It's hard to get that girl to rest! :P Accompanying her was our knight in shining armor; Vijay. Also our photographer for the event!<br />
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While I got around setting up the laptop for the Google hangout with the other cities, we had Garima who joined us. Garima, the sole artist in the meetup decided to take the plunge and come all the way although her friends had a change of plan in the last moment! Kudos to her!<br />
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Next to join us was Anupam and Jennifer; the pretty BFFs! ^^<br />
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Then came along Radha, a children's book author who has published many books to her name! Woohoo!<br />
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While we were wondering whether we should wait or begin with the formal introductions, we had our calm and composed Pavithra join us.<br />
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Although the RSVPs were more, 10 was the ideal count I had in mind. I was telling the girls that if only one more girl just turns up! And that's when our 10th warrior, Sujatha, walked in and we all cheered her much to her surprise. :D<br />
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We connected now and then on Google Hangout with other cities. But there were connectivity and background noise issues in some cases. Lesson for next time, I guess!<br />
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We started with our formal introductions and learnt a lot about each other, how we entered gaming industry and what makes us stick here. Discussed our interests, had our share of jokes, games we like to play et all while sipping on our drinks and eating our munchies of course!<br />
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Overall, a super fun evening! And we are definitely doing this more often!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q7zgo8wPYUU/VQ5Vzai9HfI/AAAAAAAADeE/2CEWOcmNTKA/s1600/IMG_20150321_174343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q7zgo8wPYUU/VQ5Vzai9HfI/AAAAAAAADeE/2CEWOcmNTKA/s1600/IMG_20150321_174343.jpg" height="200" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our handsome photographer</td></tr>
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Last but definitely not the least, our thanks to <a href="https://www.zomato.com/bangalore/grubnomic-koramangala" target="_blank">Grubnomic</a>, Bangalore who were kind enough to give us the place without any qualms, a good WiFi connectivity along with some great food and drinks! Thanks Chandni! :D<br />
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Do visit them, Bangaloreans!<br />
<br />Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-17603564247165885282013-05-16T17:40:00.000+05:302013-05-17T11:04:11.436+05:30A story unfolds...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZMl5AXS9bjI/UZTP7pLiDGI/AAAAAAAAC5M/lt0ghYjoAv4/s1600/typerwriter-edited-sepia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZMl5AXS9bjI/UZTP7pLiDGI/AAAAAAAAC5M/lt0ghYjoAv4/s320/typerwriter-edited-sepia.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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One day as I was exploring the globe lying on my desk, a small pyramid<span style="color: magenta;"> </span>shaped island caught my interest. I quickly grabbed my magnifying glass and looked at the island once again. It was then that an idea struck me! All of a sudden it felt as if I found the key to creativity. It was coming to me from all directions! It was such a relief; at least I didn't have to count any more sheep or keep staring at the lone moon to get some sleep! While I was gathering my thoughts, my phone rang.<br />
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I answered the phone. It was my friend. She sounded so happy and couldn't control her excitement and started talking about how a fountain of ideas just came to her. She talked about the fishes, the turtles and more. Was that just a coincidence? My focus went back to the island on the globe. It was as if there was something about that island; something magical... I looked again and it was almost as if I could see a distinct "L" shape in the center of the island.<br />
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My happy friend finally hung up. I kept looking at the island with the magnifying glass. What looked like an "L" shape was now taking the shape of a castle tower. I was puzzled. Was sleep taking over? But this wasn't the time to sleep! Ideas were blossoming. I should be noting them down somewhere. It was at that moment I heard a scream, as if someone was being chased by a ghost! If my calculations were right, it came from next door. Since no one was at home, I decided to take matters into my hand and grabbed my grandma's walking stick just in case. As I looked out of my window, I saw there was fire!<br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;">I went outside. It was as if the entire neighborhood was </span><span style="text-align: justify;">sleeping </span><span style="text-align: justify;">while our neighbor's house was on... fire? Where was the fire? What did I see then? There was a sudden sense of calm. It didn't feel quite right. I heard that </span><span style="text-align: justify;">shriek of fear</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> again. I </span><span style="text-align: justify;">looked </span><span style="text-align: justify;">around. In the dim </span><span style="text-align: justify;">moonlight</span><span style="text-align: justify;">, I couldn't make out much. I was </span><span style="text-align: justify;">scared</span><span style="text-align: justify;">. I decided to go over to the neighbor's house. I'm sure I saw the fire! I knocked at the door. No one answered. I was beginning to get restless. That's when I noticed that the door was </span><span style="text-align: justify;">locked</span><span style="text-align: justify;">. I was about to look through the </span><span style="text-align: justify;">keyhole </span><span style="text-align: justify;">to make sure no one was inside. It was then that I heard a loud crash. It was as if the entire sky lit up. A sudden </span><span style="text-align: justify;">lightning </span><span style="text-align: justify;">had struck an </span><span style="text-align: justify;">airplane </span><span style="text-align: justify;">crashing it!</span><br />
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The above makes sense and doesn't make sense at the same time? This is all thanks to <a href="http://www.storycubes.com/" target="_blank">Rory's Story Cubes</a>!<br />
Go through that link to know more about it.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ADw3Utst6RY/UZTIyQrWXMI/AAAAAAAAC4M/yOMxKQZWwwk/s1600/storycubesMain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ADw3Utst6RY/UZTIyQrWXMI/AAAAAAAAC4M/yOMxKQZWwwk/s320/storycubesMain.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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In this scenario, I have taken some liberties of my own to fit the story better. The only rule I have tried to follow is to come up with the connection as soon as possible and to keep the connection between the dice rolls. The best part about the game is there is no right or wrong way to play it!<br />
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Now read the story again, this time with the images and the highlighted words to understand it better :)<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q3WVOGOCnK4/UZTJxH2wkqI/AAAAAAAAC4U/lS-7_oTX6_o/s1600/storycubes01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q3WVOGOCnK4/UZTJxH2wkqI/AAAAAAAAC4U/lS-7_oTX6_o/s320/storycubes01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
One day as I was exploring the <span style="color: magenta;">globe </span>lying on my desk, a small <span style="color: magenta;">pyramid </span>shaped island caught my interest. I quickly grabbed my <span style="color: magenta;">magnifying glass</span> and looked at the island once again. It was then that an <span style="color: magenta;">idea</span> struck me! All of a sudden it felt as if I found the <span style="color: magenta;">key</span> to creativity. It was coming to me from <span style="color: magenta;">all directions</span>! It was such a relief; at least I didn't have to count any more <span style="color: magenta;">sheep</span> or keep staring at the lone <span style="color: magenta;">moon</span> to get some sleep! While I was gathering my thoughts, my <span style="color: magenta;">phone</span> rang.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WQroDrhFV1I/UZTKfYPa9xI/AAAAAAAAC48/kfmJSrrHkMU/s1600/storycubes02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WQroDrhFV1I/UZTKfYPa9xI/AAAAAAAAC48/kfmJSrrHkMU/s320/storycubes02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I answered the <span style="color: magenta;">phone</span>. It was my friend. She sounded so <span style="color: magenta;">happy </span>and couldn't control her excitement and started talking about how a <span style="color: magenta;">fountain</span> of <span style="color: magenta;">ideas </span>just came to her. She talked about the <span style="color: magenta;">fishes</span>, the <span style="color: magenta;">turtles </span>and more. Was that just a coincidence? My focus went back to the island on the globe. It was as if there was something about that island; something <span style="color: magenta;">magical</span>... I <span style="color: magenta;">looked </span>closely and it was almost as if I could see a distinct "<span style="color: magenta;">L</span>" shape in the center of the island.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J-riX5RtiQk/UZTJyYaiZJI/AAAAAAAAC4o/Ni2bObQ3NDo/s1600/storycubes03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J-riX5RtiQk/UZTJyYaiZJI/AAAAAAAAC4o/Ni2bObQ3NDo/s320/storycubes03.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
My <span style="color: magenta;">happy </span>friend finally hung up. I kept looking at the island with the magnifying glass. What looked like an "L" shape was now taking the shape of a <span style="color: magenta;">castle tower</span>. I was <span style="color: magenta;">puzzled</span>. Was <span style="color: magenta;">sleep </span>taking over? But this wasn't the time to sleep! Ideas were <span style="color: magenta;">blossoming</span>. I should be noting them down somewhere. It was at that moment I heard a scream, as if someone was being <span style="color: magenta;">chased by a ghost</span>! If my <span style="color: magenta;">calculations </span>were right, it came from next door. I decided to take matters into my hand and grabbed my grandma's <span style="color: magenta;">walking stick</span> just in case. As I looked out of my window, I saw there was <span style="color: magenta;">fire</span>!</div>
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I went outside. It was as if the entire neighborhood was <span style="color: magenta;">sleeping </span>while our neighbor's house was on... fire? Where was the fire? What did I see then? There was a sudden sense of calm. It didn't feel quite right. I heard that <span style="color: magenta;">shriek of fear</span> again. I <span style="color: magenta;">looked </span>around. In the dim <span style="color: magenta;">moonlight</span>, I couldn't make out much. I was <span style="color: magenta;">scared</span>. I decided to go over to the neighbor's house. I'm sure I saw the fire! I knocked at the door. No one answered. I was beginning to get restless. That's when I noticed that the door was <span style="color: magenta;">locked</span>. I was about to look through the <span style="color: magenta;">keyhole </span>to make sure no one was inside. It was then that I heard a loud crash. It was as if the entire sky lit up. A sudden <span style="color: magenta;">lightning </span>had struck an <span style="color: magenta;">airplane </span>crashing it!</div>
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You can get the game from here: <a href="http://www.fulloftoys.com/index.php/story-cubes.html" target="_blank">FullofToys</a> (India)<br />
Rory's Story Cubes is available for <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/rorys-story-cubes/id342808551?mt=8" target="_blank">iOS </a>and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thecreativityhub.RSC" target="_blank">Android </a>too! So download and have some fun! :)<br />
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<br />Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-17931596802478230302013-04-22T18:32:00.001+05:302013-04-22T18:32:45.006+05:30Coming SoonIt's been a real long time I updated anything here. I have a hundred excuses ;)<br />
Anyways, this is a quick post to tell you that I have not forgotten about this blog and there will be an update very soon..<br />
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<br />Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-80739735279807895932012-11-26T17:37:00.002+05:302012-11-26T17:38:22.736+05:30Gaining Control - Postnoon Hyd Article<br />
Postnoon Hyderabad had contacted for an article on women in gaming.<br />
Click <a href="http://postnoon.com/2012/11/24/gaining-control/89784" target="_blank">here</a> for the article.<br />
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Posting the same here:<br />
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Looking at the big push toward mobile gaming and casual gaming and what’s happening with the Nintendo Wii, women are slowly entering the gaming industry. Their numbers are few but there is hope for change.</h3>
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Female representation in the creative industries has always been a topic for debate. Take the gaming industry in India for example. It has predominantly been a male-dominated one. So much so that hearing of a women gamer or developer in India has been few and far in between. We spoke with two women from the industry to know of where women stand in this field.</div>
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Purnima Iyer, game designer at Knowledge Adventure India (Bangalore) and Co-founder at Pinaka Interactive (Navi Mumbai) gives us an insight. On the industry she says it is a fledgling one. “It is great, still growing and has a long way to go. Innovation and quality is what we need to focus on. We should help each other out, share knowledge, promote and grow together,” she says. Numerous questions come to mind talking about women in the gaming industry, ‘Is the profession suitable for women? What are the timings? What about male co-workers, family etc…?’</div>
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Answering all these questions, Moumita Paul, a game designer at Lakshya, Pune says, “This profession has a lot of potential for women. There is a whole lot of different things to be done and not just gaming. There is testing, designing, production and developing and women can be a part of all this. Women have a flair for the creative, however, production has its limitations in terms of family because of the long hours.” Purnima adds that most companies do have flexible hours and work-from-home options.</div>
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For Moumita, getting into the industry was met with opposition from her mum who was concerned for her. Her mother stopped speaking with her, but Moumita persisted and finally won her over.</div>
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On the behaviour of men in this industry, Purnima says, “It can be quite subjective, some do some don’t.” But Moumita feels otherwise, “At least at work, men are very welcoming and supportive as there are very few enterprising women. In fact, most of them are surprised that a woman could be part of the programming or developing.”</div>
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But the bone of the contention still remains the portrayal of women. Moumita who is also an avid gamer, agrees that mostly women are given sexy avatars in games.</div>
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“Women are mainly designed to be hot and sexy as that’s how the men prefer them to be.” Purnima adds, “There are games which portray women as the damsel in distress who has to be rescued by the male protagonist; but then that is the case with most fairy tales too! There are games where the women are portrayed as equals. Whether they are the protagonist (Lara Croft, Bayonetta) or feature as a supporting protagonist (Half-Life 2). Many RPG (Role-playing Game) and RTS (Real-Time-Strategy) games give you the option of creating a woman character and building woman units respectively. Then of course is the question of objectifying and sexualising the women. To that, we have games like Portal where the playable character Chell, was not sexualised.”</div>
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But what both women seem to agree is on the lack of awareness and false concepts regarding a career in this field. At the NASSCOM Game Developer’s Conference this year in Pune the Women in games panel, announced the formation of a Women in Games Special Interest Group, which will help attract more women to the field. Moumita advises that all the women out there who are looking for a chance should do their research first and then enter this field. Half-baked notions can be dangerous.</div>
Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-35639091742393146172012-11-26T17:34:00.002+05:302012-11-26T17:36:10.726+05:30'Let the Games Begin' - Indian Express ArticleSomehow missed posting this here...<br />
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Indian Express did a coverage of the Indie game studios in India. We (Pinaka Interactive) got a teeny tiny mention too ^_^<br />
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Click <a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/let-the-games-begin/939815/0" target="_blank">here</a> for the article.<br />
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The article is super big. So just posting my two cents that was printed/published:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; text-align: justify;">“Startups are probably sprouting even as we speak,” says Purnima Iyer, who runs a game design consultancy, Pinaka Interactive, along with Deepti Raavi, in Navi Mumbai. “With mobile game development becoming so easy, everyone I know seems to be starting their own company.”</span></blockquote>
<br />Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-61436277744385752162012-10-19T11:29:00.001+05:302012-10-23T16:30:34.654+05:30Locked in the Digital WorldFirstly I'm gonna start with the usual sentence: It's been a long time since I posted something here.Had too many reasons. Work,laziness, shifting bases et all.<br />
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Anyways, coming back to the topic in hand, I was just wondering how much technology has influenced our life.<br />
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Few basic examples:<br />
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<li>My handwriting has become really bad as nowadays I use the PC to type anything down instead of a paper and pen.</li>
<li>It has become harder to spell while trying to recall something in mind. The spell check options in the PC has been taking care of it for quite some time now.</li>
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While the advantages have been that things get done faster. The search feature is a blessing!! But it's quite interesting because before the PC addiction came into my life, I was doing perfectly fine without them. And it's just now that I'm used to it, I find it harder without these features.<br />
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So then the question comes down to whether technology is bad? Definitely not. We are doing everything to make it easier for the future. And we are at a better place because of the technological advancements in so many areas of life. But somewhere down the line we miss the fun we had before it. I'm particularly focusing on game design.</div>
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I've never done a board game prototype or pen-paper prototype officially in my career. Right from the beginning of my career, I have been sucked into the digital world. As my career progressed, I got better with various tools. Someone prefers X someone prefers Y. Depending on who you work with you learn one of it or all. I had to take conscious efforts to improve myself within my field: Game Design!</div>
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Even today, I prefer a board game to a video game. The interaction with friends and family sitting around the table playing. One may say that it ain't a fair comparison. But for me, if I've time to spare and these are the choices I'm given, I would take the board game any day.</div>
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I remember doing some non-digital challenges with a few game design / game design enthusiast friends. Unfortunately for various reasons, we couldn't really continue with it. But whatever we did, it was fun! </div>
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I feel the basics help me grow as a game designer. Understanding game-play, game balancing, interaction and much more. Nowadays even the simpler digital methods are not enough. You have to be continuously updated. While I have no qualms in doing that, I easily get drawn to simpler methods. Simpler methods are usually the hardest. The more tools you have access to, the more dependent you are on them. While it makes development easier, I would go on to say to keep the simpler methods going on the side.<br />
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And I highly recommend the book: <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books/about/Challenges_for_Game_Designers.html?id=wzAJLwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y" target="_blank">Challenges for Game Designers</a> (<i>non-digital exercises for
video game designers</i>) - By Brenda Brathwaite and Ian Schreiber.<br />
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<i>I hope one day we have a perfect merge of both worlds...</i></div>
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Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-91886943461219420332012-05-07T10:34:00.001+05:302012-05-07T13:36:38.685+05:30SQUARE-ENIX Game Development Contest India 2012Always wanted to make a game? Here's your chance!<br />
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Square-Enix, the developers and publishers of series like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom of Hearts, Batman, Hitman etc are organizing a Game Development Contest in India!</div>
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Please visit their website for more details.</div>
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<a href="http://india.square-enix.com/Home">http://india.square-enix.com/Home</a> </div>
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This contest is open for all! Companies, Students, Individuals, Freelancers, Indies...ALL!</div>
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They also are planning to have a matchmaking facility to enable a member to look for another from a different field of expertise and help form a team.</div>
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You are free to submit multiple entries, have any number of ppl in your team, be part of multiple teams as well.</div>
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Don't let go of this awesome opportunity!</div>
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</div>Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-57636870810558712212012-04-18T21:35:00.002+05:302012-04-18T21:44:12.185+05:30"Figuring" it out!Projected Value, Projected Profit, Estimated Growth, Rate of Growth of Industry etc etc<br />
Graphs, Pie Charts, Box charts, Venn Diagrams...<br />
Years, Companies, Gaming, Mobile, Smartphones, Consoles, PC...<br />
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These are what I find while reading some reports that covers the gaming industry or in general too. However, for the love of God, I can't figure out how they figure out the figures! (May be my brains just won't tap into this area for some reason?)<br />
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And I don't mean it sarcastically. I really have no clue. There have been many instances when I've been approached by people asking me about figures related to the gaming industry. And I've always fumbled. I can't even remember the figures from existing reports and sometimes I don't even know if I relate to them or if it makes sense to me. Ah well!<br />
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So I decided to "figure" it out!<br />
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Ya, well.. I thought I was making a Venn Diagram to show how much I understand figures... But my hand slipped while drawing the second circle and this is what I ended up making! </div>
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Amen.</div>
<br />Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-25791008213354176532012-02-06T12:32:00.001+05:302012-11-26T17:32:10.366+05:30Gaming: Enter the male bastion - TOI Bangalore ArticleTOI Bangalore had contacted me for an article on women in gaming. Considering the fact that it's always the Bangalore newspapers that contact me, I think I should shift base there! :P<br />
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Click <a href="http://www1.lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/mobile.aspx?article=yes&pageid=15&sectid=edid=&edlabel=TOIBG&mydateHid=06-02-2012&pubname=Times+of+India+-+Bangalore&edname=&articleid=Ar01503&publabel=TOI&max=true" target="_blank">here</a> for the article.<br />
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Posting the article here. Colored my quotes.<br />
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<i><u>Gaming blows these girls away </u></i><br />
Narayanan Krishnaswami TNN<br />
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Bangalore: Nehal Shah is a twentysomething independent design researcher.She is also a level 67 Tauren Druid in Blizzards Massively Multiplayer Online blockbuster,World of Warcraft,and a gamer for the last 12 years.<br />
Shah says she spends two to three hours everyday gaming and spends at least a thousand rupees a month on her hobby.Shah is one of a very rare breed,the female Indian gamer.Worldwide,women make up 40% of the gaming public.In India,that number of those who identify themselves as gamers is almost non-existent.Mehr Singh is a film student in Pune.I just dont get why women dont game,I really dont think its because games are marketed more towards males.I grew up with gaming--we started off with those ancient consoles that used cartridges and I have always enjoyed it, she says.<br />
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<i><u>Gaming: enter the male bastion</u></i><br />
Bangalore: Mehr spent most of her second year of film studies two to six hours daily playing Defence of the Ancients in a nearby gaming parlour.I was introduced to DoTA by a bunch of my friends all guys,though,and I was blown away, she says.<br />
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Pradipta Sarkar,27,is an editor in a New Delhi publishing house.She doesnt have a console,but she says she loves playing games whenever she has access to one.I go to my friends places when I want to play and I play for hours at a time. Pradipta believes buying a game console is simply not on the radar of women consumers. I like to play,but I'm not willing to spend Rs 30,000 on a gaming console,"she says.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">Purnima Iyer is the co-founder of Pinaka Interactive,a Mumbai-based game and app design company.She says there could be several reasons for the low numbers of women gamers in India.The expenditure may not be supported by the family,the friend circle may not be involved in gaming,and some have the notion that gaming is for men and women playing games are looked down upon or even called irresponsible.Plus,not many games are women friendly and tend to have strong stereotypes that are oriented towards men,like violence,gore and skimpily-clad women.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">Purnima says there are things about gaming behaviour that she finds irritating which may put off other women gamers. In a MMOG (massively multiplayer online game) context,when you walk in as a female avatar,firstly they assume you are a cross-dresser.Once you make them realize thats not the case,they get all lovey-dovey.While this can be advantageous for some (many quest items can be easily retrieved),it gets really troublesome.They rarely call you for a raid etc,just because they assume you cant play as well as a guy! </span><br />
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The gaming industry,which has always been a male bastion,believes that a game with a female as a main character will suffer in terms of sales unless she is skimpily clad and improbably endowed as in the early iterations of Lara Croft or the more recent Bayonetta.Stereotypes like these have perpetuated the association of videogames with male adolescents.<br />
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There have been attempts within the industry to change this.Lara Crofts latest avatar shows her realistically proportioned and giving up her very short shorts for a sensible pair of jeans.Mass Effects advertising now shows Commander Shepard as a woman in armor.<span style="color: #990000;">"Things are changing for good",agrees Purnima. "But sometimes,it's fun to play as a male character like in GTA"</span>.Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-40197848172174396652012-01-02T12:45:00.001+05:302012-01-30T19:40:58.429+05:30My Guest Post at Rare & Raring<br />
<a href="http://rareandraring.blogspot.com/2011/12/guest-article-games-that-made-me.html">http://rareandraring.blogspot.com/2011/12/guest-article-games-that-made-me.html</a><br />
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I talks about how I got into games and game design and tit-bits on game design.<br />
Hope you like it :)Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-32840051141270872442011-12-23T19:16:00.001+05:302011-12-23T20:16:59.822+05:30My Interview @ Rare and Raring BlogGiving in to my current motto of Eat.Eat.Eat, I've been concentrating more on eat outs and food reviews. On the gaming front, besides the professional part, I've hardly been able to concentrate on my blog. However, Abhishek Deshpande, who blogs at <a href="http://rareandraring.blogspot.com/">http://rareandraring.blogspot.com</a>; managed to interview me and I will soon be doing a guest article for him there. (which psst.. I managed to complete just a few minutes back)<br />
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My interview as part of the first member of the Rare and Raring Club can be found in the following link<br />
<a href="http://rareandraring.blogspot.com/2011/12/interview-purnima-iyer-club-rare-and.html">http://rareandraring.blogspot.com/2011/12/interview-purnima-iyer-club-rare-and.html</a>Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-14946534479975752992011-06-15T08:25:00.003+05:302011-12-23T20:12:43.528+05:30A message to the dropouts!Hi,<br />
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Please read the following as a genuine advice and let your brain process it while (I hope) you (manage) to stay on this page till the message ends.<br />
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So you dropped out of your college? Education sucks. You are too brilliant an ass to study anything or even make an effort to get a degree. Yea, there have been dropouts who are now billionaires. You want to see a list? Here you go: Click <a href="http://www.twincommas.com/billionaire-college-dropouts">here</a>.<br />
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Does that improve your confidence? Yes? Wow, you are all total morons in that case! Sorry for my language, but I think I've every right to say this. Do you know the zillion number of dropouts who failed? Do you know the humongous number of successful people, who by the way bothered to finish their degree? Why don't you "Google" them?<br />
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Have you ever thought what Bill Gates or Steve Jobs would have done if they had failed? Forget that, why don't one of you dropouts take a trip to the Microsoft office and try to get a job there. A huge list of credentials is what they ask. Aww and you thought being a dropout was just enough. So sad!<br />
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The successful dropouts we are talking about here; when they dropped out of college, weren't sitting around laying eggs. They were actually working their ass off towards a goal they had set in mind. I hope you do realize that the reason they are billionaires is also because of the other people around them. And here you thought just being a dropout was a quick path to success.<br />
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Sorry, any decent company will think twice to hire you without a proper graduate degree. And why is it important? You probably learnt more on your own than what formal education had to offer. So why bother with a degree?<br />
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It just shows a determination to show the world that you have what it takes to complete what you undertook! I'm not telling you to be amongst the top 5, or anything like that. Just get a bloody degree. Finish your degree, whatever it is and then continue with your goal or do it side by side.<br />
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The very reason that provoked me to write this is the mere fact that few 'dropout' entrepreneurs who made it alright (mostly by goddamn luck & someone else's money) go on to encourage the students to be a dropout. How nice of them!<br />
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Prospective dropouts, please remember : when everything else fails, a degree still stands. The "x" years taken to complete your degree will never be utterly useless.<br />
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My simple advice is ignore the ones who preach that 'dropping out of college is cool' and get a degree unless you're filthy rich or a real genius (even for a real genius, luck & money are important factors). And if you are a dropout already, there's still time. Just finish that degree!<br />
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If you manged to read this far, I hope I've changed even 1% of your mind.<br />
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Thank you.<br />
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Sincerely,<br />
MePoornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-55598064200770781082011-04-01T16:28:00.011+05:302011-12-23T20:12:59.337+05:30Btw, the Interviewee is human!Interviews are nice opportunities to know where you stand, how you stand in the industry. A revival process to test your abilities not just by the interviewer, but yourself. After an interview, you can easily understand your weak points and concentrate more on it. That has always been my analogy. My interview experiences have been mostly good, but there are some exceptions.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c_LciJWllXY/TZVX82c6KpI/AAAAAAAABlY/pDCut2Qa-3M/s1600/morning-person.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c_LciJWllXY/TZVX82c6KpI/AAAAAAAABlY/pDCut2Qa-3M/s200/morning-person.jpg" width="196" /></a>I'm going to talk here about my experience with a particular gaming company; sorry no names will be taken. After clearing my telephonic rounds which seemed never-ending, they called me to inform that I was to fly down (it wasn't in Mumbai) for my personal interview. Standard procedure. The HR informed me there will be one or two rounds with their producers. A date was set and they sent me a flight ticket.<br />
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The departure time was 6 AM... sigh... So I woke up at 2.45 AM, and left home by 3.45 AM. It took about an hour to get to the airport. Rest of the journey was nothing eventful. I was told to hire a cab from the airport to the destination, and without much problems, the cab driver took me to the right place. It was around 9.30 AM when I got there. I met the HR, who showed me to a small room and offered a glass of water. My interview began at 10.<br />
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The first one was with one of the producers of the company. After a brief introduction, the Q&A session began. Ideas, mechanics, improvements, visuals, audience, platform, almost everything was discussed. My interviewer was pretty smart. I liked the way it was going. The interviewer liked a lot of my ideas; and showed concerns at places too; which were then clarified. It took about an hour for the interview to get over. By the time it was over, I had a bad headache. Continuous travel at odd hours don't go well with my body. Before leaving, the interviewer informed me that another producer will join me in sometime.<br />
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Since it was obvious there was going to be one more round, I asked the HR for a headache relief tablet. Unfortunately, they didn't have one. I took a crocin. Needed some sedative to subside that pain for me to continue. It didn't help.<br />
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The second interviewer came in a bit late and apologized for the same. The company was having some senior management meeting; so people from their headquarters in States had also come in.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AV0XrF2MpjY/TZWwQyIJGCI/AAAAAAAABlk/APb1OqUak_0/s1600/Interview.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AV0XrF2MpjY/TZWwQyIJGCI/AAAAAAAABlk/APb1OqUak_0/s200/Interview.jpg" width="200" /></a>Anyways, the interview began, similar set of questions. Couldn't they just take the interview together? Sigh. The headache was growing. I just wanted to lie down somewhere. Somehow pushed myself through and the round finally got over. It was around 12.45 PM then. The second interviewer told me that the HR will come in some time and left.<br />
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I was relieved. Since the two rounds were over, I thought I will go and visit my friend. The return flight was at 7 PM. I could leave by 3.30-4. There was some time to rest. The HR came in and told me that it was time for lunch. I told him that I would prefer to complete the HR round and have lunch with my friend. That's when he said that my interview wasn't over! I was shocked! I politely asked him if I could go out for lunch and told him that I would be back right on time. I wanted some fresh air. And the reply was negative. Apparently I couldn't leave the office premises till the interview was over!<br />
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I was in no mood for lunch. My head was aching so much that I could barely taste any food. Post lunch I went to the washroom and splashed water on my face. Tried anything possible to get rid of that goddamn headache. I went back to the interview room and after what seemed like a long wait to me, I inquired about the next round with the HR. I told him that my headache was rapidly increasing and wanted to wrap this fast or continue it over phone or whatever. He assured me that it was the last round and asked me to wait for some more time. In about 10 minutes, my third interviewer came. Seemed to be a jolly good chap. After some routine questions, he wanted me to solve puzzles. I like puzzles, but the timing wasn't right. I really struggled. My brain refused to cooperate anymore. I was losing my speed and concentration, but still managed to get some of them right. Finally that round was done too. I thought I was going to pass out!<br />
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The HR came in with a troubled look and told me that two more guys were coming in to interview me. I just couldn't believe it. What on earth is wrong with them? Was I some convicted criminal that so many people want to interrogate me? He told me that the third interviewer was like a proxy till the real guys turned up. How thoughtful!<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-96kHx7GIrA8/TZVYupfxe6I/AAAAAAAABlg/rt6Lr8NRq1I/s1600/headache.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-96kHx7GIrA8/TZVYupfxe6I/AAAAAAAABlg/rt6Lr8NRq1I/s200/headache.png" width="135" /></a>I had almost reached my limit. My head was in splits! I was regretting my decision to attend the interview. Finally the interviewers arrived and bombarded me with questions, puzzles, opinions and what not. There were detailed questions related to areas I wasn't well versed with. It was as if a game designer needs to know every bloody thing in this world! I thought they might just ask me to create a AAA game then and there all by myself. (<i>Note: Only in the interviews will your suggestions be deeply pondered upon and if you are lucky may be agreed upon too! For more, please read: <a href="http://rareandraring.blogspot.com/2011/03/part-5-ideas-guy.html">The Ideas Guy</a></i>)<br />
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Well, at that state I couldn't even reply to things related to game design. When I thought about the answers I barely managed to squeak, I was sure that a kindergarten kid would have fared better. But that's what headaches do to you!<br />
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It was 3.30PM. The car they arranged for me had arrived. Even then they didn't stop. Devoted! Finally at 3.45, the HR came in and told them that I will have to leave in ten minutes max. So finally they asked me if I had any questions for them. I said "No!" One of them told me that it was surprising that after being asked so many questions, I had none for them. I told them, "Maybe you should ask that to me when I'm not drained out." He just murmured a "Hmmm..." They gave me some home assignments to do. I just nodded, took the papers, "thanked" them and headed out.<br />
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The journey to the airport wasn't a great one. My head ached so much that I thought about checking myself into some hotel and leaving the next day. The driver felt bad for me and asked if I was feeling alright. I just nodded my head. After a while, he stopped at a restaurant, grabbed a bottle of water for me. Probably the nicest guy I met in the entire day! We finally got to the airport. He told me to take care, gave me his number in case of any emergency. I walked into the airport and waited for the time to fly as fast as it could, praying that the flight be on time. Somehow that day I managed to get home without passing out!<br />
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Next morning, I wrote to the HR that I'm not interested in their offer. I also told him that next time they are asking an interviewee to fly down from a different state that early in the morning and going to interrogate him/her till the last drop of blood is sucked out, then they better warn him/her about it! After all we are humans!Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-67888584691528913702011-02-25T15:14:00.000+05:302011-02-25T15:14:58.858+05:30Korea CallsWondering about my absence in updating the blog?<br />
Well, it's just what the title reads. And a small brief is <a href="http://confessionsofaconfusedfreak.blogspot.com/2011/02/long-time-no-see.html">here</a> :)Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-46131290829419427432010-09-17T15:24:00.012+05:302010-09-20T12:55:05.100+05:30Respect or Fear?Haven't you heard a lot about the term, "Leadership"? Ever wondered the true meaning of it? Is it the authority over your team or is it the way you bring your team together?<br />
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For me, it's the latter. And that is irrespective of whether I'm the leader or part of of the team. A tree will bear sweet fruits only if the roots, branches and leaves are intact and help each other out in the process. If the root tries to empower the process, the leaves are going to fall away sooner or later, and the branches will follow suit. With just a trunk, no tree can succeed in bearing fruits.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/TJM6kAAkMjI/AAAAAAAABcU/B7lAcgqXWqY/s1600/boss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/TJM6kAAkMjI/AAAAAAAABcU/B7lAcgqXWqY/s200/boss.jpg" width="180" /></a>And yet I've seen few leaders trying to be authoritative more than necessary just to show who's the boss or to just satisfy their stupid ego. Teams are held together by means of fear and threats. How is that team likely to succeed down the lane? It won't! It will fall apart in some time. If only the leaders realized that.<br />
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If you consider our freedom movements, the leader's role is to motivate, to encourage and upbring the team. Imposing a leader's vision by such a medium is well received. Ruling by fear will only discourage and frustrate the team. And yet, leaders tend to misuse their powers. <br />
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Too many restrictions will block creativity. It affects the mere thought process. Just working long hours is not going to help a project or product.<br />
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When I had a team, I had only one thing to tell them: "This job has to be done by this time, as by your estimate. You finish it in an hour or you take the whole time, is not my concern at all. As far as the deadline is met and the quality is good, I'm happy."<br />
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And when I was part of a team, I did the same. This was an incident that happened in one of the previous companies I worked with. I had given them an estimate of when the project would be done, which was accepted. One day, I wasn't in the mood to work . So I was just browsing. My manager sorta complained to my boss about it. However, my boss, a sensible man, responded back to him saying, "Your complaint will be taken into account if she doesn't meet her deadline. You did your job. Let's see if she does hers. We should trust our employees :)" and sent a copy to my email too.<br />
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Of course, I finished it 2 days before the deadline :)<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/TJM6wyxrWYI/AAAAAAAABcc/PMhOOjJ8k38/s1600/jk_respect1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/TJM6wyxrWYI/AAAAAAAABcc/PMhOOjJ8k38/s200/jk_respect1.gif" width="200" /></a>After this event, my boss grew more confident about my performance and my respect for him doubled. Even my manager now had complete faith in me. Isn't that an ideal situation? The boss could now trust me with another project, I would take it upon myself to get that done for him and the manager knew I would finish it! <br />
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Sadly, many others don't think the way my boss did! With his reaction, he earned respect from both me and the manager.<br />
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Leaders and to-be-leaders, remember one thing: A successful leader is defined by the amount of respect he/she gets and not by how much a team fears them. Fear won't last long, respect stays for ever :)<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Give <b>RESPECT</b> take<b> RESPECT!</b><br />
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</b></div>Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-35049288343065913252010-06-08T13:16:00.006+05:302017-12-07T08:18:12.312+05:30My journey - Part 4 - The first job!<div class="MsoNormal">
After the depressing interviews, I finally had something to do. It wasn’t an actual job, but well…. I was the ‘wedding planner’ for my sister. Most responsibilities were on my head considering the fact that I was “free”, if you know what I mean.</div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">I also decided that since this was going to be a huge event for us, I should give it my best shot. And you know what, although all the running around was tiresome, I was more than happy to give my sister, Priya, a marriage, free of any stress (for her) and screw ups! I was always the organized kind, and sorta like being like that; so I managed everything from the food menu, the saree/dress pickups to anything as small as safety pins. I can say I did well, coz my parents had a hard time running around for my marriage…hehe... (I did as much as I could though!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">So after my successful stint as a wedding planner, I still didn’t have a real job. (I’ve no idea why I didn’t think of being a professional wedding planner or get into event management…anyways…) I thought I would take up a short-term course on .NET and I did. It was a 3 months course and it did pay off! Soon after its completion, I got a call from a friend, Praveen who informed me about an opening at Cyberhills, a Korean gaming company based in Govandi, Mumbai. They were looking out for Web developers. I went for the interview. The office premise as such was one of the 3BHK flats in a grand towered building. However, I was never the one to judge it by its premises. After the brief interview, I was hired! Yay!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">I started work and on the first day, I was given some web layouts with the liberty to change anything, the colors or designs as per my need as they knew I was good at judging art. (I had even showed them few things I drew at the time of the interview…umm…yes, I can do a decent job at that :D) Soon it was time for tea break. We were just a bunch of 8 people if I recall correctly. On alternate basis, one person prepared the tea in the kitchen for the rest of us. I used to get away with the excuse on not knowing how to prepare tea and then one fine day my friend Lux aka Lakshmi taught me! :P Our tea breaks lasted for about half an hour and then we resumed work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">For lunch, it was necessary that we all gathered at the hall, which also acted as our conference room and reception. It was a great place to interact and sometimes trigger debates on professionally unrelated stuff, usually God! If there are no topics for debate, then we used to hang out at the garden downstairs.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-style: normal;">After a grand 1 hour lunch, we went back to our desks and double clicked on the NFS icon and Vrooom!! A LAN game! Yeah baby! Our game sessions lasted for about half an hour or 1 depending on the actual work we had at hand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">At around 4.30pm, we had our second tea break. Sometimes we craved for good ol’ maggi noodles instead of just biscuits. It sure was a great life. We were all given great workstations, headphones, speakers and webcam as well </span><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-style: normal;">J</span><span style="font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/TA34Xz6l9kI/AAAAAAAABao/bRDeghtMAng/s1600/patbingsu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/TA34Xz6l9kI/AAAAAAAABao/bRDeghtMAng/s200/patbingsu.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-style: normal;">Besides the entertaining office lifestyle, my work also took an interesting turn. With a week of my joining, there was an urgent requirement for a J2ME programmer. Instead of hunting for a new programmer, which was going to cost them time, they asked me and I said yes. For a month or so, I was working on the game called “Patbingsu”. Patbingsu is actually a popular dessert in Korea and the game was for the Korean market. The game itself was on somewhat similar lines to ‘Lemonade Tycoon’ and also featured few minigames. It was a sweet colorful project. When the project was at its final stages, another requirement opened up!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/TA31NCbD9zI/AAAAAAAABaY/XhXy3mREIpw/s1600/dnd35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/TA31NCbD9zI/AAAAAAAABaY/XhXy3mREIpw/s200/dnd35.jpg" width="153" /></a><span style="font-style: normal;">My boss wanted to create a mobile RPG similar to Neverwinter Nights. And they were looking out for a game designer/story writer. He had talked to my friend Praveen who besides being the lead developer was also the manager. Praveen suggested that they should try me out first as he knew I used to write fanfictions and was a RPG fan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Soon enough, Patbingsu was taken care of by a lead programmer from Korea and I was supposed to come up with a storyline and had to follow the D&D manuals. I almost cried when I found the manuals in my hand. Tears of joy! </span><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-style: normal;">J</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">I gave birth to my very first official game story and it was sent to the Korean office for approval. And the green signal was given! Ta-da, I became a game designer! ;) The next two months I was literally living with the D&D manuals and the word document. I was thoroughly enjoying myself! However, it didn’t last for long… <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-style: normal;">to be contd…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">You can find the whole series here: <a href="http://theindiangamedesigner.blogspot.in/search/label/My%20journey" target="_blank">My journey</a></span><br />
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Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-25835792385439754632010-05-04T16:46:00.002+05:302010-05-04T18:25:17.950+05:30Awaiting recognition...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">India is very rich in talent. Unfortunately most of these talents go unnoticed or is hardly utilized. This happens throughout the country irrespective of the field of work. And our very own gaming industry is not an exception.</span></span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">How many game designers / artists / programmers / producers / testers do you know outside your company? . And if you know them, how did you find out about them?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">1. Ex-colleagues / friends: <b>Obvious?</b></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">2. LinkedIn: <b>Duh!</b></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">3. Gaming / Animation Summits: <b>Great!</b></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">4. Media / Online magazines: <b>Great!</b></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">5. Others: <i>By now you should be able to identify the category.</i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">I do know a lot of talents thanks to LinkedIn; however I'm definitely not aware of the content they worked for. So what's the solution? Add your projects to your profile? Well, definitely a good thing to do, but I'm here to talk about recognition by others. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S9_9BEfVidI/AAAAAAAABZE/6ulmdNWOFQY/s1600/placehoder_people.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S9_9BEfVidI/AAAAAAAABZE/6ulmdNWOFQY/s200/placehoder_people.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Appreciation is a huge form of encouragement and I have repeated and will go on to repeat this statement because it is an universal truth.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">How does our industry cope up with this recognition. We pretty much know all the founders of different gaming companies and why not, they are the reason we are here, trying to live our dream. But how many of us know the people behind the games? The ones who stay up late nights, stay back in office, work almost all weekends to meet the deadline, to ensure that the game is great!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">The answer: <b>Very few</b></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Nowadays a lot of startup gaming companies are sprouting. Some of the founders have much lesser experience than some of the industry talents I know. And yet the founders are recognized and talked about in summits and media. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;">Please do not get me wrong. It would be a shame if they are not recognized for their efforts. It's not a child's play to put up a company together, come up with a successful game with minimal resources. It is a well deserved acknowledgement. Adding to that, I really hope more such companies come up and succeed as this is the only way this industry will grow. It will widen giving rise to new talents.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;">However, not everyone can or is interested in starting up their own firm. They like what they are doing and would want to continue. But their efforts go unnoticed. They are hardly acknowledged by the industry. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;">Even the ones who play a very critical role, the ones who have been a company's backbone for a longtime, the ones who delivered chain of successful games for the company. What about them? Why are they not recognized by the people they work for, the industry, by the media?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;">The failure of recognition might motivate them to move on to some other company and you will lose your talent. And if this some other company also fails to motivate the talent, he/she will move out of the industry. Remember the talented ones are not in need of the industry. The industry needs them!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S9_8yKk5wxI/AAAAAAAABY8/HhfUIn-NaVU/s1600/trophy1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S9_8yKk5wxI/AAAAAAAABY8/HhfUIn-NaVU/s200/trophy1.jpg" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">You might be a great entrepreneur with the best qualities possible. However you need a pool of talent to attain success. No one wants to keep their firm small. Bigger profits obviously calls for an empire expansion. If you have the right employees, you are one step closer. Keep them happy, recognize their efforts, encourage them and they will bring success to you.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Start from within and then explore!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><b>R E C O G N I Z E</b></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
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</i></span></span></div>Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-57038930845205519702010-04-30T08:39:00.003+05:302012-11-26T17:35:21.890+05:30Women on Top and Loving it - DNA Bangalore ArticleWomen on Top and Loving it, DNA Bangalore, Apr 24th 2010. By NT Balanarayan<br />
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Click <a href="http://epaper.dnaindia.com/dnabangalore/epapermain.aspx?queryed=07&eddate=4%2f24%2f2010">here </a>to view the original article.<br />
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Reposting the article, colored coded my quotes :)<br />
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<b>Women on top and loving it</b></div>
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Women working in top tech jobs in India think it's a level playfield, provided you have the right attitude, says NT Balanarayan</div>
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The US may be the leader in technology development, but fewer than 24% of the top tech jobs in the US are held by women, according to surveys. Many women are unhappy with the workplace glass ceiling, which means they get overlooked for the top job despite being well-qualified. The percentage of women in top tech jobs may not be high in India, but they certainly make it count and make their presence felt.</div>
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Anuradha, senior vice-president (engineering) at Subex, Bangalore, has over two decades of experience in the telecom field. If you live up to the role expectations, and have the right attitude and balanced approach towards work and colleagues, there is no differentiation, she says. "On the work-front, I have never faced such challenges. Even while studying, there were no differentiations whether it came to scoring marks or when I needed to demonstrate my mettle. The challenges are mostly in maintaining a balance with your personal life if you have a family — be it the role of spouse or mother. For that, developing a congenial support system is very critical," she adds.</div>
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Maintaining balance is an issue for Priya Venkateshan, a Bangalorean who is a pursuing her MS (computer science) and is involved in research on machine learning at University of California, Irvine. "Now, being in the tech field is probably easier in India. But it takes a lot to get to the top and you don't have many role models," she says.<br />
Striking a work-life balance is the biggest stumbling block. "If your workplace understands that you have a life, then great! But if they don't, then you'll need to go the extra mile. At my workplace, it's more chilled out to be in an R&D job than in a development job. The farther you get from the market, lesser the stress," she adds.</div>
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Divisha Chandna, senior product manager (widgets), Opera Software, says not all women think gender is an issue while selecting a job. "I am in a product management role. I work with the sales, marketing, engineering and management teams and enjoy the interactions. As a rule, it's important to pick a role based on interest rather than gender," she says.<br />
"I have been working in the IT industry in various roles for the past seven years. I joined Opera right after college, so most of my learning has been on the job. Most of my colleagues and managers were quite young too, and more passionate than experienced. This meant there was little status quo or rules that I had to deal with. The only thing that mattered is interest and contribution to the role. It's a good industry for women to be in and I hope to continue to be a part of it. There is a lot of room for growth, and gender really is a non-issue, but with one exception. When I joined the software sales team for a year, I did find that being woman was a challenge. For a while, I enjoyed the travel and the excitement of meeting new customers on a daily basis, but I could not see myself living out of a suitcase for too long. I was also the only female sales employee in a team of 48. It is always better when there is a little more diversity in a team," adds Divisha.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">But not all women have pleasant experiences at the workplace. Purnima Iyer, game developer at Indiagames, describes an unpleasant encounter she had when while on the job hunt after college. "I got a job interview with a mobile company and I had a terrible experience. The interviewer just wouldn't believe I actually 'coded' in my final-year project. He said we might have bought the project. I explained my role, but he suggested the two guys in the team did the coding. Maintaining my temper, I asked him, 'Then how did I clear your technical round? I had to write code samples and answer the other questions too.' To which he said that I might have cheated. He said he'd ask me a technical question. He pointed to a random location on the screen of a mobile device and asked me to tell its coordinates! My answer: I snatched my resume from his hand, took my file and walked out of the room."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">Purnima adds that there are fewer women in certain fields of technology because of pressure from parents. "My parents forced me to shift to a software company after I started working in a game development company because they couldn't picture a woman in this field. It took a while for me to convince them that game design is a good profession," she says.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">So how many women does she work with? "Not many. Most women here work in marketing, sales, HR. From what I've seen, there are very few women who are really passionate about gaming. Most people see it as just another job," she says.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">"I used to play this Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game called Ragnarok and most people there thought I was a cross-dresser and just couldn't believe girls are into gaming. I met other girls playing the game, but yes, we were a small group in comparison to the number of men," she adds.</span> </div>
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However, the fact is my parents forced me to shift to a software firm not because they couldn't picture a woman in this field. It was because, they weren't aware that gaming was a professional field. And nowadays even youngsters have to be made aware of the career opportunities in gaming. So our traditional parents' awareness about the industry cannot be questioned :)</div>
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Thanks to DNA Bangalore's Gaming and Technology Reporter: NT Balanarayan for this article. He's also the man behind <a href="http://gamebashing.com/">GameBashing</a>, and has been kind enough to add this blog to the <a href="http://gamebashing.com/indian-gaming-blogs/">list </a>of Indian Gaming Blogs :)Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-67895858222487027192010-04-15T11:24:00.051+05:302010-04-15T12:20:02.540+05:30Ernest Adams on his Game Design Workshop Tour in India<a href="http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,7083/">Ernest Adams</a> has finally compiled the details of his mega Game Design Tour in India.<br />
A quote where I'm mentioned is below. I'm completely overwhelmed!<br />
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Check out the complete article here: <a href="http://www.designersnotebook.com/News/2010/04/great-indian-game-design-workshop-tour.htm">Great Indian Game Design Workshop Tour</a>. It's thoroughly enjoyable! :)<br />
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<blockquote style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S8aw0eYY-sI/AAAAAAAABWM/z3IjzQasnLs/s1600/quotes+left.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="" height="50" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S8aw0eYY-sI/AAAAAAAABWM/z3IjzQasnLs/s200/quotes+left.png" width="70" /></a></div></blockquote><br />
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<blockquote style="text-align: left;"><blockquote>Friday, March 19: Indiagames Workshop</blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote>Friday was my hastily-arranged workshop at Indiagames. I didn't go to their offices because they didn't have a suitable space, but they had managed to rent classrooms at a nearby training center. It was a pretty big crowd, about 40 people, and warm but tolerable. Even Vishal Gondal and his senior executives participated. <span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #d9ead3;">One of the attendees was Purnima Iyer, who had paid her own way to the FICCI Frames workshop the previous day but enjoyed it sufficiently to attend a second time. I had already met her in November, when she gave a talk at the NASSCOM conference. Purnima has her own blog about game design in India, and is beginning to make a name for herself.</span></span></blockquote></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S8aw6vW6psI/AAAAAAAABWU/TAhU7SiLcfQ/s1600/quotes+right.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="" height="50" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S8aw6vW6psI/AAAAAAAABWU/TAhU7SiLcfQ/s320/quotes+right.png" width="70" /></a></div>Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-70202607946199363352010-04-08T11:35:00.004+05:302010-04-15T12:28:29.408+05:30BioShock 3D Mobile Review!After a long wait, the review for the BioShock 3D Mobile is finally here. Click on the link below :)<br />
<a href="http://verizongamereview.blogspot.com/2010/03/kmgr-of-bioshock-3d-part-1.html">The Verdict</a><br />
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8/10 and that too the game was played on the LG 9900, which was a low end device for us! :D<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S8a4u38yCXI/AAAAAAAABXc/fdjVFPhlENw/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S8a4u38yCXI/AAAAAAAABXc/fdjVFPhlENw/s200/4.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-65028335511682125922010-03-25T17:43:00.015+05:302010-03-26T17:11:39.900+05:30Game Design Workshop with Ernest Adams<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;"><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">The first ever in India! </span></b><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">Also seems as if God was extra happy with my prayers (read irritated with my constant whining) and I got the opportunity to take part in the workshop twice. Details below!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Part 1 - 18th March 2010, Hotel Renaissance, Powai, </span></b></div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">FICCI Frames 2010 had organized the first ever 'Game Design Workshop with Ernest Adams' in India. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 20px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 20px; font-family: Arial; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">The event started at around10A.M and ended at 05.30 P.M. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S6sIP3hEw-I/AAAAAAAABT4/ZpCK2vUmI1I/s1600/Copy+of+DSC06302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S6sIP3hEw-I/AAAAAAAABT4/ZpCK2vUmI1I/s200/Copy+of+DSC06302.JPG" width="192" /></a></div>After enquiring, my friend and colleague, Manish and I headed to the Velvette Lounge at about 9.45 A.M. Ernest Adams, who was already there greeted us with a pleasant smile and after the exchange of greetings, we took our seats. It was great to see him again. I had met rather seen him before at the NASSCOM Gaming Summit (Hyderabad, India) conference, but then there were too many people around him that I didn't get my chance :) However, thanks to Facebook, we were connected. And this time, I knew it was a smaller group and it would be easy to talk and listen to him more clearly.<br />
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About a good 10 to15 guys were already present. While we waited for the rest of the guys to join, Ernest showed us the games he worked on and briefed us about it. He also teaches at various universities around the globe. One should take a look at that list... It's humongous! You can see the list <a href="http://www.designersnotebook.com/Consulting/Client_List/client_list.htm">here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Soon enough the rest of the guys, and finally another girl (yay!), walked in and the workshop on Fundamental Principles of Game Design began. For those curious minds, visit this <a href="http://www.designersnotebook.com/Workshop/FundamentalsWorkshop/fundamentalsworkshop.htm">link</a>. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The 1 hour long presentation was thoroughly enjoyable. Ernest can teach you in the easiest form and you can't help but enjoy. I'm pretty sure he can make rocket science look like child's play. And he looks so adorable!! Oh and you should also read his <a href="http://www.designersnotebook.com/Lectures/The_Hat/the_hat.htm">top hat</a> story ;)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
Soon after the presentation got over, we had a 15 min break. I sipped on the vanilla milkshake grabbed a choco-chip muffin and had a small chat with Ernest. I was telling him that this is the first time I was a part of a design session and also the first time I'm seeing so many game designers gathered at a place. (The conference was too crowded, so not counting that). Ernest agreed and commented that saving few exceptional game design ideas, the rest get better when shared. More than the ideas, it's the process that is shared and helps everyone.<br />
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So true! And without taking too much of his time, I returned to my seat munching on the muffin.. It really was yummy!<br />
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Once, everyone got back to their seats, Ernest took a head count and said there were gonna be 7 teams and asked us to count from 1-7, repeat and remember our numbers. And soon enough we were sitting with our 'team members'.<br />
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<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S6sH2A_RzMI/AAAAAAAABTw/2Qz0Bo-wxfc/s1600/DSC06308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S6sH2A_RzMI/AAAAAAAABTw/2Qz0Bo-wxfc/s200/DSC06308.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Besides me, my team had Jitesh (Lead Game Designer, Ubisoft), Bhavin (Game Designer, Ubisoft), Niroop (Requirement Analyst, 99games) and Arpita (a second year IIITM student).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">See image (LtoR: Bhavin, Niroop, Jitesh, Me, Arpita)</span></div><br />
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At this point, Ernest asked us to decide our roles. But, we actually waited for the game idea to be given before we decided the roles.<br />
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And then the "dream" was given to us: '... to be a TV reporter in a war.'<br />
Awesome!<br />
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While handing out the sealed ideas, Ernest emphasized on the fact that we were there that day to fulfil the dream of one player and we just had to satisfy one such player's needs!<br />
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Since Jitesh and I were both lead designers by profession, we both shared the responsibilities of being the lead as well as the user interface designer for the team. Bhavin was our level designer, Niroop, our mechanics designer and Arpita, the youngest of the lot, and probably the only one who could draw decently was our art director.<br />
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And I must say, it was one creative bunch. Everyone was rich on inputs and were gracefully taking any rejection of ideas, which ofcourse was justified. I was amazed at our team work, for this was the first time we were actually interacting with each other! It sure was fun!<br />
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While few others were running out of time, we were surprised to have finished the whole thing much earlier... In fact I was worried that we definitely missed out something! But that wasn't the case. The rest of the time we invested in cross-checking and collaborating things together.<br />
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We took our time for lunch and I manged to skip enough of the actual food so as to load myself with a lot of blackcurrant ice cream!<br />
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Post lunch, we started with our individual work and then the collaboration.<br />
Ernest did a lot of check-ins with all the teams to make sure they are doing things correctly. And our team had two girls, which he said was unfair for the rest as women tend to strike a balance! :D<br />
He is one of those men who encourages women to set foot into the gaming industry! :) :) :)<br />
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Finally, it was time for the presentations to roll and Jitesh, representing our team was the first to go. And must say, he did a good job! We ran out of time before he could tell our rather peculiar and controversial storyline, and I'm NOT gonna reveal it here! ;)<br />
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Ernest Adams commented that we did complete justice to the dream and that he was able to visualize our gameplay! He also said that it was one of the most well thought-out game! Yay!!<br />
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And then the remaining presentations followed. Interesting HUD designs and ideas came out. It was amazing to listen to so many ideas in a day!<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S6sq27idGfI/AAAAAAAABUY/LdhtFehpLSI/s1600/Game_Design_TeamPhoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S6sq27idGfI/AAAAAAAABUY/LdhtFehpLSI/s320/Game_Design_TeamPhoto.jpg" width="320" /></a>Also there was a killer USP in one of the games!<br />
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"You can also talk to women!" hehe!<br />
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I really owe it to Ernest Adams and FICCI!<br />
Three cheers to them!!<br />
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I guess everyone went home happy that day, I'm sure I did! Also I had a reason to be double happy! Read Part 2! :D<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Part 2 - 19th March 2010, Trinity House, Kurla</span></b><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">So, well... apparently our (Indiagames') CEO, Vishal Gondal and Ernest Adams who met at the FICCI panel on 17th march, struck a deal of conducting the game design workshop exclusively for Indiagames employees. And yours truly gets her second chance! Yippeee!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So the next day my husband, Arjun Nair (Producer @ Indiagames) and I left early for the workshop along with my collegaues/friends Somesh and Vishwanathan, both QA leads. And after losing our way a lot of times, we reached the venue... </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S6s9dXxzkmI/AAAAAAAABUg/o2fy-W5UcGM/s1600/DSC06339.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S6s9dXxzkmI/AAAAAAAABUg/o2fy-W5UcGM/s200/DSC06339.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Ernest was already there (love his punctuality), following mutual greetings, I went to the room and soon enough the presentation started. It was fun to listen to him again. It was like a revision :D</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The entire schedule was similar to that of the FICCI workshop, and this time the difference was the team (once again decided randomly, however Ernest tried to sort the designers and artists separately so that a team doesn't have more than one) consisted of familiar faces. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Our team had to fulfill the player's "dream" of designing gardens. During lunch break, while we were discussing the "dream" topics with other teams, almost everyone commented that our team got one of the easiest as we could rip off "Farmville". Well, I wasn't there for that! And instead of trying to explain, I just nodded my head and moved on. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S6tEz2w1LxI/AAAAAAAABUo/gPXLB6g1bnQ/s1600/27237_410552702951_776832951_5041050_2349633_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S6tEz2w1LxI/AAAAAAAABUo/gPXLB6g1bnQ/s200/27237_410552702951_776832951_5041050_2349633_n.jpg" width="200" /></a>The presentation started. We were the second to go (that's coz I had trouble getting to move the table and get out; by then, the first presentation had started!)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">And I gave the presentation (could've have presented better, but it wasn't that bad) and yes, my game was not 'Farmville'! :D</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S6tSOElk0II/AAAAAAAABUw/Wd3kLyU-NvU/s1600/27237_410552687951_776832951_5041047_7260262_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S6tSOElk0II/AAAAAAAABUw/Wd3kLyU-NvU/s320/27237_410552687951_776832951_5041047_7260262_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">After my presentation, and after a clarification on one of the features, Ernest said that the game was properly fleshed out, had a great upgrade path and... and... yes....well thought-out! (Two in a row! Yay!!) </div><div style="text-align: left;">I love details :D</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">After an assortment of ideas sprouting out from bosses and other colleagues, the enjoyable day came to an end after a brief note from Ernest. A bad headache didn't give me much time to hang around, and we (Arjun and I) left after a hurried good-bye.<br />
<br />
All I can say is we should have more such sessions, especially the ones like the FICCI where people of similar interest from different companies come together, know each other and work together on a single goal which helps to create a better tomorrow for the gaming industry here.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Amen!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div></div></div>Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-10618363281576022052010-02-24T09:53:00.074+05:302015-11-10T09:54:59.446+05:30What is a GDD?That was the question I asked my fellow colleagues. It was for the NASSCOM Gaming Summit presentation. I wanted to tell people about the current ignorance and the actual importance of the Game Design field here in India.<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S4TRXfTfnWI/AAAAAAAABNQ/LuNU50vyTfA/s1600-h/surprised1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S4TRXfTfnWI/AAAAAAAABNQ/LuNU50vyTfA/s320/surprised1.png" /></a><br />
<br />
This video of course was partly true and partly fake as few guys wanted to give a funny answer. But the truth is most people have no clue what it is?<br />
Here my colleague Pradip, a tech analyst went around asking the question for me.<br />
The results are hilarious!<br />
<br />
The video quality is not that great. And the audio sync maybe slightly off. The embed is not all that accurate.<br />
We shot with Pradip's N73 phone. It was a momentary and my last moment decision to get this video done. I thought it would be fun and easy to break the ice with the audience :)<br />
<br />
Some of the conversations are in Hindi. For those who want a translation, look below the video embed :)<br />
Please bear with the buffering speed. May vary depending on any factor in the universe :D<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxW9n3NgLuRyqYoreoIurKlL8ET6jbDh-GetOEGhr0Omm_DYL7aDxmEeM0mUz8j2rx1HpEvcBCWJIA96rX0QQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
Translations:<br />
(anything in square brackets, is my take on the replies)<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Q. What is a GDD?</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy1 (Programmer):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> GDD is a…*</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">cleans throat</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* …GDD…Documentation something… documentation!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 2 (Senior Game Designer):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">my sparkling whites</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 3 (Producer):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Good Question!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 4 (Tech Analyst):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> First, you tell me what a GDD is! *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Gotcha</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">!</span></span></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 5(Lead Animator)</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: Have to ask Purnima! I’ve heard about it! It’s something BIG! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b45f06;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">[Oh yes, its Big!]</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 6(Producer):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> GDD is a document that sometimes gets done after the game is developed! *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Hahahha</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Girl 1(Asst. HR Manager):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> GDD? Game Design Document, right? *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">not sure</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 4 (Again): </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Game Developer of Disco? Game Developer of Dance? What is it? What does GDD mean??<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Girl 2 (Asst. Acct Manager - Publishing):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> GDD? *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">never heard of that term ever in my life!</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b45f06;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">[I like her reaction!]</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 7 (Studio Head):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> There is a large rotating dial with a depiction of Shiva about it! *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">this is more interesting, sorry I didn’t hear u!</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b45f06;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">[I wonder which game it is...]</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 4(Again?):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">thinking…</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*</span></span></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">hints?</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 8 (Programmer):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Game Design Document *</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">yay I got it right!</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Have you ever read a single GDD?)</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">LOL</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* No!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 9 (Studio Manager):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Well…a GDD is what a game can be! It’s not what a game will turn out to be, but it’s what a game can be! *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Honest!</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 4 (OMG!): </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Game Disco Developer? Game Developer Disco? Game Dance? *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">oh that’s only GD!</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* Game Dance Dance?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 10 (QA Lead):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Description of game which actually somehow doesn’t get implemented due to technical reasons and time du…. time constraints! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b45f06;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">[boy, u should be into management…so much diplomacy, yet the truth!]</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 11(Engine Lead):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Serious</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* Why? *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Can anyone help me out here?</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b45f06;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">[he doesn’t like getting distrurbed during his tower defense or farm games]</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 4(It’s him again!):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">thinking man… still thinking… it helps!</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b45f06;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">[yup! Go on]</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 12(Senior Game Designer):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">ya right!</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">h</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">elp me out here!</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* What is his problem with life?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 13 (Senior Programmer):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> I mean that’s the only thing that programmers hate! *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">true</span></span></i></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></i></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">confession</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 14 (Graphic Artist):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(What is a GDD?)</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">err……</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(GDD means what?)</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">still err…</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Gee Dee Dee!) </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…..am I gonna get into trouble for this??</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 4 (Enough already!):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Too much options I’ve given you! You can take any of that!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 15 (Senior Graphic Artist):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> They never follow except the producer! Because the producer truly believes that a game design document is really important for every … *</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">nod</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b45f06;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">[you've to complete the sentence! :P]</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 16 (Senior Programmer): </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I hate games! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b45f06;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">[Ooo boy, so much frustration but with a cheerful face..lolz]</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Girl 3(Asst. HR Manager): </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">heeeeee heeeee heeeeeeeeeee</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* *</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 120%;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">trring trring</span></span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 120%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Guy 4(Last time we hope!):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Thank you, thank you guys! Meet you again! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b45f06;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">[AGAIN?? Noooo!!]</span></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Hope you all enjoyed it!<br />
Still no idea what a GDD is? Try searching the term "Game Design Document" on Google. Don't know how to use Google? You don't need to know what a GDD is! :DPoornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-84197324126010392622010-02-23T14:20:00.007+05:302020-07-24T12:37:15.123+05:30BioShock 3D (PC vs Mobile)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S4OSf7hbURI/AAAAAAAABLc/Ng9ShGBhBMc/s1600-h/bioshocltitle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="122" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S4OSf7hbURI/AAAAAAAABLc/Ng9ShGBhBMc/s200/bioshocltitle.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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So I came up with few screenshots that compare the PC/Console version of the critically acclaimed game - BioShock to the 3D mobile versio. I was the lead game designer on this.<br />
Those who are having plugin issues can follow this link: <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/NP8Jnskq2YiV8DqA6">https://goo.gl/photos/NP8Jnskq2YiV8DqA6</a><br />
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<embed flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fpuri666%2Falbumid%2F5441351307529488945%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" height="267" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" src="https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400"></embed></div>
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Before you get all judgemental, here's more technical details that compares the versions.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>(Thanks to hubby- Arjun Nair, also Producer of BioShock 3D Mobile)</i></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S4OWiIULZ7I/AAAAAAAABLk/2Et0kcIfOD4/s1600-h/generationgap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S4OWiIULZ7I/AAAAAAAABLk/2Et0kcIfOD4/s400/generationgap.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Know more about the mobile version of BioShock <a href="http://theindiangamedesigner.blogspot.com/2010/02/bioshock-3d-mobile-released.html">here</a>.</div>
Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3346712947098092403.post-50398611481394415692010-02-22T13:21:00.010+05:302010-02-24T16:40:53.998+05:30NASSCOM Gaming Summit 2009 & 24fps AwardShould have posted earlier... but then I got all busy with my marriage preparations and then besides facebook, I forgot to update it anywhere else...So here it goes....better late than never :)<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b45f06;">NASSCOM ANIMATION AND GAMING SUMMIT 2009</span></b></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>November 7th 2009 saw the first ever 'full fledged' Indian gaming summit that took place in Hyderabad.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S4T3mLv4kvI/AAAAAAAABNo/NobYWgQQAmU/s1600-h/adam09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S4T3mLv4kvI/AAAAAAAABNo/NobYWgQQAmU/s200/adam09.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>It was inaugurated by Ernest Adams of the '<a href="http://www.designersnotebook.com/">Designer's Notebook</a>' fame. An industry veteran of over 20+ years of experience in Game Design, Ernest Adams, spoke about '<a href="http://www.animationxpress.com/gx/gx43.htm">The Promise of India: Ancient Culture, Modern Game Design.</a>'<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S4T4XXWuL6I/AAAAAAAABNw/8XbcmOYuH1w/s1600-h/Copy+of+DSC03826.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="121" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S4T4XXWuL6I/AAAAAAAABNw/8XbcmOYuH1w/s200/Copy+of+DSC03826.jpg" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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I was honored to be one of the speakers at this summit.<br />
Here's a small article on my session:<br />
<a href="http://www.animationxpress.com/gx/gx34.htm">Writing a Game Design Document - What the books don't teach you!</a><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S4T2EHiX0yI/AAAAAAAABNY/XoadpQuzaHI/s1600-h/bio0904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S4T2EHiX0yI/AAAAAAAABNY/XoadpQuzaHI/s200/bio0904.jpg" width="200" /></a>My husband (Arjun Nair) along with another colleague - Vishwas Kasat, presented a session on '<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 3px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 3px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.animationxpress.com/gx/gx36.htm">Bringing a killer console game to mobile</a> which spoke about bringing the console game 'BioShock' to the mobile (3D and 2D).</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 3px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 3px;">There were a lot of informative sessions that took place. All articles can be found <a href="http://www.animationxpress.com/gx/gx-index04.htm">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 3px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 3px;">For the first time, people like us had the opportunity to interact with others in the Indian gaming industry.Otherwise GDC and other gaming summits abroad are usually attended by the CEOs or senior management staff and hence our chance to mingle and interact with others is very rare. So the NASSCOM gaming summit came as a saviour. I hope more and more local summits like this happens and enables people working in the industry to get to know each other and share knowledge!</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 3px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 3px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b45f06;">MAAC 24FPS AWARDS</span></b></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 3px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 3px; font-size: small;"><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S4I6DuxSYMI/AAAAAAAABGk/T1nEfkuE1Ek/s1600-h/Copy+of+DSC03840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ebFy7jXndrY/S4I6DuxSYMI/AAAAAAAABGk/T1nEfkuE1Ek/s200/Copy+of+DSC03840.JPG" width="160" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 3px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 3px;">Also around the same time, i.e. on 6th November 2009, we won the Best Game Design award at the 24fps Animation Awards organized by MAAC for Movin' Maze 3D - iPhone. We shared the award with Ghajini, the game.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 3px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 3px; font-size: small;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 3px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 3px;">Unfortunately, due to some miscommunication, I wasn't informed that we won the award. So, at the last moment, another studio head, Shaina Rajan went ahead and collected the award on my/our dept's behalf.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 3px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 3px;">How I wish I was there to collect the award! *sigh* </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 3px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 3px;">Anyways cheers! :D</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 3px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 3px;">The complete list of winners are <a href="http://www.cgtantra.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19386">here</a>. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 3px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 3px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(Indiagames is misspelled as Indian games)</span></i></span><br />
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</span>Poornima Seetharamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013166547780474666noreply@blogger.com8