IGDA Twin Cities/Education and Games Panel
International Game Developers Association
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This panel was held on February 8th 2006, and was hosted by the IGDA Twin Cities chapter.
Panel Members
Michael Berglund (Canopy Games)
Michael Berglund (along with partner David Weiberg) has been at the helm of a creative visual services organization that is like no other, for the past sixteen years. Together, the organizations of Minnefex, Canopy Games, and Rotor Design comprise a unique media entity that has created stunning visuals and media for a vast range of clientele. Canopy Games has created sixteen best-selling software titles, ranging from the Harley-Davidson™ racing series, to Hot Rod™ Magazine. Canopy has partnered with some of the world's leading publishers of interactive entertainment, including Atari, THQ, and Activision to create immersive and engaging entertainment experiences. Gamers, publishers, and licensees have all hailed the simplicity, stability, excitement, and "bang for your buck" that Canopy software provides.
Frenchy Lumming (MCAD)
Mark Manyen (Wounded Badger Interactive)
Mark has been working in game software development for over 20 years. Having held every conceivable position from tech support to junior programmer to Development Director, his skills progressed from raw programming talent to senior level code designer and team leader. Currently Mark is leading a team creating "Casual Games" as well as writing Virtual Reality Simulations with the Johnson Center for Virtual Reality (Pine Technical College, Pine City, MN). His latest release is "Majongg Master 7: Tiles of Time" from eGames (Febuaray 2006). Other releases include the "Chessmaster" series, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, Tony LaRussa Baseball, John Madden Football and a long line of eGames-branded casual games.
Nora Paul (University of Minnesota)
Nora Paul is the director of the Institute for New Media Studies at the University of Minnesota, School of Journalism and Mass Communication. From 1991 to 2000 Nora was with the Poynter Institute, a mid-career journalism training program in St. Petersburg, FL, where she held seminars in news library management, computer-assisted research, and new media leadership. She was editor for information services at the Miami Herald from 1979-1991. Nora is the author of Computer Assisted Research: A guide to tapping online information, and co-author of Great Scouts: Cyber-guides for subject searching on the web and Behind the Message: Information Strategies for Communicators, and editor of Digital Think. Her work at the Institute focuses on the impact of the new media environment on content and evolving digital storytelling forms. Initiatives she runs at the Institute include the Game Research and Virtual Environment Lab (GRAVEL) and the Digital Story Effects Lab (DiSEL).
Al Schilling (Destineer)
Al is in his 13th year in the computer games business. In stints with WizardWorks, Infogrames, Atari and Destineer, he has experienced the industry from numerous perspectives-as a Technical Support Representative, Product Manager, Producer, and Operations Director. Al is experienced in developing original games (Prime Target, Close Combat First to Fight) as well as licensing existing games for deployment on other platforms (Halo, Civilization III, Age of Empires). In his 13 years in the business, Al has been credited in over 150 commercial products.
Justin Spoelstra (Brown College)
Justin has an AAS in Mulitmedia, an AAS in Animation, and a BA in Business. After college, he went to work for a local animation company, Oops Production where he later became the Director of Operations. During his tenure at Oops he worked on various commercial, medical, short film, architectural, and other applications using the latest in 3D and TV broadcasting software. After leaving Oops Productions, Justin was recruited to be the Project Manager of Dynamic Digital Design. There he was in charge of a team of Interactive Media artists and programmers, creating interactive presentations using the latest in web and game design and development technology. Justin contributed to programs for training, sales and marketing, and web applications for a variety of architectural, mechanical, and other local and national businesses. During this time Justin was also teaching the art of animation and TV production at a local accredited college in Minneapolis. Freelance has and still is playing an integral part in Justin’s growth within the industry. Currently Justin is a consultant for 2 national game companies, and an architectural design company specializing in themed waterparks.
Matt Taylor (Allen Interactions)
Matt has lead the development of several learning game projects, both for the University of Minnesota (managed under games.umn.edu) and private companies. His work has won awards and has been published in a variety of academic journals. He has presented work regionally and internationally. Matt has held a hodgepodge of IT positions since college (web developer, programmer, network support, consultant, corporate trainer, and college instructor). Currently he is a developer for Allen Interactions, an interactive e-learning company headquartered in Mendota Heights.
To be moderated by:
Gary Dahl (MSB & Globe College)
Gary currently coordinates the Programming and Game Development program at the Minnesota School of Business and Globe College. He has developed commercial, military, and award winning independent computer games. His games have been presented and displayed in art shows and exhibits, and he has presented work at the Game Developers Conference (the premier international conference for game development). Mr. Dahl holds a Master of Science degree in computer science from the University of Minnesota. He has taught and spoken at several local colleges and universities on the subjects of computer programming, computer graphics, and computer game design and development.
Potential Questions That Were Proposed for the Panel
- What's the one thing you wished every game developer were taught before graduating?
- What's the one thing you would like someone to research, and teach you in the next year?
- What skills do(would) you look for in hiring a game developer?
- What other qualities do(would) you look for in hiring a game developer?
- What are the roles we can and should be training game developers for?
- Should training for any of these roles be tailored toward a specific application of game technology (ie. educational, advertising, entertainment, etc.)?
- Should training for any of these roles be tailored toward a specific genre of game (FPS, RTS, adventure, puzzle, etc)?
- What should artists, programmers, and designers know about each others' roles?
- What kind of core/general-ed balance should game developers be trained with?
- What are the most beneficial general-eds a game developer can take?
- What's the biggest problem you see in the training of game developers today?
- How can/should the game industry work with academia?
- What is a video game?
- What tools should prospective game developers be trained to use?
- What is driving the recent surge in game development programs across the planet?
- For game developers who have educational games for the K-12 student markets, what is the process primary, middle, and high schools use for purchasing educational software (are decisions made for the entire district or by individual schools- does it vary?)?
- How can developers interested in the formal education markets reach the school buyers?
- For game developers who have educational games for the post-secondary student markets, what is the process colleges and universities use for purchasing educational software?
- How can developers make their services and specialties more attractive to academics for use in their custom game application projects (many academics seem more compelled to roll their own and play game designer/developer, even if their core specialty is completely unrelated, than to utilize a contract development studio or collaborate with one)?
