Advice for Twentysomethings

April 12, 2013 · 5:55 PM

On Quora, someone asked, "How should a 22-year-old invest time?" A wave of feel-good answers best suited to self-help books followed. I thought a heavy dose of realism was needed.

  • Network first, then make friends. You can always make friends, but the people who can help you now will not remain in the same position. They'll lose their jobs, climb the ladder, or remain in place while you move around, in or out of their reach. Moreover, professional relationships do not preclude friendships. In fact, your colleagues would probably make better friends than your drinking buddies who you know absolutely nothing about.
  • Gain competence in what you love; branch out later. If you've already found what you love, you shouldn't go looking for alternatives. Instead: practice, practice, and practice some more. When you think you're done, keep practicing. Once you've become proficient, explore other areas but only those that may have synergies with your primary domain. Stay focused.
  • Volunteer to help those who can help you. No amount of exposure to other people's "real problems" will prepare a 22-year-old to solve them. Perspective tugs on the heartstrings and rallies passionate believers around causes, but despite how cold this sounds, you can accomplish more for others once you're no longer worrying about yourself. Volunteer with a trade association, or intern with a company, where you can practice what you love and learn from people you respect.
  • Accept that independence is a fantasy. Unless you go completely off the grid, into the wilderness, and live off the land, everyone relies on each other. Don't concern yourself with your "independence." Starting a company isn't going to free you. Writing a book is really not going to free you. Taking on serious responsibilities like creating jobs and publishing books are heavy burdens which can feel like chains. There hasn't been a single moment where I've felt free, but the pursuit of position in the interconnected community in which we live has given me purpose.
  • Spend every waking moment thinking about your reputation. All we really own until we leave this world is our name. If you don't take your name seriously, nobody else will. You have to defend, fight for, and build your reputation. You might not aspire to be Andrew Carnegie, but you should be thinking about what your life will mean to the people you care about. More importantly, think about what your life means now every day because if that thought is depressing, you need to get to work.
  • Do whatever needs doing. Allowing yourself to be driven by genuine interest is perfectly fine if you're stuck in high school, but after you leave the safe confines of that teenage prison, you don't have a choice. You have to work for what you want. You have to act, not stand back and let good things happen to you. You have to do whatever needs doing and liking what must be done doesn't matter; being happy in every moment doesn't matter.

    Life is worth living because of those fleeting moments of true happiness, those rare moments when you realize that you can carry the fruits of your dedication and hard labor to the end of your days with the biggest smile on your face, from loving and successful children to a multibillion-dollar enterprise that gives thousands of people the means to do good and do well.

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Forbes Interview

February 9, 2013 · 2:44 PM

I was interviewed by Forbes for a feature article about Gamers at Work. Here's the complete interview.

FORBES: First, could you tell me about Entertainment Media Council?

RAMSAY: Alongside 15 entrepreneurs, CEOs, and senior executives in the video-game industry, I founded Entertainment Media Council and incorporated the association as a nonprofit in September 2008. We set out to solve the video-game industry's biggest challenges—to move the industry forward by supporting developers, publishers, and other business leaders as they find themselves up against the odds. That remains our mission today.

Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People Play and the forthcoming Online Gamers at Work deliver on that promise by providing entrepreneurs with an inside look at what they can expect from their own startup adventures. Through my interviews with nearly 40 founders of major video-game companies, such as Atari cofounder Nolan Bushnell, Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, and Kongregate cofounder Emily Greer, we learn exactly why Lionhead Studios founder and Fable series creator Peter Molyneux OBE called Gamers at Work "a critical resource for new and experienced business leaders."

There is more work to be done, however. We're just getting started.

FORBES: How did you go about securing the interviews? Did you find any of the subjects particularly challenging to get hold of?

RAMSAY: I make a strong effort to personally invite each founder to contribute his or her story to my books. In 2010, I drove up to Ayzenberg Group's [a]list Summit in Napa from San Diego to ask Nolan for an interview. I walked away from that conference with Nolan, Gaikai cofounder David Perry, and Oddworld Inhabitants cofounder Lorne Lanning confirmed, as well as the book deal. If I can't make the pitch directly, I try to find someone who can. Sometimes that's a mutual friend or publicist, but most of the entrepreneurs I've approached readily agreed to do interviews. There have been a few who declined though. That's always disappointing, but their competitors have always been happy to take their place.

FORBES: Many of the interviewees are representatives of the "golden age" of PC games, although many are still working in games today. What was your selection criteria?

RAMSAY: In the United States, half of all startups across major industries can expect to operate beyond their fifth year; however, in the video-game industry, merely existing for five years is a longshot. There are a select few who built lasting enterprises though. Who are they? What can we learn from them? How can we follow their examples? Whether I thought the answers to these questions would be valuable to entrepreneurs guided the selection process. Naturally, many of the industry's most successful founders, who would have inspiring, fascinating, or entertaining stories to share, started their first companies more than ten years ago.

FORBES: Were you particularly struck by any particular stories or responses?

RAMSAY: After Gamers at Work was published, I actually asked several of my interviewees this same question. Trip said that he particularly enjoyed MicroProse cofounder Wild Bill Stealey's recollections about Avalon Hill's casual approach to protecting the company's rights to Civilization because that sort of disregard would never happen today. For me, there was something in every interview that I found memorable. Naughty Dog cofounder Jason Rubin recalled that the studio's relationship with Universal had deteriorated to the extent that Universal wouldn't pay for air conditioning or allow portable units in the building. The team was forced to work shirtless in the hallways!

Aside from the intrigue, I was surprised that everyone was open about their sacrifices. Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley lamented not being home from work enough in the early days of developing EverQuest to spend time with his family. Many people enjoy dehumanizing corporations as faceless legal instruments for accruing wealth and increasing shareholder value, but the truth is simply that corporations are bodies of people organized for common purposes. As Peter F. Drucker might have said, corporations are living human ecosystems. I wanted to give corporations back their humanity by emphasizing that business is always personal. But I didn't expect to get as much detail as I was provided in that regard.

FORBES: What key lessons for video-game startups did you learn from the book?

RAMSAY: Many of the lessons about starting and building successful companies remain as meaningful, valuable, and relevant today as they did in the four decades covered in Gamers at Work.

Be frugal: if you have money to burn, spend on only what you really need; otherwise, spend nothing. Don Daglow, whose company Stormfront Studios lasted 20 years, reminded us that keeping a studio running is about balancing unpredictable revenue and predictable expenses. You want to always be prepared for the worst case scenario.

Be versatile: stay open to opportunities and avoid locking yourself into any strategy, such as developing only games you want to play. When Troika Games found themselves without their next role-playing game contract, Tim Cain and his cofounders made the tough decision to close down. There were opportunities on the table, but none they could be passionate about. The result was the loss of a great team that created three amazing games in just five years.

Finally, be mindful: produce your flagship title to the best of your abilities, but don't forget that you have a business to run. Many new studios fall apart because everyone involved puts their all into the product and nothing into the company. You have to be fully aware that, at the end of the development cycle, your first game is one of many to come, so ensure that you have the necessary leadership and management expertise on your team to move the studio forward.

FORBES: You've said that the goal of the EMC is to address the "systemic, market-level and corporate problems that make video games such a volatile industry in which to do business." What do you see as those problems? How did Gamers at Work inform your understanding of those problems and how to address them?

RAMSAY: As I said before, most startups in the video-game industry can be expected to close within five years. That is our primary concern, but I don't want to understate our mission. The challenges of starting and building small companies into great companies, as well as the challenges of leading and managing large enterprises, have not become any easier. While today's video games are more enduring thanks in large part to the achievements of those featured in Gamers at Work and Online Gamers at Work, today's developers, publishers, and other video-game companies struggle with the same decisions and plenty of new ones.

How many great studios will never get a chance to shine because the founders—usually artists, designers, and programmers—were not attentive to the financial, legal, and business development needs of their organizations? How many innovative games will we never see because marketing was an afterthought or the people in charge were averse to monetizing art? How many talented developers will never work on their greatest achievements because mismanagement led to burnout, yet another cancelled title, or yet another failed business?

Entertainment Media Council was created because the problems we've seen over our years in the video-game industry—from the high rate of new firm deaths and the increasing difficulty of navigating trends, opportunities, and threats to the demands for a triple bottom line and the consequences of operating creative ventures within walled gardens—are solvable problems. We can change the industry for the better. We can address the toughest challenges facing companies today by bringing the brightest minds in business together. And together, we can leverage our economic strength and intellectual capital to guide us to a bright future. Gamers at Work and Online Gamers at Work inform our understanding of the challenges ahead, but the stories within also reaffirm that we are not powerless to own our destinies.

You can purchase Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People Play at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart, and many other booksellers around the world.

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Gamers at Work In Forbes

February 8, 2013 · 11:01 AM

Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People Play was featured on Forbes today—exactly one year after its publication on February 8, 2012. Happy anniversary, Gamers at Work! I was interviewed for the article, but not all of the interview made the cut. I'll post the complete interview here later if I'm given the okay by the editor. Here's one of my answers.

I asked Ramsay what advice he had gleaned from his interviews for the modern gaming small businessman:

Be frugal: if you have money to burn, spend on only what you really need; otherwise, spend nothing. Don Daglow, whose company Stormfront Studios lasted 20 years, reminded us that keeping a studio running is about balancing unpredictable revenue and predictable expenses. You want to always be prepared for the worst case scenario.

Be versatile: stay open to opportunities and avoid locking yourself into any strategy, such as developing only games you want to play. When Troika Games found themselves without their next role-playing game contract, Tim Cain and his cofounders made the tough decision to close down. There were opportunities on the table, but none they could be passionate about. The result was the loss of a great team that created three amazing games in just five years.

Finally, be mindful: produce your flagship title to the best of your abilities, but don’t forget that you have a business to run. Many new studios fall apart because everyone involved puts their all into the product and nothing into the company. You have to be fully aware that, at the end of the development cycle, your first game is one of many to come, so ensure that you have the necessary leadership and management expertise on your team to move the studio forward.

Link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnyegriffiths/2013/02/08/press-startup-rubin-spector-and-others-talk-business-in-gamers-at-work/

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Spector: "I want Junction Point to go on"

January 29, 2013 · 11:20 AM

Today, Disney confirmed rumors that Junction Point, the company founded in 2005 by luminary game designer Warren Spector, has been closed. The official statement read:

It was with much sadness that we informed our teams today of changes to our Games organization, which include the closure of Junction Point Studios. These changes are part of our ongoing effort to address the fast-evolving gaming platforms and marketplace and to align resources against our key priorities. We're extremely grateful to Warren Spector and the Junction Point team for their creative contributions to Disney with Disney Epic Mickey and Disney Epic Mickey 2.

Rumors have been circulating for sometime, but I didn't want to believe them. In Gamers at Work, when I spoke with Warren about the reception to Disney Epic Mickey, he was upbeat.

I'd describe Disney Epic Mickey as wildly successful, in most ways that matter. It's by far the bestselling game I've ever worked on. It generated more revenue than anything I've ever worked on and it certainly made money for the company. From that perspective, it's all good. Of greater importance to me, if not to Disney overall, it accomplished most of its creative goals. [...] And, best of all, we really touched people in a way none of my games at least had before. I've never received more heartfelt fan mail.

When we talked about succession planning, which is often the key to sustaining a company after the founders have departed, he was optimistic.

I'm making very conscious efforts to get out of the way of the folks coming up behind me at Junction Point. I can see my studio director, Paul Weaver, taking over from me on the studio side of things. I can see my design director, Chase Jones, taking the creative lead on projects. I'm pushing them to do just that right now and they're doing great. [...] I'm much more conscious now — more so in the last year or two than ever before — of the need to plan for the future; to make it a formal thing; and to push people to take my job away from me.

And when we talked about his future with Disney, he was sentimental.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring? I thought I was going to retire from Origin — get the gold watch, the pension plan, the whole nine yards. That didn't quite pan out! I certainly have no plans beyond Junction Point! [...] I long ago made a list of the things I wanted to accomplish in my life and there are still some things I haven't done. Luckily, I can do most all of them with Disney, so my hope is to finish out my career here. We'll see how it goes. [...] I want Junction Point — and games like Deus Ex and the Ultima games and Disney Epic Mickey — to go on after I'm retired.

In the video-game industry, I've become accustomed to studio closures, mass layoffs, and large enterprises choosing to "align resources against key priorities." In 2008, I began what has become a long journey to establish a professional association for video-game industry entrepreneurs, C-level executives, and senior managers, in large part because I want to put a stop to the category of management that defines a "key priority" as anything and anyone other than the people who do the real work of a corporation. And each year since then — each year when more teams are destroyed and jobs are lost — I've reminded myself that once Entertainment Media Council is launched, there will be less closures every year from that point forward.

spector-mickey_mouse_ears-gdc_2010But the closure of Junction Point feels different to me somehow. In this case, I know Warren. I know that Warren is a gentle soul and a consummate Disney fan. When he donned Mickey Mouse ears as the host of the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2010, he wasn't playing a role and towing the company line. Warren was proud to be a Disney man. And now they've taken his job away from him.

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Game Violence: What the Conversation Has Wrong

January 16, 2013 · 11:04 AM

If you've been following video-game industry news lately, you've probably heard about how Vice President Biden invited business leaders and others to participate in a conference about gun control. Gamasutra's Kris Graft argued that the industry should not have representation at a meeting that the industry has no business taking. IGN's Casey Lynch countered that, essentially, only the guilty run. And Georgia Tech professor and Guinness World Record holder Ian Bogost said that the industry has already lost regardless of whether the industry was represented at the White House.

Recently, GamesIndustry.biz reported that there was "no mention of games" in the Vice President's proposals to the commander-in-chief; and, today, President Obama laid aside responsibility for addressing video-game violence at the collective feet of Congress. Gamasutra also reported that the conference between Biden and the video-game industry focused on public relations—how the public views video games and what the industry can do to change that perception. Now, GamesBeat's Ethan Gach says that the problem is that video games do not make the best use of violence.

From a public relations viewpoint, I think he has a point: there is a plenty of gratuitous violence in video games. I remember reading Warren Spector—who previously worked on arguably violent games such as Deus Ex, Thief, and System Shock—lament on Facebook about how much violence there was on display at a video-game trade show last year. I believe that Dishonored had caught his attention with its lovingly stylized arterial sprays. Coincidentally, the programmer who coded those effects, Joe Houston, has expressed that the game he helped to create makes him uneasy at times.

However, like the lead up to Brown/Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association, little attention has been paid to the findings of actual media and video-game violence research. Specifically, every reference to "violence" so far has been a reference to graphic violence. And while this makes sense to laymen—the idea that children imitate what they see, so if children see violence, they may be inclined to exhibit violent behaviors—researchers in this area actually have very little interest in arterial spray screen effects. In 2007, Gentile, Saleem & Anderson wrote:

Research reveals that the public tends to focus on the graphic aspects and intensity of a scene in determining its level of violence (Potter & Berry, 1999), contrary to scientific and legal definitions. Ironically, the research has shown that children's cartoons have the highest frequency of television violence, but the public does not view cartoons as violent (Howitt & Cumberbatch, 1975; NTVS, 1997). It seems that the affectively positive aspects of humor or animation lead to discounting such depictions as violence. This variation in definitions of violence may be explained by differences in concerns. Whereas the public is mainly concerned about the graphically explicit aspects in describing violence, the scientific community's conceptualization of violence is concerned with the extent to which it is likely to harm viewers (Potter, 1999).

There is a clear disconnect here. We have a much deeper communication problem than just that "the most popular video games are also the most violent" (Gach). And like any problem, we can't solve that problem with just words; we need developers to get involved. I don't think that showing "the totality of uses to which video games are put" (Bogost) to the public or the White House is really going to make an impact. I think we need more games to demonstrate the "affectively positive aspects of humor or animation," for example. Our "action movies" currently eclipse our other genres. We don't have a healthy comedy business or a healthy drama business. We need to change that.

Recommended Reading

  • Anderson, C. (2006). Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research, and Public Policy. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Browne, K., & Hamilton-Giachritsis, C. (2005). The Influence of Violent Media on Children and Adolescents: A Public-Health Approach. The Lancet, 365(9460), 702-10.
  • Dickey, M. (2005). Engaging by Design: How Engagement Strategies in Popular Computer andVideo Games Can Inform Instructional Design. Educational Technology Research and Development, 53(2), 67-83.
  • Dietz, T. (1998). An Examination of Violence and Gender Role Portrayals in Video Games: Implications for Gender Socialization and Aggressive Behavior. Sex Roles, 38(5/6), 425-42.
  • Fling, S. (1992). Videogames, Aggression, and Self-Esteem: A Survey. Social Behavior and Personality, 20(1), 39-46.
  • Funk, J., Hagan, J., Schimming, J., Bullock, W., Buchman, D., & Myers, M. (2002). Aggression and Psychopathology in Adolescents with a Preference for Violent Electronic Games. Aggressive Behavior, 28(5), 134-44.
  • Gentile, D., Saleem, M., & Anderson, C. (2007). Public Policy and the Effects of Media Violence on Children. Social Issues and Policy Review, 1(1), 15-61.
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