What does it take to become an Art Director in the video games business? I sat down with Adam Dalley, the Art Director at Backstage, our sister Gamehouse studio in Victoria BC. to find out how he got into games, his day to day tasks and to get his thoughts on how to enter the business. 1.  How did you get into the games business? After going to school for 2D animation I actually spent…

Video Game character artist and animator, Robert Sanchez, takes a break from his job at Gamehouse to sit down with me for an interview about his passion for character art and animation. 1. How did you get into the games business? I got into the business of creating graphics by starting out my career building tax forms for the government. Yes, government tax forms that accountants used for software. My claim to fame was this…

Ship it! I remember very distinctly when a co-worker told me that the game I was working on, Super Battleship for the Super NES (circa 1993), wasn’t going to ship for 6 months. I thought he was crazy. I was basically done with all the art for the game and we were actually playing the game in his office when he made that statement. Guess what? It really did take 6 months for that game…

Games are projects A game can be many things to many different people.  For the consumer, a game can be a way to relax, to entertain, to challenge.  For a game developer, as much as we love working on games, every game we get involved with boils down to being a project and every project is an entrepreneurial endeavor. It’s an important distinction to make; games are fun but they’re also a business venture and…

Hi folks! From week to week I’ve been writing about what it’s like to have an art career in video games. Every now and then I’ll feature an interview from one of the artists working in our studio and in the industry.  This week I got to chat with Krystle Alvarez, a junior artist in our company to get her perspective on life in the games business. 1. How did you get into the games business? My…

This week’s interview with Artists in the Industry From week to week I’m writing about what it’s like to have an art career in video games. Every now and then I’ll feature an interview from one of the artists working in our studio and in the industry. This week I sat down with Lynwood Montgomery, the Director of Art at Gamehouse studios. 1. How did you get into the games business? Long ago in a galaxy far…

Working in a game studio environment Every week we release a new “skin” for Collapse! Blast to keep the game feeling fresh.  What’s a skin? It’s a new look for an existing interface. I’m going to quickly go through the process of how we created the Baby New Years skin that was released on December 27th 2011. Begin with a concept Our studio VP sent an email to me and asked what our plans were…

You landed an interview at a game company, now what? I’m going to come right out and just say it.  If you’ve landed a job interview at a game company then you’re already half way to landing the job. Hurray!  It means that the Art Director has reviewed your portfolio and thinks that your artwork and past experience may be the right fit for a role on the team.  The formal interview is almost always…

Hello and Happy Holidays! I just found out this morning that the game that I help create, Collapse! Blast, was ranked in the top 10 games of 2011 by Inside Social Games. Congratulations to my talented teammates, this is an incredible achievement. The fun part of making social games is that we get to update the content weekly and we will be working hard to make Collapse! Blast the best game we can in 2012….

It’s Hard Work to Have This Much Fun! It’s hard to believe that I’ve been out of art school for 20 years. It was an important time for me and it led me into the career that I enjoy and love so much today. What have I been doing since I graduated from the Art Institute of Seattle in the fall of 1990? I’ve been making video games! I thought this 20th year anniversary would…