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| |Game Startup Workshop |
| |ITP 499 (2 Units) |
| |Fall 2011 (2011-3) |
| | |
|Summary |Many students today don't care so much for jobs in the video game industry, but instead aspire to |
| |start their own video game companies. This course, through guest speakers, news articles, and |
| |business-related exercises, explores the common pitfalls of starting a company in today's |
| |environment, and offers solutions, tips, and suggestions to achieve business success. Guest |
| |speakers to include CEOs of startups, SBA mentors, lawyers who specialize in game-related matters, |
| |and game executives expert in specialized aspects (Marketing, Development, Finance, Sales, and |
| |others). |
| | |
|Objective |To provide students with information, ideas, and inspiration that will enable them to achieve |
| |success after graduation. |
| | |
|Outline of Topics |Intro to Game Startup Workshop; what to expect from the course |
| |What is a Company? Why start one? |
| |Obtaining funding; investor relations |
| |Budgets |
| |Schedules |
| |Business plans; market analysis; ROI's. |
| |Hiring the right personnel; employment law; managing personnel; midterm review |
| |Midterm exam |
| |Development contracts (contracts for developers) |
| |Publishing contracts (contracts for publishers) |
| |Hired Guns (business of contract development) |
| |The console market; retail |
| |The online market |
| |The mobile market |
| |Production methodologies; final review |
| | |
|Instructor |Tom Sloper has been a game producer and designer for over 25 years, having designed and produced |
| |games for most major console platforms from the 2600, 7800, Colecovision, Intellivision, and Vectrex|
| |on up to the Playstation, Xbox 360, Dreamcast, DS, PC, Mac, Internet, and IPTV. He's worked for |
| |Sega, Atari, Activision, Mastiff Games, Naked Sky Entertainment, and Yahoo. |
| |Most well known for his work on the Shanghai series of mahjongg tile-matching games, he produced |
| |many action games as well. His credits include Mechwarrior, Alien vs. Predator, Ghostbusters, Blast |
| |Chamber, Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2, Sargon V, Top Gun, and Star Trek D·A·C. |
| |An author and speaker, he's contributed to several books on games and the industry (Secrets of the |
| |Game Business, Game Design Perspectives, Introduction to Game Development, Mah Jong Anyone?, and The|
| |Red Dragon & The West Wind), and has spoken at GDC, Serious Games Summit, Montreal Game Summit, |
| |Korean Games Conference, SIGGRAPH, and the Smithsonian. He keeps current in the game industry |
| |consulting in game development internationally. |
| | |
|Contacting the Instructor |Email: sloper@usc.edu (put “Game Startup Workshop” or "ITP499" in the subject) |
| | |
|Office Hours |Office: OHE412 |
| |3-5 Mondays |
| |3-5 Tuesdays |
| |3-5 Wednesdays |
| |3-6 Fridays |
| |Telephone: 213-740-3916 (email if no answer) |
| | |
|Lab Assistants |Questions about assignments and grades should be directed to the instructor--NOT to the lab |
| |assistant. For informational purposes, the lab assistants this semester are: |
| |n/a |
| | |
|Lecture |3 hrs./wk. |
| | |
|Lab |n/a |
| | |
|Textbook |Required reading (on the web): , , Gamasutra |
| | |
| |Recommended reading (book): INTRODUCTION TO GAME DEVELOPMENT, edited by Steve Rabin; Charles River |
| |Media; Second Edition, ISBN-13: 978-1-58450-679-9; ISBN-10: 1-58450-679-2 |
| | |
| |If available to ITP499 students, students should acquire Course Reader for ITP230/391 from USC |
| |bookstore. |
| | |
|Blackboard |Lecture slides are on Blackboard, under Content. |
| |Assignments are on Blackboard, under Assignments; assignments are all to be turned in online via |
| |Blackboard |
| |Blackboard also lists numerous required reading of supplementary website links (on Blackboard, under|
| |Websites). |
| | |
|Grading |The following point structure will be used in determining the grade for the course. Final letter |
| |grade will be based upon the total points received, the highest total in the class, and the average |
| |of the class. |
| |Weekly assignments 50% |
| |Participation 10% |
| |Midterm Exam 20% |
| |Final Exam 20% |
| | |
| |Grading scale: |
| |A 100-93 |
| |A- 92-90 |
| |B+ 89-87 |
| |B 86-83 |
| |B- 82-80 |
| |C+ 79-77 |
| |C 76-73 |
| |C- 72-70 |
| |D+ 69-67 |
| |D 66-65 |
| |F 64 or below |
| | |
|Achievements |Students earn "achievements" by various means: excellent participation 5 weeks in a row, |
| |contributing news articles and insights on trends, aiding neighbors during lab, etc. Achievements |
| |are awarded in the form of specially marked playing cards. Cards may be traded with other students. |
| |A student can combine cards to form special combinations; those card combinations can be turned in |
| |to the instructor in exchange for marks upgrades, lateness/absence reduction, etc. Details at |
| | |
| | |
|Policies |Instructor Policies |
| | |
| |Participation - Students should notify instructor by email in advance if a class will be missed. |
| |Students are expected to come to class on time and participate in each class. The course material is|
| |online (see Blackboard). Read it. Do the assigned exercises online. |
| | |
| |Assignments - Under Assignments on Blackboard. Exercises are to be submitted online via Blackboard. |
| |It is the student’s responsibility to turn in assigned exercises on or before deadlines as set by |
| |the instructor. |
| | |
| |Late Submissions - Exercises/assignments turned in late will be reduced by 20% first late day, by |
| |50% second late day. Exercises/assignments turned in after two days earn zero in grade center. |
| | |
| |Make-up policies - To make up for a missed exam, the student must provide a satisfactory reason (as |
| |determined by the instructor) along with proper documentation. Make-up exams are only allowed under |
| |extraordinary circumstances. |
| | |
| |ITP Policies |
| | |
| |Classroom Computers - Before logging off a computer, students must ensure that they have emailed or |
| |saved projects created during the class or lab session. Any work saved to the computer will be |
| |erased after restarting the computer. ITP is not responsible for any work lost. |
| | |
| |Open Lab - ITP offers Open Lab use for all students enrolled in ITP classes. These open labs are |
| |held beginning the second week of classes through the last week of classes. Please contact your |
| |instructor for specific times and days for the current semester. |
| | |
|Academic Integrity |The use of unauthorized material, communication with fellow students during an examination, |
| |attempting to benefit from the work of another student, and similar behavior that defeats the intent|
| |of an examination or other class work is unacceptable to the University. It is often difficult to |
| |distinguish between a culpable act and inadvertent behavior resulting from the nervous tension |
| |accompanying examinations. When the instructor determines that a violation has occurred, |
| |appropriate action, as determined by the instructor, will be taken. |
| | |
| |Although working together during lab is encouraged, all work claimed as yours must in fact be your |
| |own effort. Students who plagiarize the work of other students will receive zero points and may |
| |also be referred to Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards (SJACS). |
| | |
| |All students should read, understand, and abide by the University Student Conduct Code listed in |
| |SCampus, and available at: |
| | |
| | |
|Students with Disabilities |Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with |
| |Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved |
| |accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me (or to your |
| |TA) as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 |
| |p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776. |
|Game Startup Workshop |
|ITP 499 (2 Units) |
|Course Outline |
| |
|Week 1 – Intro to course; overview of material to be covered; what to expect from the course, the instructor, and guest speakers |
| |Guest Speaker: (No guest speaker the first week) |
| |Reading: Sloperama Article 29: |
| |Assignment: Subscribe to and ; write a one-page description of your ideal startup.|
| |
|Week 2 – What is a Company? Why start one? Developer? Publisher? Which platform market? Setting a mission statement; managing expectations. |
|Laws of incorporation. |
| |Guest Speaker: SBA TBD (Small Business Administrator advisor) |
| |Reading: TBD |
| |Assignment: Write a mission statement for your own ideal startup company; make it realistic |
| |
|Week 3 – Obtaining funding: VC (venture capitalists), FFF (friends, family, fools), bank loans. Maintaining investor relations through tough |
|times. |
| |Guest Speaker: Tian Mu, CEO of Naked Sky Entertainment |
| |Reading: 697/how_to_obtain_funding_for_a_small_business.html?cat=3 and |
| | planner/plan/writeabusinessplan/index.html |
| |Assignment: Research articles on the 'net, find one great tip you never knew before but that you now plan to use when |
| |starting your own company. Present tip to class |
| |
|Week 4 – Writing game budgets that cover all likely costs, provide for eventualities, yet stay within limits |
| |Guest Speakers: Ron and Krissie Franco, Cofounders of Hydrogen Whiskey, a Santa Monica game development company |
| |Reading: Sloperama article 62: |
| |Assignment: Create a budget for your startup's first small short project to showcase your team's talent |
| |
|Week 5 – Schedules. Why Christmas is in July. All about the Evil Triangle (Good, Fast, Cheap). |
| |Guest Speaker: (No speaker this week) |
| |Reading: TBD |
| |Assignment: Lay out the unchangeable events that occur post-beta for a retail console product. |
| |
|Week 6 – Business plans; market analysis; ROI's. |
| |Guest Speaker: Sue Bohle, CEO, The Bohle Company (Corporate and Marketing Public Relations) |
| |Reading: TBD |
| |Assignment: Write a competitive analysis for your startup's first game |
| |
|Week 7 – Hiring the right personnel; employment law; managing personnel; midterm prep. |
| |Guest Speaker: TBD Human Resources manager |
| |Reading: Sloperama article 7: |
| |Assignment: Make a personnel list for your planned startup company |
| |
|Week 8 – Midterm |
| |Guest Speaker: N/A |
| |Reading: The Activision/Spark Unlimited Call of Duty contract: |
| | |
| |Assignment: (No assignment this week) |
| |
|Week 9 – Development contracts (contracts for developers) |
| |Guest Speaker: Jim Charne, (game attorney) |
| |Reading: Contract Walkthrough at |
| |Assignment: Write a milestone description for the first playable demo of your startup's first game |
| |
|Week 10 – Publishing contracts (contracts for publishers) |
| |Guest Speakers: Thaine Lyman, Activision (game attorney); Shawn Foust, Sheppard Mullin (game attorney) |
| |Reading: TBD |
| |Assignment: Fill out a CRF (Contract Request Form) and name your favorite game |
| |
|Week 11 – Hired Guns (business of contract development) |
| |Guest Speaker: Justin Lloyd, Founder/President of Infinite Monkey Entertainment |
| |Reading: Sloperama article 10: |
| |Assignment: Write a history of the developer (not the publisher) of your favorite game |
| |
|Week 12 – The console market (Xbox, PS3, PSP, Wii, DS, 3DS); retail and online (XBLA, PSN, DS, 3DS) |
| |Guest Speaker: Jeff Buchanan, game designer; formerly of Sega, Activision, and Majesco; cofounder, Arktos |
| |Entertainment |
| |Reading: TBD |
| |Assignment: Elevator pitch for your startup's first game, as a console product |
| |
|Week 13 – The online market (Facebook and the web) |
| |Guest Speaker: Darian Hickman, |
| |Reading: See movie "The Social Network" - |
| |Assignment: Elevator pitch for your startup's first game, as an online product |
| |
|Week 14 – The mobile market (iPhone, mobile phone games) |
| |Guest Speaker: Scott Lahman, cofounder of Jamdat; Zack Norman, game designer, Jamdat |
| |Reading: TBD |
| |Assignment: Elevator pitch for your startup's first game, as an iPhone app |
| |
|Week 15 – Production methodologies (waterfall, iterative, Agile/Scrum); résumé critiques; Review for Final Exam (continuing on through week |
|16, if the semester has 16 weeks) |
| |Guest Speaker: Cynthia Woll, former game chief at Yahoo; currently Chief Ninja of Creative Ninja Productions |
| |Reading: TBD |
| |Assignment: Bring in your résumé |
Note: Each class is 3 hours in length. Guest speaker portion expected to take 30-60 minutes. Guest speakers subject to change. Remainder of class is lecture, discussion, and presentation of student assignments.
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