Thursday, February 11, 2010

100+ Resources for Video Game Professionals

This list contains resources for people in - or interested in - the video game industry. Here you'll find general and specific news resources, career resources, and more. Feel free to make suggestions for any additions.

NEWS RESOURCES:

Aggregators:
Aggregators gather news from a variety of sources. They're invaluable for getting good information.
  • Gametab - News aggregator combining many sources and filtering options.
  • Virgin Worlds - News aggregation, blogs, and more on MMOs.

General News:
These sites are general news sites that are useful for keeping up on game news and related information. Some also include a career focus.

Specialized News And Subjects:


CAREERS:

These sites provide general and specific career information.
  • GamaSutra - Game industry news, features, articles, and resources. Must-visit for came careerists
  • Game Career Guide - Career resources for people interested in or in the game industry.
  • Game Dev Map - A worldwide map to help you pinpoint game-industry-intensive locations.
  • Games Industry Biz - News, features, jobs and more for game professionals.
  • Video Game Tester Hub - One of the rare sites for video game testers out there.
CAREER-SPECIFIC:
Sites and blogs that focus on career-specific areas of gaming.

Animation:

  • Animation Arena - An animation-oriented website that covers all kinds of animation, but includes a subsection on games.
Art:
  • Game Artist - Forums for discussion among those working in game art.
  • Game Content Core - A community for game artists.
  • Lost Garden - A blog on art, game design, and the art of game design itself, with some very in-depth analyses.
  • The Jon Jones - Not the Martian Manhunter, but an artist who discusses game art, and art in general.
Design:
  • A Game Design Blog - Games and development, ranging from tutorials to analysis from Robert Hale.
  • Applied Game Design - Brenda Brathwaite and guests discuss game design.
  • Brian Shurtleff - Brian Shurtleff blogs on game design and more, covering theory, review, opinion, and history.
  • Designer Notes - A blog on game design. Updated intermittently, often in-depth.
  • Eldergame - MMO games,theory, and analysis
  • Game Design Aspect - Serious thought on game design and what it means.
  • Game Dev Blog - Discussions of design and related things from Jamie Fristrom.
  • Indigo Static - Game design, game flow, player buy-in, and more analyzed.
  • Mike Darga - Analysis of game designs, techniques, markets, and more from an experienced professional
  • My Game Studies - Aki Järvinen analyzes games and design in-depth.
  • PsychoChild - Games, careers, interesting news, and breaking-in advice.
  • Raph Koster - Design, theory, and more.
  • Screen Play - Discussion of design and design process, including the development of internal processes.
  • Sirlin.Net - A blog on game design and more, including more than video games. Broad coverage. Has forum community.
  • T-Machine - A blog of game design, technology, theory, and predictions, with business-savvy analysis.
  • Teaching Game Design - A blog on game design, technique, and process. Contains some in-depth analyses and advice.
  • Zen of Design - Damion Schublert's blog on game design and his advice.

Development:

  • Devmaster - A site dedicated to serious game development and developer careers. A heavy focus on technology.
  • Emanuele Feronato's Blog - A serious blog on professional gaming issues.
  • GameDev - A community and resource for game developers, providing a wide variety of supporting tools and information.
  • Game Dev Blog - Jamie Fristrom discusses wide-ranging topics on games and game development.
  • Magical Wasteland - Writer and Indie Game Dev Matthew Burns' blog on games and their developments.
  • Notes On Game Dev - Game development blog supported by a variety of guest authors, focusing onmultiple subjects.
  • Worch.Com - Matthias Worch discusses game design as well as his own life.

Graphics:

  • C0de517e - Serious graphic discussion from a render engineer.
  • Diary of a Graphics Programmer - A graphics programmer talks about his job, experience, projects, and ideas. This includes extremely technical discussions
  • Graphic Rants - Discussions of graphics in games and more, from Lead Graphics programmer Brian Karis.
  • Real Time Rendering - Based around a book, the blog contains a variety of related information, from reccomended links to talk on conferences.
  • Sander Van Rossen - Discussion of graphics and art in a friendly, open manner.

Production and Management:
If you do production or management in gaming, you'll also want to check out other resources outside of the industry such as those on agile development, project management, and more.

  • Agile Game Development - The blog of Clinton Keith, who specializes in teaching and writing about Agile Management in game development. Steve took one of his classes and was very impressed.
  • GameProducer.Net - Analyses, predictions, and thoughts on game production, along with other related advice.
  • Jason Yip - A blog on game development and production
Technology - Artificial Intelligence:
  • AI Game Dev - A site and community for people developing game AI
  • Game/AI - AI development, as well as posts on other relevant issues.
Technology - Flash
  • 8 Bit Rocket - A site focusing mostly on flash and silverlight, with a tendancy to retrogaming. Also has tutorials
  • Freelance Flash Games - A site for Flash game design and programming with a great deal of well-organized information
  • Ian Lobb - A blog on flash programming, mixed with reviews, thoughts, and reminces on gaming.
  • Michael James Williams - A website on Flash game design, including tutorials and more.
Indie Games and Game Development:


GAMES, DISCUSSION, THEORY, AND ANALYSIS:

General Game Discussion:
General websites, mostly blogs, that discuss gaming, game information, theory, and more. These vary widely in subject matter.
  • Brainy Gamer - Games, theory, analysis, reviews, and much more. Provides interesting insight on games and gameplay.
  • Brett's Footnotes - General thoughts on gaming and media.
  • Cathode Tan - Broad and deep analysis of many aspects of gaming, game design, and the game industry.
  • Digital Life - A blog on games, trends, and more, from australia.
  • Fidgit - SyFy's game-oriented blog/site. Includes some news, analysis, and more.
  • Planet Romero - John Romero discusses various aspects of gaming, from classic games to current games, theory to amusing trivia, in-depth technology to art.
  • Reality Panic - Games, economics, and the blogger's love of travel.
  • Tobolds - Reviews, commentary, theory on MMOs.
  • Trent Polack's Blog - A blog on game design, analysis, and more
  • Warren Spector's Blog - The blog of the famous game pro.
Academics:
Academic discussion, study, and analysis of games. Business and Economics:
History:
MMOS:
  • Nerfbat - MMO theory, analysis, and more
  • MMORPG.COM - MMO information, news, thoughts, reviews, and community. A great place for your MMO needs.
  • Terra Nova - A blog about MMOs, design, and their future.
Law and Politics:
  • Gamepolitics - News on games in the news, politics, and law.
Theory:
  • Above 49 - A game developer living in Canada (thus the blog title) analyzes games, the industry, and game theory.
  • Grand Text Auto - Game theory, especially focused on stories.
  • Ludologist - Jesper Jul's serious and in-depth blog on game theores.
  • Only A Game - Chris Bateman's blog on game design and theory, often going extremely deep into issues like aesthetics.
  • Project Perko - Blog on game and game theory with an extensive archive
  • Words On Play - Game theory, espeically stories.


PLATFORM-SPECIFIC SITES:

  • Nintendo World Report - A site focused exlucively on nintendo game products.
  • PlayStation Universe - A site focused exclusively on the world of Playstation products.
  • Rock, Paper, Shotgun - A general site focused on PC games, covering a variety of topics. A part-time project of several game journalists.
  • XBOX365 - A site focused exclusively on the xbox.


MULTIMEDIA GAMING AND COMMUNITY SITES:

These sites focus on games and beyond - such as movies, comics, and communities. Some are independent, some are commercial ventures, and many contain various media (such as previews)
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