> < Of course LONGED while selling 3,1 million > < macs to every corner of the world this 1/4,of course except any one who REALLY does serious computing .
THE world saw first hand the children;s shame at Nyc colleges being stuck with UNI BODY > < MBP's. They all longed and pined for a RED dell serious tool. that runs down the street with cool chicks and crowds running after him /
I wonder if he got laid ?
Over at > < world headquarters > < employees hide their name plates when leaving for home .They too long for a serious phone to use .They all whip out there rims .
.Those 8,000,000 iphones sold this 1.4 have caused widespread panic for > < shareholders world wide. They too long for a serious business stock that does not go from $13 a share to $180 a share in 18 record sales and record profit 1/4.s.
That director who would sue me if I used his name who shot and filmed and edited the whole LORD OF THE RINGS on > < i-PODS AND > < COMPUTERS and his whole crew and anyone ever born in NZ also LONGED for a serious movie tool to be filmed .
The MONGO SERIOUS FLAT WORLD TRADERS ASS, OR MSFT will conduct getting serious with android palm pre rim razor treo workshops across the country to somehow wean the idiots who don't long for hours of sitting on the bowl fun > < iphones . Please note everyone must dress in there window7/vista clothes bought at the Norton virus serious people store.
We all know the real shame is that 31,000,000,000 dollars sitting in > < bank . All of us at Cupertino are longing too hand all that fun money back for a single minute of serious computing.
add all this to zero respect at > < for all they have not done ,
dude you are a genius . to point out the deep serious longing like feelings of THE top brass at
I don't think this is Apple making a push into game development, I see this more as a way for Apple to optimise the iPhone and iPod Touch hardware and OS to better suit the games that devs want to make. There are probably thousands of tweaks or new APIs that would enhance performance or make development of games much easier, quicker and cheaper and I think that is 1 of the main reasons for this move. After all, Apple has next to no experience in game development so why would they want to start now?
I think the second is to better highlight what the platform is capable of in terms of games to both consumers and developers. Think of earlier this year when they launched the iPhone 3Gs. They simply stated it had OpenGL ES 2.0, no demos or screenshots etc. Now with someone like this on board, they could make some demos that highlight the new features and capabilities of that new tech i.e. the shaders for 3d graphics and such.
But Apple is embarrssed about gaming on the the iPhone.
Whatever.
This is excellent news.
Amazing quote FROM AI
the shame of it all.
this guy if he made more serious games for apple like he did before >>> call of duty quake doom . and stuff like that could sell at least a million extra devices a month .
Miliion upon million of us bow at our knees w/ head bowed and await this G U Y to spotlight APPLE full force with his top 3d work. We won[t buy xbox/ we also wont infect our 's with msft bloat shit
so we wait
and wait.
What scraps they throw us we devour in minutes.
His recent C0D title sold over3 million titles in under 3 days
is thrilled with gaming.
from day one loved gaming.
concerntrate,s on what the user needs .
was surprised that the
ipod touch was hi jacked by fans and turned into a gaming/movie playback machine ,
Apple CO. have/has/will never ever ever ever ever ever ever be or has been embarrassed by anything ever , APPLE IS A COMPnJY
COMPANIES DO NOT FEEL . which makes the AI quote the stupidest quote i ever heard .
EVER .
was thrilled with touch sales and app store purchases by touch owners . And the free touch sold how many more macs ???
is so thrilled with the touch sales that they froze the form factors and decided to increased the processor speed , memory and power. moving ther touch into gaming area ajnd aweay from csamera radio stuff area .
The current touch may become a << classic >> frozen forever except for power/memory type increases
There are many things that this could signal. One would be that it intends to refine the OS and development resources to better suit game developers. That seems more likely.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Apple is looking to hire a game and media software engineer for its iPhone and iPod touch team, perhaps signaling that the company intends to expand its first-party software offerings.
There are many things that this could signal. One would be that it intends to refine the OS and development resources to better suit game developers. That seems more likely.
I would be inclined to agree. it's far more likely that they need feedback, input/ criticism from a game developer to make their platforms more friendly to game developers than Apple actually making a game. I don't understand why apple would do that.
Sounds like a pretty junior position, I wouldn't read too much into it. If they were hiring well known designers or developers, I'd suggest they were up to something, but this just could be replacing an existing position or slightly expanding their team. AAA console teams are now 100+ people, and even iPhone games frequently have teams in the 20+ range, so hiring one fairly junior developer isn't very significant.
Well, we agree to disagree, but I completely appreciate the constructive response. Discourse is a good thing.
I will say that commenting is increasingly the community AND the conversation rolled into one, which is why most services not only allow links, but encourage extending it in a myriad of ways (spend some time at Fred Wilson's A VC site to see what I mean).
That said, there is hardly uniformity of perspective on this one so I appreciate where you are coming from, even if the net out is that you find me smug and insight-LESS/LITE. :-)
Have a good one.
Must.....try.....to.....ignore.....the.....constan t top-posting..... /Shatner
Seems like it used to mean high quality, now it just means big budget.
AAA title refers to a game that is considered exceptional for it's genre. Examples include Warcraft 3, Super Mario Galaxy, Resident EVil 4, Zelda: Ocarina of Time and World of Goo.
Usually AAA titles are big franchises from big companies because of the time to required to produce a polished experience. World of Goo is a notable exception to this rule.
"passionate gamer with 3 to 4 years of video game development experience ... Only candidates who have shipped "at least one AAA title" are asked to apply"
Hmmm....
- "3 to 4 years experience"
Translation.. Don't come to us expecting an enormous pay check... Superstars need not apply...
Yes, because Apple has never hired any gaming superstars and can't pay competitive salaries.
They could pay NORMAL software dev salaries for 3-4 years experience and that would be excellent pay for a game dev of that seniority. Plus decent benefits and hopefully a non-80 hour work week.
Quote:
- "Have personally been involved in _at least_ one AAA title"
Translation: hahahahahahaha
Yea sure, because the development teams responsible for rolling out AAA titles are usually FILLED with people who only have 2-3 years experience in the game market.
Actually yeah, they are. Someone does the grunt work and burnout is pretty high. I know a few folks that went into the games industry for a few years and then left. Most game devs burn out at the 5 year mark.
"Morever, the IGDA has for some years had a Quality of Life Committee, which strives to demonstrate that long hours are an unproductive use of employees, and that superior alternative to the exploitative conditions at many development studios exist. The simple fact (as demonstrated in its research, available at the link above) is that most game developers burn out within 5 years of entering the industry, because of the absurd hours (for, incidentally, lower pay than programmers, artists, producers, and Q/A people can command in other software and media ventures)."
Somehow I think Apple needs to revisit the core job requirements....
Gotta love when clueless folks submit scathing critiques about stuff they know little about.
Apple has hired Teversham (senior director, Xbox), Drebin (ATI), Kodouri (AMD), Devine (Ensemble, Age of Empires III and Halo Wars) and probably a couple other folks associated with the games industry that I've forgotten. They've got folks that run the gamut of games business strategy, game console hardware and actual game development.
Graeme Devine can handle developing AAA titles given he was the lead designer at Ensemble, co-founder of Trilobyte and #36 of the top 100 game developers last year by Edge and moved up to #23 this year due to Halo Wars (maybe you've heard of it?).
Ya think maybe he has the chops to put together a game dev job req and maybe hire a few devs that don't suck? I also don't think he'd stick around Apple if he wasn't doing something cool.
Somehow I don't think managing other studios to do stuff fits the "cool" category so my guess is this req is going to fill out his dev team on a game he's leading. Probably a TBS, RTS or 4X game but he's done a good amount of FPS work too with Quake 3 and Wolfenstein 3D (GBA) so he covers many possible genres.
Yea and verily, you can also hire more than one body for a req given most game dev job posting get a huge stack of resumes that run the gamut of experience levels beyond the minimum posted. In this economy you're going to see some fairly senior devs toss their hat in the ring in addition to any hires from Graeme's own network that are less visible to the public.
And ya think that maybe when Teversham's non-compete ends he won't move from "education" to something else? Like maybe some more entertainment related aspects? Nah.
Obviously, no actual data on what Apple is really intending,
Yes, because Apple hasn't made any prior strategic hires for gaming on the iPhone platform.
Quote:
but the clear risk for Apple is that this could create a perception is reality effect for developers; namely, that Apple is cherry-picking segments that they want to own/control, in effect, competing with their developer ecosystem.
Because any game platform with 1st party titles means that developers have a bad perception of that platform.
Hint: That would be all of them.
Quote:
After all, Apple is not exactly the best, most transparent communicators so when you combine that with the low torrent of unhappy developers grumbling about approval process, etc., you run risk of muddying the platform play at same time Android is starting to find its legs.
Because investing in a 1st party game means that Apple is muddying the waters regarding a commitment to gaming that in the past has been rather lukewarm.
Quote:
For what it's worth, I blogged on this exact same scenario when the SDK was rolling out last year. Excerpt:
Why should developers even contemplate such dark scenarios? To be blunt, Apple?s history with developers is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the very success of the Mac is a by-product of third party developer innovations in desktop publishing, spreadsheets and the like, which opened up previously unforeseen HUGE market opportunities. On the other hand, Apple has a legacy of co-opting third-party developer innovations, thus claiming new market opportunities for themselves and killing their partners in the process.
Yes, because, to be blunt, that scenario you blogged a year and a half ago has played out in the market and Apple's SDK resulted in poor momentum in attracting developers.
Quote:
Check out the full post, if interested:
Yah, because I really want to read a blog from a tech marketing guy about technology...congrats on your 8 successful exits and all and I'm sure you're a big wheel but frankly your blog posts you've highlighted haven't been all that illuminating or insightful...
Dave, As a point of clarity, are you hoping that this scenario plays out because you think it will lead to a better iPhone platform (i.e., raise the bar), or because you want the platform to fail?
The fact is just the opposite I DO NOT want the platform to FAIL!
That being said... Apple pissing off developers left right and center with childish crap is not contributing to that end... NOR is Apple systematically chopping Applications off at the knees simply because they already wrote similar software and The Good Lord Forbid the customer might get confused... Knowing full well that's a crock of shit and simply a somewhat passable excuse they can use to pacify the koolaid drinkers.
Now give Apple's behavior to date would you be in the least bit shocked if Apple started to reject certain games from 3rd party developers simply because Apple is developing a game with a similar concept?
Or perhaps you could somehow explain how it's OKAY for Apple to reject any and app MAP centric applications for fear the the iPhone wielding IDIOTs across the globe might somehow explode if confronted with something else that ALSO displayed maps and then in the same breath think it would be ABSURD for Apple to reject a game that is using the same concepts as one Apple has already developed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hypermark
As to requirements, general observation wrt hiring practices is that Apple is pedigree centric; they like people who have come from big name companies (relative to field of expertise), but that culturally are shapeable to the Apple way.
None of this explains how you'd ever get a '2 or 3 year experienced game developer who has one or more AAA games released under his or her belt' but whatever...
The fact is just the opposite I DO NOT want the platform to FAIL!
But really, why would it??
For every dev that leaves the iPhone in frustration, 1000 new ones join up. The iPhone is an unstoppable, regardless of the complaining. Hell, people are willing to put up with a horrible carrier just to get the iPhone. And after two years there is *still* no viable competition for it.
Yes, because Apple has never hired any gaming superstars and can't pay competitive salaries.
What on earth are you talking about... I said '3-4 years experience needs to be read as THIS IS AN ENTRY LEVEL POSITION and someone of lets say John Carmack's caliber (or any other highly compensated game developer) shouldn't be applying because the job requirements do not INVITE them to apply. Would you expect a world renowned brain surgeon to apply for a hospital intern position? Yet some how you go off in left field with this:
Quote:
"Yes, because Apple has never hired any gaming superstars and can't pay competitive salaries."
I never said that and it has nothing to do with my post... All I said was 3-4 years experience as a job requirement screams SUPERSTARS need not apply.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vinea
They could pay NORMAL software dev salaries for 3-4 years experience and that would be excellent pay for a game dev of that seniority. Plus decent benefits and hopefully a non-80 hour work week.
Ummm okay.... Swell! You kinda lost me as to where you think I in any way questioned Apples ability to pay a person with 3-4 years game development experience an similarly appropriate wage but either way... HEY we can both agree on one point... that's certainly something anyway!
Quote:
Originally Posted by vinea
Actually yeah, they are. Someone does the grunt work and burnout is pretty high. I know a few folks that went into the games industry for a few years and then left. Most game devs burn out at the 5 year mark.
Fair enough... I lack the background in game development to refute your claims.. If you're saying that looking for a developer who INITIALLY had 0-1 years gaming experience was immediately put on to a AAA rated game project (that shipped) and then somewhere in years 3 or 4 got burned out and wants to move not to anther game developer but instead Apple then OKAY.
End of discussion...
Quote:
Originally Posted by vinea
Gotta love when clueless folks submit scathing critiques about stuff they know little about.
You are certainly welcome...
Quote:
Originally Posted by vinea
Apple has hired Teversham (senior director, Xbox), Drebin (ATI), Kodouri (AMD), Devine (Ensemble, Age of Empires III and Halo Wars) and probably a couple other folks associated with the games industry that I've forgotten. They've got folks that run the gamut of games business strategy, game console hardware and actual game development.
Graeme Devine can handle developing AAA titles given he was the lead designer at Ensemble, co-founder of Trilobyte and #36 of the top 100 game developers last year by Edge and moved up to #23 this year due to Halo Wars (maybe you've heard of it?).
Okay... but doesn't it give you the slightest bit of pause that with people of the caliber you speak about above that Apple would need to be posting help wanted ADs in the first place? You would think that with their backgrounds in the field and their reputations they would know more than enough people that could fill the position without putting up a 'HELP WANTED' sign in the front window of 1 Infinite Loop Drive?
As to the rest... you've gone far beyond what my comment was about and it was simply this:
Looking for a game developer with 3-4 years experience who as ALSO been personally involved in the release of a AAA rated game was not unlike a movie studio putting up a help wanted ad for an actor or actress with 3-4 years of industry experience who was also personally involved in an 'Summer Blockbuster' or say Academy Award Winning movie.
You turn around and tell me that it's quite common then okay...
For every dev that leaves the iPhone in frustration, 1000 new ones join up. The iPhone is an unstoppable, regardless of the complaining. Hell, people are willing to put up with a horrible carrier just to get the iPhone. And after two years there is *still* no viable competition for it.
Isn't it great to be able to brag about QUANTITY over QUALITY...
Strange thing is... and it wasn't that long ago, we Mac users mocked Windoze users who bragged about the zillions of apps they could run and our cry was QUALITY not QUANTITY!
Thanks for the clarity. My only comment on the statement that Apple is pissing off developers left and right is that while it's clear that Apple's process has rankled quite a few, majorly pissed on some and lead to a tiny handful of defections, this must be measured against two things:
1) They have a tremendous flow of new third-party apps and existing app updates to contend with on a daily basis, and managing that is non-trivial;
2) iPhone is a governed platform. As such, to pass through the "approval" gates requires some combination of protocol, systems-based process and human touch, which can be a recipe for capriciousness and some blatantly wacky scenarios.
As such, all of the active debate in the blogosphere really shines a light on areas on serious boiling points in developer universe, and in general, they seem to be listening to the community at large (some good threads in the past at Daring Fireball) so I am cautiously optimistic that they will work through the latest angst go around.
That said, it's worth sounding the collective alarm when sense is that they are crossing the line.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveGee
The fact is just the opposite I DO NOT want the platform to FAIL!
That being said... Apple pissing off developers left right and center with childish crap is not contributing to that end... NOR is Apple systematically chopping Applications off at the knees simply because they already wrote similar software and The Good Lord Forbid the customer might get confused... Knowing full well that's a crock of shit and simply a somewhat passable excuse they can use to pacify the koolaid drinkers.
Now give Apple's behavior to date would you be in the least bit shocked if Apple started to reject certain games from 3rd party developers simply because Apple is developing a game with a similar concept?
Or perhaps you could somehow explain how it's OKAY for Apple to reject any and app MAP centric applications for fear the the iPhone wielding IDIOTs across the globe might somehow explode if confronted with something else that ALSO displayed maps and then in the same breath think it would be ABSURD for Apple to reject a game that is using the same concepts as one Apple has already developed.
None of this explains how you'd ever get a '2 or 3 year experienced game developer who has one or more AAA games released under his or her belt' but whatever...
Comments
Longing for respect ??
My god you're a genius
> < Of course LONGED while selling 3,1 million > < macs to every corner of the world this 1/4,of course except any one who REALLY does serious computing .
THE world saw first hand the children;s shame at Nyc colleges being stuck with UNI BODY > < MBP's. They all longed and pined for a RED dell serious tool. that runs down the street with cool chicks and crowds running after him /
I wonder if he got laid ?
Over at > < world headquarters > < employees hide their name plates when leaving for home .They too long for a serious phone to use .They all whip out there rims .
.Those 8,000,000 iphones sold this 1.4 have caused widespread panic for > < shareholders world wide. They too long for a serious business stock that does not go from $13 a share to $180 a share in 18 record sales and record profit 1/4.s.
That director who would sue me if I used his name who shot and filmed and edited the whole LORD OF THE RINGS on > < i-PODS AND > < COMPUTERS and his whole crew and anyone ever born in NZ also LONGED for a serious movie tool to be filmed .
The MONGO SERIOUS FLAT WORLD TRADERS ASS, OR MSFT will conduct getting serious with android palm pre rim razor treo workshops across the country to somehow wean the idiots who don't long for hours of sitting on the bowl fun > < iphones . Please note everyone must dress in there window7/vista clothes bought at the Norton virus serious people store.
We all know the real shame is that 31,000,000,000 dollars sitting in > < bank . All of us at Cupertino are longing too hand all that fun money back for a single minute of serious computing.
add all this to zero respect at > < for all they have not done ,
dude you are a genius . to point out the deep serious longing like feelings of THE top brass at
i am a jerk
i really thought an a day keeps bill gates away
i really did
I wonder if my keyboard longs to be a pen ??
9
peace
Superbly put. And funny as well!
I think the second is to better highlight what the platform is capable of in terms of games to both consumers and developers. Think of earlier this year when they launched the iPhone 3Gs. They simply stated it had OpenGL ES 2.0, no demos or screenshots etc. Now with someone like this on board, they could make some demos that highlight the new features and capabilities of that new tech i.e. the shaders for 3d graphics and such.
The writing is on the wall, Abster. the writing is on the wall.
What really matters is what the product does. If it does games, Apple wants it to do games.
And obviously does John Carmack.
Thank you.
But Apple is embarrssed about gaming on the the iPhone.
Whatever.
This is excellent news.
Amazing quote FROM AI
the shame of it all.
this guy if he made more serious games for apple like he did before >>> call of duty quake doom . and stuff like that could sell at least a million extra devices a month .
Miliion upon million of us bow at our knees w/ head bowed and await this G U Y to spotlight APPLE full force with his top 3d work. We won[t buy xbox/ we also wont infect our 's with msft bloat shit
so we wait
and wait.
What scraps they throw us we devour in minutes.
His recent C0D title sold over3 million titles in under 3 days
is thrilled with gaming.
from day one loved gaming.
concerntrate,s on what the user needs .
was surprised that the
ipod touch was hi jacked by fans and turned into a gaming/movie playback machine ,
Apple CO. have/has/will never ever ever ever ever ever ever be or has been embarrassed by anything ever , APPLE IS A COMPnJY
COMPANIES DO NOT FEEL . which makes the AI quote the stupidest quote i ever heard .
EVER .
was thrilled with touch sales and app store purchases by touch owners . And the free touch sold how many more macs ???
is so thrilled with the touch sales that they froze the form factors and decided to increased the processor speed , memory and power. moving ther touch into gaming area ajnd aweay from csamera radio stuff area .
The current touch may become a << classic >> frozen forever except for power/memory type increases
Apple is looking to hire a game and media software engineer for its iPhone and iPod touch team, perhaps signaling that the company intends to expand its first-party software offerings.
I wonder if Apple's first-party apps will get rejected from the App Store?
There are many things that this could signal. One would be that it intends to refine the OS and development resources to better suit game developers. That seems more likely.
I would be inclined to agree. it's far more likely that they need feedback, input/ criticism from a game developer to make their platforms more friendly to game developers than Apple actually making a game. I don't understand why apple would do that.
Superbly put. And funny as well!
thank you
i emailed a sarcastic/funny letter to cuperino about NANO MVNO phone stuff.
Under the name I use online all the time >>> lostplay
They emailed me back >>
They requested I stop spreading false rumours around .
They used my brucep name !!
I wonder ??
Well, we agree to disagree, but I completely appreciate the constructive response. Discourse is a good thing.
I will say that commenting is increasingly the community AND the conversation rolled into one, which is why most services not only allow links, but encourage extending it in a myriad of ways (spend some time at Fred Wilson's A VC site to see what I mean).
That said, there is hardly uniformity of perspective on this one so I appreciate where you are coming from, even if the net out is that you find me smug and insight-LESS/LITE. :-)
Have a good one.
Must.....try.....to.....ignore.....the.....constan t top-posting..... /Shatner
What is a AAA title?
EDIT: Found this link:
http://www.gameproducer.net/2009/10/...ed-definition/
Seems like it used to mean high quality, now it just means big budget.
AAA title refers to a game that is considered exceptional for it's genre. Examples include Warcraft 3, Super Mario Galaxy, Resident EVil 4, Zelda: Ocarina of Time and World of Goo.
Usually AAA titles are big franchises from big companies because of the time to required to produce a polished experience. World of Goo is a notable exception to this rule.
thank you
i emailed a sarcastic/funny letter to cuperino about NANO MVNO phone stuff
Under the name I use online all the time >>> lostplay
They emailed me back >>
They requested I stop spreading false rumours around .
They used my brucep name !!
I wonder ??
Be cardul u don't get sued dude.
thank you
i emailed a sarcastic/funny letter to cuperino about NANO MVNO phone stuff.
Under the name I use online all the time >>> lostplay
They emailed me back >>
They requested I stop spreading false rumours around .
They used my brucep name !!
I wonder ??
Be cardul u don't get sued dude.
Finally I really wanted to comment on this:
"passionate gamer with 3 to 4 years of video game development experience ... Only candidates who have shipped "at least one AAA title" are asked to apply"
Hmmm....
- "3 to 4 years experience"
Translation.. Don't come to us expecting an enormous pay check... Superstars need not apply...
Yes, because Apple has never hired any gaming superstars and can't pay competitive salaries.
They could pay NORMAL software dev salaries for 3-4 years experience and that would be excellent pay for a game dev of that seniority. Plus decent benefits and hopefully a non-80 hour work week.
- "Have personally been involved in _at least_ one AAA title"
Translation: hahahahahahaha
Yea sure, because the development teams responsible for rolling out AAA titles are usually FILLED with people who only have 2-3 years experience in the game market.
Actually yeah, they are. Someone does the grunt work and burnout is pretty high. I know a few folks that went into the games industry for a few years and then left. Most game devs burn out at the 5 year mark.
"Morever, the IGDA has for some years had a Quality of Life Committee, which strives to demonstrate that long hours are an unproductive use of employees, and that superior alternative to the exploitative conditions at many development studios exist. The simple fact (as demonstrated in its research, available at the link above) is that most game developers burn out within 5 years of entering the industry, because of the absurd hours (for, incidentally, lower pay than programmers, artists, producers, and Q/A people can command in other software and media ventures)."
http://playthisthing.com/mothers-don...ame-developers
Somehow I think Apple needs to revisit the core job requirements....
Gotta love when clueless folks submit scathing critiques about stuff they know little about.
Apple has hired Teversham (senior director, Xbox), Drebin (ATI), Kodouri (AMD), Devine (Ensemble, Age of Empires III and Halo Wars) and probably a couple other folks associated with the games industry that I've forgotten. They've got folks that run the gamut of games business strategy, game console hardware and actual game development.
Graeme Devine can handle developing AAA titles given he was the lead designer at Ensemble, co-founder of Trilobyte and #36 of the top 100 game developers last year by Edge and moved up to #23 this year due to Halo Wars (maybe you've heard of it?).
http://www.edge-online.com/features/...009?page=0%2C8
Ya think maybe he has the chops to put together a game dev job req and maybe hire a few devs that don't suck? I also don't think he'd stick around Apple if he wasn't doing something cool.
Somehow I don't think managing other studios to do stuff fits the "cool" category so my guess is this req is going to fill out his dev team on a game he's leading. Probably a TBS, RTS or 4X game but he's done a good amount of FPS work too with Quake 3 and Wolfenstein 3D (GBA) so he covers many possible genres.
Yea and verily, you can also hire more than one body for a req given most game dev job posting get a huge stack of resumes that run the gamut of experience levels beyond the minimum posted. In this economy you're going to see some fairly senior devs toss their hat in the ring in addition to any hires from Graeme's own network that are less visible to the public.
And ya think that maybe when Teversham's non-compete ends he won't move from "education" to something else? Like maybe some more entertainment related aspects? Nah.
Obviously, no actual data on what Apple is really intending,
Yes, because Apple hasn't made any prior strategic hires for gaming on the iPhone platform.
but the clear risk for Apple is that this could create a perception is reality effect for developers; namely, that Apple is cherry-picking segments that they want to own/control, in effect, competing with their developer ecosystem.
Because any game platform with 1st party titles means that developers have a bad perception of that platform.
Hint: That would be all of them.
After all, Apple is not exactly the best, most transparent communicators so when you combine that with the low torrent of unhappy developers grumbling about approval process, etc., you run risk of muddying the platform play at same time Android is starting to find its legs.
Because investing in a 1st party game means that Apple is muddying the waters regarding a commitment to gaming that in the past has been rather lukewarm.
For what it's worth, I blogged on this exact same scenario when the SDK was rolling out last year. Excerpt:
Yes, because, to be blunt, that scenario you blogged a year and a half ago has played out in the market and Apple's SDK resulted in poor momentum in attracting developers.
Check out the full post, if interested:
Yah, because I really want to read a blog from a tech marketing guy about technology...congrats on your 8 successful exits and all and I'm sure you're a big wheel but frankly your blog posts you've highlighted haven't been all that illuminating or insightful...
But thanks for pushing your blog here.
Dave, As a point of clarity, are you hoping that this scenario plays out because you think it will lead to a better iPhone platform (i.e., raise the bar), or because you want the platform to fail?
The fact is just the opposite I DO NOT want the platform to FAIL!
That being said... Apple pissing off developers left right and center with childish crap is not contributing to that end... NOR is Apple systematically chopping Applications off at the knees simply because they already wrote similar software and The Good Lord Forbid the customer might get confused... Knowing full well that's a crock of shit and simply a somewhat passable excuse they can use to pacify the koolaid drinkers.
Now give Apple's behavior to date would you be in the least bit shocked if Apple started to reject certain games from 3rd party developers simply because Apple is developing a game with a similar concept?
Or perhaps you could somehow explain how it's OKAY for Apple to reject any and app MAP centric applications for fear the the iPhone wielding IDIOTs across the globe might somehow explode if confronted with something else that ALSO displayed maps and then in the same breath think it would be ABSURD for Apple to reject a game that is using the same concepts as one Apple has already developed.
As to requirements, general observation wrt hiring practices is that Apple is pedigree centric; they like people who have come from big name companies (relative to field of expertise), but that culturally are shapeable to the Apple way.
None of this explains how you'd ever get a '2 or 3 year experienced game developer who has one or more AAA games released under his or her belt' but whatever...
The fact is just the opposite I DO NOT want the platform to FAIL!
But really, why would it??
For every dev that leaves the iPhone in frustration, 1000 new ones join up. The iPhone is an unstoppable, regardless of the complaining. Hell, people are willing to put up with a horrible carrier just to get the iPhone. And after two years there is *still* no viable competition for it.
Yes, because Apple has never hired any gaming superstars and can't pay competitive salaries.
What on earth are you talking about... I said '3-4 years experience needs to be read as THIS IS AN ENTRY LEVEL POSITION and someone of lets say John Carmack's caliber (or any other highly compensated game developer) shouldn't be applying because the job requirements do not INVITE them to apply. Would you expect a world renowned brain surgeon to apply for a hospital intern position? Yet some how you go off in left field with this:
"Yes, because Apple has never hired any gaming superstars and can't pay competitive salaries."
I never said that and it has nothing to do with my post... All I said was 3-4 years experience as a job requirement screams SUPERSTARS need not apply.
They could pay NORMAL software dev salaries for 3-4 years experience and that would be excellent pay for a game dev of that seniority. Plus decent benefits and hopefully a non-80 hour work week.
Ummm okay.... Swell! You kinda lost me as to where you think I in any way questioned Apples ability to pay a person with 3-4 years game development experience an similarly appropriate wage but either way... HEY we can both agree on one point... that's certainly something anyway!
Actually yeah, they are. Someone does the grunt work and burnout is pretty high. I know a few folks that went into the games industry for a few years and then left. Most game devs burn out at the 5 year mark.
Fair enough... I lack the background in game development to refute your claims.. If you're saying that looking for a developer who INITIALLY had 0-1 years gaming experience was immediately put on to a AAA rated game project (that shipped) and then somewhere in years 3 or 4 got burned out and wants to move not to anther game developer but instead Apple then OKAY.
End of discussion...
Gotta love when clueless folks submit scathing critiques about stuff they know little about.
You are certainly welcome...
Apple has hired Teversham (senior director, Xbox), Drebin (ATI), Kodouri (AMD), Devine (Ensemble, Age of Empires III and Halo Wars) and probably a couple other folks associated with the games industry that I've forgotten. They've got folks that run the gamut of games business strategy, game console hardware and actual game development.
Graeme Devine can handle developing AAA titles given he was the lead designer at Ensemble, co-founder of Trilobyte and #36 of the top 100 game developers last year by Edge and moved up to #23 this year due to Halo Wars (maybe you've heard of it?).
Okay... but doesn't it give you the slightest bit of pause that with people of the caliber you speak about above that Apple would need to be posting help wanted ADs in the first place? You would think that with their backgrounds in the field and their reputations they would know more than enough people that could fill the position without putting up a 'HELP WANTED' sign in the front window of 1 Infinite Loop Drive?
As to the rest... you've gone far beyond what my comment was about and it was simply this:
Looking for a game developer with 3-4 years experience who as ALSO been personally involved in the release of a AAA rated game was not unlike a movie studio putting up a help wanted ad for an actor or actress with 3-4 years of industry experience who was also personally involved in an 'Summer Blockbuster' or say Academy Award Winning movie.
You turn around and tell me that it's quite common then okay...
But really, why would it??
For every dev that leaves the iPhone in frustration, 1000 new ones join up. The iPhone is an unstoppable, regardless of the complaining. Hell, people are willing to put up with a horrible carrier just to get the iPhone. And after two years there is *still* no viable competition for it.
Isn't it great to be able to brag about QUANTITY over QUALITY...
Strange thing is... and it wasn't that long ago, we Mac users mocked Windoze users who bragged about the zillions of apps they could run and our cry was QUALITY not QUANTITY!
I wonder what changed?
1) They have a tremendous flow of new third-party apps and existing app updates to contend with on a daily basis, and managing that is non-trivial;
2) iPhone is a governed platform. As such, to pass through the "approval" gates requires some combination of protocol, systems-based process and human touch, which can be a recipe for capriciousness and some blatantly wacky scenarios.
As such, all of the active debate in the blogosphere really shines a light on areas on serious boiling points in developer universe, and in general, they seem to be listening to the community at large (some good threads in the past at Daring Fireball) so I am cautiously optimistic that they will work through the latest angst go around.
That said, it's worth sounding the collective alarm when sense is that they are crossing the line.
The fact is just the opposite I DO NOT want the platform to FAIL!
That being said... Apple pissing off developers left right and center with childish crap is not contributing to that end... NOR is Apple systematically chopping Applications off at the knees simply because they already wrote similar software and The Good Lord Forbid the customer might get confused... Knowing full well that's a crock of shit and simply a somewhat passable excuse they can use to pacify the koolaid drinkers.
Now give Apple's behavior to date would you be in the least bit shocked if Apple started to reject certain games from 3rd party developers simply because Apple is developing a game with a similar concept?
Or perhaps you could somehow explain how it's OKAY for Apple to reject any and app MAP centric applications for fear the the iPhone wielding IDIOTs across the globe might somehow explode if confronted with something else that ALSO displayed maps and then in the same breath think it would be ABSURD for Apple to reject a game that is using the same concepts as one Apple has already developed.
None of this explains how you'd ever get a '2 or 3 year experienced game developer who has one or more AAA games released under his or her belt' but whatever...