Still not dead.

So, I might be the world's most infrequent blogger but I'm not dead. I've just been busy. Let me sum up this summer for you:

1) The final EARTH's video game design class finished up with the kids making their own levels. I realized that 8 weeks wasn't enough time for them to really get comfortable with the tools so next year's class is either going to have to go longer or I'm gonna have to have them dive in on week one.

2) I left my job of (almost) 7 years at THQ.

3) I started a new job at Walt Disney Imagineering. If any of you have been reading this blog, you know the significance of that to me. And no, I a) can't get you into the park for free and b) get you a job at Disney (yet) and c) make that change to the attraction you think they should make.

4) I'm writing another book. I don't want to spill the beans on what it is yet, but if you liked "Level Up!" then you will like this one.

I hope that tides you over for now and look to this space for some exciting announcements soon!

This week in class!

Hooray! The Ventura County Star ran a great article on our video game class today. You can read the full article here.

After basking in the glow of their glory, the kids are gonna roll up their sleeves and do some intensive learning this week.

They've got a lot to learn about the LittleBigPlanet Level Editor but they're smart, I'm sure they're up to the challenge!

EARTHs class... Friday the 13th style!

This week in the EARTHs game design class, the students focused on team work. Focused might be a little loose a term as we had guests that day... a reporter and photographer from the Ventura County Star newspaper who had come to check out the class. I'll post the article when it goes live! (Thanks VCS for coming out and talking to us!)



With the help of the Hawaiian hat, we the kids drew names to determine the design teams for the rest of the class. Friday the 13th weirdness was in the air as the students made some odd-defying draws to pair up their teams.

With their teams matched up, the students then worked on coming up with a story genre for their level and some potential story beats. They included:


Pacific theatre combat (which will be fun to see how they create a level without any shooting!)


Hearts (and villages burn) in Romantic Horror


Video Game themed action with heroes trapped in a virtual world


Techno-Thriller with heroic computer hacking


and Meat-Evival Times complete with cows in shining armor! A really cool and diverse selection of genres. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with them!

Finally, the students got their hands on LittleBigPlanet where they roared through the two-player tutorial missions! (I think they were just happy to play games and take a break from all of the thinking!) So far, so good!

Next week: MAPS!

This week in class...

The first week of EARTHs video game design class went pretty well - at least according to my kids - When I asked them what their favorite part of the class was, I was releaved when they said it was activities they did and not just that they got to play arcade games before the class started.

Highlights of the class included when one of the students gave an incredibly accurate description of what an oscilloscope does and how it works, when the class decided that "kung-fuing" was an appropiate game genre and when no one fought over the game controllers but all patiently took turns. (I was really proud of them and I'm not even their Dad!)

So, what's going on this week? Here's the sneak preview:

This week, we're going back in to ancient Greece to learn about genre...

... to a galaxy far far away* to learn about story...

... and take a page or two from a certain video game design book on how to write a story.

I'm looking foward to it!

* Oh, by the way, May the Fourth be with you!

What's a video game class about anyway?

Many of you have asked about this video game class I'm teaching at EARTHs school this week, so lucky you, I decided to give a SNEAK PREVIEW!

Week one - where to start? The students (or the "lucky 13" as I'm calling them) are going to begin with the basics - WHAT is a video game?



We're going to learn about WHO makes video games...



We're going to learn a little about the HISTORY of video games...



We're going to brainstorm some ideas for video games and then... we're GONNA PLAY SOME VIDEO GAMES! I'm looking forward to it!