I should be worrying about the upcoming J-Ken, but instead I find myself thinking about the fact that I’m going to have to take a test before I can become employed. This is apparently standard practice for Japanese companies, and I know that big companies like Nintendo are notorious for having difficult math portions.
Are there any American companies that do this? I mean, most of my friends are employed and I have never heard of any of them having to take a test… not even those who are game programmers (which is where I’ll have to start out in all likelihood). Am I just that oblivious, or is it really just that Japan in particular believes the malarkey that tests are the best way to measure aptitude?
Sony Online Entertainment is holding a competition to decide who gets a $10,000 tuition scholarship.
From the official site:
The official SOE G.I.R.L. — Gamers In Real Life — scholarship is the first of its kind with The Art Institutes to encourage students toward career paths in the creative and applied arts, ultimately resulting in the development of games that are more interesting for women to play.
[...]
The G.I.R.L. Scholarship will officially begin on April 1, 2008. In order to be eligible to participate, entrants must be a current student at one of The Art Institutes schools. Students are required to submit an in-game design, concept art and two essays. The deadline to enter is May 31, 2008. The winner will be announced on or about June 30, 2008.
One skilled student will win a $10,000 tuition scholarship towards his or her education at The Art Institutes school at which he or she is currently enrolled and a paid internship of up to ten (10) weeks at one of the Sony Online Entertainment studios (located in Austin, Denver, San Diego and Seattle). Entrants will be judged by a panel of industry professionals from SOE.
Since it’s so narrow — limited to only those currently enrolled at one of The Art Institutes schools — I’m not sure how effective it will be at promoting the stated goal. Still, it’s drawn a fair amount of PR and anything that raises awareness as to the barriers that women face when trying to enter the industry is good in my book.
Usually when one starts telling a story, one begins at the beginning. But I honestly don’t know where my beginning is. Does it begin with the first video game I played? With the long nights I spent with my mom, and later my friend Katie, playing video games until obnoxiously late at night? What about when I realized that RPGs came from Japan, and therefore decided that I would one day learn Japanese. Perhaps I should start with when I said to myself, “Of all the things I could do with my life, I want to make and design video games.” (more…)
