Well, as you guys know, I've been in the wilderness looking for game programming jobs for a whopping eight months (June 2013-March-2014). It's been hell having to sit on the sideline and watch my friends' dreams come true and watch Sumo Digital/Sega jobs come and go. I've spammed resumes to numerous game and simulation studios in the Southwest US. I've done numerous phone screenings from recruiters and have taken a couple of written tests too. Needless to say, I've gotten use to the phrase "we're not looking for someone with your skill set," which is the blandest way to say "you suck" without any good feedback on what to improve on.
But that's all changed now. I am in sunny Austin, Texas at my new job in a inconspicuous game studio. I'm honestly not telling you where I'm working. All I know is out of all the butchered job applications, this place flew me in for an interview which resulted in a 2-hour written test, a 1-hour interview with two programmers, another 1-hour interview with two other programmers, and a 30-minute interview with two producers. A 4-and-a-half hour long interview. Thankfully I knocked it out of the park and everything that could've went well did. The tides turned in my favor for once, thank God!
Again, I'm not inclined to tell you where I work. It's not a racing game studio nor is it affiliated with Sega. It's a place that treats me well and has the potential to be better than my previous two jobs. I am in debt to them because if not for this generous offer, I'd still be out on my ass because I had no other leads at any other game studios. Seriously, this company has been very nice to me thus far and I no longer have the disdain I once had for them. Now not the time to be a hipster! Don't let Reddit circlejerkers or personal vendettas get in the way. Seriously, the Reddit crowd is useless. Those slovenly neckbeards grovel and complain but they don't contribute anything of value besides shitty gaming memes. Get off your ass, get a gaming degree and a job, and make your own games for once. Otherwise, shut the fuck up.
I have to work hard to impress my coworkers. I'm serious when I say this because through grief comes wisdom. I learned what not to do at my previous jobs and now I have a chance to put that wisdom to work. Also, I have nothing else to do in Austin so why not sell myself wholly to my work? I need to make money anyway so I'm going to hone in on my work as much as possible. The fear of being fired for a third time lingers in my head and I have to power through it and get my stuff done and NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.
"Gentlemen, it is better to have died as a small boy than to break the build," said no one ever (until now).
Also, a little solace to my firing at my previous job. Basically, when I was let go at the end of May, the game I was working on was canceled in November and a bunch of people were laid off. That was the last green-light they needed to pass before they could go gold with it. But they failed. Did I have anything to do with it? I'd like to wish that them firing me was the reason it failed but not very likely. Needless to say, there was a bit of schadenfreude to be had but it was short lived once I realized "damn, now I have more people to compete against for job openings." Sadly I cannot tell you what game I was working on. This haunted game has sunken to the ocean floor and anyone who dares explore it will be cursed. So yeah, my previous three months of work completely destroyed but at least I don't have to worry about whether my name would be in the credits or not (odds are it wouldn't, man, fuck you guys).
Still, I'm not exactly feeling good about our Sega chances regardless. Sega hasn't filled me with optimism lately. The Wii U and its Sonic games are an abysmal failure in terms of sales. Sonic Boom is looking more like a cash grab to sell more toys and permanently change Sonic's image for the worse. Sega of Japan reeks of xenophobia as they are denying service/banning non-Japanese players on Phantasy Star Online 2. Then Sega loses the Shenmue license! That's more of a good thing since Sega won't use it for anything good so give another publisher (Sony?) a chance to work with it. And--what's this? Nagoshi-san is counterfeiting his own money now???
100 million yen, what a baller.
Yush, Sega is boring me. Though this mini-resurgence of Sega racers (Sega All-Stars Racing, 90's Arcade Racer, Model 2/3 emulators) do buy us some time to seize the return of the glorious Sega racing golden age. Gotta get back to business! Had a
I tip my hat to you, sir. Congrats and I wish you well at your new job. And to think the folks and I were in Austin around New Years.
ReplyDeleteHi Eric, congratulations on your new job, hope it all goes well! Sadly I've only had temporary work over the last 2/3 years although thankfully it's been enough to pay the bills.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame Sega is the way it is but I understand the business reasons why. Plenty of quality games from other companies and Sega retro titles so lots to be getting on with!
Congrats on your new job. Whatever you you do, don't forget the things that inspired ya.
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