LudoScience

Game Design (profession)

Author(s) : James Kay
Editor : Score Studios LLC
Publication date : 11-20-2012
Language : english

This one-of-a-kind book is guide for any foreigner who wants to work in the Japanese video game industry. James Kay, the British-born author of the book, has personally made this move: he worked for different Japanese video games studios during 10 years, and then founded his own studio there. Over 300 pages, he tackles all the questions one could ask: Why go to Japan to create video games? How to get hired in a Japanese studio? How to find a place to live? And how is the day-to-day life in a Japanese video game studio? With a lot of humor and a very honest tone, the author provides us with a lot of practical and useful information, dealing both with the positive (discovery of a different culture, working on famous licences, etc.) and negative (low wages, "don't leave the office before the boss does" culture, etc.) aspects of this life choice. The book then features several interesting interviews with other foreigners working in the Japanese games industry, for studios like Square-Enix or Grasshoper. The book ends with a list of video game companies in Japan, alongside with some other resources useful for those who seriously consider to make the move. In the end, this brilliant book is not only a very useful guide, but it's also a very interesting look at the inner workings of the video games industry in Japan.