It should be noted that the e-mail address of @mac.com will not go away. An account holder will have two e-mail addresses, one an alias of the other.

For the 2007 Emerson College admission season (Nov 2006 - April 2007), my students and I rolled out a web based software program called StageDoor. It managed the entire Performing Arts audition process including taking photos of audition applicants on-site. We reduced almost all paperwork this way, allowing decision makers to spend more time evaluating the applicant, not their paperwork.

I bring this up because the project suffered from the idiotic 'Mac/Windows only' bullshit. StageDoor used Flash to make a photo system that took a photo and stored it on a server. No special fancy software besides Firefox and Flash player... as long as the camera worked on that computer.

Since we needed to borrow computers for check-in (no need to buy ~10 computers for 10 days of the year), we had a mix of Mac and Windows boxes. This was perfect for all aspects of StageDoor, except the cameras. We would have bought more Logitech cameras if they were cross platform, but instead we had to get a few iSights to fill the Mac gap. I did make attempts to use third party Mac drivers, but since the computers were borrowed we couldn't install them anyways.

Please Logitech. You add no value on platform specific hardware. You hurt my team's efforts to reduce costs of this admission process. We still saved a lot of man hours and office costs, but this added unnecessary complications.

PS: I need to mention the over and beyond efforts of my student, John, for the awesome work he did in making the Flash photo capture work. Every applicant to Emerson College Performing Arts since 2007 owes a debt of gratitude to him.

First, some of my background. I am the first recipient of the BFA New Media degree from Emerson College. My thesis was a PC & Mac game using live-action video called Antidote. I now work at Telltale Games as the Build & Distribution Engineer. I should also note that my experience and background is exclusively in the United States where as the linked article is focused on England. That said, these are common trends that face the industry as a whole.

If one feels the need to assign blame to the situation, it really is all of the above. It takes years for academics to figure out how to teach a subject. The art form itself is still in a form of infancy making education of the art form much more difficult. There are no standards to go by because the educational sector as a whole is still trying to figure it out. There are some obvious low end providers (most of which advertise on US national television), some programs with positive progress (DigiPen, USC), and a lot of ground in between.

But the culture of secrets in the interactive entertainment industry incubates behavior that leaves out 'outsiders.' Industry secrets, closed proprietary systems, etc. Some imposed internally within a studio, some imposed by publishers and console manufactures. In the end, there's a perceived risk in letting anyone outside of a traditional employed status. Rather than thinking about interns as a path of incorporating academia, try giving students research projects.

Obviously there needs to be many solutions in order to fix these and other problems which comes on all sides. I started a conversation on my blog if you would like to read more.

To anyone who's considering going into the interactive entertainment industry, some quick points of advice:

* Just because you love film, doesn't mean you would enjoy making a film. Replace the word 'film' with 'video games'.
* Do not fear group projects; Don't be a dick when working in group projects.
* The real key is to not treat a curriculum as one unified 'Game Degree' program, but to have a suite of programs that as a whole develop a game curriculum.
* Game Career Guide

Joined up as Atrus.

Is it cool if I add some of you people as friends? Stupid friend-based achievements...

Just because one publisher decides to sell iPhone games at €15, doesn't mean anyone else will follow suit.

Keep in mind that any publisher* can pick the price point of their applications. Apple takes a 30% cut of what ever price you decide to sell your iPhone app. The only exception is if the publisher sets the price to $0. Apple allows $0 and will not ask for extra money (besides the $99 start-up fee).

I'm going to be very interested to see how commercial game titles will fair when there will be free iPhone games. Any word on SCUMMVM on iPhone as an App Store product?

* Publisher can also be developer of the app. It's who ever paid the $99 publisher fee.

@AKBAR56

Yes, it's not the original Hit the Road, but Sam & Max Season One will be hitting the Wii in August. Don't believe me? Here's me playing it as proof!

To me, I always found that free Wi-Fi was the boon of smaller/indy cafes in an area. Starbucks gets the name recognition, but the other places compete by providing an added value service Starbucks didn't provide: Free Wi-Fi.

The paid service from Starbucks (re: T-Mobile) does offer a competitive advantage of knowing any Starbucks will give you reliable Internet access. For travelers, doing a Starbucks location lookup is just another Wi-Fi location lookup.

As for me, I go to indy shops with free Wi-Fi when I want to do work outside of my home and will continue to do so. I don't forbid myself from Starbucks, but I only go in two situations. When I'm traveling (in airports; new area), or on my way to work and feel like a mocha (no other competitor without adding 30 minutes to my commute). Definitely not for Wi-Fi.

Still, it's going to be interesting how the dynamics change.

If anyone's looking for a Unicorn chaser after this, a teaser trailer for Beyond Good and Evil 2 is posted:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/34509.html

There's also a much more compressive info map by VisiBone. In addition to TLDs, it includes phone dialing codes and latitude/longitude lines on a detailed world map.

Price: $25/$40 (34-inch × 17-inch / 48-inch × 24-inch) + Shipping

Why do I sense this as a ploy for BoingBoing readership to create the content of BoingBoing?

* claps *

Well played Frauenfelder... well played...

@JennFrank

Thanks for reading my blog!

I'm certainly not diminishing the current work being done (nor did you imply that I was). If such a singular museum existed, it would be a centralized venue for the general public to interface with this history. Connecting the efforts of these wonderful individuals to a larger audience.

Right now I'm just drumming up support of the idea for it; Getting people to think about the historical aspects of our art form. The game museum is a long-term goal for me but something I want to see happen some time in my lifetime.

@MrScience

There isn't much I can really comment on, but I want to thank you for sharing your story with us.

@ PetroleumJelliffe

That 'box art' is included on the FAQ for SBCG4AP:
http://www.telltalegames.com/strongbad/faq

And thanks for the mention!

It's finds like this that make me wish for a computer/console game history and preservation organization and museum. Not that I distrust Mr. Alex Handy, but having a group that helps preserve and exhibit these articles of history would make me sleep at night.

I think it was Margaret Cho that stated there's a connection between BSDM and Trekies. I believe we found conclusive proof of this theory.