All right. Hi, I'm Scott Brodie and I'm the lead designer and founder of a small independent studio called Heart Shaped Games. And I wanted to give you a brief overview of my career journey and hopefully you'll be able to learn something from that. So my first opportunity in the game industry came kind of lucky. From a lucky source. My high school actually had an internship program set up, and as a senior I was able to be able to get my first job as an intern with a local company in Michigan where I was from from Outrage Games. And Outrage Games was making a game called Alter Echo for the Playstation 2 and Xbox and I was a tester and design intern with them. And that was a fantastic experience and a great introduction to kind how games are made versus, as a player, what I thought that making a game was. It was also a great intro to the industry because you know, a big negative thing happened in that after Alter Echo shipped, the studio was shut down by its publisher. So obviously this was a sad moment. I had formed a lot of friendships with the people at that studio, but in some ways it was you know, a blessing in disguise because all these great people I met now moved on to other companies and I had a lot of great contacts in this industry for when I moved on to my own job search later on. So after Outrage was shut down I moved on to college and I joined Michigan State University. I was a computer science major. And I also participated in the games program there. At Michigan State, while I was there, I also had another small summer internship with a local studio called Star Dock. And that gave me a great insight into what more of a independent studio environment would be like. Also at Michigan State I was a part of the Spartasoft game development group and through some of the friends I made there we formed a team and made an I G F showcase game. And all those experiences kind of helped me when it came time to do my job search to kind of build a resume and show people that I was passionate about games and that I had some experience that might be applicable. So my senior year of college I was able to secure an interview with Microsoft. And at first I didn't think it was going to work out very well because they didn't say they had anything available in games. So, I kind of put that aside, and started looking around at other options. But then Microsoft came back, and said, hey we've got this special summer internship where we're going to have three interns make a game for XBox Live Arcade. And they asked if I was in and I was definitely in. After that internship where I made the game Aegis Wing, which was kind of a co-op side scrolling shooter, I was offered an opportunity to become full time with Microsoft. But that wasn't exactly a clear path to becoming a full time employee there. I was definitely told again, we don't have a lot of opportunities in games and we don't think we really have anything for you. But this kind of leads me to my first kind of job hunting tip, which is, that no in a job search doesn't always mean no. Many times it just means not yet. And that might be on the company side where they just don't have a position for you, but they like you. Or you know, on your side they might have a position but you aren't quite ready yet. You don't have the experience or you don't have exactly what they need right now. And so my advice to you is not look at a no as you know a closed door. I think those doors can always be opened again if you find the right time, and are prepared. So, always be working, and always stay in contact with people because you never know when that opportunity might come back around again. I was at Microsoft for four years and I worked in the Xbox Live Arcade Division working both on internal titles and with external partners. That was great experience to be working at the largest company in the world and being exposed to game development teams of all sizes. But after that time I made the decision to move on and start my own company, Heart Shaped Games. And the question usually comes up, well why did you make that decision, because I moved from the biggest studio in the world to you know the smallest studio in the world with one. And really that decision was made by thinking about what I really enjoy doing day to day and I would urge you in your job search to think about what makes you happy day to day. Because at Microsoft, while it was great and high profile in a lot of ways, ultimately day to day, I was spending more time talking on the phone or working on schedules or things that weren't my passion, which was being creative every day and trying to solve problems and program. Planning and building new things and seeing them come to life. So ultimately that's what guided me in that decision and I've been very happy with that decision. So I've made a number of Web and PC download games. Games called Peer Generations and Highgrounds, which is a collectible card game. So I've had a lot of fun making games that I really love, and it's now been five years strong of doing that. You know, the only question for me now is what the future holds. Am I going to continue to stay small on this path or am I going to grow and try to make a larger company? And again, I'll probably use that same process of thinking about what I want to do day to day to guide me there. So, hopefully if we do grow I'll carve out a Spot for me to stay doings the things I want to be doing, and the same for any of the people I bring on. Hopefully they will be put in a position to be doing what they love, because I'll get the best out of them. And you know, all the great things that stem from that. So that's my advice and that's my journey. And hopefully it's useful to you as you approach your own path. Feel free to contact me @brodiegames or by email if you need any advice. Thanks.
