Work Letter

23 Stamford Road
Plymstock
Plymouth
23^rd September 2009

Sir/Madam
Nintendo gaming company
104 Mushroom House
London
PL2 3AE

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to apply for your position in game designing. I have seen your advertisement and I have been studying for years for an opportunity like this. Game designing is what I do.

I am currently a student at Plymouth City College of Art and Design, studying a course called Interactive Media and Game Designing. I am currently doing well.

I have quite a few skills such as I am good with computers, I can use Adobe Flash and 3DS Max fluently. I am also very creative in gaming concept and have a wide imagination. I am punctual, reliable and I communicate well in a team. I also have been playing computer games since I was 6 and a huge fan up to this day.

This is my dream job so if you decide to add me to your team I can be available whenever you need me. I am a very dedicated person and this opportunity would be amazing.

Yours sincerely,

Adam Everson

Report which reflects and demonstrates analysis

I have always loved to play computer games, ever since I was little, and I have always wanted to be able to design games, let my mind flow and release great games. I have always wanted to get far in the gaming industry. One company I am very fond of is the Nintendo Company, I have owned every single console they have released and always buy their games.

I am looking forward to studying more about the concept of games, breaking down a game and using various programmes such as 3DS Max. I do want to go more in depth in Flash and 3DS Max. I want to be able to memorize the codes and know how to make anything in 3DS Max without thinking. I really want to get far in the world and the only job that I feel suited for is somewhere in the games industry.

Within the past few months that I have used 3DS Max I have managed to produce several kinds of work such as a model of a city and a side project of recreating an Egyptian scene. The later one is more of a home project that I will be uploading to blogger. I have also made various things within Flash and Photoshop such as I am in the middle of making a recreation of Asteroids and my very own game in two separate projects.

I do crack down on my work, but if it is a project I really enjoy, I storm through the project quickly, with plenty of time to go through and make changes along with improvements. Also I really do well in teams. I have been doing team work throughout my life and even though I am not the leader type, I lay in my opinion, I take part in group discussions, I volunteer myself to do a lot of work and I also co-operate. Even if it is little projects like making a safe egg drop to designing games.

I always avoid losing time off my education and work, I will not attempt to get the day off, there is no point as that involves falling behind which leads to a chance in failing, you miss one day then there is severe catching up to do. I will make sure my attendance is always at 100% along with my effort for work. I will not hold back on my opinion on how to improve the game, even if I am wrong I will still give out my opinion and see what my team members will think of the idea.

I have sat down and learnt a few basic ways to get into the games development company from my uncle who also works in the gaming industry, which he has been doing for the past eight years. I really do think I have what it takes to be a great asset in any gaming company. I hope to bring help to my team, make everyone’s job easier and perfect every detail within the games.

Honestly though I will settle for a games tester if need be until I can get a job within the industry. I will keep practising on getting better with my programmes and I will be using these games as references. What is mainly needed is the skill to make games and actually liking games and playing them really helps getting a job, because this shows that you love games which means you are going to be fully co-operate with making games and enjoying it, which means more work will come out, which means more efficiency.

I do have a few hobbies, mostly computer gaming but I also hang out with my friends a lot and I am also a big card player. Yes I know, I am a nerd and proud of it. It makes me who I am. I am not big on sports but if needed, I will do my best in taking part and giving it all I got.

Need to do list

Done: 6, 9, 11

HE course research

I have had to research three courses in Higher Education which I would consider going in, these are:

BA (Hons) Design for Games (3 year)

This course offers designing games, making games and game art, this course sounds perfect to me if I was staying on the course, this course focuses on games specificly which is a hue help for me, it is what I need to advance my career even further in the game world. Pretty much I need to pass this course to get in.

BA (Hons) Graphic Design (Year 3)
This course focuses around image manipulation, typography and images. This does seem like a sub course which I may consider as it is hue on the whole concept on characters too. Minimum 5 GCSEs, grade C or above, from a general range of educational GCSE subjects, preferably including at least one from Art, Design, Textiles or Media.


And to be honest I cannot find any other courses that will benefit me or help in my career.

Action Plan

Okay this is what I have planned. I am going to do my best this year and hopefully earn a Distinction throughout all my courses. I am going to get a part time job sometime soon and at the end of this course, I am going to be looking in to becoming a game designer. I am hoping to work for Nintendo, I also have connections as my uncle works for Nintendo but I want to attempt to get in without someone else fighting for me to get in, I want to earn it, I want to be welcomed for who I am, not for being someone's nephew.

What I will need to get in is finish this course, have good grades with the social skills with this course, examples of what I can do like making a few games and presenting them to Nintendo and also a good portfolio. This will all take alot of work but I will do my best to accomplish all this.

Choices

I have looked through many choices in what I can do after I finish this course. I have several options.

Option 1: I can go straight into employment for game designing, which is possible and I will try my best to get in, what I need to require is to pass this course, love computer games and put together a CV with examples of what I can do.

Option 2: I could do self employment by making games for the internet and keep expanding as I go until I can afford to run a company myself, this step is a huge risk but will go far if done correctly.

Option 3: I could get an apprenticeship but this would require more years of training and never guaranteed the job at the end which could prove to be not a very useful path.

Option 4: Go to university or HE courses but then again this means more training plus I will have roughly around a £40,000 debt until I pay it all off.

To be honest I am going to stick with Option 1 as this is what I want to do, this is why I am here, I want to be a game designer.

My strengths

I have to find out what my strengths are. I know I am getting good with action script three on flash, also my photoshop skills are improving. I am also getting better at wording stuff, I used to struggle all the time before. I can also hand draw and upload the images which can be helpful for filling in with colour on the computer. That is all I can think of for now.