Do you have any info. about sound design for small internet based games?

Question

I was wondering if anyone has experience doing sound design for some of the many games on the internet like Facebook apps and games or for phone games like angry birds..... Or if someone has info on how to get involved with this type of work. Thanks in advanced.

Answer 1

I'd recommend specifically reading up on those involved in the massively multiplayer online ultra-casual gaming segment of the game industry, or online casual games in general. This should provide a list of studios making the types of games you describe: Simple, easy, fun (one would hope), and targeted well outside the very narrow demographic range of the hardcore gaming world. Zynga's the biggest player, obviously, but I live in Northern California and some days it feels like I can't spit without hitting a small indie casual game developer. :-)

At that point, after learning about that industry, look at the delivery technologies used: Flash, Java, iOS, etc. etc. etc. etc. It's a super-balkanized industry, technically speaking.

It's a pretty neat industry. The creative demands are still very high - although the hardcore gamers pooh-pooh it as lightweight, and I disagree, having seen several ultra-casual online games be produced - and juicy technical challenges abound. It's a great place for sound design riddled with personality, humor, and cuteness. (Yknow, making truly, genuinely "cute" is harder than one thinks.) There's a lot of room to groove in the market, which at the same time, because it's so mass-market, can be fickle sometimes.

Once you get your research done, then it's straight-up, old-school networking and pavement-pounding. Despite my years of trying to prove the contrary, and failing, no industry has effective shortcuts to the inside. Be a good person, a talented mofo, a persistent SOB, and in the right place at the right time with the right collaborators...but, luck favors the prepared, as they say.

Or, if you're so inclined, learn scripting or lightweight coding or similar and release your own game as a portfolio piece! Great entry point.