Task 5 - Progression Training

Apprenticeship 1: Games Designer Apprenticeship

This apprenticeship takes place at PlaygroundSquad UK and job hours are 9.00 am to 4.00pm. It has a weekly wage of £99 and lasts for 24 months (2 years). It is at advanced level and the qualifications needed are grades A to C at GCSE level. The apprenticeship entails the apprentice learning how to design video games at industry level.


Apprenticeship 2: Media Telesales Apprenticeship:

The apprenticeship is offered by The White Event Company and the apprenticeship requires the apprentice to communicate with potential clients and to build their sales team. The jobs hours are 35 hours per week and the pay is £115.50 per week. The apprenticeship lasts from 12 to 18 months. It is at intermediate level.


Apprenticeship 3: Social Media and Digital Marketing Apprenticeship:

This apprenticeship takes place over 12 months and there is 30 working hours within the week. The pay is £100 per week and it is an advanced level apprenticeship. The apprenticeship requires the apprentice to work for Yellow Spider Media and they have to take the role of account assistant and help manage up to four company accounts.


Apprenticeship 4: Social Media Apprentice:

The apprenticeship is provided by The White Room and requires the apprentice to learn all aspects of social media. The pay is £163.46 per week and the hours are 9.00 till 5.00 at 37.5 hours in total weekly. The apprenticeship takes place over the course of 366 days and is at advanced level.

Apprenticeship 5: IT Support Apprentice:

The apprenticeship aims to teach IT support skills and takes place over the course of 12 months. It is 35 hours per week, and the pay is £115.50 weekly. It is an advanced level apprenticeship and it is given by JMC IT.

Apprenticeship 6: IT Apprenticeship:

The apprenticeship takes place over 12 months and is 38 hours a week. It is at intermediate level and is £125.40 weekly in regards to pay. It consists of diagnosing IT problems and is given by Simply IT Solutions Limited.

Apprenticeship 7: Apprentice Graphic Designer:

The apprenticeship takes place over the course of 15 months and consists of 40 hours per week. The pay is £200 weekly. It is an advanced level apprenticeship and consists of using digital illustration skills. The company is EDLounge limited.

Apprenticeship 8: Games Creation Apprentice: 

The apprenticeship entails creating games and software. The apprenticeship lasts for 12 months and is  37.5 hours per week. The pay is £125.00 weekly and the company offering the apprenticeship is Altaire Limited.

Apprenticeship 9: Computer Technician Apprentice:

The apprenticeship entails learning about building hardware and and software packages. The apprenticeship lasts 12 months, with 35 hour weeks. The wage is £115.50 weekly and is it an intermediate level apprenticeship. The employer is micrologic computers.

Apprenticeship 10: Apprentice IT Technician:

The apprenticeship duration is not stated, however, the weekly working hours are 37.5 in total and the daytime hours are 9.00 to 5.00. The pay is £123.75 weekly and the company the apprentice works for is Crocodile Computers.

Task 4 - Progression Higher Education

Bolton University Games Design University:

The Bolton Games Design course focuses on all aspects of the industry, including programming and art. The course teachers have industry experience and academical experience in regards to games design. The course lasts for 3 years and has entry requirements of  5 C's at GCSE level and relevant grades in A levels and college BTEC's.


It was one of the first university's in the country to offer Games design as a course, and as such, have refined and removed ineffective aspects of the course throughout its 11 year history. Its fees are £9000 per year.


Huddersfield University Computer Games Design Course:

This course takes place at Huddersfield University, and lasts for 4 years. It covers all aspects of games design including game art and programming. It features many guests speakers, including members of the industry who have come in to share tips on how to succeed within the games industry.

The course also features work placement and students can use this to gain industry experience. Students have collaborated with institutions in the past in order to produce game content to contribute to their experience and portfolio.

This course requires entry members who have passed English and Maths GCSE's and to have ABB or more at A level and a Level 3 Extended Diploma at BTEC level. The entry fee's are £9000 per year.


Manchester Metropolitan University Games Design and Development:

This course is provided by Manchester University and takes place over the course of 4 years. It utilises web technology in order to benefit its students learning. Upon completion, students are granted the qualification of chartered IT professional which is a high qualification in itself.

The third year consists of  industrial placement within the industry which would provide beneficial in the long run. The entry requirements are a C in Maths, English and Science at GCSE level, BCC - BBC at A level and a Level 3 Extended Diploma at BTEC level.

The fee's are once again £9000 per year and in this case, £36000 over the entirety of the course.

Birmingham City University Computer Games Technology:

Birmingham City University has a game design course that teaches all aspects of the industry from programming to hardware design. They also offer opportunities for work placement in order to gain work experience for future reference.

The entry requirements for this course are Grade C in GCSE English Language and Maths, Grade BBC at A level and a Level 3 Diploma at BTEC.

University of Huddersfield Computer Games Design:

The course covers the creative aspects of the industry and focuses primarily on video game concepts and design. The course offers work opportunities to work with companies like RockStar and Realtime.

The entry requirements for this course are a C in English and Maths at GCSE level, ABB at A Level and a Level 3 Diploma at BTEC level. the entry fees are £9000 per year.

HA4 Task 3 Personal Statement

Name

James Rostron

What is/are your dream job(s)?

My dream job is to be a games designer who focuses primarily on the games narrative. I this is not an option, I would like to work on building levels.

What skills do you possess now?

My best subject by a considerable margin was English. Due to this, my literacy skills are my greatest strength. Another subject I was good at was Media, which I managed to do well in, despite the fact I did not enjoy the content of the lessons. 

Have you carried out any work experience or voluntary work?

I have yet to have any official work experience.

What soft, transferable skills do you possess now or need to develop and how?
Communication	Literacy	Commitment
Tenacity		Honesty
Creativity	Approachable	Trustworthiness
Teamwork	Relatable	Reliability
Self-presentation	Hard Working	Humour
Punctuality	Studious	Empathy
ICT	Calm and Reserved	Numeracy
Try to use examples from your everyday experience and that negatives can sometimes be turned into positives.
An example of these skills in real life is whenever I work in group related tasks in college, I try to interact with all members of the group and I make sure I have a useful role in the task we work on. I regard myself as highly punctual, and I try to attend as many lessons as possible, even when Ill. I am honest and I am committed to my work until it is fully completed to a good standard.

What personal interests and hobbies do you have or have had in the past?
Reading Gaming Films Music	Computer Systems Badminton
However uninteresting you may think your interests are, even if you’ve not taken them very far, put them down.
My primary interest out of the interests stated above is gaming. I was first introduced to video gaming when I was around 7. I played Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver on my dad's PlayStation. I got my first games device when I was 9 which was a white DS Lite and my first game was Lego Indiana Jones the Original Adventures. From then on, I began to love playing games.  My other interests include reading and watching films, which I also quite enjoy. In high school, I enjoyed playing Badminton but I never took it to an extracurricular level.

HA4 Task 2 - CV

NAME	James Rostron
ADDRESS
TELEPHONE	Mobile)
EMAIL
WEBSITE	https://wordpress.com/posts/jamesrostronportfolio.wordpress.com
FACEBOOK / TWITTER /BLOG	James Rostron (Facebook) James Rostron (Twitter)
DATE OF BIRTH	8th of July 1999
EDUCATION	2010 - 2015 - Fred Longworth High School 2015 - 2017 Salford City College – Eccles Sixth Form Centre
QUALIFICATIONS	GCSE English Language- A GCSE English Literature - A GCSE Media - B GCSE Mathematics - C GCSE Core Science - C GCSE Sociology - C GCSE History - C GCSE Statistics - C GCSE Additional Science - D GCSE Religious - D GCSE French - D

WORK EXPERIENCE
	None as of writing

SKILLS & PERSONAL QUALITIES

Punctual Hard Working Positive Attitude Approachable Friendly Independant

INTERESTS

Video Games Reading

REFEREE

Harry Arnold New Media Tutor Eccles Sixth Form Centre Chatsworth Road Eccles Salford M30 9FJ 0161 631 5000 harry.arnold@salfordcc.ac.uk

HA4 Task 1 Portfolio

https://wordpress.com/pages/jamesrostronportfolio.wordpress.com

The link above is to the page selection of my portfolio, and from this page, my entire portfolio can be accessed.

So far, there are three pages on my portfolio. The first one is to a page with all my blogger links on. This allows people that view my portfolio to see what work I do within college, and the overall quality of it. It also allows them to see what aspects of the industry have been taught. This can let potential employers see if the skills taught within the Units apply to the specific skills they are looking for.

The second page is for my sound design. On this page, I will display all of my best sound design work and a short description will be added for every piece of work added onto the page.

I put on my unit 73 task video onto my portfolio, and then embedded all my sound design work onto my portfolio.

My third page displays the art work I have put onto the portfolio, 

I displayed what I thought was my best artwork from the previous units, and I wrote about them and annotated them, so if they are hovered over with the mouse, the name of the art piece is displayed.

I finally posted an update to the blog on my portfolio, introducing the portfolio and describing its purpose.

HA3 Task 5 - Professional Bodies Supporting the Industry

Professional Bodies Supporting the Games Industry:

Examples of professional bodies supporting the games industry include

BAFTA (The British Academy of  Film and Television Arts)
UKIE (The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment)
IGDA (The International Game Developers Association)
WIGJ (Women in Games Jobs)
MEF (Mobile Entertainment Forum)

BAFTA - (The British Academy of  Film and Television Arts)

BAFTA has supported the games industry. They give awards to people within gaming who have accomplished great things for the industry. An example of this was when they gave Gabe Newell a BAFTA Fellowship in recognition of an 'outstanding and exceptional contribution to games'. His acknowledged works for this award included games such as Half Life and Counter Strike. His involvement in the creation of the Steam game platform was also acknowledged by BAFTA. By awarding people within the game industry, they portray the industry in a positive light to those who are not within it.

UKIE - (The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment) 

UKIE have supported the games industry by being the only trade body for the UK's interactive entertainment industry. Their purpose is to bring the needs and interests of the games industry to light and to support companies within the games industry to make sure they are free to make trade without interruption from non gaming companies. They also make sure the industry is shown in a positive light and to make sure the reputation of the industry is regarded well.

They regard members of their network as 'part of a collective voice' and as such, they support their members and help them grow. They regard their main goal as making the UK a better place for the games industry at large.

IGDA - (The International Game Developers Association) 

The IGDA is known as the largest membership organization in gaming that is non profit. They support individuals within the games industry and their goals are to enhance and advance careers within the games industry, and to make sure that all issues that appear in the games industry are dealt with appropriately.

They also look out for innovation with the games industry and to make sure that innovation is celebrated and built upon within the industry. They view games as artistic expression and as such, they ensure that gaming is treated and regarded just as well as other expressive art such as literature and music. They are known to also hold the impact of gaming world wide in high regard, and they appreciate and cultivate the affects gaming has had on the world wide entertainment industry. They also uphold the gaming community and help benefit it as much as possible.


WIGJ - (Women in Games Jobs)

WIGJ have helped supported the industry by helping to include and recruit more women into the games industry for no profit and are managed by 'a volunteer executive community'. They do this by encouraging women hoping for a career in games, and also to keep them informed. They also campaign for women within the games industry and to make the industry a better place for women who want to enter it and for women already within it. They aim to break down the sexist barriers within the industry, and try to alter the image that the industry is primarily made up of male employees.

MEF - (Mobile Entertainment Forum)

The MEF have helped support the games industry by being a global trade association who help companies or individuals who would like to monetize their products and/or services through a mobile platform. They are located worldwide and have offices in location such as America, Africa, Asia and Britain.

Sources:
http://www.bafta.org/press/press-releases/valves-gabe-newell-to-be-honoured-with-bafta-fellowship

http://www.igda.org/?page=corevalues

http://ukie.org.uk/about

http://www.womeningamesjobs.com/?page_id=2

HA3 Task 4 - Contracts, Legal and Ethical Obligations

Contractual Obligations:

There are many forms of contractual obligations within the games industry. One type of contract is the employment contracts. The very purpose of these contracts are to lay out the terms of an employment. They explain what the employer expects of the employee and what the company itself can offer the employee. They can contain many clauses. Examples of clauses found in these contracts include Confidentiality, Benefits and the inability to compete with the company while in their employment.

There are also Development Agreements. These are when a game publisher hires a game developer to  create their game. The development agreement sets out the terms of the deal. The warranties are where a developer must promise not to use or exploit someone else's game source codes and the publisher in return has to promise that they  have the right to let the developers make the game.

The ownership is set out to decide who owns the IP. It can be owned by either the publisher of the developer. The terms of the Agreements explain details such as how much the developers will be paid for their work, how much time they will be allocated to finish development and to decide if royalties are to be included, if so, how much will be granted to both parties involved.

There are also licencing agreements. These are used when a movie is to be made into a game. The owner of the movie IP and publisher layout a contract which sets the term for the license. This contains what the publisher exactly has the rights to and what these rights can be used for. An example of rights are that they may only be allowed to publish the game for the Wii, but not for the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. Another detail discussed in the agreement, is what territories the publishers are allowed to publish in. The aim is usually world rights, but due to its nature, the most money is charged for that privilege.

The final and one of the most important things contained in the agreement is the length of the discussed contract. The average contract lasts 5 year, though they can be shorter or longer.

There are also NDA Agreements (Non-Disclosure Agreements) and Confidentiality agreements. These agreements entails one party in the agreement disclosing a secret to the other party involved in order to do business with them. This secret has to be kept and this is agreed by the informed party. If the agreement is violated, legal action is taken against the violating party.

A final example of Contractual Obligation are Collaboration Agreements. These are the most frequently used contractual agreement's within the games industry particularity in the mainstream sector. However, within the Indie aspect of the industry, don't need agreements such as these. They are more in need of agreement's that cover ownership of a game and its IP and compensation if a game is to fail. Since it is common for indie games to fail, compensation is the most important aspect. Collaboration agreements sets how an indie project is made or controlled and who owns the IP to the game and/or its series.

Legal Obligations;

One main part of legal obligations within the games industry, is who owns and what happens with a game IP (Intellectual Property). Intellectual Property is the referral term for creations of the mind which can set many exclusive rights to be recognized and acknowledged by the law. Who ever owns an IP has rights allowed to no other to use certain assets. Examples of such assets include Symbols, Phrases and works of a artistic nature.

  The importance of IP was first realized by the Paris Convention of the Protection of Property which took place in 1983. They were followed by the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, which took place in 1983. These were the first to acknowledge and take into account Intellectual property in other peoples work.

There are a few types of IP rights. Examples include Trademarks, Copyrights, Patents and Registered Designs.

A Trademark is a symbol or word/s that are legally registered to represent a company or product. Trademarks are usually granted from 7 to 20 years, and due to their limited nature, are renewable.
Different trademarks are separated into different classes, with there being 42 separate classes.

 A Copyright is the exclusive legal right to publish or print a artistic, literary etc work. It usually protects work created by its author and rarely deviates from this pattern. The person who has the copyright has to have had some form of contribution towards the creation of the copyrighted work. The nature of copyright is unlike other forms of IP rights. It is considered an automatic right. It is uniquely unable to be acquired at the Intellectual Property office. Upon completion, a copyright is the complete property of the owner, with no dispute in that regard.

 A Patent is when a licence is set a right or title for a set period. These are granted by the government to an inventor which allows the inventor certain rights, such as the ability to prevent people from selling their inventions without express permission form the original creator. Upon the patents issue, the creator owns the product which allows them to use it like any other business asset.

Finally, a Registered Design is the protection of an objects appearance. These can be applied for at The Intellectual Property Office if someone would want a Registered design. When registering a design, you are essentially protecting the external appearance of an object.

Ethical Obligations:

Ethics are principles of a moral nature that decide a person's behavior and their interaction with society. Morals themselves are standards of behaviors which can be described as a sense of right and wrong. Within gaming, Ethics are important. They can take many forms such as violence
against women, the glorification of drugs and the implementation of sex within video games.

Violence within games has occasionally caused ethical concerns. Studies have been taken to see if violence within games directly affects a persons behavior due to the increasing complexity and graphical fidelity of violence with games which gives the violence a more realistic look that could affect individuals and is theorized to influence them negatively. Examples of games controversial for their violence include Grand Theft Auto (particularly for the infamous torture scene), Doom (for its realistic depiction of violence for the time and for displaying satanic imagery) , Mortal Kombat (So violent for the time, its release caused the need for video game ratings) and Call of Duty (For may scenes, especially the 'No Russian' mission in Modern Warfare 2 which despite its optional nature, was scrutinized heavily by the media).

Ratings within games has been regarded as a good ethical choice within the games industry. The addition of ratings to games allows parents to buy their children the games they feel appropriate for them and also prevents the direct sale of games to underage customers. However, parents can still buy children higher age rated games, which means the system is still far from perfect. The ratings board in Europe is the PEGI (Pan-European Game Information) system. This game rating was created in 2003 and is now the single game rating system in Europe. The system is supported and used by game companies such as Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.

Education is another Ethical choice within the games industry. Some games have a focus on learning and can also have a plot with a deep underlying moral or message that can teach children. However, gaming is generally considered to be a negative ethically towards education. Examples include people believing that if children are exposed to violent video games , they are being taught to be violent.  Some violent games can have educational positives, such as the Assassins Creed series being set historically, and due to this, has in-game databases which describe the people and places of the time. The information contained within has been researched extensively and is in most cases accurate with the occasional inaccurate date or name.

Gaming has been criticized for playing up to stereotypes. One such of example of stereotyping is the lack of leading female protagonists. While there are exceptions to this such as Lara Croft and Samus Aran, they are few and far between. Women are often described as having one dimensional personality's in games. One example of this issue being brought up was in 2013 when Gamespot reviewed Grand Theft Auto 5. The reviewer Carolyn Petit stated that GTA V was 'Profoundly Misogynistic'. This was listed in the negative points section of the review breakdown, and was implied as the reason that GTA V was given a 9 instead of a 10. This was released to backlash from the gaming community. Petitions were put up to remove Petit from Gamespot and she was subjected to hate campaigns which focused on her personal and private life.

Finally, addiction is a major ethical concern within the games industry. Games have been described to take up peoples entire lives, and can become addictive very quickly. This can cause people to lose their work and social life due to addiction. They can also miss out on beneficial opportunities to improve their life such as promotions. The only ethical advantage of a game addiction would be if the affected person played that game professionally, it would tie into their work life, and help provide if not boost their income due to the resulted skill of playing nonstop which has a few positive aspects.

Sources:
https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=trademark+definition

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=copy+right+definition

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=copyright+definition&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=923&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiz1q_vxIvLAhVG1RoKHUj4CAwQ_AUIBigA#q=patent+definition

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=ethics+definition

https://www.youtube.com/user/DeeJayTrademark

http://outlineartists.com/copyright/

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=morals+definition

http://www.techcityuk.com/blog/2015/07/ip-series-2-patent-pending/

http://fredericreich.com/registered-designs/

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=registered+design+definition

http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2015/01/13/uk-video-game-age-rating-system-works-doesnt

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/trademark.html

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwimku3QwJXLAhVH7hoKHaBsDr0QjhwIBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcollider.com%2Flara-croft-tomb-raider-reboot-actresses-poll%2F&psig=AFQjCNEZxRSu4fzRUdORpGVUabnsfAmDdA&ust=1456578693959347

http://nintendo.wikia.com/wiki/Samus_Aran

http://www.ipos.gov.sg/AboutIP/TypesofIPWhatisIntellectualProperty/Whatisaregistereddesign.aspx

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rockstar-Manhunt-PS2/dp/B0000C045J

http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/grand-theft-auto-v-review/1900-6414475/

http://www.psychguides.com/guides/video-game-addiction-symptoms-causes-and-effects/