IGDA Elections – Ed Magnin
February 16th, 2010 by Macguffin in UncategorizedIf you’re coming to this post without having seen the lead-in, you can find that post here. It links to all the other assessments I’ve posted. You can also find my disclaimer there – I’m on the Boston IGDA chapter’s board and support the candidacy of Darius Kazemi.
UPDATE – Mr. Magnin stopped by and answered the questions I asked, as well as offered a couple corrections. Apologies for misreading his website – I confused older GameBoy Color games for DS games.
Mr. Magnin is a long time industry vet who started in 1979 and has continued to still make games until at least recently – his company Magnin and Associates last had a DS game in 2000 and a couple iPhone games / apps since. He’s also been teaching for the last 12 years according to his statement (and linkedIn profile) at a couple different institutions. The website also has a section with a lot of useful information for people trying to get into the game industry, although some of it is rather dated.
He also mentions that he has, “Prior board experience includes the Greater Los Angeles Council on Deafness, JCS of San Diego, and the IGDA Foundation.” The first one looks like it was for one year in 1979, according to his linkedIn profile. I can’t manage to track down what JCS of San Diego is – it is neither listed in his linkedIn profile nor can find anything I can link to him via some quick searching. I’m also unable to link his name to the IGDA Foundation via the Foundation website (side note – the fact that the IGDA Foundation website doesn’t list its current or past trustees is unhelpful). I’m not trying to insinuate that Mr. Magnin hasn’t been involved with these non-profits, but it definitely gives me a few follow-up questions.
As with many other candidates’ statements, Mr. Magnin doesn’t directly answer the question of how much time he’s committing to the board, but instead assures us that he will find the time.
Questions for Mr. Magnin:
- Why run now?
- Can you please elaborate on your role with the IGDA Foundation, and the period of time when it occurred?
- Can you tell us what JCS San Diego is, and how and when you were associated with it?
- In the final part of the Q&A, you didn’t answer the question as to how you would accomplish your goals – namely, being the voice of reason to publishers in the Quality of Life discussion. Can you tell us how you’d go about doing that?
- Do you think the IGDA’s dependence on studio sponsorships for money is a bad thing? If yes, what will you do to begin changing this? If no, why not?
UPDATE – Mr. Magnin’s replies:
I will try to answer your questions but first a couple of corrections:
Our first DS game was definitely after 2000. The DS wasn’t announced until late 2004 and released in 2005. Vegas Casino was released in 2006 or 2007. A second DS game Gravity Zero racing was completed last year and approved by Nintendo but held up in a dispute with the publisher. We also have 2 published iPhone apps, plus an additional free version of one.
I didn’t try to avoid the time commitment question. I feel it is up to the new board to create policies that al the board members agree to adhere to. I can promise to meet or exceed whatever commitments the new board agrees on.
Now to your questions:
Why run now? I am at a time in my career where I like to see young people get their break. I have enjoyed teaching and working with the IGDA Foundation and thought it was time to help even more.
Can you please elaborate on your role with the IGDA Foundation, and the period of time when it occurred? I have been on the foundation for the past year. I met with other board members in person at the last GDC and we are in touch via email and online polls as needed.
Can you tell us what JCS San Diego is, and how and when you were associated with it? Jewish Community Services of San Diego provides a variety of services through out San Diego County. The Board would oversee and approve new programs and help raise funds.
How would I accomplish my goals (especially in the Quality of Life Issues)? I think we need to education publishers that many current practices are actually counter-productive and work against their continued success. We need to educate our work-force what are good and what are questionable practices. We need to start identifying practices that we don’t like and speak up on behalf of our members.
Do you think the IGDA’s dependence on studio sponsorships for money is a bad thing? In an ideal world it would be nice to have a lot more studios be affiliated with the IGDA and actually be affiliated system wide, not just a one or two locations. While it would be better if we weren’t dependent on the studios, at some point either they or the individual members or both have to support the organization. At the point where studios start threatening to withdraw their support, then we need to remember that our first loyalty is to our individual members. The studio memberships are just a way for the studios to provide company-paid memberships for their developers.
Thanks again for the chance to make a couple of corrections and answer your very well thought out questions.
Tags: igda
February 16th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Scott, thanks for the writeup.
I will try to answer your questions but first a couple of corrections:
Our first DS game was definitely after 2000. The DS wasn’t announced until late 2004 and released in 2005. Vegas Casino was released in 2006 or 2007. A second DS game Gravity Zero racing was completed last year and approved by Nintendo but held up in a dispute with the publisher. We also have 2 published iPhone apps, plus an additional free version of one.
I didn’t try to avoid the time commitment question. I feel it is up to the new board to create policies that al the board members agree to adhere to. I can promise to meet or exceed whatever commitments the new board agrees on.
Now to your questions:
Why run now? I am at a time in my career where I like to see young people get their break. I have enjoyed teaching and working with the IGDA Foundation and thought it was time to help even more.
Can you please elaborate on your role with the IGDA Foundation, and the period of time when it occurred? I have been on the foundation for the past year. I met with other board members in person at the last GDC and we are in touch via email and online polls as needed.
Can you tell us what JCS San Diego is, and how and when you were associated with it? Jewish Community Services of San Diego provides a variety of services through out San Diego County. The Board would oversee and approve new programs and help raise funds.
How would I accomplish my goals (especially in the Quality of Life Issues)? I think we need to education publishers that many current practices are actually counter-productive and work against their continued success. We need to educate our work-force what are good and what are questionable practices. We need to start identifying practices that we don’t like and speak up on behalf of our members.
Do you think the IGDA’s dependence on studio sponsorships for money is a bad thing? In an ideal world it would be nice to have a lot more studios be affiliated with the IGDA and actually be affiliated system wide, not just a one or two locations. While it would be better if we weren’t dependent on the studios, at some point either they or the individual members or both have to support the organization. At the point where studios start threatening to withdraw their support, then we need to remember that our first loyalty is to our individual members. The studio memberships are just a way for the studios to provide company-paid memberships for their developers.
Thanks again for the chance to make a couple of corrections and answer your very well thought out questions.
–Ed Magnin