Game Development Essentials

Jeannie Novak is the lead author and series editor of the widely acclaimed GAME DEVELOPMENT ESSENTIALS series (with over 15 published titles), co-author of PLAY THE GAME: THE PARENT'S GUIDE TO VIDEO GAMES, and co-author of three pioneering books on the interactive entertainment industry--including CREATING INTERNET ENTERTAINMENT. She is also co-founder of Novy Unlimited and CEO of Kaleidospace, LLC (dbaIndiespace), providing curriculum development and consulting services for corporations, educators, and creative professionals in games, music, film, education, and technology.Novak served as director of the Game Art & Design and Media Arts & Animation programs at the Art Institute Online and has taught game courses at UCLA, Art Center College of Design, DeVry University, Westwood College, ITT Technical Institute, and the Academy of Entertainment & Technology at Santa Monica College. She holds a B.A. in mass communication/business administration from UCLA and an M.A. in communication management from the Annenberg School at USC. She also serves on the Online Gameplay Committee for the Academy of Interactive Arts &Sciences and has served on the executive boards of the International Game Developers Association (Los Angeles) and Women in Games International. An accomplished composer and performer, Novak was chosen as one of the 100 most influential people in technology by MicroTimesmagazine and has been profiled by CNN, Billboard Magazine, the Sundance Channel, Daily Variety, and the Los Angeles Times. John Hight is the Director of Production, External Development for Sony Computer Entertainment of America. In 1991, John built his first game, Battleship, for the Philips CDi player. Since that time he has worked on over 30 games and nine educational products on various platforms. He's been fortunate to serve many different development roles: programmer, artist, designer, writer, producer, and studio executive. John oversees external production for Sony in Santa Monica, where his team has produced BlastFactor (one of the first downloadable games on Sony's Network Platform) and flow (the first indie game published on PlayStation 3). While Executive Producer at Atari, John brought Wizards of the Coast, BioWare, and Obsidian together to develop Neverwinter Nights 2. In his role as Executive Producer and Director of Design for Electronic Arts, John led the design and creative production of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, Yuri's Revenge, and Nox. John holds a BSE in Computer Science from the University of New Mexico and an MBA from USC's Marshall School of Business.