- When I'm playing games, I
become really immersed in them.
I kind of forget about what's around me,
which I have people who are like, "Reina,
"come back to reality."
My dream is to be a game developer,
but in order to get there, I
do need to expand my knowledge.
Usually when I play video games,
I like to take down
notes when I play them.
I'm teaching myself what
makes this so appealing
so I can do it in my
own game in the future.
To develop a game of my own
would be a really awesome opportunity.
(upbeat percussive music)
My name is Reina, and today
I'm going to Microsoft
to shadow a game designer.
(upbeat percussive music)
- Hi.
- Hi.
- Nice to meet you, I'm Reina.
- As you can probably tell,
we are in the Turn 10 lobby
for the title Forza Motorsport.
We'll give you some insight
into how we make games.
- Yeah, that sounds awesome.
- So actually, let's head in.
Welcome to Microsoft!
This is the floor where
all the devs that work
on Forza Motorsport,
and this is our racing rig.
(bright electronic music)
Next, I'm gonna show
you the nuts and bolts
of game-making and UX.
People think that a lot of
the game-building process
is coding, but there's also a lot of times
where you'll be meeting with
people and collaborating.
- I have this awesome friend named Kayla,
and together we enjoy
sketching out games concepts
and working on games together.
- It's really mapping
out character sketches.
We're gonna do the cult leader.
- Yeah, I could see him in
the sci-fi one for sure.
Who does the game go to?
Are there customers that
you go and you give it to
beforehand, like people
you have tested out or?
- Actually, as a UX designer,
that's a big part of my job.
We may want feedback on a
specific part of our game
or just feedback from a specific audience.
You would be the one, as a designer,
to say is this fun, are
they comprehending things,
but you would be the one dictating that
and what audience to recruit
to answer that question.
- I'm gonna try and do computer science
in college and stuff. What
would you say in order to get
into an environment like this one?
- One of the things that
people will look for
is passion for games.
A game designer can come from anywhere,
and you can use the equipment
that you have around you.
You just have to start somewhere.
- [Reina] I wanna start
gaming. I wanna start coding.
I wanna start doing all
the stuff that I wanna do.
- And it will be important
for you to find women
in gaming networks, Girls Who Code,
and then also, call me.
You can start making your own games
with just pen and paper and nothing else.
- Like title screen, I
guess customize character?
- [Kari] You could wireframe those out,
and then we could have
you present them back
to my friends, Ed and Erin.
- Kari was really, really cool.
I think as soon as I saw
her pink keyboard and mouse,
I automatically knew we were gonna click.
I learned that when creating games,
there's a lot of communication involved,
it's one big, collaborative effort.
There's multiple teams, and
you're all working together,
and honestly, that's
something I would wanna do.
- I look forward to
working for you one day.
(group laughs)
- She's hired.
- Hired, yeah.
- [Reina] So when do I start?
