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The computer game industry is a progressive and lucrative 21st century business. With the amount of computer games produced each year, one might assume that creating such games is easier compared to the manufacturing of other products. Well, there's more to it than meets the eye. Like all other industries, game designing follows its own set of strict guidelines. Excluding the specifics for each game genre, the general guidelines can be narrowed down to a 6-part process:

I. Concept

Every game begins with one main concept and as the game is further developed, this starting concept becomes its main selling point. For a game to be successful, the concept should embody both uniqueness and enjoyability. A good brainstorming session among the major heads of the video game company, its game designers, and the rest of the game production team can lead to an excellent game. Games like The Sims, Grand Theft Auto, Civilization, Final Fantasy, and Diablo became best-sellers because of the unique concepts which separates them from other generic games.

II. Mechanics

After deciding on a concept, game designers are tasked to outline the core mechanics of the game. Computer games may follow certain rules depending on what genre they belong to. These rules are gradually changing because the lines separating game genres are getting thinner and thinner as more games are developed each year. There was once a time when first-person shooters are just strictly action-based games with no focus on story development. Now, FPS games can be mixed with strategy, cooperative multiplayer options, and even RPG elements. In order to reach a broader audience, designers try to mix and match genre mechanics which tend to work together.

III. Audio-Visual

As computers become more and more sophisticated, the emphasis on sharper graphics and realistic sound effects becomes more prominent. Flat 2d visuals are set aside to give way to more detailed 3d polygons. Large amounts of money is spent on producing sounds which mimic real-life environments. Some companies even hire celebrities as voice actors to further raise the "glam" factor of the game (although in hindsight, there's no real difference between celebrity and regular voice actors). Will the audio-visual aspect become the number 1 factor in the creation of future games? Only time will tell.

IV. Program

Now it comes down to the nitty-gritty: hard coding. It's true that programmers contribute a large share on the game design pie. It's also a sad

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