TOM SLOPER
12420 Woodgreen Street, #208, Los Angeles CA 90066
310.344.7873
sloper@usc.edu
SUMMARY OF PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Experienced game producer/designer on a wide variety of platforms and genres.
Shipped scores of finished products, from both the publisher side and the developer side.
Negotiated license agreements in both directions; maintained licensee/licensor relations.
Wrote game design documents, budgets, schedules, ROI's/P&L's, BOM's.
Managed external development, domestically and internationally. Managed internal teams.
PROFESSIONAL CREDITS (selected highlights)
Alien vs. Predator - produced with Japanese developers; liaison with 20th Century Fox
(Activision).
Blast Chamber - produced with British developer; liaison with Japan (Activision).
Die Hard - produced with Japanese developer; liaison with 20th Century Fox (Activision).
Ghostbusters I & II - produced with Japanese & domestic developers; liaison with Columbia
Pictures (Activision).
IPTV Chess - produced with domestic developer; cross-platform playable against PC &
Mobile (Yahoo).
Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 - produced internally; coordinated with external designer
Steve Meretzky (Activision/Infocom).
Mechwarrior - produced with Australian developer; liaison with FASA & Japan (Activision).
Shanghai: Dynasty / Shanghai: Second Dynasty - designed and produced with domestic
& Russian developers; liaison with Japan (Activision).
Shanghai: Great Moments - designed and produced with numerous game and film industry
service providers. Design was used by Japanese licensees to create console game Shanghai:
Triple Threat. (Activision)
Star Trek: D•A•C - served as developer-side producer. Casual/action game for XBLA.
(Naked Sky Entertainment)
Top Gun - produced with European developer; liaison with Paramount and CBS (Mastiff
Games, San Francisco/Tokyo).
Full product list: http://www.sloperama.com/business/prodlist.htm
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Family PC "Recommended" Seal 1996, "Shanghai: Great Moments," Family PC
Magazine.
Year's Best Classic Game 2000, "Shanghai Second Dynasty," Computer Games Magazine.
Best Super NES Puzzle Game 1992, "Shanghai II Dragon's Eye," Game Players Magazine.
Best Simulation Game 1993, "Mechwarrior" Super NES, Game Informer Magazine.
Best Multi Player Game 1996, "Blast Chamber" Playstation, Videogame Advisor
Magazine.
Achievement Award 2003, Classic Gaming Expo.
Contribution Award 2007, World Mahjong Organization.
TOM SLOPER
310.344.7873
Resume, continued
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
University of Southern California
Instructor
ITP391, "Designing and Producing Video Games," 2006-present
ITP230, "Video Game Quality Assurance," 2008-present
ITP499, "Game Startups Workshop," 2011
ITP499, "Audio for Video Games" - curriculum development, 2012
Faculty Advisor, USC eSports (Student organization), 2010-present
Academy of Game Entertainment Technology (Hollywood, CA)
Created syllabus for, and taught, full course in "Game Design"
Created syllabus for, and taught, full course in "Producing Video Games"
2006-present
2003-2004
California State University, Dominguez Hills
2003-2004
Created syllabus for, and taught, "Game Design" - a weekly series of evening lectures
under CSUDH Extended Education department. Students who took the entire series
earned a certificate. Several students later contacted me and have gone on to careers in
the industry.
Learning Annex (Santa Monica and San Diego)
Offered short sessions in "Game Design" and "Mah-Jongg"
2
2001-2002
TOM SLOPER
310.344.7873
Resume, continued
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Sloperama Productions
2001-present
Consultant, Producer, Designer
Consulting for developers and publishers on production, design, submissions, and
business matters. Consulting clients included:
Naked Sky Entertainment
2007-present
Produced "Star Trek: D•A•C" for Xbox Live Arcade, and the multiplayer portion of
"Destroy All Humans 3" for Xbox 360. Created budgets, schedules, bids. Advised on
business growth strategy, performed HR duties.
Dynasty Gaming
2006
Consulted on user interface design aspects of their online game; advised on live
tournaments and potential television project; represented company to potential
partner organization in China.
Yahoo!
2005-2006
Produced five casual games for IPTV for AT&T Yahoo: "Chess" (multiplayer crossplatform), "Sudoku," "Solitaire," "Mah-Jongg Tiles," "JT's Blocks." Hired developers;
created design specs and test cases; shepherded games through Yahoo's and AT&T's
release processes.
Mastiff, LLC
2005
Produced "Top Gun" for Nintendo DS. Guided European developer in polishing
design document; hired and directed musical talent; created voice audio;
coordinated manual and packaging with external marketing firm; secured approvals
from Paramount and music licensor; coordinated game's release through external
QA and Nintendo.
Sennari Games
2003, 2004
Design consultation for "PowerPuff Girls" for GameCube; created concepts for
mobile phone games.
Other clients during this period include, but are not limited to:
AtGames (business & design consultation, 2003)
Blackout Studios (business consultation, 2010)
Flying Fishworks (business consultation, 2005)
Global Star Software (design consultation, 2007)
Jailed Games (design consultation, 2003)
Pantera Entertainment (design consultation, 2008)
Ramel IT (design consultation, 2010)
Quinn Emanuel (legal consultation, 2004)
Sincere Image (business consultation, 2004)
3
Bonus Mobile (design consultation, 2004)
Four Winds, Inc. (localization writer, 2003)
Goodsol Development (graphic artist, 2002)
Phyware, LLC (business consultation, 2004)
Lotus Studios (design consultation, 2011)
QuePasa Games (design consultation, 2011)
RompMedia (business consultation, 2006)
TikGames (design consultation, 2004)
TOM SLOPER
310.344.7873
Resume, continued
Activision, Inc.
1988-2000
Creative Director (2000)
Executive Producer (1999)
Senior Producer (1992-1999)
Production Manager (1990, Japan)
Producer (1988-1992)
 Produced 36 unique game titles and innumerable ports/localizations.
 Designed 6 games.
 Significant participation in an additional 53 game projects (multiple platforms,
OEM, licenses, and international versions).
 Aided in the acquisitions of games from Japan, and licensing of games into Japan.
 Brand-managed the Shanghai series across international and domestic licenses.
 Mentored and trained junior producers, guiding their career growth.
Atari Corporation
1986-1987
Director of Product Development
Produced 20 games for the Atari 2600 and 7800 games systems. Created a developers'
manual. Participated in licensing of game properties.
Rudell Design
1985-1986
Senior Project Engineer
Created working prototypes and mechanical drawings of game and toy concepts.
Participated in the development of board games.
Freelance Toy/Game Designer, Los Angeles, California
1985, 1986
Designed an original board game based on The People’s Court television series for Hoyle
Products. Made mechanical designs for Rudell Design, Universal Innovations Inc., and
McT Inc.
Sega Enterprises, Inc.
1984
Game Designer
Coordinated with external game developers in the conversion of arcade games (Tapper,
Up 'N Down) for home entertainment systems.
Datascan, Inc., Santa Monica, California
1983
Game Designer/Programmer
Programmed two original computer games in Z80 Assembly language. Assisted in the
development of 3D games for the Vectrex game system.
Western Technologies & Smith Engineering, Santa Monica, California 1979-1983
Design Director (1982-1983)
Designer (1979-1981)
Designed numerous games for various home entertainment systems, especially Vectrex
and Atari 2600. Pioneered games for watches and calculators (designed liquid crystal
displays and games).
4
TOM SLOPER
310.344.7873
Resume, continued
PUBLISHED WORKS
Books










Game Design Perspectives. Larramee, Charles River Media, ISBN 1-58450-090-5
(2002). Two chapters.
Secrets of the Game Business. Larramee, Charles River Media, ISBN 1-58450-282-7.0
(2003). Two chapters.
Introduction to Game Development. Rabin, Charles River Media, ISBN 1-58450-3777 (2005). Chapter on Production.
Serious Games: Games That Educate, Train, and Inform. Michael and Chen,
Course Tech. PTR, ISBN 1-59200-6221 (2005). Foreword.
The Game Production Handbook. Chandler, Charles River Media. ISBN 1-58450-4161 (2006). Foreword.
Game Design Workshop. Fullerton, CMP Books, ISBN 1-57820-222-1 (2004). Sidebar.
Game Development Essentials. Novak, Delmar Cengage Learning, ISBN-13: 978-1-11130765, ISBN-10: 1-111-30765-2 (Third Edition, 2012). Sidebar and a quote.
On the Way to Fun. Dillon, A K Peters, Ltd., ISBN 978-1-56881-582-4 (2010). Back
cover quote.
Mah Jong, Anyone? Tuttle Publishing, ISBN-13: 978-0-8048-3761-3 (2006). Chapter on
strategy, with co-author credit.
The Red Dragon & The West Wind, Harper Collins, ISBN 978-0-06-123394-4 (2007).
Author.
Columns, Articles






The Games Game, monthly game career advice column on IGDA.org (2003-present)
Sloper On Mah-Jongg, mah-jongg column on Sloperama.com (2003-present)
"Freedom Through Constraints" -- Java Developers Journal (Sept. 2001)
"Financial Aspects of Game Development" -- idevgames.com (2001)
"How To Sell Your Idea For A Video Game" -- DiscoverGames.com (2002)
"Am I In The Wrong Degree Program?" -- GameDev.net (2008)
Interviews




Game Industry Career Guide. Moore and Novak, Delmar Cengage Learning, ISBN-13:
978-1-4283-7647-2, ISBN-10: 1-4283-7647-X (2010). Multiple quotes.
Arcade Mania! The Turbo-charged World of Japan's Game Centers. Ashcraft
and Snow, Kodansha USA, ISBN-10: 4770030789, ISBN-13: 978-4770030788 (2009).
Multiple quotes.
www.khgames.co.kr - Interviewed about the Korea Games Conference and the Korean
game industry (February, 2012)
Additional interviews available upon request
5
TOM SLOPER
310.344.7873
Resume, continued
PRESENTATIONS
Game Developers Conference, 1989, 2003, 09
Korea Games Conference, 2003,4,5,6,7,11
Serious Games Summit, 2006
SIGGRAPH, 2005
Classic Gaming Expo, 1999, 2000, 2002
Game Initiative, Los Angeles, 2003
Smithsonian Institution, 2002
Montreal Game Summit, 2004
Game Career Seminar, E For All, 2007
Idea Resource Systems, 2005
Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena CA, 2002-4
MY GAME PHILOSOPHY
Great games needn't be complicated or feature-packed. Every game has a core gameplay
element, and that's where the focus must always reside. Great games shouldn't have to rely on
controversy to sell. Addictive gameplay and attention to quality always prevail.
What I do...
Project management: I believe in planning thoroughly yet flexibly from the outset. Working
backwards from the drop-dead release date, the Golden Spike beta date can be determined.
Nobody makes up schedule delays during QA (as I wrote in Introduction to Game
Development; Charles River Media, ISBN-10: 1584503777; ISBN-13: 978-1584503774). It's all
about establishing a solid methodology from the outset, and reacting swiftly whenever red flags
appear. And my extensive contact base is useful in finding resources when needed.
Communication: The producer or project manager is the focal point for all communications
during the project. My job is to let everybody know what's going on and what to expect as the
project progresses. All the way from the development team on up to the executives, from
marketing to operations, from QA to the licensor and platform holder. The full spectrum of
concerned parties has to be fully informed at all times, and that's my job.
Training/mentoring producers: My experience is long and varied. I've seen it from
numerous sides, and I have much to share with up-and-coming producers. I enjoy teaching
Video Game Quality Assurance and Designing and Producing Video Games at USC, and one
of the greatest joys of producing is to help the younger producers grow... so they can replace me
someday.
Game design: As a producer (project manager) it isn't my job to mandate or dictate as
regards to the game's design. And I may not be a fan of every game genre, either. But I don't
need to be. And regardless, I always have something to offer, whenever design problems get in
the way of getting the game done, and making it as fun as it can be.
6
TOM SLOPER
310.915.9945
PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES
Cynthia Woll, Creative Ninja Productions
Santa Monica, CA (310) 562-8451
Bill Black, Audio Engineer - http://www.BillBlackOnline.com
Los Angeles, CA (213) 215-0453
Jim Charne, Game Attorney - http://CharneLaw.com
Santa Monica, CA (310) 458-9345
7
Resume, continued