Chia Wei Jie
MYGOZONE, Video Game Designer, 2009
Diploma in Games Art
Having great ideas is essential but developing the skills needed for designing is far more important. What is the use if you have mind blowing ideas for games, but don’t have the ability to turn them into reality?
31 July 2009
Official Website
Meet the Wonderboy of Games
Written by By Christine Chan
While others are playing games, twenty-one year old Chia Wei Jie is making them. Christine Chan speaks to this Limkokwing University alumnus as he tells us about how Limkokwing University helped to make his dream of making games come true.
“I am really grateful to my wonderful lecturer, Mr. Peter, for giving me an abundance of knowledge and endless encouragement,” said Chia Wei Jie, video game designer and Limkokwing University of Creative Technology alumnus.
It is a well known fact that Limkokwing University graduates are well sought after as they are trained for the industry throughout their entire course of learning.
“Not only does Limkokwing University have quality lecturers and offers a good education, but the university’s many students from all over the world helped me to improve my English proficiency,” added the Negri Sembilan native, whose first language had been Mandarin all his life.
Chia Wei Jie, who graduated from Limkokwing University with a Diploma in Game Design in 2007, believes that owes his current position as a game designer to his alma mater. Immediately after graduating, Wei Jie was snapped up by MYGOZONE, a local game company that specializes in game design.
“The university recommended me to the company and I was accepted in no time. It is a well known fact that Limkokwing University graduates are well sought after as they are trained for the industry throughout their entire course of learning.”
As a game designer in MYGOZONE, Wei Jie’s job scope covers designing games as complex as MMORPGs (an acronym for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games), game balancing – which involves balancing the power or statistics of two in-game characters so one does not overpower another – and creating flash and mini games.
Among the most popular games created by MYGOZONE are SMS TV games broadcasted on ASTRO’s Channel 109. “It’s fun and interactive because you can play the games shown on the television screen and participate through text messages from your cell phone,” explained Wei Jie.
Some of the games that have appeared on television created by MYGOZONE have been Tank Attack 3D, Moo Moo Saviour, War Zone and Fly and Pick.
Describing himself as fun and filled with creative ‘crazy ideas’ as well as a good sense of design, Wei Jie hopes to secure his future in global game designing companies such as Square Enix, the creators of the Final Fantasy series or Namco Bandai. In fact, working for these companies would be a dream coming true for Wei Jie, as he is an avid fan of all forms of role playing or online games, including the Final Fantasy or Tales series, Last Chaos, Maple Story, DOTA, Metal Gear Solid, Cabal Online and many more titles.
“When you want to design a game, you need to be in love with gaming first. After that, you need to acquire the needed skills to match your imagination or ideas,” Wei Jie said, when asked for his advice for those interested in joining the game designing line.
“Having great ideas is essential but developing the skills needed for designing is far more important. What is the use if you have mind blowing ideas for games, but don’t have the ability to turn them into reality?”
Wei Jie is also very grateful to his mother, who, instead of banning him from video games as most parents would, encouraged him in his interest by turning his home into a playground whereby he could immerse himself in video games. Ever since he was in kindergarten, Wei Jie has been familiarizing himself with the many games available on his game console, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).
The result of all that indulgence is I now know every in-and-out of games and gaming. When I play a game and find something I don’t like about it, or even simply lacking the ideal aspects of an interesting game, I will find ideas on how to make a game better,
As he moved on to his secondary school years, his mother further encouraged him by presenting him with various models of the Playstation. He now carries a Playstation Portable wherever he goes!
“The result of all that indulgence is I now know every in-and-out of games and gaming. When I play a game and find something I don’t like about it, or even simply lacking the ideal aspects of an interesting game, I will find ideas on how to make a game better,” he said.
“It’s very fulfilling when players enjoy playing with your creation. The feedback you get from having a huge number of players usually signifies how great your game is,” he said.
Game design is not Wei Jie’s only passion. He also loves to make Gunpla, or Gundam Plastic Kits produced by Bandai, which are plastic pieces of more than 600 parts that are to be assembled and molded into a large 1/60 scale figurine.
Wei Jie is highly thankful to both of his parents who have been supportive of him all the way. “Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to make it this far,” he said.
“The greatest gift they gave to me was in giving me the opportunity to enroll into Limkokwing University,” he said, explaining that he learned about the university through an expo at his secondary school in Negri Sembilan.
Wei Jie aspires to create his very own online game and is now currently working on MYGOZONE’s first MMORPG. “Learning is a life long process, and I’m currently trying to garner as much knowledge as I can so that I can excel in the industry,” said Wei Jie.
