The handheld video game market has been booming since the launch of the Nintendo DS and Playstation Portable. As a Game Artist 2 at Aspyr Media, Inc, Full Sail Game Development graduate Eric Dogget has spent the past four years helping push the limits of what these pocket-sized systems are able to offer.

“They’ve really made gaming more accessible for a wider audience,” Eric says about the format. “You have a lot of kids' games, as well as stuff for the classic gamers like me, but then also you have something like our title futureU, where you can actually use them for education. So the market is just wide open for handhelds.”

As a Game Artist 2 Eric works with the company’s Art Director to create solutions for providing sharp-looking visuals on these tiny handheld screens. This means optimizing the way in which they model, texture, and rig characters in 3D to stay within the memory limitations of the systems – whose processors offer much less horsepower than home consoles like the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

“People assume that it’s simple but it’s not,” he explains. “You’re put under a lot of constraints when you’re working on a handheld title. You have to build a character out of only 200 polygons, which is not a lot to work with. And consumers still expect high quality, so you have to figure out how to deliver that.

“Since my specialty is engine work, I’m all about advancing what you can do within the restraints. Just tweaking [a game engine] and really figuring out how to push those extra polygons and get the quality in there. I have enough knowledge of programming and design and art to pull it all together, figure out where the problem is, and fix it. For me, that’s been the most rewarding part of my job.”

Having previously worked on games for a variety of other platforms while at Aspyr – including Stubbs the Zombie for the Xbox, as well as the recently released Guitar Hero: World Tour for the PC – the speed of production on handheld titles has made the format his favorite since getting into the industry.

This has only been highlighted by his recent work for the iPhone (on titles like Buggled and VooDude), where the platform’s unique operating system has allowed the team to cut the production time of a game by an astounding margin.

“We just recently released three iPhone games,” he begins. “Those had about a month development cycle each because it was our first time doing them for the format, but we’re getting much quicker. We’re actually trying to get down to a week-long development cycle. We’ll have one programmer, one artist, and just get it out there to consumers right away. And I actually much prefer that quick turnaround because it keeps things interesting and you don’t get bogged down.”

Working at Aspyr Media has made Eric proud to be able to help innovate the way people enjoy gaming outside their home. Looking back on how far he’s come since his days as just a gamer himself, Eric knows he’s been fortunate to pursue a career in the field where he’s able to blend his talent and passion.

“It’s always been my goal, even since a young age,” he shares. “I was always drawing and doodling, and I remember a teacher of mine telling me I’d get nowhere doing art for video games. And I actually called that teacher last year and told them I was making a great living doing just that!

“I can go into a game store and pick out eight or nine titles that I’ve worked on, and you sort of feel like a movie star for gamers. So whatever you do, don’t give up, keep on working on your demo reel, keep on making contacts, and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t get a job in games.”