Thursday, February 28, 2008
Press and GDC
I really hope CMP makes GDC invite-only for press. In years past I would have said "No!" because frankly, a lot of my friends got in on bogus press passes, but in the last year or two CMP has curtailed that.
While I have a lot of friends who are press, most of them work for big enough media outlets that they'll probably still be coming to the show. And frankly, anything to curtail the number of attendees is a good thing, although this is obviously CMP kowtowing to the bottom line (press doesn't pay to get in). If they implement this, I hope it makes next year's GDC considerably geekier and more developer-focused. That would be a good thing.
While I have a lot of friends who are press, most of them work for big enough media outlets that they'll probably still be coming to the show. And frankly, anything to curtail the number of attendees is a good thing, although this is obviously CMP kowtowing to the bottom line (press doesn't pay to get in). If they implement this, I hope it makes next year's GDC considerably geekier and more developer-focused. That would be a good thing.
Labels: conferences, press
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Quick Update
GDC was crazy, as usual. I was sick for the first three days: my apologies to anyone I encountered who thought I was less than enthusiastic. I'm still traveling right now. I've been on-site with a client for a few days and tonight I fly to Saskatoon to speak at SaskInteractive. So no updates for a little while, although I might have some free time while I'm in Canada to at least respond to post-GDC emails!
Labels: travel
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Two Great Tastes...
Rock Paper Shotgun + Robin Hunicke = one of my favorite blogs + one of my favorite people.
It's also kinda interesting to watch people argue over MDA definitions in the comments. I've been through two separate two-day workshops and one four-day Indie Game Jam based on all that stuff, so MDA has always seemed really intuitive to me, but it's cool to see other people working it out for themselves.
It's also kinda interesting to watch people argue over MDA definitions in the comments. I've been through two separate two-day workshops and one four-day Indie Game Jam based on all that stuff, so MDA has always seemed really intuitive to me, but it's cool to see other people working it out for themselves.
GDC Swag: Don't Do It
Jeff just posted some good advice, something that I've been saying for years (and saying to Jeff for years, I might add): he says you shouldn't bother with swag at GDC.
The only time I ever sought out swag on purpose was for someone I had just met who really wanted the swag from a particular booth, but was stuck at his booth working. I went and got it for him and we became friends. That's it.
The only time I ever sought out swag on purpose was for someone I had just met who really wanted the swag from a particular booth, but was stuck at his booth working. I went and got it for him and we became friends. That's it.
Labels: conferences, gdc
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Funny.
This is too funny not to share. Chris Melissinos noticed a similarity between a dental camera and the Atari Jaguar. To the point where it's pretty clear they actually used the same production mold!
Labels: humor
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Gameplay Metrics Talk @ SaskInteractive, 2/28-29 -Past-
I'm going to be giving a talk on gameplay metrics in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan at the Saskatchewan Interactive Summit 2008. It's going to be cold, but I'm looking forward to the trip and meeting all the folks there! The precise day and time of my talk have not been announced yet. Nor has the precise content. But it'll be about metrics!
Labels: conferences, metrics, speaking
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Reactions to a GDC Survival Guide
James Portnow just posted an article on GameCareerGuide about what to do at GDC if you're a student. The advice is mostly great, although I disagree strongly on a few points.
He says not to attend any lectures. And he predicts that he will be flamed for it. I'm about to flame him, but for a totally different reason than he was probably expecting. As I've said before, lectures are not a terribly good networking opportunity. I don't think you should really be attending for the content so much as the rhetoric. What do I mean by this? When you attend a talk about, I dunno, real-time lighting or agile development or whatever, you should not just about those topics: you should learn how to talk about those topics! You learn the language, the lingo, the attitudes. For example, at that agile development talk, it's less important to learn how they do agile at Studio X and more important to learn that at a lot of game companies, people play fast and loose with the agile rules and tend to view big-A Agile people as stuffy. This will help you blend in with professional game developers. It's one of the reasons that pro devs had a hard time believing I was a student back in my student days. I would literally take notes on prevalent attitudes and trends.
He says to spend a day at the Career Pavilion. I agree, but only if you're looking for a job. If you're smart, you're attending GDC not 4 months before graduation, but a number of years before graduation. Starting early is key. If you're not looking for a job immediately, spend an hour or three browsing the Career Pavilion and picking up handouts with job descriptions, chatting with reps, but don't waste your whole damn day there. The interesting people are probably out in the halls.
He also says to avoid talking to other students. This I think is a hugely bad piece of advice. Many of my closest game industry friends are people I befriended at GDC when we were both students. My lead programmer is someone I met at GDC when we were both students. What people don't realize is that students who attend GDC are generally of a higher caliber than students in general, and that those students are probably going to be in the industry soon, even if you aren't. As I've said before: your fellow n00bs are important. Especially at GDC. Obviously if you have a choice of having lunch with a student and lunch with a developer, you should go with the latter. Your student friend will understand. On the other hand, that's often a false dichotomy: why not invite the student friend along for lunch? Now you spend time with a developer and there's another student out there who thinks you are awesome.
He says not to attend any lectures. And he predicts that he will be flamed for it. I'm about to flame him, but for a totally different reason than he was probably expecting. As I've said before, lectures are not a terribly good networking opportunity. I don't think you should really be attending for the content so much as the rhetoric. What do I mean by this? When you attend a talk about, I dunno, real-time lighting or agile development or whatever, you should not just about those topics: you should learn how to talk about those topics! You learn the language, the lingo, the attitudes. For example, at that agile development talk, it's less important to learn how they do agile at Studio X and more important to learn that at a lot of game companies, people play fast and loose with the agile rules and tend to view big-A Agile people as stuffy. This will help you blend in with professional game developers. It's one of the reasons that pro devs had a hard time believing I was a student back in my student days. I would literally take notes on prevalent attitudes and trends.
He says to spend a day at the Career Pavilion. I agree, but only if you're looking for a job. If you're smart, you're attending GDC not 4 months before graduation, but a number of years before graduation. Starting early is key. If you're not looking for a job immediately, spend an hour or three browsing the Career Pavilion and picking up handouts with job descriptions, chatting with reps, but don't waste your whole damn day there. The interesting people are probably out in the halls.
He also says to avoid talking to other students. This I think is a hugely bad piece of advice. Many of my closest game industry friends are people I befriended at GDC when we were both students. My lead programmer is someone I met at GDC when we were both students. What people don't realize is that students who attend GDC are generally of a higher caliber than students in general, and that those students are probably going to be in the industry soon, even if you aren't. As I've said before: your fellow n00bs are important. Especially at GDC. Obviously if you have a choice of having lunch with a student and lunch with a developer, you should go with the latter. Your student friend will understand. On the other hand, that's often a false dichotomy: why not invite the student friend along for lunch? Now you spend time with a developer and there's another student out there who thinks you are awesome.
Labels: breakingin, conferences, gdc, networking, students
Monday, February 04, 2008
Musicals Have It Hard, Too
So on the way home from work I was listening to BBC World Service (gotta love XM), and there was a piece on about an Anne Frank musical opening in Spain. It's causing some controversy, mostly because people perceive musicals as light entertainment, and that "a format meant to entertain is unacceptable and will stray from the brutal truth." Sound familiar?
The whole thing seems ludicrous to me: a musical is pretty much theatre, dance, and music all put together. There are plays about the Holocaust, and nobody would argue that a play can't have deep dramatic significance. There have been ballets about the Holocaust. There has been plenty of music written about the Holocaust, too. Each one of these art forms can be somber and reflective and thoughtful and respectful. And yet when they add up to make "musical," people balk.
Sometimes I'm reminded that other mediums have these problems, too. And while Google tells me that there has been no serious attempt at an Anne Frank game, I get the feeling that if someone tried to make one, there'd be a hell of a lot more controversy than this musical is getting.
The whole thing seems ludicrous to me: a musical is pretty much theatre, dance, and music all put together. There are plays about the Holocaust, and nobody would argue that a play can't have deep dramatic significance. There have been ballets about the Holocaust. There has been plenty of music written about the Holocaust, too. Each one of these art forms can be somber and reflective and thoughtful and respectful. And yet when they add up to make "musical," people balk.
Sometimes I'm reminded that other mediums have these problems, too. And while Google tells me that there has been no serious attempt at an Anne Frank game, I get the feeling that if someone tried to make one, there'd be a hell of a lot more controversy than this musical is getting.
Friday, February 01, 2008
"Navigating Corporate Culture" @ GDC, 5:30pm 2/21 -Past-
And so my GDC talk this year, "Navigating Corporate Culture," has been officially added to the schedule. It's at 5:30pm on Thursday 2/21, and the weird time is due to the fact that it's an introduction to a networking session hosted by the Game Career Seminar. How about that? For once, my networking talk isn't the last talk on the last day of the show!
Labels: conferences, corporate, gdc, networking, speaking
