Promaginy

Promaginy attended the Game Developers Conference under the wing of Complex Games. It was the first time that I attended the conference (March 9 to March 12) and came away richer for it.

Tutorials & Sessions I attended were:

Tuesday, March 9:

• Learn Better Game Writing in a Day by Evan Skolnick. Wow, a pretty intensive workshop. This guy really knows his stuff. It was six hours of monomyth theory and practice to help developers write good fiction for games. This was very relevant with continuing to develop the Tamaya Refuge.

Wednesday, March 10:

• The Relentless March Toward “Free”…And What it Means to the Video Game Industry by Playfish. The computer game industry has created a new business model with Social Games. For example, Social Games require constant updates (hundreds of game patches in the span of a couple of years) and data analysis (the rise of the Quants to analyze player data). The pricing model of free opens up some new possibilities for the game industry.
• Games as a Live Service: A 360-Degree Look at the Art and Science of Managing Social Games by Playdom. Another hour of really interesting and useful information. I particularly liked how they said that Developers should pay more attention to what users do, instead of what they say. Because social games track player behavior, it becomes critical to respond to player’s behavior when they use or don’t use a game’s feature.
• Mythbusting Fireside Chat and Next-Generation Social Games hosted by GameBreak were both wastes of my time. Having media people ask dumb questions about where the future of gaming is headed is just plain useless. If these people knew the future, they would already be out making those games already.
• One Year in the App Store: A Case Study of Backflip Studios by Julian Farrior. A very earnest presentation that showed the successes and failures of Backflip Studios. What was fascinating about Julian’s presentation was that almost 40% of the companies revenues come from advertising. Definitely will need to consider this for future iPhone games.
• How to Keep Your Game on Top of The Charts byIgor Pusenjak. This guy sure knows how to market his games. He shared lots of data and examples how he got his games to sell so well on the App store. A great presentation.
• From Zero to Time Magazine: App Success by David Whatley. This guy was a riot and very entertaining. I laughed out loud multiple times but also came away with a sense how he created his masterpiece games (great design and hiring a good PR company).

On Thursday & Friday I assisted Complex Games at the GDC Expo by helping drum up interest in its games. Complex profiled its “Bring Your Eh Game” which was a collection of silly and entertaining mini-games that exaggerate Canadian stereotypes. The game attracted lots of amusement and drew its share of attention. Complex also showed a promo video for Pirates Ahoy!, Wee Curl, Arena, Skipping Stones, Cyber Circuit, and Castle Smashers. Complex shared a kiosk with Red Reptile Studios which is going to be releasing a number of games in the coming year.

The importance of networking came through as Complex Games made some new connections and cemented some existing ones. The guys at Complex were a great crew to bunk with and the drinks and laughs were standard fare. Watching their dedication in getting the Bring Your Eh Game ready for the launch confirmed that investing in Complex has been a good move. These guys have the talent and dedication to succeed. I hope to return to the GDC with the Complex Games crew in 2011.

Chris