I’ve learnt quite a few things over the past few days, not least that one should never promise to write a new blog every day, unless, perhaps, its your primary job. Other lessons include: Test, test, test – any demos, exports to DVD, and sound devices, weeks before you think it necessary; a sure-fire way of stopping a potential customer to pause is to offer coffee or booze at your stand – for free; the sure-fire way of getting opportunists pitching up for a freebie…. is to offer coffee or booze at your stand – for free.
Day Two:
We set up the booth in the morning, and various people stopped by to ask what we were offering, and some then offered us their own services. They were mostly recruiters, film/TV motion capture studios, and future developers. Our end of the hall was more sparse than the central area – that is, there were fewer occupied booths. The redeeming factor was that we were on the main walkway to the exit for the smoking area, and our TV caught the eye of anyone passing by.
One guy really grabbed our interest – Remke Rutte of “Battledate”, a game devised originally by 300 kids in Holland, picked up by an investor in Chicago. Have a look at the site. You’ll note instantly there is no mocap or performance capture involved here. But he was a genuinely interesting guy, and the idea itself, created by the age group that played it, was a breath of fresh air. As we chatted, it turned out that we had a common interest in behavioural psychology, and we started discussing a study relating the effect of TV to children’s ability to perceive dissemblance (email me if you want the ref.) I’m looking forward to seeing what happens to this game and wish it all the best.
Later on a young woman appeared at the booth, and said “Hi”, like we’d already met, and I should be remembering our last conversation. I couldn’t place her, but she looked familiar, so we chatted, and then she paused to apologise, and then say she wasn’t used to just walking up to strangers. If anywhere is designed to break down that particular social barrier, its a trade fair, so when she answered that she didn’t have a booth, and was there because of twitter, the penny dropped. A bit.
It turned out she knew my work, had followed this blog, and was aware of our search for demo volunteers. She told me her name, and (flattered as I was) still… nothing. It was only when after she left, I looked at her card, and compared the familiar face with my twitter follows. Then the penny fully dropped – it was someone who’d helped me out a couple of times – and I follow – all via twitter. Luckily she was there for the next couple of days, and it turned out she was in the same business as James. She even volunteered to take part in one of the demos. Many many thanks – you know who you are.
Prakash from Rebellion’s “Ant” popped around for a second time, and I showed him a little of the guts of the library, and how I could source almost any expression or reaction he wanted. I have no idea what he is working on, but he’s a nice guy I’ll be happy to keep in touch with.
My twitter friend also dropped games tm into our booth, because of an article she’d spotted on Natural Motion. Now, I was bowled over by the claims they make, and it brings home to me how fast things can develop in this industry. I’m not afraid of the library suddenly losing its place; it has a variety of applications, and uses, and the high end of marker-less capture will remain financially out of reach to the majority of developers for a while yet. Besides, MiM has convergence at its heart and will move as the industry does. But it highlighted something James and I have discussed on a number of occasions, and became a subject we kept returning to over that evening. Incidentally, as we left, we passed a booth that hadn’t been occupied since we arrived, and that morning the company’s name meant little to us; just another capture company. “Natural Motion” had hired a booth next to ours – and were a no-show. Perhaps they have no need!
DAY 3
So it started like this, walking around Halls 4 and 5…
James: “All these games, so many, how do they compete?”
Me: “If you’ve got money then probably by hiring girls in mini-skirts to hang around your huge enclosed exhibition and play your game.” (said as I innocently smile at a girl who’s smiling at me, and ending up with a flier in my hand…)
James: I mean what’s their point of difference.
Me: (grumbling about feeling so used 
)
The Gamescom business areas cover a wide range of trades. Developers first, followed by online payment companies, and new technology and business solutions a close third. The new technologies revolve around 3D, kinnect-style interface, and marker-less capture, or live cam capture. More on a couple of these another time..
Film moved from silent to sound, and silent movie companies went bust. The transition to colour seems to have been better anticipated, but it was the advent of digital that has truly democratised 2d film-making. There’s the big Hollywood, and Bollywood grossers, and small independents, and everything in between.
So, if you don’t have money to buy access, and distribution, together with a PR campaign budget that a presidential candidate would die for, then what do you have? Content. Sure, you can argue there are 7 basic plots, but its the manner of the telling, matched to the needs of the times, or the even more general human needs that can leave their mark. We carry that book, that film, that play, with us – sometimes all our lives. Games should one day be automatically included in this list, by the majority – rather than one side of a gamer/non-gamer division.
Game content includes gameplay, graphics, design, and sound. It also often includes character, narrative, and direction. You can have the best graphics in the world, but without the other aspects, a game with cartoon-style animated characters can still beat you.
Dramatic content is something that can enhance a wide range of games. It could mean a range of looks between competitors before the flag in a racing game (what if they varied according to who won last time? Has that been done?). It could mean improved cut scenes, eradication of the character’s single expression “game-play face”. Such “detail” may be overlooked besides the visual and gameplay fireworks. But these details can enhance the gaming experience in many situations. For those of reading this thinking a racing game (for example) doesn’t need any human dramatic content, I agree that in some instances there is an argument for making it optional. But to dismiss it as a possible point of difference, I believe, is foolhardy.
This was something that seemed to be appreciated by the majority of developers we approached. However, persuading them that their in-house animators/writers (for example) might not have the experience, and range that professionals who cross media have, was sometimes the next debate.
That said, it is encouraging that the debate is rarely over the value of dramatic narrative (be it visual, or character/human), but instead it’s over who can claim to have an appropriate skill-set to bring it to the next level.
We also met up with another Twitter contact, a journalist I also spent a little time with at Develop Brighton. She described how, on returning to her room at silly o’clock, she still turned in her day’s article on time for the morning edition of her online magazine. Better than me (Gungadin).
The LAST DAY
As soon as we got in, I had a brief chat with the developers of The Witcher 2, now that their booth was a little less busy. They had been doing hourly presentations, with the offer of a free beer – which on a saturday morning, on the last day, had finally lost some of its allure. Although, by 11am, some fresh devotees were lining up.
It was close-down day, and James and I spent a bit of time talking to some guys from NCSOFT, and there grew another debate about points of difference in MMO’s (I’m keeping that one to myself). Finally, we sat down and went through the 20 or so cards we’d been given, and discarded a few, knowing that some of ours would be found alongside them when the trash came to be collected.
And there it is. Our first conference, and one hell of a learning curve. We’re now setting our sights for the next one (San Fran?), and devising our next strategy.
Thanks to all of you who sent supporting tweets and emails. It was heartening to know there’s a small community of like-minded gamers and narrative lovers out there, who believe in a convergent future.
We’ll have more news coming up soon, so we’ll keep you posted.
PL
Posted: August 22, 2010 at 8:24 pm
