[gameprogrammer] Re: Austin Game Developers Conference Day 1, Thoughts?

On Thu, 2004-09-09 at 17:47, brianevans wrote:
> Anyone else sign up for this?  Any opinions so far?

I went last year. Decided not to go this year. The only talk I remember
out of all of last year is Lord British's talk. The rest was pretty much
a waste. I agree, the panel format doesn't work.

> 
> I'll probably write more on it later, after I collect my thoughts, but just 
> off the top:  Lord British's IP talk was quite good... but essentially the 
> same as last year's.  Since I missed it last year, it was good to 
> catch.  Its very interesting to see how his design process works in his 
> head.  A bit disappointed in the tech panels: DB challenges in multiplayer 
> online games and multiplayer online games dev practices, though the 
> database session was more informative. 

They had this last year. Nothing in there that is new. You have to treat
the database like what it is, a large enterprise class database. This is
surprising to a lot of people. 

>  Guys, the panel format just doesn't 
> work for technical issues... its just too discombobulated on the 
> whole.  

Yep.

> And the dev practices session was very familiar territory (what, 
> specs are good?  no way... ) 

Specs are good. Yes. Design is good. Yes. Managers who understand design
and specs, priceless! And almost unheard of.

> so we bounced over to the Console track room 
> where George "Fat Man" Sanger gave an inspired speech on taking risks, 
> bravery, courage and originality.  Probably the best speech I've heard in 
> this conference so far.

I think I first heard that speech about 10 years ago. The Fat Man, is a
great guy. It is always worth hearing him speek.

>   Not the most educational, but definitely the most 
> passionate.  Then he played some of his stuff that was rejected for the 
> mech game Cyberstrike and man.  It definitely shattered my image of what I 
> think "video game music" should be, no questions there.  But it was so far 
> away from that image that it just didn't work.  And you could pretty much 
> read it on everyone elses faces.  Still... the man is an engaging 
> character, someone that you wouldn't mind spending time with just to get 
> some of that raw, aloof excitement to rub off.
> 
> Oh, and the keynote.  Almost unmentionable.  Except Microsoft has the 
> online console market down, you can bank on it.  They're doing it right and 
> sony isn't.  Mark my words, Xbox will basically own the online console 
> gaming market until Sony and Nintendo follow suit.

Hmmm... don't they actually have to *sell* some Xboxes before they take
over the world? Ok, enough flame bait. How about sharing some of the
details of what they are doing right versus what Sony is doing wrong?

                        Bob Pendleton

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