Is Game Developers Conference Worth the Investment?
03/29/2006 (8:35 pm) by Jeff Tunnell
I haven't blogged for two weeks due to getting ready for, attending, and recovering from the week long [url=http://www.gdconf.com/"]Game Developer's Conference[/url] held in San Jose, CA, USA this past week (3/20-3/25/06). Before I left, even though I was too busy, I contemplated writing a post about why I didn't think GDC was worth it for Indie game developers. Oops, I just gave away the answer to the question posed in the title of this article. So, the direct answer is NO, GDC is not worth it for Indie game developers. But, since you are still going to want to go, I'm going to give you some survival tips for getting the most out of GDC, or any conference for that matter.
Admit it, you've got fanboi'ism. Will Wright is giving a keynote. Man, how much can I learn about game design from this master? Phil Harrison runs Sony World Wide Studios and he is going to tell ME how to run my own little studio. Oh yeah, Saturo Iwata of Nintendo is going to explain to me how to "disrupt" the gaming world with my little Indie game. In addition, there are hundreds of sessions and tutorials, plus 10-12,000 of my good game development friends are going to be there. Man, this is going to be a BLAST!
OK. Here is the downside to all of that. First of all, you will have no access to all of that fun. You'll be on the outside, and feel insignificant (check this [url=http://www.garagegames.com/blogs/37490/10096"]great post[/url] by Josh Dallman). You will overpay for information that will soon be free, you will pay for what should be free and considered hype or advertisement, you will overpay for rooms, food, and travel. You will lose development time on your own game. It all adds up to a big negative.
First a quick primer on the costs. A Giga Pass is $1,800, a Classic Pass is $1,400. Air travel, say $400. Motels are scarce and command a premium, so even the roach motel five miles from the conference jacks its price up to $125 per night, not including tax. Staying that far from the conference will require a rental car or a lot of taxi rides (note- San Jose is not known for it's awesome number of taxis, so plan on waiting a LOT if you use that strategy). Figure in $40 per day for transportation. Nothing is cheap during GDC, especially food, but let's say you can hold yourself back and eat two meals per day. The minimum is going to be $25 for food. Beer, mixed drinks, coffee, etc. add in another $20 per day, rounding your total expenses up to around $100 a day for four days. The total damage adds up to ($1,400 + $400 + $500 + $400) = $2,300, not counting your down time for traval and recovery which is a week or so.
If you are following my advice and have [url=http://makeitbigingames.com/blog/?p=14"]right sized your life[/url], you have just spent enough money for five weeks of development on your game. If your plan was to spend six months on your game, you just used up about 20% of your development budget. But, the knowledge I gained was worth it, right? Not really. Let's debunk that thought.
If you want to learn about game design, buy a book. It will be written by the same person that was shamelessly promoting their career by giving a talk at GDC. But, it will be edited and written in a more thoughtful manner than the off the cuff presentation you will get at GDC. Sure, in a personal presentation you get some window into the presenter's mannerisms and personality, but that will not help you get your game finished.
My take on it is that you don't even need to buy a book. Most of this information is presented for free on the Internet. In fact, you are reading about it now for free! But, more to the point of GDC content. I did a simple Google search for "Will Wright GDC 2006" and got ten pages of summary information about his presentation. Even though it is interesting, Will is just pimping Spore. In fact, all of this is backed by the Electronic Arts PR and hype machine. Will is everywhere lately. On the cover of [url=http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.04/wright.html"]Wired[/url] and Game Developer magazines, and many more to come. EA is banking a LOT on Spore, and you will be completely tired of reading about Will in the coming months. That said, Will is a true game developer and his brain is bursting with incredible thoughts, so his keynote would absolutely be the best and most true to the audience, but what about the others?
Nintendo and Sony are both still positioning about their next generation consoles. They are interesting speeches (of which you can find the entire transcription on-line), but they have little real meat. Again, they are barely hidden PR messages. And Battlestar Galactica? No thanks. That might appeal to the geek in you, but it is totally not relevant to getting your game completed.
If you follow me so far, maybe you are thinking you'll just buy an Expo Pass. It's only $195. Screw that! Expo passes should be free. Every single vendor in the Expo paid exhorbitant fee to be on the floor. You should not have to PAY to see what they are advertising or pimping. Not that I am condoning it, but I did see a lot of people exchanging badges to get onto the expo floor.
Even if you do happen to score an Expo pass, here is what you see. Huge soulless booths by Intel, Sun, Nokia, etc. There are some fairly interesting booths around the fringes, but for the most part, PR shills and watered down booth babes are giving away some crappy pin and brochure. You won't get to talk to anyone genuine or interesting, unless, of course, you come to the GarageGames booth:)
So, if the sessions are not worth it, and the Expo does not give you a return, what can you do to get a return on GDC, or any other show for that matter?
The biggest, and only real, reason you should go to a trade show is for business development. You need to turn into "Tradeshow Man", willing to talk to anybody, relentlessly pimping your schtuff, acquiring contacts, and making industry friends that will last the rest of your career. Before you go, make every attempt to get a meeting with people that you think can help you either make or sell your game. Be relentless. Have a mission and a plan. Contacts begat more contacts. Be fearless in spreading your word.
Between the few little meetings you are able to set up, here are a couple of methods of "working the show." First of all, find a book about "working the room" and making contacts. This will be a sales oriented book, and will probably be in the self help section of the bookstore or library. Don't pay for this book, just check it out or read it at the Borders coffe bar. The entire book will take about an hour to read/skim. You may think you don't need this information, but it is invaluable. Sales, PR, and marketing people all use these proven social techniques, and you, being a good geek, have spent most of your time learning your craft, and have not had time to practice social interaction. Shameless self promotion, social interaction, and spreading your own word will be EXTREMELY painful, but the pain will eventually subside, and it will become a normal part of your business skills.
Now, back to GDC, and the cheap to free way to get 99% of show's benefits. Start off easy. Arrive at GDC, ogle a little bit, feel a little helpless, then dig in. The halls are free, but that is where much of the action takes place. Your mission is to get in on as much of it as possible.
Hang around the IGDA's IGF competition to start. The IGF takes place in the halls, so it costs nothing. At both the IGF and Student Showcase you will find about 20 or so developers that are feeling just like you, i.e. dazed and confused. The difference is, they have a game, a computer, a home base, and automatic access to the show. Befriend an IGC contestant. They are accessible, they want to talk about their game, they want to talk about development and are just like you. All of the IGF contestants have been deluged with business propositions, pseudo publishing offers, job offers, press contacts, etc. But, most importantly, they have probably been invited to some of the after hours parties.
At, GDC, or any other trade show, parties are not parties. They are bizdev on alcohol. Your mission is to get an invite to a party. Not only are the contacts good, but the free beer and food will pad the budget. However, that is probably fodder for an entire blog post, so back to the show itself. Here are a couple of proven techniques for "running into people".
Bank Fishing: Sit at a table and wait for people to sit down. Read the name on their badge and just start talking. Anybody from any company will talk to you in this situation. Some might be dicks, but if they are, just move on. Most of the people at GDC are very willing to talk outside of the booth where they are just being normal people taking a small break. A lot of bizdev does happen at the tables, so don't interrupt an obvious meeting. The results will not be pretty. If you see an interesting prospect in a meeting, just wait until they are done, and try to run into them after the meeting.
A note on running into people. Have a list of people you would like to meet. Don't be afraid to talk to anybody. In the hall they are fair game. If you do have a chance to meet one of your heros, make sure you have a relevant question, and don't just babble. For instance, back in the DOS days I always thought it would be cool to talk to Bill Gates. My saved up question for him was, why don't you create an operating system for games? Well, a few years after that DirectX appeared, then XBox, and XB360, so that obviously wouldn't be a relevant question any more. Today, I would open with something about Marble Blast being a successful download on the XB360 then I would ask him about his kids and relate it back to why there is no longer good educational software or would they ever consider downloadable educational content for XB360. Whatever, you need to have a plan for what you ask if you run into Gabe Newell or Shigeru Miyamoto or Will Wright.
Trolling: This is a more active version of Bank Fishing, but the real time aspect makes it a little more difficult to acquire your target. To Troll, you simply walk around the halls, looking at the various demos, art on the walls, IGF entries, etc. All the while, you are paying close attention to the names on the badges. If you see somebody that would be worth talking, use your "How to work a room" skills to strike up conversation. If you score, you will end up sitting down at the tables, and will now be engeaged in a more active version of Bank Fishing. Once you have a conversation going, more people will tend to join in.
Make sure you always end up with business cards. Follow up those contacts after the show. Set up meetings with those people the next time you will be coming to the show. Your little network will grow, and soon, you'll be working the bizdev just like the big boys. Some day, the people that you meet will be CEO's, Executive Producers, running divisions of big publishers, writing frontline blogs or magazine articles, etc. You will have access to them and consider them friends, not just business contacts. That is when you will really be rolling.
-Jeff Tunnell, Game Maker ... Make It Big In Games
Admit it, you've got fanboi'ism. Will Wright is giving a keynote. Man, how much can I learn about game design from this master? Phil Harrison runs Sony World Wide Studios and he is going to tell ME how to run my own little studio. Oh yeah, Saturo Iwata of Nintendo is going to explain to me how to "disrupt" the gaming world with my little Indie game. In addition, there are hundreds of sessions and tutorials, plus 10-12,000 of my good game development friends are going to be there. Man, this is going to be a BLAST!
OK. Here is the downside to all of that. First of all, you will have no access to all of that fun. You'll be on the outside, and feel insignificant (check this [url=http://www.garagegames.com/blogs/37490/10096"]great post[/url] by Josh Dallman). You will overpay for information that will soon be free, you will pay for what should be free and considered hype or advertisement, you will overpay for rooms, food, and travel. You will lose development time on your own game. It all adds up to a big negative.
First a quick primer on the costs. A Giga Pass is $1,800, a Classic Pass is $1,400. Air travel, say $400. Motels are scarce and command a premium, so even the roach motel five miles from the conference jacks its price up to $125 per night, not including tax. Staying that far from the conference will require a rental car or a lot of taxi rides (note- San Jose is not known for it's awesome number of taxis, so plan on waiting a LOT if you use that strategy). Figure in $40 per day for transportation. Nothing is cheap during GDC, especially food, but let's say you can hold yourself back and eat two meals per day. The minimum is going to be $25 for food. Beer, mixed drinks, coffee, etc. add in another $20 per day, rounding your total expenses up to around $100 a day for four days. The total damage adds up to ($1,400 + $400 + $500 + $400) = $2,300, not counting your down time for traval and recovery which is a week or so.
If you are following my advice and have [url=http://makeitbigingames.com/blog/?p=14"]right sized your life[/url], you have just spent enough money for five weeks of development on your game. If your plan was to spend six months on your game, you just used up about 20% of your development budget. But, the knowledge I gained was worth it, right? Not really. Let's debunk that thought.
If you want to learn about game design, buy a book. It will be written by the same person that was shamelessly promoting their career by giving a talk at GDC. But, it will be edited and written in a more thoughtful manner than the off the cuff presentation you will get at GDC. Sure, in a personal presentation you get some window into the presenter's mannerisms and personality, but that will not help you get your game finished.
My take on it is that you don't even need to buy a book. Most of this information is presented for free on the Internet. In fact, you are reading about it now for free! But, more to the point of GDC content. I did a simple Google search for "Will Wright GDC 2006" and got ten pages of summary information about his presentation. Even though it is interesting, Will is just pimping Spore. In fact, all of this is backed by the Electronic Arts PR and hype machine. Will is everywhere lately. On the cover of [url=http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.04/wright.html"]Wired[/url] and Game Developer magazines, and many more to come. EA is banking a LOT on Spore, and you will be completely tired of reading about Will in the coming months. That said, Will is a true game developer and his brain is bursting with incredible thoughts, so his keynote would absolutely be the best and most true to the audience, but what about the others?
Nintendo and Sony are both still positioning about their next generation consoles. They are interesting speeches (of which you can find the entire transcription on-line), but they have little real meat. Again, they are barely hidden PR messages. And Battlestar Galactica? No thanks. That might appeal to the geek in you, but it is totally not relevant to getting your game completed.
If you follow me so far, maybe you are thinking you'll just buy an Expo Pass. It's only $195. Screw that! Expo passes should be free. Every single vendor in the Expo paid exhorbitant fee to be on the floor. You should not have to PAY to see what they are advertising or pimping. Not that I am condoning it, but I did see a lot of people exchanging badges to get onto the expo floor.
Even if you do happen to score an Expo pass, here is what you see. Huge soulless booths by Intel, Sun, Nokia, etc. There are some fairly interesting booths around the fringes, but for the most part, PR shills and watered down booth babes are giving away some crappy pin and brochure. You won't get to talk to anyone genuine or interesting, unless, of course, you come to the GarageGames booth:)
So, if the sessions are not worth it, and the Expo does not give you a return, what can you do to get a return on GDC, or any other show for that matter?
The biggest, and only real, reason you should go to a trade show is for business development. You need to turn into "Tradeshow Man", willing to talk to anybody, relentlessly pimping your schtuff, acquiring contacts, and making industry friends that will last the rest of your career. Before you go, make every attempt to get a meeting with people that you think can help you either make or sell your game. Be relentless. Have a mission and a plan. Contacts begat more contacts. Be fearless in spreading your word.
Between the few little meetings you are able to set up, here are a couple of methods of "working the show." First of all, find a book about "working the room" and making contacts. This will be a sales oriented book, and will probably be in the self help section of the bookstore or library. Don't pay for this book, just check it out or read it at the Borders coffe bar. The entire book will take about an hour to read/skim. You may think you don't need this information, but it is invaluable. Sales, PR, and marketing people all use these proven social techniques, and you, being a good geek, have spent most of your time learning your craft, and have not had time to practice social interaction. Shameless self promotion, social interaction, and spreading your own word will be EXTREMELY painful, but the pain will eventually subside, and it will become a normal part of your business skills.
Now, back to GDC, and the cheap to free way to get 99% of show's benefits. Start off easy. Arrive at GDC, ogle a little bit, feel a little helpless, then dig in. The halls are free, but that is where much of the action takes place. Your mission is to get in on as much of it as possible.
Hang around the IGDA's IGF competition to start. The IGF takes place in the halls, so it costs nothing. At both the IGF and Student Showcase you will find about 20 or so developers that are feeling just like you, i.e. dazed and confused. The difference is, they have a game, a computer, a home base, and automatic access to the show. Befriend an IGC contestant. They are accessible, they want to talk about their game, they want to talk about development and are just like you. All of the IGF contestants have been deluged with business propositions, pseudo publishing offers, job offers, press contacts, etc. But, most importantly, they have probably been invited to some of the after hours parties.
At, GDC, or any other trade show, parties are not parties. They are bizdev on alcohol. Your mission is to get an invite to a party. Not only are the contacts good, but the free beer and food will pad the budget. However, that is probably fodder for an entire blog post, so back to the show itself. Here are a couple of proven techniques for "running into people".
Bank Fishing: Sit at a table and wait for people to sit down. Read the name on their badge and just start talking. Anybody from any company will talk to you in this situation. Some might be dicks, but if they are, just move on. Most of the people at GDC are very willing to talk outside of the booth where they are just being normal people taking a small break. A lot of bizdev does happen at the tables, so don't interrupt an obvious meeting. The results will not be pretty. If you see an interesting prospect in a meeting, just wait until they are done, and try to run into them after the meeting.
A note on running into people. Have a list of people you would like to meet. Don't be afraid to talk to anybody. In the hall they are fair game. If you do have a chance to meet one of your heros, make sure you have a relevant question, and don't just babble. For instance, back in the DOS days I always thought it would be cool to talk to Bill Gates. My saved up question for him was, why don't you create an operating system for games? Well, a few years after that DirectX appeared, then XBox, and XB360, so that obviously wouldn't be a relevant question any more. Today, I would open with something about Marble Blast being a successful download on the XB360 then I would ask him about his kids and relate it back to why there is no longer good educational software or would they ever consider downloadable educational content for XB360. Whatever, you need to have a plan for what you ask if you run into Gabe Newell or Shigeru Miyamoto or Will Wright.
Trolling: This is a more active version of Bank Fishing, but the real time aspect makes it a little more difficult to acquire your target. To Troll, you simply walk around the halls, looking at the various demos, art on the walls, IGF entries, etc. All the while, you are paying close attention to the names on the badges. If you see somebody that would be worth talking, use your "How to work a room" skills to strike up conversation. If you score, you will end up sitting down at the tables, and will now be engeaged in a more active version of Bank Fishing. Once you have a conversation going, more people will tend to join in.
Make sure you always end up with business cards. Follow up those contacts after the show. Set up meetings with those people the next time you will be coming to the show. Your little network will grow, and soon, you'll be working the bizdev just like the big boys. Some day, the people that you meet will be CEO's, Executive Producers, running divisions of big publishers, writing frontline blogs or magazine articles, etc. You will have access to them and consider them friends, not just business contacts. That is when you will really be rolling.
-Jeff Tunnell, Game Maker ... Make It Big In Games
About the author
Check out [url=http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/user/Jeff%20Tunnell]Tunnell's Great Games Experiment profile.[/url] Currently at [url=http://pushbuttonlabs.com]PushButton Labs[/url] where are are creating an Open Source Flash game engine, [url=http://pushbuttonengine]PushButton Engine[/url], and Flash games such as [url=http://playgrunts.com]Grunts: Skirmish[/url]. Co-Founder of GarageGames, which is probably 'nuff said on this site. Co-Founder of Dynamix, a game development division of Sierra On-Line and Vivendi-Universal Interactive. I have either designed, produced, or directed more than 70 titles including Rise of the Dragon, The Incredible Machine, Starsiege, and TRIBES (Online Game of the Year, AIAS). He has pioneered new game genres such as Outdoor Sports with Trophy Bass and Family Entertainment with the 3-D Ultra line of products that includes such mass-market titles as Pinball, Maximum Minigolf, and Cool Pool. [gge_user=jeff tunnell] view profile »
#2
Classic!
03/29/2006 (9:07 pm)
Quote:
"...you, being a good geek, have spent most of your time learning your craft, and have not had time to practice social interaction."
Classic!
#4
03/29/2006 (9:34 pm)
This is some seriously valuable information, and true words.
#5
03/29/2006 (9:37 pm)
Thanks for sharing!
#6
I've never been interested in GDC besides making contacts. I know it's not aimed at me (indie "something") and I won't be able to do anything but listen to speeches that have nothing to do with me at this point in time. But I would love to get out there and mingle with like minded induviduals and become comfortable with that kind of environment again.
-Ajari-
03/29/2006 (10:15 pm)
Just walking up to a stranger and trying to strike up a conversation can be a scary thing. Rejection hurts and being disrespected could ruin your whole night. What if you say something stupid? But it's a skill you have to master if your serious about any business. The good news is that it's a skill that's easy to practice.I've never been interested in GDC besides making contacts. I know it's not aimed at me (indie "something") and I won't be able to do anything but listen to speeches that have nothing to do with me at this point in time. But I would love to get out there and mingle with like minded induviduals and become comfortable with that kind of environment again.
-Ajari-
#7
I went to E3 last year to see what I could see, and learned pretty much all of that the hard way, and it cost me slightly more. As a one time thing it was a worth while trip, but I can't afford it again anytime soon.
Small Booths!
As you alluded to above, I found at SONY and the EA booths the best you can find is a marketing-intern. But the "Narnia" booth was manned by the Producer, Lead-programmer and Lead-Artist. After I had lunch with them I got to meet their Executive Producer from Buena-Vista.
Parties
Couldn't figure that part out. At the time you could "throw a stone and hit a programmer" in santa-monica, but it was everyone else who couldn't figure out how to get invited to a party either.
Meeting Hero's / Rejection
I got to see 4 of the biggest designer's in the industry give a talk. The next day I ran into one of them on the floor. Unfortunetly this guy flat-out blew me off and with a swish of his cape (no joke) was gone into the crowd. It sucks that he was a dick about it, but it's still awesom you can approach anyone on the floor and thats the worst that can happen. Realizing that, made the process easier and I made a lot of other better contacts that day!
As a side note, when I see people at wal-mart pick up his box, I redirect them to games by the other three designers. The point being be nice to the little guy... :-P
03/29/2006 (10:43 pm)
Very good advice!I went to E3 last year to see what I could see, and learned pretty much all of that the hard way, and it cost me slightly more. As a one time thing it was a worth while trip, but I can't afford it again anytime soon.
Small Booths!
As you alluded to above, I found at SONY and the EA booths the best you can find is a marketing-intern. But the "Narnia" booth was manned by the Producer, Lead-programmer and Lead-Artist. After I had lunch with them I got to meet their Executive Producer from Buena-Vista.
Parties
Couldn't figure that part out. At the time you could "throw a stone and hit a programmer" in santa-monica, but it was everyone else who couldn't figure out how to get invited to a party either.
Meeting Hero's / Rejection
I got to see 4 of the biggest designer's in the industry give a talk. The next day I ran into one of them on the floor. Unfortunetly this guy flat-out blew me off and with a swish of his cape (no joke) was gone into the crowd. It sucks that he was a dick about it, but it's still awesom you can approach anyone on the floor and thats the worst that can happen. Realizing that, made the process easier and I made a lot of other better contacts that day!
As a side note, when I see people at wal-mart pick up his box, I redirect them to games by the other three designers. The point being be nice to the little guy... :-P
#8
Also, is the expo pass good for the entire show or just one day. If so, then is it worth it to just troll those expo areas for the entire 4 days (it would save at least $1400).
@Steven - Come on, your going to tell walmart shoppers who not to buy from, but not us....name him please.
Thanks,
John
03/29/2006 (10:45 pm)
Dont forget, most indies have day jobs, so subtract that as well from the cost!Also, is the expo pass good for the entire show or just one day. If so, then is it worth it to just troll those expo areas for the entire 4 days (it would save at least $1400).
@Steven - Come on, your going to tell walmart shoppers who not to buy from, but not us....name him please.
Thanks,
John
#10
03/29/2006 (11:50 pm)
Wow. Thank you.
#11
GET YOUR ASS TO THE FAIRMONT LOBBY AND SCHMOOZE!
Yep, fairmont is your friend man. Almost every "private party" and almost every other party starts and often ends at the fairmont.
Trust me, i lost a day of my life by going to that place. I still dont know where that day went. Jeff and the guys found me sitting on the floor two days later and I had no recollection of what had happened :)
Seriously though, the fairmont is a really swish hotel, so you cant afford to stay there, but the lobby is schmooze central. I was staying in a $125 a night room about a mile away at some motel thingy (better than the first place I got which was 5 miles away), but there isnt any barrier to entry into the fairmont lobby.
Hell, if youre feeling bold, just get your ass up to the private suites on the upper floors and try and look important, most of all the suites have parties and private gatherings going on (secret handshake stylee).
On the whole though, last GDC I was at, I thought about the cost (around 5k british pounds for two of us) and how many books and things that would buy my students and then what I learnt and decided it was probably not worth it.
Now if I'm trying to sell something to a publisher, thats a different story.
And yet, if I'm going to GDC, who exactly do I want to do business with? Sony and the like are there, but who else am I trying to do business with to make it worth the while?
Oh, just for the record, parties were EASY to get into. If you hang around on the night outside the hall, there are usually people giving out tickets to them. We came out of the chinese down the road one night and what looked like a homeless kid was begging us to take a Sony party ticket off him. I guess the party wasnt quite full enough for sony and they were looking to fill the room to look more important? Who knows.
Good advice though, for sure. I certainly dont mind schmoozing. But I feel a little strange when I'm not sure I really give a damn about publishers etc. I've already got a great bunch of developer contacts, so my main target there is people like meeting my contacts at ATI and NVIDIA for instance.
Phil.
03/29/2006 (11:52 pm)
Jeff, you forgot the MOST important part of GDC by faaaaar..GET YOUR ASS TO THE FAIRMONT LOBBY AND SCHMOOZE!
Yep, fairmont is your friend man. Almost every "private party" and almost every other party starts and often ends at the fairmont.
Trust me, i lost a day of my life by going to that place. I still dont know where that day went. Jeff and the guys found me sitting on the floor two days later and I had no recollection of what had happened :)
Seriously though, the fairmont is a really swish hotel, so you cant afford to stay there, but the lobby is schmooze central. I was staying in a $125 a night room about a mile away at some motel thingy (better than the first place I got which was 5 miles away), but there isnt any barrier to entry into the fairmont lobby.
Hell, if youre feeling bold, just get your ass up to the private suites on the upper floors and try and look important, most of all the suites have parties and private gatherings going on (secret handshake stylee).
On the whole though, last GDC I was at, I thought about the cost (around 5k british pounds for two of us) and how many books and things that would buy my students and then what I learnt and decided it was probably not worth it.
Now if I'm trying to sell something to a publisher, thats a different story.
And yet, if I'm going to GDC, who exactly do I want to do business with? Sony and the like are there, but who else am I trying to do business with to make it worth the while?
Oh, just for the record, parties were EASY to get into. If you hang around on the night outside the hall, there are usually people giving out tickets to them. We came out of the chinese down the road one night and what looked like a homeless kid was begging us to take a Sony party ticket off him. I guess the party wasnt quite full enough for sony and they were looking to fill the room to look more important? Who knows.
Good advice though, for sure. I certainly dont mind schmoozing. But I feel a little strange when I'm not sure I really give a damn about publishers etc. I've already got a great bunch of developer contacts, so my main target there is people like meeting my contacts at ATI and NVIDIA for instance.
Phil.
#12
Check out "the littlest bar in san hose" for a surreal latino disco experience. Its on the main drag up a bit from the conference center (go out of the hall, turn right at that main road and down a bit about 500 meters).
Jug of beer is like 5 bucks or something (more like a barrel).
You pay more for "disco hour" weirdly, which apparently involves the DJ sitting in a toilet and setting up a speaker upside yer head :)
03/29/2006 (11:55 pm)
Oh dammit, I forgot one other thing..Check out "the littlest bar in san hose" for a surreal latino disco experience. Its on the main drag up a bit from the conference center (go out of the hall, turn right at that main road and down a bit about 500 meters).
Jug of beer is like 5 bucks or something (more like a barrel).
You pay more for "disco hour" weirdly, which apparently involves the DJ sitting in a toilet and setting up a speaker upside yer head :)
#13
For true schmoozing, bizdev, and all of the other things that I mention as being the upside to going to GDC, you simply cannot beat IndieGamesCon. The price is right, and it includes food, beer, and a t-shirt. Everybody at IGC is accessible. You can talk to publishers, developers, press people. There are computers to show off your game. It is SOOOO much better than GDC that there is really no comparison.
-Jeff Tunnell, GG
03/30/2006 (12:09 am)
@Phil: I didn't get too specific about san Jose because next year, GDC will be back in San Francisco at the Mascone Center. But, the advice about the Fairmont is true. At SF, the equivalent of the Fairmont is the "W", and Phil's advice still applies. The only downside is the $9 beers.For true schmoozing, bizdev, and all of the other things that I mention as being the upside to going to GDC, you simply cannot beat IndieGamesCon. The price is right, and it includes food, beer, and a t-shirt. Everybody at IGC is accessible. You can talk to publishers, developers, press people. There are computers to show off your game. It is SOOOO much better than GDC that there is really no comparison.
-Jeff Tunnell, GG
#14
Let me put it this way; as much as Gamasutra, and all the other sites provide the slides and now the videos for the events, there's nothing like being there, hearing the words, meeting the people you want to meet and making new contacts. Not only can this help your tremendously with your game production, you could meet a key ally or a friend that can help you out in the present and/or future. Getting to overhear or speak with randomers about XNA or the latest dev kit or whatever, can really give you an understanding of not only the industry you're working to get into, but also how to structure, present and promote your game(s).
Having attended events such as MacWorld, GDCE, ECTS, Game Star, MacWorld Paris since I've been 14 as a member of the Press; the value of the information that you are presented only by attending the show is definitely worth the trip. I spent time interviewing loads and loads of developers, getting them to explain thie rlatest technology, where they are going, why their games are good, latest graphics, and I couldn't have asked thoses questions without being there. Essentially, while you're learning about game dev, GDC is a meeting place for game developers; new relations form, ideas brew, contacts are made and information is shared. E3 is the same but on a more business/press/marketing perspective. At the end of the day, you're going to have to cut corners and money will be an issue, but as a student or whoever, you can always get a solution going (Uni might sponsor you, get your parents to cover, get support at school/work/friends/bank, etc...)-This is not to say go crazy either, you need to make sure attending won't put you in trouble financially, job, girlfriend/wife, etc... I know most people will share a room with five others in a hotel to share the costs - but the question you have to ask yourself is how seriously are you committed to your game, and this is where it shows as you'll need to get your professional side sorted and on top form to attend these events - The reward, in most cases are brilliant! Once you know the industry and have a good understanding of how things work, what's the latest game dev method, etc... you can then go 'no' this is ok, I'll send other people to report in for me and wait for the presentations. How else are you really going to get to know about a MS's next projects or how Intel's tuning it's DuoCore for games? Go there!
03/30/2006 (12:19 am)
I find this post very interesting, as I think it's something that comes down to how serious you take your 'indie' game development. Despite the financial cost, which seems ridiculous in the States, as GDC-Europe seems a hell of a lot cheaper (mainly due to hostels in london or friends there). I have to say that something like GDC is worth attending for an indie.Let me put it this way; as much as Gamasutra, and all the other sites provide the slides and now the videos for the events, there's nothing like being there, hearing the words, meeting the people you want to meet and making new contacts. Not only can this help your tremendously with your game production, you could meet a key ally or a friend that can help you out in the present and/or future. Getting to overhear or speak with randomers about XNA or the latest dev kit or whatever, can really give you an understanding of not only the industry you're working to get into, but also how to structure, present and promote your game(s).
Having attended events such as MacWorld, GDCE, ECTS, Game Star, MacWorld Paris since I've been 14 as a member of the Press; the value of the information that you are presented only by attending the show is definitely worth the trip. I spent time interviewing loads and loads of developers, getting them to explain thie rlatest technology, where they are going, why their games are good, latest graphics, and I couldn't have asked thoses questions without being there. Essentially, while you're learning about game dev, GDC is a meeting place for game developers; new relations form, ideas brew, contacts are made and information is shared. E3 is the same but on a more business/press/marketing perspective. At the end of the day, you're going to have to cut corners and money will be an issue, but as a student or whoever, you can always get a solution going (Uni might sponsor you, get your parents to cover, get support at school/work/friends/bank, etc...)-This is not to say go crazy either, you need to make sure attending won't put you in trouble financially, job, girlfriend/wife, etc... I know most people will share a room with five others in a hotel to share the costs - but the question you have to ask yourself is how seriously are you committed to your game, and this is where it shows as you'll need to get your professional side sorted and on top form to attend these events - The reward, in most cases are brilliant! Once you know the industry and have a good understanding of how things work, what's the latest game dev method, etc... you can then go 'no' this is ok, I'll send other people to report in for me and wait for the presentations. How else are you really going to get to know about a MS's next projects or how Intel's tuning it's DuoCore for games? Go there!
#15
03/30/2006 (2:33 am)
The "make it big in games" link is broken... there's a " in it.
#16
Jeff is 100% right when he says that indiegamescon is so much more valuable to an indie than GDC. The fact that you got most of the casual publishers there (although of course not all games fit into that category) is great, because they are THERE TO BE SCHMOOZED.
At GDC of course everyone is running around trying to impress thier peers and be the big kid on the block. Which frankly means joe schmoe indie is going to get nowhere. Sure its an opportunity to rub shoulders with the great and good, but on balance I think Jeff's right in his blog when he says its NOT worth it. You spend so much time and effort and what tangible benefit does it give you?
Toby makes a good argument, but I think Toby has a slightly skewed experience with his press badge, the average indie game dev at a conference like E3 or GDC is going to learn a total of probably nil. Unless youre aiming to be doing business on the GDC's level (most indies arent) then youre really only thier to play at being a big developer, practice your schmooze, or try and grab some free stuff (i.e. beg ATI to give you some new cards for instance). All of which can be achieved by subtle use of email and phone at home.
In the end, you have to decide how going to events like GDC is going to move your project or yourself forward. If you just want the experience (i.e. to practice how to act amongst your peers like Toby is suggesting) then fine, but if you are going there in the hope that somehow your product will magically run smoother, faster, better. Then you are mistaken.
Oh, on a euro centric note, after attending both GDC's and GDCE's, I'd suggest GDCE is *way* better value. You get the same quality of presentations, without the huge cost of travel to the states AND the hotels and such are cheaper.
Having said that, nothing there you couldnt have learnt from reading ATI or NVIDIA or Microsoft's techy websites.
I'm with Jeff on this one.
Phil.
03/30/2006 (8:02 am)
Just to follow up on something Jeff said in his reply.Jeff is 100% right when he says that indiegamescon is so much more valuable to an indie than GDC. The fact that you got most of the casual publishers there (although of course not all games fit into that category) is great, because they are THERE TO BE SCHMOOZED.
At GDC of course everyone is running around trying to impress thier peers and be the big kid on the block. Which frankly means joe schmoe indie is going to get nowhere. Sure its an opportunity to rub shoulders with the great and good, but on balance I think Jeff's right in his blog when he says its NOT worth it. You spend so much time and effort and what tangible benefit does it give you?
Toby makes a good argument, but I think Toby has a slightly skewed experience with his press badge, the average indie game dev at a conference like E3 or GDC is going to learn a total of probably nil. Unless youre aiming to be doing business on the GDC's level (most indies arent) then youre really only thier to play at being a big developer, practice your schmooze, or try and grab some free stuff (i.e. beg ATI to give you some new cards for instance). All of which can be achieved by subtle use of email and phone at home.
In the end, you have to decide how going to events like GDC is going to move your project or yourself forward. If you just want the experience (i.e. to practice how to act amongst your peers like Toby is suggesting) then fine, but if you are going there in the hope that somehow your product will magically run smoother, faster, better. Then you are mistaken.
Oh, on a euro centric note, after attending both GDC's and GDCE's, I'd suggest GDCE is *way* better value. You get the same quality of presentations, without the huge cost of travel to the states AND the hotels and such are cheaper.
Having said that, nothing there you couldnt have learnt from reading ATI or NVIDIA or Microsoft's techy websites.
I'm with Jeff on this one.
Phil.
#17
When back in SF, check out the Hotel Utah. It's a few blocks from Moscone[down 4th]. Funky, very, very old, establishment/bar[doubt any smoozing happens there,lol]. While beers ain't cheap anywhere's downtown[gee, #1 tourist city in US?...], they pour a good black & tan...;), and nightly live entertainment. Tu Lan, on 6th, is good Vietnamese; interesting 'ambience'. Neighborhood can look scary, but hey; it is the real world and I've felt much more ill at ease in other 'worldly' parts of the planet...
Also for good, reasonable deliStyle sandwiches/soups/salads etal., try Lee's delis or Cafe Venue. They're numerous in the downtown area. One on Market, tween 3r/2nd.
See ya next year!
Cheers!
03/30/2006 (5:32 pm)
Thanks for the perspecitve...about the only exposure I feel detrimental is radiation-based!When back in SF, check out the Hotel Utah. It's a few blocks from Moscone[down 4th]. Funky, very, very old, establishment/bar[doubt any smoozing happens there,lol]. While beers ain't cheap anywhere's downtown[gee, #1 tourist city in US?...], they pour a good black & tan...;), and nightly live entertainment. Tu Lan, on 6th, is good Vietnamese; interesting 'ambience'. Neighborhood can look scary, but hey; it is the real world and I've felt much more ill at ease in other 'worldly' parts of the planet...
Also for good, reasonable deliStyle sandwiches/soups/salads etal., try Lee's delis or Cafe Venue. They're numerous in the downtown area. One on Market, tween 3r/2nd.
See ya next year!
Cheers!
#18
After IGC this year, we hosted a party and had Pascal Boss over for dinner. He later repaid the favor by opening his house to Josh when they attended Casuality in Amsterdam.
Just a thought.
-Jeff
03/30/2006 (5:55 pm)
Hey Rex. Your post sparked an idea. Since the GG army extends all over the world, maybe we could come up with a way to make attending any major show as cheap as possible. For instance, four months before GDC next year, we coudl set up a forum or wiki. The locals could recommend good, cheap places to eat, where the hostels are, or even open their floors up in exchange for a night at the bar??? Instead of a foreign exchange student, it would be a foreign exchange developer.After IGC this year, we hosted a party and had Pascal Boss over for dinner. He later repaid the favor by opening his house to Josh when they attended Casuality in Amsterdam.
Just a thought.
-Jeff
#19
03/31/2006 (3:34 am)
Foreign Exchange Developer ... that's classic ;) Good idea it'd be nice!
Torque Owner Jeremy Alessi