Lessons from MLB All-Star Fanfest.

I spent the last week down in San Francisco helping to man the Backyard Sports Baseball booth at the MLB All-Star Fanfest. I helped hand out lots of free stuff and watched tons of people, kids mostly, play Backyard Sports Baseball. My girlfriend, Melissa, now works as an Associate Producer for Humongous Entertainment and they were kind enough let me accompany her on the trip to San Francisco and help out at the booth. Unfortunately, days before our flight down there, I severely sprained my ankle playing basketball...

Yep.

Melissa trying out my crutches.

I've never had such a bad sprained ankle and I'm just now off crutches, barely hobbling around. But, let me tell you, having crutches or a wheelchair is kind of nice at airports. You get right to the front of the line. The only downside is that they pat you down and use their special metal detector wand, but overall it's probably much quicker than the usual line. They also did some sort of swab test on my hands and feet looking for explosive residue, which is kind of cool. But I digress.

The Fanfest was much more educational than I thought it would be and I thought I'd share some of the lessons or interesting things I found out.

1) Computer gaming is not dead, not even close! We had a thousand or two free Windows demos to give out. Even with Gamecube and PlayStation 2 versions of the game available, it seemed a lot more people said they played on their computer or would at least try the demo on their computer and then maybe buy it on another system. We gave out every CD. Sure, some people go crazy when they see free stuff and take stuff when they won't even use it, but because my ankle forced me to sit at the free stuff table almost the entire time, I got to ask many of them some questions. And most said they actually play on their computers. Cool.

"Would you like a free Windows demo of the game?"

2) Keep system requirements low! So many people thought, "Oh my computer's ancient, it'll never run this." But with the 700MHz processor spec, it should run on most people's computers nowadays. Not everyone is a hardcore, $400 video card player. Make it fun and they'll play. GarageGames definitely got that right.

3) Make a Mac version! Sure enough, about one in ten people asked if the demo worked on Macs. They always asked with the knowing sigh that of course it won't. Macs always get the shaft for games. When a game does come out for Mac, I think they really appreciate it and will be very supportive.

4) Put the controls onscreen if possible. I watched tons of kids, some only 4 years old, play the game. Almost every single one of them could easily get into the game even if they'd never played the game before. Part of that is that they already know the simple rules for baseball. Another part is that the controls were very clearly spelled out on the screen. Some of the trickier things, like stealing bases, needed explanation but it is still very easy to get into the game when you see controls onscreen.

Getting them addicted...

5) Video gaming is not the devil. I expected a lot more parents to try and keep their kids away from our video game kiosks. There were so many awesome things for kids to do at Fanfest, like clinics, batting practice, fielding practice, autograph booths, and shops, that I expected to hear a lot of parents pull their kids away from us in horror. Actually, many parents enthusiastically played the game with their kids. I figure, as long as kids are getting out and playing the real thing, what's the harm in playing some video games too? Many parents agreed with me there. I did hear one mother say, "We don't play those. They are intoxicating!" as she dragged her kid away from our booth which I thought was pretty hilarious.

I was on the comeback trail when his dad came to get him... darn!

6) Be careful with free stuff when promoting your game. I don't think throwing stuff out into the wind is terribly effective. When promoting your game, especially at a booth like this, be careful of the people who just want to fill their bags because they think it's Halloween or something. They want the hat, the shirt, the temporary tattoo, whatever just because it's free! You know it's just going to sit in their closet at home until they finally throw it away. So, it was fun seeing who would really appreciate the bigger stuff, like the hats. Maybe they really got into the kiosk demo or they knew all the players in the game... they were thrilled when I pulled out a hat to give to them and they're going to become even bigger fans and evangelists for you.

7) Characters in games are important. Give your characters a little personality, a little backstory. A voice. It doesn't take much to help draw the players into your game a great deal. Helps them relate to the game a bit easier and have a more rounded-out experience. Faceless characters are, of course, not as much fun as characters you get to know. When you only have an hour to hook someone on a demo, a good character or three could really help out. (This probably applies triple to kids' games.)

Well, that's about all I can remember at this point. If I remember any other things I learned from the show, I'll post them here. Now back to business as usual. Speaking of that, I got a really crazy job doing the voice for a talking apple tree at a McDonald's in Nesquehoning, New Jersey. If you're around there, check it out. I'm really curious to see that actually.