GDC Canada 2010: Day 2
The exciting conclusion of the two-day conference in Canada
The second afternoon lecture I took part in was titled “The rise of next-generation social entertainment”, presented by Steve Bocska from Pug Pharm. This lecture had a very similar focus to the panel of experts from Day 1. Steve discussed the fact that the current console cycle is lasting as long as people hoped it would, but this may not be a good thing for the industry. It was argued that, with no new hardware coming as expected after four or so years, the developers must really grind their efforts in order to produce truly inventive and fresh content with the hardware capabilities presented to them. Dave suggested that with no new hardware, the evolution of the medium has stalled, and developers are unable to truly express themselves because of hardware limitations. The biggest profit potential is currently in online social medium, and the console market is seen as the tried and true, but not very exciting nor potentially profitable industry. Dave presented an opinion that if Facebook did not happen, the social media trend we see in games and other entertainment streams would not have occurred. Without Facebook, people would not have understood the social aspect of gaming. But with the popular social presenting people to a new trend in the way we interact and communicate on the internet, it laid the groundwork for casual games to become sociable and globally accepted.
Steve explains the market trends
The last lecture of the day was hosted by Ubisoft’s Andree-Ann Boisvert, and it focused on playtests and the developer’s attitudes toward them. Much like the lecture’s title, love/hate was the most commonly noted relationship found in the industry. The developers hate playtests for a number of reasons, mostly because the results may mean a ton of work and changes to the game that the creators thought to be very good. So it was suggested that companies view playtests as tools to improve their work rather than an artificial evaluation they must pass in order to please the publisher or their own staff. Playtests should be used in every step of production, so that necessary changes can be made before they are hard-coded into the title. To make things easier, it was suggested that a playtest only requires as few as 6 people to locate upwards of 85% of the issues. This allows for more frequent and cost efficient sessions, resulting in a much smoother development process and subsequent QA. Playtests allow the developers to focus on issues that the players might have, rather than internal development team conflicts. For playtests to be truly successful, ego must be left at the door and honest feedback recorded in order to ship a more complete and enjoyable product.
Just as quickly as it began, the second annual GDC Canada conference came to an end. Having the big GDC in US to look up to, the Canadian show has a lot of potential for growth and expansion, but it will take a few years yet. The show was nonetheless an excellent opportunity for both members and hopefuls of the industry to gain valuable advice, take in information and even make some deals right on the spot. Sure, the show was much more industry-focused, which meant no new games were announced and in fact, very few actual members of development teams made it to the conference. Regardless, it was a very enjoyable and useful few days in sunny Vancouver, and the posters for GDC Canada 2011 are already promising a bigger and better experience.
Share:
Comments
