Last time on the blog: Boston. This time: San Francisco, for the Game Developers Conference. GDC is smaller than PAX, but it’s still 23,000 people. Far too much to see and do on your own. It’s also industry only (ie. not open to the public) so there’s less cosplay and more schmooze. I’ve been to about 4 GDCs now and I always love it, seeing old industry friends and connecting with new ones.
Monday
We arrived exhausted (and in my case getting sick) so we tried to take Monday off. Somehow we still ended up going to a party :) The food & booze was free, the funk band was fantastic, and I got two hugs from strangers when they found out I made Spaceteam.
We also met up with Sara’s dad who had flown in to give us an accordion. We now have two accordions.
Tuesday
Tuesday was business day. We met with a potential publisher, discussed ways they can take Spaceteam forward, help with marketing. This is likely to happen in some form, and I’m very curious to see the effect real marketing will have (word-of-mouth has worked wonders so far, but monetary wonders can be fun too).
We also met the team building the Android version! They seem pretty great. I’m still not ready to make an official announcement, but the port is going well.
This was the only day I could attend talks so I squeezed in some Indie Game Summit sessions. But I’m really looking forward to catching up with everything I missed in the GDC Vault which has all the conference sessions recorded with audio, video, & slides (I’m so thankful to have access to this! Fellow Montréal devs: Vault party at my house soon?).
Wednesday
First of three days at the booth, being “on” again for 8 hours a day. Sara compares the experience to door-to-door canvassing, calling it “emotive labour”. We were better prepared this time: throat lozenges, hand sanitizer, and a giant water bottle.
I’d say maybe 40% of people who stopped by were already fans of the game, 60% new players. Somewhat predictably, PAX was the reverse. Another 60% of visitors asked about an Android version… I should have just brought a sign that said “working on it” that I could point to, to save my voice.
Wednesday night was the IGF/GDC Awards Ceremony, which is fancy and televised and basically the Oscars of game development. Since we were nominated for an award (the Nuovo Award, celebrating “abstract and unconvential games”) we got to sit in the VIP area with the other nominees, wine, and hors d’oeuvres.
I was super excited to see Cart Life win in my category. It’s an interesting, important game and deserves the exposure much more than Spaceteam (which has a way of promoting itself). I also figured I might have a shot at the Audience Award, but it went to FTL, which is also fantastic. I was in good company :)
Then, the only other party I felt well enough to go to: Venus Patrol + Wild Rumpus. Lots of cool people and games on display. Worth it.
Thursday
More booth.
Since GDC is industry-focused I got approached with a fair number of business opportunities. Some interesting, some probably soul-draining, some hilarious for reasons I can’t legally talk about.
And another awards ceremony! The IMGA is unrelated to GDC and usually held in Barcelona, but they decided to come to San Francisco this year (and apparently got kicked out of their conveniently-close-to-GDC venue at the last minute because they were a “competing festival”. Scandalous.)
It had a much more cozy atmosphere. The other nominees were friendly and awesome. We ended up sitting on the floor playing Spaceteam with the show’s MC, the Zumbie team, and Masaaki the crazy somersaulting Japanese guy who made Taiso.
Also, we won the Innovation Award and got to hold a giant novelty cheque. It comes with a TV ad that will be shown in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Time to start localizing!
Friday
Booth in the morning, then prep for my part in the Experimental Gameplay Workshop. Always a fascinating session, and I was very lucky to be participating this year. Met more cool indies like Michael Brough and Jason Rohrer. I gave a 5-minute presentation including a live stage demo with help from Richard Lemarchand and Martin Middleton (who worked on Journey). We started and ended on Sector 10… thanks guys!
Saturday
GDC is over.
I am sick but optimistic about the future, jealous of all the cool things I missed out on, and ready to spend the weekend relaxing in San Francisco.
Went to the contraptular Mechanical Museum, and then took part in one of those Flash games where you have to solve puzzles to escape from a room… but in real life. WE WERE ACTUALLY TRAPPED IN A ROOM FOR AN HOUR. It was the greatest. We need one in Montréal.
The Mechanical Museum at Fisherman’s Wharf
Stats
The conference surge is over, but my daily download average for April is still higher than it was before (~3500/day). Let’s see if it lasts!
Total downloads: 340,635
Total revenue: $6,561.17
Latest Reviews
Inconsequential and quite Idiotic
WHAT THE POOP IS THIS POOPY POOP I TAKE MORE INTERESTING POOPS THAN THIS POOP, I HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED SUCH POOP IN ALL OF MY POOPS. “POOPING NEVER CHANGED” SHOULD HAVE BEEN THIS GAMES SLOGAN, BECAUSE IT IS NOTHING BUT A GIANT STEAMING PILE OF POOPY.
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Hysterical can be played equally enjoyably with friends, family, old people, goths, and conservative republicans.
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Nanoo naanoo
Rad- very cool. I’m drunk and my friend and I have a hard time pronouncing the gadgets!
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It made me laugh, cry, depressed, immensely happy, and i found the meaning of life.
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made me totally forget about the food cooking in the oven
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We played this at Disneyland and made everyone jealous. The line waits were amazingly fast because of this game. It’s especially good for space mountain, and astro blasters. One awesome challenge was walking quickly through the caves in Indiana Jones while in the middle of the game. At the end we all couldn’t believe our focus and how much we just skipped.
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You haven’t experienced joy until you’ve played this game. Birth of a child? Wedding day? Graduation? All are sad facsimiles of happiness crapped out by an uncaring world. Play Spaceteam and be made whole.
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5 stars for man purses.