I think it'd be interesting to see some comments from people currently working or studying in the game industry about what they'd like to see at the AGDC.
I've heard many comments about the AGDC seminars from people working in the industry over the past few years... some good and some bad. The negative comments are usually about how they don't see this or that being relevant or that they didn't learn anything they didn't already know, apart from the odd seminar that seems to usually deal with business stratagey issues.
I'm not saying I agree with everything I've heard, and I've enjoyed some great seminars myself over the past few years although I would say that some are a complete waste of time from my point of view (and I don't mean those that aren't relevant to my job).
Here's a few posers...
Do you think many of the seminars we attend are relevant to our everyday jobs or study, if not, what would you like to see?
Are you learning anything new that you can apply to your job or does it need to be geared towards a more 'hands on' approach?
Do you attend the AGDC in the hope you'll learn something you didn't already know, or do you see it simply as a social event and a great place to meet people and make contacts?
Are you learning anything that could further you career?
You'd probably want more publishers coming down under I'd think to make it worth-while to show off games in development at the expo. I mean the Unsigned Games Booth thing is a good start because it allows people to show games in progress that normally wouldn't have the money to do that.
But yeah, you'd need more big publishers coming along for there to be games in booths at the expo. (And then we'll start getting booth babes) :-)
I'll go with everyone else on the booth babes, definitely a must.
But in all seriousness - I think some of the talks are far too much of a "preaching to the converted" affair. It's hard because we (the oz industry) don't get alot of exposure in the media and alot of people take the oppurtunity of the AGDC to simply talk about their business/educational institution and promote the institution - as opposed to sharing real information and educating attendees.
As far as I see it, the expo part is where you should promote business (and there weren't many people taking advantage of that), and the talks should be focussed on more educational/research based material etc. Ie - sharing experience/wisdom, things like how ppl trip up in the industry, what are "mistakes" and what are "bad decisions" and how we need to cope with these things on all levels (marketing, development, publishing etc etc).
Last year the best talks were the ones for those interested in the business of running games - as far as marketing/development talks went it was pretty 'lame' (I say that tentatively, I'm just saying those talks were disappointing, although not quite outright 'crap').
Two hints for future AGDCs - workshops ala GDC would be a great idea (if there were willing participants). The lecture style format is pretty dull (panels are *slightly* better), and it never seems like there's enough time to really get anywhere with a subject, just seems like the surface of a subject is covered. Maybe have 2 or 3 part talks and make them like 45 mins each or something. I dunno, just some ideas!
I am all for some booth hunks while we are at it. Some good looking chipndale type guys!
Booth-cake for all! *drool*
If you bring in booth babes you are going to turn the AGDC into the 3 ring circus that E3 is. If you want booth babes go there. If you can't afford to go there go to www.e3boothbabes.com or what ever it is.
You are there to learn more about the industry your in!
I think you need to move past the booth babes.
quote:Originally posted by Jacana
I am all for some booth hunks while we are at it. Some good looking chipndale type guys!
Booth-cake for all! *drool*If you bring in booth babes you are going to turn the AGDC into the 3 ring circus that E3 is. If you want booth babes go there. If you can't afford to go there go to www.e3boothbabes.com or what ever it is.
You are there to learn more about the industry your in!
I think you need to move past the booth babes.
Jacana, don't take the booth babes too seriously we're just having a laugh.
The idea of this thread is to discuss whether we can actually learn more about the industry from attending the AGDC, and if the current format is designed to give us what we really want or if it's what the organisers "think" we want.
You've got to admit, it's one helleva expensive weekend (especially for interstate travellers) and it can be difficult to justify the cost if it's not delivering the content people really want to see.
Until you DO get publishers coming in from overseas (not anytime soon) theres no point really in established developers showing off games that don't have a contract yet. I was thinking more of the games that do have a publishing contract, probably as much to advertise the company to prospective employees and peers as much as anything else.
CYer, Blitz
It's a tough question to answer, I think. You can see the AGDC is trying to cater for everyone, but it's not surprising that people aren't pleased with the depth of which their field is represented. You provide a talk that's accessible to everyone (students and industry people alike), and those in the industry will find it redundant. You provide a talk that's indepth and technical, but students and new comers will feel left out. I'm sure the AGDC has considered the problem and tried to balance out as much as they could, but it's hard to please everyone I guess.
I've wondered what I would personally want from a conference that would cost me $800 to go to. It's not enough to provide a few hour long tutorials relevant to me because I could buy a whole heap of excellant books and videos and still have plenty of change from that amount.
I think the career scheme they've started this year is a nice idea though. I reckon the AGDC could provide some "post mortem" talks on what went right/what went wrong with some local game titles.
Thats what i was talking about earlier. If you're paying $800, you want to be getting information/learning that you couldn't otherwise get. Thats why i think most of the technical talks are a bit of a waste, but the experience talks are great. The business ones i also enjoy because i personally find this information difficult to come by.
Btw, i think that the CD/s the AGDC is making with all of the talks on it should be available to all AGDC attendees for free (+ postage), considering paying $800 but only being able to attend about 1/5 of the talks on offer...
CYer, Blitz
Booth babes!
ummm....and....hmmm.....
I'd *like* to see the expo become a bigger deal, with developers showing off their current projects, rather than just the hardware/tools manufacturers. I doubt thats gonna happen soon though.
As far as seminars, i personally am most interested in the business ones and the console specific ones. These, to me, are much harder to get information on outside of these conferences (particularly if you don't have access to devkits/info). So these talks generally hold valuable information for me. The talks on peoples experiences are also good. If you can learn from someone elses mistakes, it can keep you from making the same mistakes yourself :)
I don't like talks that try to cover to broad a topic. It's a waste of time, you don't really get anything valuable out of these talks.
I think it would be difficult to have a "hands on" approach, particularly some of the more popular talks last year were packing the rooms out, and those rooms seated about 80+ people.
I attend the AGDC to have a good time, that involves learning new things and meeting people. It's really a bit of both to me, but i definately try and get the most out of the talks while i'm there.
Did i mention booth babes?
CYer, Blitz