GCAP Thursday Opening
The following are notes I made during the keynote address for Game Connect Asia Pacific 2008 confernce in Brisbane, Australia.
Tom Crago opens and says we’re happy to be back in QLD. Epic and MS support – thanks to them & QLD government. Big year for Aus games. GDAA key stategic priorities for 2009:
- Promote Australia overseas
- Gcap bigger and better 2009
- Bring publishers from os
- Awards show to raise profile
- International trade shows
- Lobbying government esp r18+
- Skills – better collaboration with education
Jan Jarrett, parliamentary secretary for industry portfolio here in QLD opens confrerence officially. Qld govt proud to support games. Jarrett says the QLD government’s 2003 package saw the creation of 300 new jobs in 5 years.
Industry stats. Export dollars. QLD leading the industry – Krome a major player. (personal note: QLD has a number of big stars, especially Krome, but fewer companies than VIC.)
Skills formation – convergence is coming back into the discourse. Increasingly seeing a developing relationship between games and film – not just in spin-offs and movie properties, but also in the ways that film makers are getting interested in games, and even crossovers in tech (edit: this is a theme picked up by Zareh Nalbandian in his keynote below, and on Friday Jay Wilbur talks about the same thin in relation to use of the Epic game engine in film/tv production).
Keynote address: Zareh Nalbandian – Animal Logic – he’s using a Mac, but not a great ad as he can’t get the slideshow to work. Looks like it’s that pesky fn-F7 thing. Not entirely the machine’s fault…
Says he feels like an outsider. TV and film – it’s about entertainment; lots of similarity. Differences and sameness. Passive vs active audience. He’s recognising difference. Not overemphasizing the similarities between games and film, but suggesting there are connections. Interestingly mentions gamers a few times as if they’re ’something else’ – like there is a subculture of gamers, but he’s mixing this with general ideas about games; I think he (and indeed a lot of people in industry) need to shrug this off…
Wants to stop the brain drain.
Tricky business to run. Needs to innovate, chase challenges. Happy Feet a big risk, many thought it would see the end of AL, but rewards good.
Animal logic interactive – investing heavily. Shovelling money. Risk money missing in Australia. Conservative investment. Looking to realise ip through multiple forms – tv film and other forms.
Game industry discriminated against in relation to film and tv. Applause from audience; 40% budget subsidy for film 20% for tv. Says AL is going to be working with GDAA and helping them lobby government. (This is great, but AL may have a very large voice, don’t want their interests trumpeted to the exclusion of the rest of the industry).
Addresses criticism of ALI being set up offshore. Just because ALI is offshore does not mean development will be done there. Interesting – Zareh quite obviously taken aback by criticism in the press. Also, committed to Australian development.
Wants to open a dialogue (with game industry).
Narrative is key. Crossovers and convergence. Alex Proyas and Zack Snyder (Watchmen) moving into games.
Great comcast ad, rocket powered hare panther hybrid. Showed concept then final to demonstrate value of concept. Be great to get a copy to show students.
Asks people from audience for advice. Narrative seems to be a sticking point. Zareh generally feels games -> movies suck. Trent Custers from Torus has some great ideas, good comments.
ALI Parallel game/film development.
Says we need to think about franchises and the long tail.
