London Game Career Fair: Day Two Report

This was a quiet day compared to the previous one. We had already talked to all the companies so we spend a bit more time at the games' part and some more swag-collecting action (Lionhead "Fable 2" mugs and yo-yos and Relentless "Buzz!" t-shirt!). They had some games that weren't there on the previous day and sometimes they changed their places, refreshing the layout of the place a bit.


I only noticed that one of the zones was a "+18" area now because it really wasn't obvious. We had already played some of their games (Fallout 3!) and we saw nothing shocking except the usual videogame violence and the occasional swear word.
I think marking the area and not really caring about the people who go in makes the whole thing a bit useless. And about those swear words...the players themselves curse way more than those games whenever they see something really good or really bad, it doesn't matter.



I met two of my Escape friends there and it was fun seeing them again. After picking up a couple of free energy drinks (one was orange-flavoured and the other one was supposed to help with hangovers!). Their sense of humor is still the same and we all talked during the whole time they were there. After lunch they left as well as Nuno who had a plane to catch.

Me and CG got back to the event to play some more games.


After we left the event we got back to Piccadilly Circus to see if Tokyo Toys was open and it was. After checking some other places out we walked to Hamley's. That place still impresses me because of its huge size. Didn't find was that I was looking for and got back. CG went back home and I went back to Zavvi and HMV to look for a couple of things which I did find.



Swag!
Because a game fair without it isn't really a game fair! Here's the best of it.

-2 mugs, a "Banjo-Kazooie" one from Rare and a "Fable 2" one from Lionhead
-"Buzz!" T-shirt from Relentless
-yo-yo from Lionhead!
-pens from Microsoft, Other Ocean, Streamline and Starbreeze
-badges from Relentless and Streamline
-"Banjo-Kazooie" mousepad, from Rare
-awesome "Fallout 3" postcards, from Bethesda
-the smallest pack of matches I have ever seen, from Streamline



All this, the contacts and the advice I got made it a really worthwile trip once again.
I missed London.

(London, 29-10-2008)

London Game Career Fair: Day One Report

I got there fast because I thought it opened earlier so I got to wait in line for a while, looking around trying to find the portuguese people that I knew would come. Outside they had a big Ubisoft place, a Warhammer 40.000 Space Marine Tank, a big Motorstorm 2 car and this place that was giving out free energy drinks.

Nuno Ramiro got there early too so we had time to talk about all the weird things that happen in London all the time. CG was the last one to get there and as such she had to wait longer to get in.



As the doors opened we got our blue bracelets (which probably mean "noob" or something) and saw the littlebigplanet tryout booth. Let me tell you the game is exactly what I expected. It is beautiful, polished and most of all: fun. I don't have a PS3 and this game is the only one that makes me desire it. After about an hour of really awesome co-op play and some creation demonstrations, we remembered why we were in the fair for and started looking for the company booths.

There were none in sight, just tryout booths for some of the most expected games of this season. To list a few there were Fallout 3, Mirror's Edge, Prince of Persia Prodigy, Resident Evil 5 (actually most of the copies called it by its japanese name, Biohazard 5), Endwar, Gears of War 2, Killzone 2 and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts.


After searching for a bit we found out the fair was even bigger than last year and it had two floors. This first one was full of gaming kiosks and the upper one was the one where the companies were hiring, so we headed there.

What a relief, it was bigger than last year! So much people and so much swag we didn't know where to start. As you probably guessed we only talked to game companies and pretty much ignored all the booths that were announcing game-related courses.


The "Most Arrogant Booth" Award goes to Sega for the second year in a row! Showing up at a fair like this, not accepting CDs of portfolios and telling us to apply at their website is even more ridiculous than not showing up. Enjoy your prize guys, you deserved it.

The "Coolest People To Talk To" Award goes to Streamline Studios, with only two people but really nice ones. They asked everyone if they had heard of their company before and apparently we were the only people that said "Yes". The conversation simply flowed from there. They know a friend of mine that works there and once they realised that they got really informal about the whole deal. We went back to talk to them several times because they were that cool. The runner-ups were Rare, Lionhead and Longtail Studios.

The "Sorely Missed" Award goes to Team 17. After some really good advice from them a year ago I wanted to show them what I had done in the meantime. Well, I'll send them an e-mail or something.

We weren't at the lectures because they were almost the same as last year's.

I recognized a few faces. Some fellow Escapees and Paul Wilkes, some people from the company booths and even the "Be my first animation/modeling job" girl from last year! I guess the cherry t-shirt wasn't enough.



The most curious thing about the fair was probably the Live Action Pong. Yep, two guys dressed as the paddles and a girl dressed as the ball were trying to re-enact that famous game.

After everything started to quiet down we left for a pizza at Leicester Square. We were served by a kind italian guy who absolutely loathes Dr. Pepper and when we left we were surprised the whole city wasn't really expecting. Snow. The kind that melts right when it hits the ground. We still had to walk a bit to get to Piccadilly Circus so it wasn't the most pleasant experience ever but it was fun.

(London, 28-10-2008)

...and don't forget to come to inérciaDemoparty 2008!

I am pleased to announce that inérciaDemoparty is back and its recent edition starts today! And it will be the first time I have something up my sleeve. I'll be entering in at least two compos, one being the demo one (finally!). More info here.

I'll tell you all when I get back.

London Game Career Fair '08

Hey dudes and dudettes.

It's that time of the year again! Last year I got to be at the London Game Career Fair, talking to several people from some awesome companies, i gave them business cards and portfolio CDs. First time I left the country alone and first time in London. This time I have better things to show. If you want to know more about the event, here's the official link.

How did I get the money to go there?

Well, let me show you what I was doing one year ago:

Which one am I?

That's right, you just know it from the bottom of the heart.

Play.com live

Guess what is happening in Wembley Stadium.

Oh snap it's in the title. Jeez, I always forget that.
Anyway I spent the afternoon there trying out new and a few other games that have already been out for a while. So far this was the biggest videogame expo I have been in but not the most interesting. It was mainly a consumer fair but there were a few nods to future game developers like the almost private Far Cry 2 demonstration I had the chance to see. There was not enough room so I sat on the ground, on the front row.

A few people dressed as mascots reminded me of the summer! There was Mario, Sonic and on a more serious note Darth Vader, Sophitia and a hot girl on a bike, always relevant. Sonic and a kid posed for me and I don't really know why but I took the photo anyway.
Also, booth babes.

There was some cool videogame merchandise such as replicas from Halo weapons and lightsabers and the food was so expensive there. 2£ for a small bottle of water and 4£ for a sandwich? My hunger was suddenly gone.

On a swag point of view it was modest but nice. I got a few pins and cards, the trial for LOTR online, a Stuntman Ignition license plate and keychain, a Conan limited edition mini-comic, Ratattouille keychain, Guitar Hero 3 necklace keychains and Ice Age Extreme Cool Edition DVD (wich I believe is to make us be aware of the fact we don't have the blu-ray version or the huge screen in wich they were showing it there).

Main cool games: LittleBig Planet, The Bourne Conspiracy (I can't believe it either but the game looks really promising), Rock Band.

Main let-down: Star Wars: Force unleashed will only be there tomorrow. Wankers.

Videogame-related Events

What better way to get some answers from people from the industry than really asking them face to face?

If you're really interested in making videogames I advise you to use your free time looking for information and answers and most of all actually making your own projects, be it art or programming. I have written about the importance of online forums and learning with them but if you play your cards right you can get an insane amount of information in a videogame-related event.

I have only been in a few and only one of them was relatively serious but I tried to get the best of it. I believe I succeded. There you can get information about the skills you need to get the kind of job you want, you can deliver portfolios and business cards. You can go to the company's booths and ask them a few questions.

Also, booth babes.

One of the best parts is realizing it's not impossible. Those guys aren't superheroes, they are people. They have a sense of humor and they love games. They may work at one of the coolest game companies and still get excited about a game their rivals released. Most of them took a chance and that's why they are there.

I want to be there. If you want it too try to go to every game-related fair you can.

Good luck.