Ron Moore recounts GDC experience

Ron Moore has posted a few blog updates. Once of them is a recap of his experience at the Game Developers Convention.

I grew up in the Classic Atari era, when a row of quarters on the Asteroids machine carried a great deal of credibility down at the bowling alley where I and the few video denizens of Chowchilla plied our trade. I had the first home consoles as well, but after college I pretty much dropped out of gaming, with periodic forays into the burgeoning computer game market over the years. My last effort involved buying an XBox a couple of years ago with the determination to get back into the game (pun intended) at last. A week spent in frustration over my inability to master the multi-buttoned controller finally put to rest my dreams of mastering Max Payne and Madden NFL, and as Terry constantly reminds me, the XBox sits beneath the TV table in my office gathering dust.

That may have to change, however, after spending a few days at the GDC getting to know the people in the gaming business. I was impressed, first of all, by the sheer brainpower which permeated the event and second of all with the maturity and seriousness of the business itself. To put it succinctly: these are seriously smart people, doing seriously smart things with a deadly seriousness of purpose. When I walked the convention floor, I was struck by the intensity of the attendees as they browsed through the various booths and displays. I'm told the event itself had discouraged the "babe booth" mentality long ago wherein scantily-clad women beckoned to the hormonally-challenged, and sadly, I saw no such relics from this storied past. Instead, I found a lot of intense concentration and discussion of the latest software applications and character-building tools, upwards of ninety-five percent of which went sailing over my head.

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As someone who is a hard core gamer and follows the GDC developments like a hawk, it is interesting to hear his opinion of the industry as a whole. I often get in to debates with people who simply do not understand gaming... how it is all about the creation of experiences and memories. I find it particularly interesting how people who are die-hard sports nuts playing fantasy leagues and everything can't seem to grasp how what they do is no different than video gaming... just in a different medium.

I'm not a game developer, but I would love to attend a conference like that. A friend of mine is an Xbox 360 MVP and is going to E3 this year... I am so jealous!

There is also another Q&A post on his blog too...

Comments

[Aragorn]

I attended an E3 once (during the unveiling of both the xbox and the GC), and I have to say I am not planning on going ever again. It's basically a little los vegas... which, I dunno about you, but I find completely unappealing.

As far as Ron Moore speaking at the GDC... I was thrilled about that, because quite frankly... I see so much potential in the market, but said potential hasn't ever been realized. My biggest disappointment with games is how in comparison to other mediums, have a great advantage as far as story telling goes... as they can present said story in a myriad of different ways. But... as far as I'm concerned, we just haven't seen a story in a game that really matches that of which we witness on BSG... let alone a relatively well written tv show, or book.

Hopefully Ron Moore will act as a great example of how quality of writing can lead to a successful franchise... rather than the homogenized crap I see in games.

[Aragorn]

sorry for the double post... but gotta love t his from the Q&A.

Q: You have giant, steel balls. My head is still spinning from being smacked in the head with them in the form of "lay down your burdons p2" -

A: they're teflon actually.

this is great, because one of my favorite lines over the past month has been "You have balls! I like Balls!!!"

[Trapper Markelz]

For me, gaming isn't so much about story... there are plenty of mediums already that provide that. The real value is in the ability to create permanent memories of the virtual interaction that can rival real life memories. No other entertainment can really do that in my opinion. Maybe music concerts can for some, but is it the music or the concert event itself that creates the memories?

It is one of the never ending debates of gaming... what makes it good? The story? Or the gameplay? The sound and graphics? or the substance? In my case, I never remember the stories, but I remember the experiences, so for me it is always about gameplay and the stories and memories I myself created during the interaction.

[Aragorn]

Hmmm... well i'm not really talking gaming for it's gameplay vs. story. I mean, for the most part... gameplay is basically the greatest component to any game.

What I am basically saying is that... as far as stories go, I've always felt that Videogames have been lackluster... You are right trap, in that whether or not stories are a major facet of videogames is kind of... questionable, and very much on a case by case basis.

however, my point is simply that videogames have great potential on the story-line front.

For example, should you look at the classic half life... which didn't have the most interesting story... ended up relaying said story in an awesome fashion. Again, I just see a lot of potential due to some very interesting methods of relaying said stories.

I guess that really has nothing to do with Ron Moore giving his point of view at the GDC, but I hope that some developers out there heard what he had to say about how to beef up plotlines.