lessons from the 90's
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Lessons From the 90's. What We Believed Then and Why it Matters Now . Brief Bio. From 1989-1999 worked on AAA titles In 1999 -2011 took a break from games I n 2011 revived by Playdom. How Different Can It Be?. How different can it be?. File Sharing. …now. How different can it be?. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
LESSONS FROM THE 90'S
What We Believed Then and Why it Matters Now
Brief Bio From 1989-1999
worked on AAA titles
In 1999 -2011 took a break from games
In 2011 revived by Playdom
How Different Can It Be?
File Sharing
…now
How different can it be?
File Sharing
…then
How different can it be?
Communication
…now
How different can it be?
Communication
…then
How different can it be?
How different can it be?
Target Audience
…now
How different can it be?
Target Audience
…then
So… have you fought any imperials lately?
I’ve been.. away
What makes you think you can fight imperials in today’s rebellion?
I was fighting imperials when you were a tadpole. I know how to fight imperials
…. the Interview
rules that still work(aka fighting imperials101)
There are lessons that we can draw from making games in the 90’s that serve us well today
Because of the differences in market and environment perhaps they are durable
Lessons We Can Learn:
Lesson 1: be earnest; love your audience; love your characters
So much of movie acting is in … loving your characters. I try to know them, and with that intimacy comes love. And now, I love Voldemort.
Ralph Fiennes
Examples Outside of Games:
• (US) Advertising• Politics• And any other kind of confidence game
be earnest; love your audience; love your characters
Lessons We Can Learn:
Lesson 2: a clear story
a clear story
It takes seven seconds for us to judge another person when we first meet them.
Most healthy teenagers and adults are unable to sustain attention on one thing for more than about 20 minutes at a time
Lessons We Can Learn:
Lesson 3: size matters
size matters!
size matters With floppies, size
meant cost of goods
CDs and DVDs, size management went out the window
Now, size matters again both in loading time and server processor cycles
Lessons we can learn:
Lesson 4: the theater of the mind is alive and well
Love story? Chinese New Year?
theater of the mind
"If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water."
- Death In the Afternoon, Hemingway
theater of the mind
Lessons we can learn:
Lesson 5: understand need versus want and what risk of originality you can afford
Originality Risk: Want vs Need
Jose Ortega Y GassetSome Lessons in Metaphysics
Want: to desire more of something that existsNeed: to crave something that does not yet exist
Originality Risk: Your Decision
• A sequel to a movie, a second episode of a show or playing a game “from an established genre”, are fulfilling a ‘wants’
• The majority of economic activity is ‘want’ fulfilling
• There is an established desire for it, as long as you can recreate or slightly improve on the status quo – society is set up for this
• ‘Needs’ are tricky/risky because there is no roadmap
• No guarantee that people share your need
• Some original games can be a runaway success, start a new genre, create new wants
• In the end, you make the money off of the ‘want’ – maybe you arrived there from a ‘need’, but it’s the ‘want that paid off
One of the newest things I had to learn
Casual gamers are like hardcore gamers but they wont put up with your bullshit
