So, wow, where did I go for 3 days?

Most recent memories first - The flight home I met some awesomely cool developers, primarily because the Security at Oakland didn’t recognize what a Nintendo DS is. “I’m going to open your backpack, ok?” She already opened it without my consent. “What is this?!?” “It’s my DS.” “What’s a DEEE-ESSSS?!?!” Me and a whole bunch of people looked at each other and smiled.

What I wanted to say: “Listen you low rent, white trash, toothless bitch, get your meaty hands off my tech, and please return to smoking meth in your mobile home because that’s obviously where you came from.”

What I really said, “You play games on it. Like a Gameboy.” I lifted both hands and waggled my thumbs in mock combat.

“Oh!” She threw it back in, and turned to another highly competent, security enforcing meth addict, “Yeah, he should’ve put that through alone.”

I’ve got real confidence in these people keeping our airways safe. I really do. Look at it: it’s got screens, buttons and an on/off switch. You don’t go through this for every MP3 player, and you didn’t need to do this for a DS.

But this event opened up to one of the best conversations that made the entire plane trip quick and fun. I met 4-6 other developers, some from Rainbow Studios, who were the very friggin’ cool. A big thanks & shout out for Heather and Nathan. Some of us are doing lunch on Monday.

Me and My Big Mouth
q. “So what does Heresy Research Labs do, Bob?”
a. “Independent developer. I’m bootstrapping an independent design studio so I can create casual games with a bite.” Oooh, look, I’ve got a bullet that describes the business.

q. “So what have you done?”
a. “Nothing. I’ve spent 2000 bucks plus on development tools, artwork, and accountants.”
At that time, the “jaded” guys in the industry walk away. I get it. Yes, in YOUR industry, I’ve got no track record. Don’t be so snooty, guys. In my industry, I pulled down 6 figures this year. Blow me.

q. “So what are you working on?”
a. {Internal monologue - *sigh*, here we go again. Do I tell them about That Cult Game? Right now, it’s fucking vaporware if I don’t deliver at all. Oh, well, fuck it.} (Please note that the internal monologue has occurs so fast it now microsecond) “I’m working on a cult simulator. You create your cult, your cult leader and do what you do every night: try to take over the world.”

To say that the reaction to this game has been INCREDIBLY overwhelmingly is an understatement. Everyone has ideas. It’s wonderfully rich to mine right now. Bottomline, the game I’ve got right now, sorta sucks gameplay wise, *I* don’t like it enough to be proud of it.

The CCP White Wolf After Hours party
I don’t know HOW I got this invite. I met a man at lunch. He gave me an invite. I got an invite. Very. Fucking. Cool. He seemed to be wanting to keep under the radar, so I’m not dropping his name here. But a big thank you to John for the invite. Also, the White Wolf’s marketing woman - damn sexy woman.

Academic Research is the Bomb
I’ve got two rules of thumb about GDC. Go to the Developers/Publishers Rant. See every Ian Bogost talk. If you hit those two sessions, everything else is icing.

The rant - yes, I was there for the Wii Is “Two Gamecubes Stuck Together With Duct Tape” by Chris Hecker. Personally, this is a classic example of the meme overshadowing the message.

Rant 1: Wild Tangent CEO Alex St. John. Windows Vista Upgrade was poorly done. I met Alex in another session - he’s the real deal and a good guy. I wish he had the guts to mention DRM, tho.

Rant 2: If you’re gonna be an Indie Developer, be a leader… not a schlep (Richard Hillman from EA)

Rant 3: Nicole Bradford - What the gaming industry can do for kids: Math and Science. By far, Ms. Bradford’s call to action was the best of the best. She gets her own post later today.

Rant 4: Jason Della Roca - Sorry, guy, I didn’t understand your rant. In fact, I’m reading other sites and I don’t think they understood your rant.

Rant 5: Chris Hecker - Nintendo needs to care about ART (not that Wii sucks).

Rant 6: Lee Jacobson - If you’re gonna be an Indie Developer, be a business man

Rant 7: Greg Costikyan - The Indie Publisher is in a lot of trouble, and that causes the Indie Developer more problems.