Portugal is a country with a rich culture and history. I was fortunate enough to get a taste of Portugal during a week-long visit for the GAMES2006 conference and expo. While the trip was exhausting (ie, I had a hard time adjusting to the dinner-at-10pm lifestyle), it was truly an adventure. How many conferences do you go to where you can boast that you visited three castles?!

The conference was pretty standard, with a good amount of quality content. My panel with the mayor of the local city (who only spoke Portuguese) made for an interesting challenge. And, sparring a bit with Chris Crawford was fun.

Aside from a handful of established companies, most game related efforts are happening on a small/indie scale. Initiatives are underway to catalyze the Portuguese development community by GameInvest. In addition to serving as the major backer for the conference, they are working toward their vision for a “GameCity” in Portugal, dedicated to game creators.

Luckily, I got to tour around Lisbon on the last day of the trip. I didn’t take any formal tour, I just walked around town for about seven hours. Wow, what an amazing city!

Anyway, here are some snaps from the trip…


The castle of Castelo de Vide, the small town were we stayed during the conference.
Pedro Costa (Real Time Solutions) enjoying the scenic lunch.


Joseph Olin (AIAS), Joao Diniz Sanches (Develop) and Leonard Paul (Vancouver Film School) also munching up their lunch.


In the panels room, getting ready to talk tech…


Remi Arnaud (Sony) ascending the steps of the Marvao castle.


More ascending - it was high, and a long way down…


One of the Marvao castle towers.


Paulo Gomes (GameInvest) gives an impromptu history lesson on the castle and Portugal-Spanish relations…


Randi Rost (Intel) talks tech.


The expo was kinda small, but had represention from the big three.


Retro gaming in Portugal - still popular with the young ones ;)


Some traditional folk signing during the conference dinner.


The YDreams princesses: Mariana Cardoso and Ana Beirao.


Less blurry shot of Ana and Mariana at the old fountain in Castelo de Vide. (Photo courtesy of Ana)


Chris Crawford in paradigm shifting mode: All games produced by the industry are worthless, bla, bla…


Joseph Olin (center, blue shirt) playing multiplayer Mario Kart with onlookers - note the smiling Crawford :)


The mayor of Portalegre, Mata Caceres, waiting for the festival awards to start.


Local Devo-like band signing their smash hit Robot’n'Roll during the ceremony.


The developers of Orion’s Belt picked up several awards.


After the awards: Chris Crawford, Joseph Olin (AIAS), Alexander Fernandes (Streamline Studios), Paulo Gomes (GameInvest) and myself. (Photo courtesy of Joseph)


Port shot in Lisbon across the Tagus River, with a blurred Jesus Christo statue.


Dinner in Lisbon: Marta Vieira (YDreams) and Leanard Paul comparing gadgets.


Praca de Touros: the bull fighting arena!


Some nifty architecture.


Lots of big monuments.


The crazy old Castle of Sao Jorge.


The old city. Lots of texture and layering.


Layers and layers of rooftops all around.


More layers. And, I’m guessing the monestary of Saint Vincente in the background.


Nice tree. Seemed like part of old roman baths near the castle.


The big Lisbon Cathedral: Santa Maria Maior de Lisbo.


Some nice paintings playing on the layering/texturing of Lisbon.


The bridge to the Castle of Sao Jorge.


Inside the castle, relaxing to some tranditional music.His strumming really added to the castle-touring experience. I tipped him well :)