Well, for one, I survived! I survived the 24-hour+ transit, the extreme humidity and intense schedule. In fact, I can’t believe how easy it was to be in Singapore. Usually, heading to Tokyo or China, is a “hard” trip given the extreme language and culture barriers. In that regard Singapore is a bit of a beginner’s entry point into Asia.

Games Convention Asia was a nice event, though nowhere near the scale of its big brother back in Leipzig. The conference portion was well attended, with lots of eager developers. (Of note, I remarked how often attendees laughed during presentations, getting the humor/jokes of international speakers - rare for Asian conferences.) The expo floor was a tad on the small side, but still welcomed over 90k visitors.

Fortunately, I had a few spare moments to be a tourist and took in some of the local attractions like the Night Safari, Underwater World and drinking Singapore Slings at the Raffles Hotel.

Anyway, some photos from the trip:


Aroon Tan (Games Exchange Alliance) kicks off the pre-GCA forum.

 


Claus Mortensen (IDC Asia/Pacific) brought in a panel of local gamers. They were all pretty hardcore…

 


An interesting view to wake up to!

 


Skyline view from the 70th floor of the Swisshotel on Stamford, where the VIP/speaker reception was held.

 


Another skyline shot.

 


Seto Lok Yin (Media Development Authority of Singapore) officially kicks off GC-Asia.

 


EA easily had the largest booth.

 


Michael de Plater (Ubisoft Shanghai) delivers the first keynote.

 


Informal IGDA volunteers lunch:Alexander Nareyek (NUS), Gabby Dizon (FlipSide Games), Gary Mi (Radiance), Bryce Hampton (BigWorld), David Kazim (Go3), Ranulf Goss (Holy Ground Productions), and Hilmy’s emmissary.

 


Peter Molyneux (Lionhead) was another keynoter, diving into the world of Fable.

 


A quick side trip to the Swedish embassy for a reception with various researchers.

 


Sten Selander (NetPort) and Staffan Bjork (Chalmers University) within the Swedish embassy.

 


The very well spoken/read Joonmo Kwon (Nexon) provides insight into the online games market.

 


Joerg Zeissig (LMI), Theo Sanders (Razer) and Allan Simonsen (BoomZap) enjoy a drink at the exhibitors’ reception.

 


The famed Raffles Hotel.

 


Mario Wynands (Sidhe), Andrew Oliver (Blitz), Jon Harrison (Blitz) and Aaron Allport (Blitz) loading up on Singapore Slings in the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel.

 


Music was good, but odd to see a Cuban club in Singapore ;)

 


Henry Jenkins (MIT) discusses convergence culture.

 


BBQ chicken feet. Don’t ask…

 


Olivier De Rotalier (Ubisoft Singapore) awards the grand prize in the Contrast student game dev competition.

 


A tiger at the Night Safari. Awesome park, but not great for taking photos…

 


Graffiti in Singapore? Was not expecting that!

 


Entrance to the Sri Krishnan Temple. The statues were insanely ornate/detailed/colorful.

 


Right next door, the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple.

 


A bustling open air market, though not quite as insane as those in Japan or China.

 


The Sim Lim Tower. Singapore’s vertical version of Akihabara.

 


Many game shops selling full-priced retail games were in the Tower.

 


And, lots of game “scratch cards” were available to purchase (FYI, Kwon from Nexon noted that their card was the fastest selling after the iTunes store card).

 


Stands, lights, barriers, etc, were being set up for the first Singaporean Formula 1 race.

 


On the gondola ride over to Sentosa island.

 


Stingrays at the Underwater World. Yes, I touched it!

 


Crazy big crabs. Looked like a boss-monster from Lost Planet.

 


The jellyfish were mesmerizing…

 


…and beautiful.

 


The underwater tunnel. Simple awesome (well, if you like watching sharks and stuff).

 


Across at the beach there was a capoeira group in action. Super interesting to watch the dancing / martial-arts motions.

 


At KM8, the beach bar/club/lounge before nightfall.

 


Fire performer in action at KM8.

 


Admittedly, things got quite hedonistic quickly. Guess that’s what happens with the dancing takes place in a pool.