Reality Panic

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.

I’m heading to Singapore for Games Convention Asia. While I’m super excited, I just hope I can survive!

When I make a big trip, I generally try to stack up as much action as possible. That is to say, I’m not going there to slack off or be a tourist. So, I noted to the local IGDA chapter, the conference organizes, as well as the government support agencies to “leverage” me as needed. And leverage they did.

My flight leaves Montreal on Monday, and I arrive in Singapore Wednesday morning. And, right away, the action starts that afternoon… Here’s what’s cooking over the week:

• Lecture on “Developer Communities” as part of the IDA’s Asia Pacific Games Marketplace Forum
• VIP/speaker reception
• Lecture on the “Future of Talent” within the GC-Asia conference
• Moderating a panel of press/PR experts to discuss Western market trends  within the GC-Asia conference
• Reception at the Swedish embassy
• Lunch/meeting with the heads of the various Asian IGDA chapters
• Lecture on “Student Communities” within the student day portion of the GC-Asia conference
• Lecture on macro game industry issues/challenges at the National University of Singapore’s Game Lab

And, of course, that’s not including the usual raft of meetings, expo floor explorations, sessions, etc, etc.

Luckily, I’ll have some personal time on Sunday to check out what makes Singapore unique.

As you can see, did a quick refresh on the header image and some of the link colors, etc.

The header image is a slice from Danial Dociu’s mesmerizing “Rooftops” digital painting:

I’m a big fan of Daniel’s concept art work, and he was kind enough to let me use this slice (though, admittedly, I’ve been using his art as desktop wallpaper for years without permission ;)

With the Leadership Forum early bird registration deadline set for tomorrow (September 5th), I’ve been doing a bit of guerrilla style marketing to help spread the word…

Last year’s Forum was such a massive success, in part given the focused content. The key was depth instead of breadth. This year, the program committee really outdid themselves and putting together a stellar line up of sessions. Particularly challenging given that over 100 proposals came in for only ~25 slots.

I’m also really keen on the workshop/interactive style sessions we have planned (eg, idea swaps, book review jam, problem solving, personality analysis, etc). The other key being about ensuring folks are active participants, not just attendees sitting in seats.

Anyway, assuming you’re past crunch by mid-November, go ask your boss for permission (and funds) to attend. And, actually, best to drag him/her along with you!