Divide By Zero’s James Portnow recently visited Brazil to scope out the game industry and whipped up an excellent analysis for Gamasutra.
Having visited Brazil recently myself (to keynote at the annual SBGames conference), I share many of the same observations and conclusions. Though, sadly, I wasn’t able to make it out to the Oi Futura Nave school.
Of all the challenges and obstacles listed (ie, piracy, taxes, lack of funding, etc), the most potent problem in my opinion is a complete mismatch of creative vision and business opportunity.
As James mentioned, “game makers in Brazil expect to jump in and start making AAA experiences like those they play.” Indeed, it was amazing how many indie/amateur/student developers I met who wanted to create the next Halo, WoW or GTA.
I kept telling them to stop looking towards America/the West for inspiration, and rather look to Korea. While the variables/conditions were obviously different, Korea had similar challenges. And yes, perhaps more so through business innovation, the industry evolved and prospered.
There are many opportunities to be had in Brazil right now, in spite of the current obstacles. It’s just hard to see them when you’re trying to code up your epic Halo killer idea.
I always had to track my time while working at the IGDA. Both as a way to better understand where my limited time was being spent, and for tax reporting reasons (ie, my salary was allocated across different line items (admin vs. programs vs. marketing, etc)).
This habit has come in handy now that I’m a freelance consultant. I not only track time spent on specific projects/clients, but also my overall work related activities. This chart graphs time percentages since I became freelance in April 2009 to the end of the year.
A few comments:
- Wow, so little time is actually spent on client work (aka “billable hours”). Not sure what the norm is…
- A lot of things overlap, like speaking at a conference and writing an article could also count towards business development and/or marketing.
- Feels like I don’t spend enough time doing business development, and way too little time on marketing/communications…
- Happy that “email” is not too high. My email time at IGDA was nearly 50%. FYI, this is random email and time spent clearing my inbox. Any project specific email would count as consulting time, for example.
- Sad to lose 13% of my time to travel, though that is when I do most of my reading…
- I still co-chair the IGDA-Montreal chapter. I always treated that as volunteer effort, even when I was working for IGDA proper. 5% feels right/realistic to me…
- Good to see “admin” stuff is not distracting me much.
Alright, will be interesting to see how the numbers play out in 2010 as I attempt to do more bizdev+marcom.
At the start of the new year, I had the privilege to jet over to Rome for a week to work with AIOMI (Italy’s game industry association) on their new video game museum project. While the focus was on work stuff, I luckily had a bit of time to soak in the sights (and fine wine) of Rome.
Indeed, the city is beautiful with so much to see and do. And, it is quite walkable. I walked the whole time between the various major sites and locations. That said, the city is hard to navigate. In part because the tourist maps are poorly designed, but also because the city is so dense and layered.
Shot outside my hotel room window.
My snazzy hotel, the Bernini Bristol behind the fountain in the Piazza Barberini.
The Spanish Steps.
The huge Christmas tree at the mid-point plateau of the Spanish Steps.
The obelisk and church at the top of the Spanish Steps.
Fancy Christmas decorations (this is the Fendi store) along the high fashion street Condotti.
Which of course, includes Hello Kitty
The Trevi Fountain.
The Pantheon.
A dig site from some old Roman temples along the Argentina road.
Vittariano: The alter/monument to honor fallen soldiers.
Church, obelisk and ruins part of the Forum/Coliseum site.
Part of the Forum.
The Coliseum at night.
Inside view of the Coliseum.
Cross-section of the dungeons under the Coliseum’s floor.
A gladiator mosaic within the Coliseum exhibit.
More ruins on the Coliseum grounds.
The Arch of Constantine and a hill + monastery viewed through one of the Coliseum archways.
Another church.
Another church (I think this one is the Maria Maggiore).
Walking towards the Vatican City.
Inside Saint Peter’s Square, view of the basilica.
Stretch of archway/columns surrounding the Square.
Saint Angelo’s Castle.
Saint Agenlo’s bridge across the Tiber river.
A semi-ruined basilica behind the fountain in the Piazza Republica.
Another church.
Another church.
Another obelisk, this one in Piazza Poppolo.
More impressive columns near Piazza Poppolo.
