When I do find time to add something more substantial (and I will at some point), it will be original and with any luck entertaining. For now however, here is some of the work I have been doing elsewhere. Hope you enjoy.
Games have come a long way in the past decade. Characters’ ability to emote thanks to the power of the current systems, and developers’ willingness to control the pace of stories, displays a new maturity for the industry.
I could talk about games, I could regale you with stories from the show floor or describe the tingling sensation I got saying ‘Hi’ to Keiji Inafune. But if you want to know about the games you can check out my previews at Play Devil (links below), instead I am going to tell you two tales from my journey home.
My intentions were to stop these, but I have spent so much time writing for other sites that sometimes I just like to put them up to prove I am alive.
It is nice to have a business area. Having a space to sit and write, take notes or just having people with enough time to answer your questions, is not vital to providing prompt coverage but it certainly helps.
Coming from the comparatively down and dirty TGS, Gamescom’s attitude to press had a great many advantages. There was one disadvantage however, which was that a great many games I DIDN’T get to play, that I was only allowed to watch. Of course Tokyo had its own fair share of ‘game theatres’ for upcoming games still early in development but with no appointments I rarely saw them.
You may be asking why I feel this is important, well there is a psychological theory known as misattribution of emotion. Basically the idea is that a feeling can bleed in to an opinion experienced around the same time without conscious thought or control.
It should come as no surprise that Activision Blizzard’s space at Gamescom was vast. With Activision titles lining the left and Blizzard on the right, I paid multiple visits to their ‘booth’, which was constantly buzzing with activity. All of
My first appointment was with Warner Bros. With three appointments (plus one for Lollipop Chainsaw that I begged for) I spent a good chunk of time in this smallish, but well ventilated booth (did I mention that in the business section you could feel the air-con?) chatting to developers and press. It was casual, friendly, and far less harassed than I had ever felt at TGS as I relaxed in a chair with my cola.