Sommet international du jeu de Montréal 2008

As games have gotten bigger and higher-budget, stories have taken a prominent role in their design. We often try to make our games more compelling by imbuing them with interesting stories. To some extent, this works; market reactions show clearly that the audience wants these stories. This is a problem, because gameplay and story fight each other, thus our works are inherently conflicted. While games remain structurally unsound in this way, we will have a very difficult time producing strong, artistically competent works, so it is unlikely that the medium will reach its potential. Jonathan looks at why this is the case and explores some long-term ideas for remedying the situation.

We have just come to terms with our fifth generation of games machines, so given the break-neck speed of this industry, do we need to start bracing ourselves for the next one? With each generation, predictions have been about right in terms of the obvious performance and storage improvements, but generally we get the emphasis wrong – many presumed that online was the main ‘big thing’ that would define the fifth generation, but most likely it has been Nintendo’s great controller innovations. This talk will look at the big changes that might colour the sixth generation, including new business models, and how Frontier has been planning for the future with its current range of titles, including LostWinds and The Outsider.

This talk will begin by exploring what it means to be human, and why production is a basic expression of our humanity. Upon that foundation, we will build an understanding of production as it relates to the game development process, particularly how good production manifests, and how to help people achieve their goalswithout destroying the fundamental joy of creation. Finally, we will address the ultimate question: Why? Takeaway: Achieving goals through good production without destroying the fundamental joys of creation. Intended Audiebce: keynote"

This session (presented with Dr. Lawrence Kutner) reviews research (surveys and focus groups) from Harvard Medical School and elsewhere on how young teenagers and their parents perceive, interact with and respond to video games. What do teenagers say about why they play these games? Which patterns of play appear to be beneficial, and which are worrisome? What are the emotional issues involved in video game play? What do parents know about their children's games? What do they worry about? How do they perceive the influence of games on children, including potentially positive influences? What kinds of information would they like to have to make decisions about appropriate games for their children? Parents have nuanced views on the issue of violent content in video games. What issues are the concerned about that are not addressed by ESRB ratings and other ratings systems? How do teenagers view violent content in games vs. other media? Takeaway: Teenagers' and parents’ perceptions of and concerns about games are nuanced and sometimes counterintuitive Intended Audience: Game developers and marketers

Come to discuss with our Keynotes.

This session (presented with Dr. Lawrence Kutner) reviews research (surveys and focus groups) from Harvard Medical School and elsewhere on how young teenagers and their parents perceive, interact with and respond to video games. What do teenagers say about why they play these games? Which patterns of play appear to be beneficial, and which are worrisome? What are the emotional issues involved in video game play? What do parents know about their children's games? What do they worry about? How do they perceive the influence of games on children, including potentially positive influences? What kinds of information would they like to have to make decisions about appropriate games for their children? Parents have nuanced views on the issue of violent content in video games. What issues are the concerned about that are not addressed by ESRB ratings and other ratings systems? How do teenagers view violent content in games vs. other media? Takeaway: Teenagers' and parents’ perceptions of and concerns about games are nuanced and sometimes counterintuitive Intended Audience: Game developers and marketers

Come to discuss with our Keynotes.

In 2005, I gave a talk at Montreal International Game Summit entitled “Gaming at the Margins.” In that talk, I described the challenges facing videogames in the years to come – and there were plenty of challenges, any one of which, I said, could send us plummeting form the heights of cultural significance and massive profitability to the marginal world of niche markets and the depths of money-losing despair. I was pretty pessimistic and felt that someone needed to sound an appropriately cautionary note as we headed into the world of Next Gen Gaming. Now, I look around and see some problems, certainly, especially on the business side but, paradoxically, I see amazing, exhilarating, joyous progress on the creative side. And that fills me with hope for the future. My talk this year will attempt to make sense of this remarkable situation. I’ll talk about the Most Exciting Thing Happening In Gaming Today; about how the latest round of innovation – and the growing cadre of innovators making it possible – are unlike innovators of the past; and about why this matters. Finally, I’ll talk about what has to happen to sustain this burst of innovation and creativity in the context of commercial game development. Mostly, though, I hope to resolve my own confusion about this odd state of affairs – you don’t often see a seemingly broken business supporting and promoting innovation everywhere you look. I’ll assess how we came to this place in the medium’s remarkable history, why now and what the future might hold for the game business, game innovation, game culture and game development."