Post Nanocon Impression pt.1/3

Nanocon – oh, what a weekend.  To convey it all, where can I start?

Well, how about when Nanocon official setoff for myself.  A friend of mine and I had our experience begin last Thursday night, as we drove to pick-up the first of a long line of speakers at the airport.  When we arrived at seven, we got the call that the flight was delayed until nine, when another speaker was arriving.  So, a two hour trip turned into five.  It couldn’t have been better.

The two speakers were Jacob Butcher - an English major who specializes in studying the horror narrative in games -, and Chris Pruett - a veteran game designer, programmer, and champion of Chris's Survival Horror Quest.  On the drive back, Jacob discussed with Chris the workings of horror games and the game industry.  The numbers and past experiences expressed by the two, as seen through the context of a student, really instilled in me that I need to focus on Indie studios, not the game industry giants.  Making AAA games is really hard!

In the morning, the horror-themed IDiG (still not sure how IDiG is associated with Nanocon; we're figuring it out) set-off with two presentations from professors here at school.  After their run, Bernard Perron - a pioneer of video game theory - was supposed to speak, but he had unexpected complications arise.  His slide presentation was a stop-and-go between one of the professors and a panel of the other speakers, but it was really deep in terms of obvious content.  In summary, a great list of points on making an effective game was compiled.

I’ll continue with more in pt.2 since the weekend has barely started, but I’ll try my best to figure out how to put up my notes on the speakers in an easily downloadable format.  Off to Blogger’s help page!

UPDATE 11-9-11
Read part 2!