Free Play 2007

Free Play was fantastic. The panel discussion with Paul Callaghan and Jonathan Blow was very interesting, with several disagreements and some lively debate. It was great to have lunch with Jonathan and talk more about the intricate relationships of game design, martial arts and coding. I’m still convinced that we need to think more about narrative and games rather than giving up on them though Jon! It was also very encouraging to see groups of indy developers coming together after every presentation to talk about the ideas that were discussed and how they can be applied to their projects.

It was very interesting talking to some of the Next Wave organisers too; I really enjoyed the idea of a game conference as part of a wider series of art festivals and must write more on this at a later date. I’m hoping that Byte Me! will cover some of this ground but BEAP &/or Festival of Perth people please get in touch!

Free Play 2007

I’m honoured to have been invited to present a keynote address at Free Play 2007, the Independent Game Developer’s Conference (in Melbourne). Developed by the indy game community for the indy game community, Free Play provides a forum for Australian independent game developers to share knowledge, showcase their work and initiate new projects.