GDC 2005

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What is Game Developers?

• The game industrys largest industry event for
  people who make games
• E3 is for people who sell games
• Started in 1980s in Tim Brengles house
• End of 1990s venture capital brought conference
  back to reality

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GDC Today - http//www.gdconf.com

• Over 10,000 attendees
• Owned by CMP Publications
• Many Tracks to Best represent industry
• Business Management
• GDC Mobile
• Audio, programming, other tech areas
• Visual Game Design tracks
• IGDA
• Serious Games Summit

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GDC Today

• Almost required to launch or announce new console
  hardware at GDC
• Japanese companies are beginning to see this
• Less about hardware thanks to improved standards
  (less driver-centric)

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GDC 2006

• Keynotes Themes

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Common Discussion Topics

• Polymorphic Content
• California Japan are the most expensive places
  in the world to develop games
• Redesigning controllers to get to new markets
• New Markets in general, hardcore gamers are
  over-appealed to

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Industry Topics

• Youll need 1.2 million copies sold to make a
  profit on a 20 million dollar game (third party
  developer, 3 console platform)
• Building sequels into the profit model
• Massive increases in art budgets due to next-gen
  hardware
• It will cost you 2 million dollars every time
  you change your mind

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General Topics

• Launching innovative products at the beginning of
  the hardware cycle
• Korea has only eyes-first free game model that
  works
• This is the first time weve modeled John
  Maddens arm hair

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Keynotes
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Sotoru Iwata

• President of Nintendo
• Developer background
• Nintendo Pepsi
• Looking at new audiences, beyond hardcore gamers

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Train Your Brain

• Based on Dr. Kawashimas books
• Japans aging society
• Initial order of 70,000 units
• 90 Day dev cycle
• 14 Million units moved today
• Prime seller of DS units

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Wil Wright

• Take your time at the beginning stages
• More time needed on creative process
• Stanley Kubrick level of obsessiveness for source
  material
• Procedurally generated content
• Lots of other tangents

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Phil Harrison - Sony VP

• Sonys typical graphics explosion
• Then Market domination info
• 100 million PS2s
• Over 1 billion software units
• Previously have embarrassed themselves because
  overstating power
• Committed to multiprocessing

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Phil Harrison - continued

• Direct e-distribution of content
• Tracks, levels characters
• PS-one library
• Customizablity (Songstars 35 Versions)
• The 5,000 PSP SDK

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Virtual Worlds in Instruction How Real is Too
Real?

• Dr. Edd Schneider
• Department of ICT
• State Univ. of New York at Potsdam
• 3/20/2006

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Research Foundation

• Early Research with Institute for Comm. Research
  in the Telecom Dept. of Indiana University
• Subject-based research experiments
• Psychophysiological reaction to media
• Heart Rate
• Skin Conductance
• Corrugator Zygomatic activty
• Personal interest in applying ICR methodology to
  game design research.

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Primary Research Questions

• Do users prefer to learn by instruction or
  experimentation in a new virtual world?
• How dedicated are users to instruction?
• Who is most likely to stray from direction?

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Improved Tools Create New Design Issues and
Questions

• Level of detail to include
• Level of interaction with detail
• How will users prefer to learn a new 3-D space
• Classifying users
• Repercussions for out of character behavior

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Origin of the Question

• Why is Grand Theft Auto popular?
• How do you play the game?
• How do people react to freedom in games?
• What if people played GTA without knowing it was
  GTA?

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The opening script
thank you for playing the game Heroic
Firefighters, in this game you will assume the
role of a fireman in a crime filled city. Your
goal is to use your fire truck to find and fight
fires.criminals may try and prevent you from
completing your mission.police will try and
arrest you if you run over pedestriansif you are
killed or arrested head north to return to the
fire station and get a replacement truck
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Welcome to the Study
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GDC 2006 Theme Whats Next

• GTA quality Virtual Worlds are already used in
  instruction (Second Life)
• GTA style worlds potentially useful in everything
  from Homeland Security to Public Health

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The Research Design

• Process for the subject
• Subjects complete survey item
• Subjects play game
• Subjects complete post-game survey
• Dual monitor setup
• Researchers observed recorded information
• Self Report Data
• Computing gaming habits (1st part)
• Opinions of in-game experience (2nd part)

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Data from Observation

• Total number of pedestrians killed
• Time of first intentional vehicular kill
• -used as indicator of beginning of
  experimentation
• Time of first intentional weapon kill
• -used as indicator of full experimentation
• (abandonment of character)

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Subjects

• 48 Total Subjects
• 25 Women
• 20 Men
• 3 Removed for Identifying the Game as GTA
• Average Age 27.24
• International Representation

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The Data
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The Basics

• Average number of kills 22.80 (s16.02)
• First Vehicular Homicide 636
• First Weapon Homicide 1148
• Average computer use 23.21h (weekly)
• Average Game use 5.17h (weekly)

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Gender Differences
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Frequency of Kills by Gender
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Experimentation Periods
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Gamers vs. Non-Gamers
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Gamers vs. Non-Gamers

• A big predictor of behavior
• Male gamers abandoned role instantly
• Did they even accept character?
• Averaged a weapon kill before vehicle kill
• Gamers are experimenters

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On-Task time
2000
weapon
vehicle
vehicle
weapon
000
Gamers
Non-Gamers
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Number of Kills
30.5
12.2
Gamers
Non-Gamers
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Anecdotally (shhhhh)

• Subject that indicated highest amount of average
  game time (25 hours) had highest number of kills
  (75)

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Relationship between Out-of-Game and In-Game
Behavior
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From the Survey

• When you have to use a new piece of software
  would you rather
• Never look at instructions or documentation
• Install it and try it first before looking at any
  documentation or directions
• Read a quick start guide and then refer back to
  documentation as needed
• Read instructions first before installing and
  trying

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Kills by Learning Preference
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On-Task Time by Response
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In Conclusion
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Design Takeaways (audience analysis)

• Know your Audience
• Not all young men are gamers!
• Gamers will experiment and are less likely to
  stay in character
• Women are more interested in character than men
• Gamer or non-gamer is as important as gender

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Design Takeaways (design)

• Habits from out-of-game computing can predict
  in-game behavior
• Lack of repercussions is discovered by almost all
• Dont force tutorials at beginning

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Getting a Game Job
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Sessions, Job Fair Interviews

• Overall dissatisfaction with trade schools like
  Full Sail
• Need to know more Game Design (EA)
• Modding is an increasingly accepted way in

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Most Important Focus on a Specific job

• Art or Audio Portfolio
• Programming Specifics like graphics or assembly
• Community management Mass Comm or Marketing
• Level Designer Mods
• Tester Good Luck!

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Questions?

• Dr Edd Schneider
• Schneief_at_potsdam.edu