[games_access] GDC 2008 - not so bad

[Barrie Ellis]

Certainly, approaching indie developers has been the most successful so far. 
Still getting fantastic support from Retro Remakes:

www.retroremakes.com

We can still do much to make things easier for these people, which could 
bleed into people getting mainstream gaming jobs.

Barrie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Eelke Folmer" <eelke.folmer at gmail.com>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2007 8:17 AM
Subject: Re: [games_access] GDC 2008: VERY Bad News


> With so many interesting talks going on and such expensive prices for
> the passes game developers rather go to talks on the geometry shaders
> used in Assassin's creed then listen to our talks. Given the current
> state of the games industry with the ever increasing budgets and high
> risks of failure, many game companies struggle for survival, so there
> is really no incentive for them to make games accessible UNLESS we can
> sketch out the potential payoffs, which is hard for certain
> disabilities. I think 10 or 20 years ago we could have had a bigger
> impact since game development didn't involve so much money and risk.
> Given that observation, why not focus on those who will shape the
> future of the games industry? --> Independent game developers.
>
> Cheers Eelke
>
>
>
>
> On 30/11/2007, Thomas Westin <thomas at pininteractive.com> wrote:
>> Hi
>>
>> just want to add I've started to become a bit cynical about GDC after 
>> four
>> years of low number of attendees. I'm also disappointed by this, but for
>> other reasons than the GDC judges
>>
>> Let's not forget GDC is just one conference, although the biggest it's
>> perhaps not the best - low numbers of attendees is really not our 
>> problem,
>> it's the industry's problem, that they can't see the importance of
>> accessibility for the future of the industry. We're here to help, but 
>> since
>> the industry (with a few exceptions/individuals) isn't listening at GDC,
>> they do listen elsewhere.
>>
>> I'd say we should aim for other conferences where people have interest 
>> and
>> time to listen to us. FuturePlay was a great success; let's focus on 
>> similar
>> conferences where we can succeed rather than getting disappointed at GDC.
>>
>> /Thomas
>>
>>
>>
>> 30 nov 2007 kl. 20.00 skrev d. michelle hinn:
>>
>>
>> Well, there's lots to do, that's for sure. We also can't forget that some 
>> of
>> us (you, me, Richard, others) were hit by the GDC flu and/or had to go to
>> hospital (my kidney nightmare) and the selection committee doesn't allow 
>> you
>> to petition for that. That DRAMATICALLY impacted a lot of our sessions 
>> and
>> Idol went way differently than we'd planned for. So we had a lot of bad 
>> luck
>> last year that isn't the fault of anyone -- but it did impact how our
>> proposals were viewed.
>>
>>
>> As a group, we just need to remember that we are a group. We are a 
>> volunteer
>> group. But we are a group and we do a lot! And every time we get a chance 
>> we
>> have to remember to talk about the group. Sure, we all have individual
>> goals, jobs, lives, etc -- but if we all remembered to mention that we 
>> are a
>> part of this group, this movement, I think it would go a long
>> way....especially when it's something good! :)
>>
>>
>> Michelle
>>
>>
>> Sounds like a challenge.  It's too bad there was a bad reputation now 
>> about
>> our group.  Just feels the fighter though to get the word out about our
>> initiatives even more.  Still baffles my mind like game accessibility is
>> just not excepted at all by the mainstream game design community.  Until
>> someday, some mainstream game designers are injured and can't find their
>> favorite games anymore and then we'll see.  But apparently the last 20 
>> years
>> they've all been pretty invulnerable.
>>
>> Robert
>>
>>  ________________________________
>>
>> From: games_access-bounces at igda.org
>> [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of d.
>> michelle hinn
>>  Sent: Friday, November 30, 2007 12:48 PM
>>  To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
>>  Subject: Re: [games_access] GDC 2008: VERY Bad News
>>
>> Hey,
>>
>> The only feedback I've gotten was informal from people I know who work 
>> there
>> -- the sessions weren't judged on content as much as based on low numbers 
>> of
>> attendees and a lot of bad press from GDC07 (many people on the advisory
>> boards for each section (audio, design, etc) gossiped, Idol participants
>> complained...and, yeah, that web archive was mentioned -- google, etc are
>> not our friends). So we live and learn. I'm not going to go into 
>> specifics
>> because it will hurt us to go into it and we don't need that -- There's 
>> too
>> much to do and we cannot spend the little time we have until GDC08 
>> talking
>> about what happened after GDC07. I know I brought it up because, yes, I 
>> was
>> angry that morning because the low number of acceptances for this year 
>> was
>> what I was afraid might happen. But I was also angry because I really,
>> really killed myself over the proposals for this year.
>>
>> Unfortunately, it's not academia so they won't ever provide us with 
>> concrete
>> comments or a feedback page about what we could have done 
>> better/differently
>> or even what they hated. And it's not a blind review either. Basically 
>> this
>> year we need to atone and re-earn respect as a group. >From what I've 
>> heard,
>> however, if you have never had a proposal accepted that you turned in, 
>> they
>> were EVEN MORE likely to not take a chance on your proposal...so I guess 
>> we
>> are lucky that we got three sessions (two were solicited but even those 
>> went
>> through a bit of a review as well).
>>
>> So when you say you can pay your own way...do you mean that you want to 
>> buy
>> your own pass?
>>
>> We'll have accessibility arcade and the meet and greet to show some stuff 
>> at
>> -- we won't have as much room but we should have stuff for people to look 
>> at
>> and some of the stuff are great conversation starters. So we won't need 
>> as
>> much this year -- my broken controller (the Quad Controller that has now
>> been broken TWICE by airport security so it really looks bad) is quite 
>> the
>> conversation piece. I think I could have just carried that around at
>> FuturePlay all day to get the word out about accessibility! :D
>>
>> Michelle
>>
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm sorry to hear about the passes. I'll be driving from Reno to SF so I 
>> can
>> take all my accessible hardware if need be. (If there is space to demo
>> them?)
>>
>>
>>
>> Michelle, did they provide us with specific feedback on those proposals?
>> what were the main criteria for not accepting them?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> I can pay my own way to GDC since I have some money left from my grant 
>> that
>> I need to spend before august, after UNR decided not to approve my travel
>> request to Futureplay. Besides it's cheap for me to go there anyway.
>>
>>
>>
>> Cheers Eelke
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 27/11/2007, Reid Kimball <reid at rbkdesign.com> wrote:
>> While this is isn't the ideal situation it's not a total loss for the
>>  group and we have to work within our resources to do the best we can.
>>
>>  If only three of us can come, then I suggest we don't bring any
>>  hardware accessories. Instead, let's create flyer's and brochures
>>  about the accessories. Maybe even produce videos of people using them.
>>
>>  I also recommend that because we are a smaller group this year, we try
>>  to have personal meetings with game developers to talk about how we
>>  can help them.
>>
>>  -Reid
>>
>>  On Nov 27, 2007 12:25 PM, d. michelle hinn < hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > Ok...
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > So remember when I was writing for days straight for all the GDC
>> submissions
>>  > without a whole lot of help? All submissions have been accepted now so 
>> we
>>  > have some bad, bad music to face. I never did put up all the final
>>  > submissions on the WIKI -- I was too tired after the deadline and it
>> doesn't
>>  > matter as much now. I'll get them up for archive reasons.
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > Well...we've been hit by reality this year. I hate to bring this up 
>> again
>>  > but I feel that I have to -- A lot of public word got out about our 
>> big
>>  > post-GDC fight last year (it's archived on the net...). I'm not saying
>> that
>>  > it was any one person or any one comment -- I can't even look at the
>> archive
>>
>> > without beating myself up about it because I felt like I had really,
>> really
>>  > let everyone down. I got the proposals and the passes but I couldn't 
>> make
>>  > our showing work in the best way possible. I couldn't be everywhere
>>  > advertising our sessions. I was far from perfect, we were all far from
>>  > perfect, we had big dreams but not enough people doing the work. I'm 
>> not
>>  > saying everything goes back to that but we had a big year last year, 
>> had
>>  > more than enough passes for everyone...and that was then. It's hard 
>> for
>>  > me...well, it's very sad for me to realize that we had it so great 
>> last
>> year
>>  > and we didn't recognize it, we didn't have enough real help when push
>> came
>>  > to shove (or suitcase pulling came to suitcase pulling back and forth
>> every
>>  > day to the convention center). All the "should of" "would have" "could
>> have"
>>  > things are coming back to haunt me. I stopped flogging myself about 
>> this
>> a
>>  > while ago and thought that I had come to peace with it but I realize 
>> now
>>  > that I still haven't stopped flogging myself about not being 
>> superhuman.
>> I
>>  > know. I know. Stop it.
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > So...we only had one proposal accepted. All the acceptances are in 
>> now.
>>  > Reid's [cc] poster (downgraded from a 20 minute talk but I think this
>> will
>>  > get more people) submission.
>>  > [
>> https://www.cmpevents.com/GD08/a.asp?option=C&V=11&SessID=6456
>> ]
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > The other two were IGDA solicited (ie, they did not go through the
>> system)
>>  > -- accessibility arcade and the SIG meet and greet. That buys us two 
>> more
>>  > passes -- one is mine since I'm SIG chair and one was for Eelke for 
>> the
>> meet
>>  > and greet because he helped on the proposals.
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > I'm going to try and talk to everyone I can think of to try and get a 
>> few
>>  > more passes because one of those is a roundtable and was solicited by
>> IGDA
>>  > (that was NOT in the proposal process) and it's accessibility arcade. 
>> To
>>  > pull that off, we need more people. I hope that this gets us a few 
>> more
>>  > passes.
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > The booth is out of question unless we can get some SERIOUS money 
>> FAST. I
>> am
>>  > trying every angle I can think of but so far no luck. The booth SPACE
>> costs
>>  > $5100 for 10x10 booth -- add on about $3000 more for the "required"
>> minimum
>>  > of stuff we have to provide...no way. IF we get an expo booth it will 
>> get
>> us
>>  > more EXPO passes, which will restrict those with these passes to just
>> being
>>  > able to get into the expo area (no talks, etc). That's the reality.
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > I'm sorry to have to tell you this and I'm sorry for the anger/sadness 
>> in
>> my
>> > tone. We are not going to be able to bring everyone we want to. I 
>> > cannot
>> say
>>  > when or if I'll hear if we can get more passes. I know some of you 
>> have
>>  > already made flight and hotel arrangements. If you are one of these
>> people,
>>  > please check with your airlines, etc for the last date to cancel 
>> without
>>  > penalty.
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > So three passes...that's it. That's where we are at. I will let you 
>> know
>> if
>>  > the pass situation changes but for now it doesn't look great. We now 
>> have
>>  > fifteen fewer passes so those of us in attendance are going to have to
>> try
>>  > and talk our asses off at GDC.
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > Michelle
>>  > _______________________________________________
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>>  > games_access at igda.org
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>>  >
>>  >
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>>
>>
>>  --
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  Eelke Folmer                           Assistant Professor
>>  Department of CS&E/171
>>  University of Nevada              Reno, Nevada 89557
>>  Game interaction design        www.helpyouplay.com
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
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> -- 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Eelke Folmer                           Assistant Professor
> Department of CS&E/171
> University of Nevada              Reno, Nevada 89557
> Game interaction design        www.helpyouplay.com
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