Australian Gamer Game Event :: Dissecta

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Dissecta - Anatomy of a DVD Game

Dissecta is a Melbourne based series of game industry events. Anna attended their Anatomy of a DVD Game event, where Tom Parkinson, Managing Director of DVD Trivia Games and Lewis Strudwick, Co-founder of game developer Acheron Design look at creating and commercialising DVD board games.

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23rd September 2007
1945 hours
14 Queens Road
South Melbourne

That was the address I thought I could easily remember. It wasn�t much. 14 Queens Road� somewhere near the city. 14 Queens Road. 14 Queens Road. 14 Queens Road.

14 Queens Road.

I was pretty sure I�d found it. I found the easily visible ATARI sign stationed out the front to be of a particular help at this point though being 8 o�clock in the evening meant there was a bit of funny business getting inside. I used a side door motioned to by a janitor who ominously disappeared before I could thank him. Hmm.

No one about. Was it really a good idea to come here by myself? Second thoughts were not coming in handy at this point. I had a mission! There was no room for what ifs. I had about ten minutes before it was all due to start but there was not a soul in the lobby. Oh bugger, oh bugger.

Ok, so I had the address right. It was 14 Queens Rd somewhere near the city. Another quick surveillance of the surrounding area gave me nil on the living souls radar. Hmm. This was becoming problematic.

With my amazing observational skills I espied a list next to the elevator. Being half-blind I moved closer to find, alack! There were multiple floors. I contemplated my options. Was it time to play the musical elevators? Pick a floor at random? No, I had no time for that! I had eight minutes to get to this event or I would have blown it all for Australian Gamer as I knew it.

Think, Anna, think! My vast intellects were failing me and despair seemed ready to set in. six minutes.

<< beep beep >> << beep beep >>

I blinked. Surely not.

Out of my pocket I retrieved the latest saviour of the internets. My phone company advertising about something to do with the cricket. Dismissing it out of hand, I nearly returned it to my pocket before I remembered�.

~~~ Flashback ~~~

Yug says:
Hey, do you want my number?
Yug says:
Just in case you get lost.
Yug says:
lol
Anna ::: Listen; there's a hell of a good universe next door: let's go. ��.��`�.�� says:
Haha, v funny.
�Anna ::: Listen; there's a hell of a good universe next door: let's go. ��.��`�.�� says:
Probably though :(

~~~ End Flashback ~~~

I was saved!

Quickly I text away. I had five minutes left. What level was it on? I waited anxiously for a reply.

...

This *was* Yug I was messaging. Instantaneous responses weren�t his thing.

I look back at my options. Hmm. 3, 6, 8 or 9. Was it an even number? Hmmm� AIE.,

A�I�E� Something niggled me at the back of my brain, something that wasn�t a Red Vs Blue reference. I scratched my head and made my decision, I hit the button. What the hell, the phone�s not giving me any answers. Three minutes.

Level 8
1958 hours

Echoing the education I had been given as a child, I looked left (deserted) right (deserted) and left again (hang on a minute�) before alighting from the elevator.

A figure stood musing over the noticeboard at the far end of the corridor. Aha! Target acquired. I zeroed in and put on my perkiest voice.

TARGET: Thomas Baker
Origin: Effort Studios
Further information: Pending...

Hmm. Uncertain response. I turn down the perkiness. Information processing� They�re running late� he�s the only one there for the moment. Awkward chit chat ensues.

More people turn up. I engage as many as possible (Business Card GET!) and try to make friends. Soon enough, Matt of the Dissecta Committee turns up to take names. All seems well until it�s my turn.

�Anna. From Australian Gamer.�

Anxious moments pass. He checks the list of names. Once, twice.

�Uhh, Yug. He would have emailed. Uh�� panic is setting in. I need to fix this before� What? No problem? I breathe a sigh of relief. Doesn�t seem like they�re booked out anyway.

Ushered into our conference room, the front set with a desk and three chairs, two occupied. My eyes swept the room and spotted the refreshment table. Bingo. I filed the information away for a more appropriate time. Bee-lining from the moment I walked in was sure to be far too suspicious. Finding my seat, I made sure I was not alone by motioning violently to Mr Baker. I had my backup, the location of the refreshment table firmly in mind and was ready to record.

You didn�t think I was taking notes for this, was I? This is the 21st century, people! Get with it!

Lewis Struowick from Acheron Design and Tom Parkinson from DVD Trivia Games

TARGET: Lewis Struowick
Origin: Acheron Design
Further information: One of the head designers/god knows what else in local indie company. Apparently has something to do with the Russian secret service.

TARGET: Tom Parkinson
Origin: DVD Trivia Games
Further information: Managing Director of DVD Trivia Games Ltd. Likes to take a calculated gamble on things. Very knowledgeable of DVD Trivia Market (hence, guest speaker).

Now, introductions out of the way, Tom told us a fair bit about the process of getting the licenses, organising the game and readying it for retail. The talk mainly focussed on the market, what there games were and how it was programmed for DVD. It also touched on the marketability of DVD-based games compared to traditional board games and incorporating it into other media, including internet and mobile, as is being developed as the Braggrats project.

A friendly game of DVD Trivia Cricket ensued with a few cricket buffs being revealed in the audience. Why anyone remembers that sort of trivia amazes me. AFL and WWII Trivia were also on show though problems with the AV meant that we only got a short overview.

Being DVDs, the limitations in programming the questions were explained as rather frustrating and awkward, making it hard to ensure that the player would not end up with the same questions. The programmers in the audience seemed to understand this concept far better than I, so I nodded along with the others and focussed on the smell of pizza I could swear was coming from down the hall.

Pizza Break
2050 hours

A mad dash to the pizza by all led to only a few slices of Hawaiian being left for yours truly. No matter! I daintily took a piece and returned to my seat with refreshments in hand.

Upon finishing this piece, I was ready to replenish my plate and� alas! The talks began again. I could not leave my seat. Dejected, I rummaged for my bag to record once more (Note: next time, don�t sit next to people still eating as sound of chewing is extremely off putting on playback).

It was now Lewis� turn to give his talk. As a fresh out of uni indie developer, it was interesting to get an inside opinion on being stuck on projects passed on to you by bigger companies (IR Gurus). The severe creative curtailing that ensues from such contracts was highlighted upon, a plight felt by most independent games studios across Australia, leaving them little time to develop purely Australian fuelled gigabytes of goodness (ATTN: Hon. Helen Coonan).

With it all said and done, Q&As revealing the rather disorganised state of Australia�s elite group of trivia question writers, the mysterious Rodney of Sydney and the lack of funometer.

Anna and Lewis Struowick

Post-event mingling lasted a good half an hour where I ingratiated myself in with people I didn�t know. Meeting people from Dissecta � Tim (a lawyer) and Matt (someone or other from Tantalus). A former teacher from AIE whose name escaped me (I could have asked again but by calculating impact of the level of embarrassment on the extending hand of friendship seemed too great) � he had been a great help trying to hack the system to get the AV working, but to no avail. Keeping Tom on my tail, I discussed at length the frustrations of programming with Lewis. A subject I could barely contribute to but a mutual understanding seemed to help keep my feet above water. With Matt joining us, we kept chatting about goodness know what and went or separate ways.

More photos would be forthcoming if my sister�s camera had not been drenched with lemonade two weeks prior. With only a few photos under its belt, the camera sputtered and fainted Pok�mon style.

It took me a little while to return to the Pok�Centre but by that time, it was late and it was time for this Slowpoke to make like Drowzee and hit the sack.

End transmission 2240 hours

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