GenConOz Brisbane 2008
Game Event from Yug - Tuesday, 08 July 2008 @ 10:34pm
I should preface this retrospective report of the first GenCon held in Australia with a few pieces of important information about myself.
I am not a table top gamer. I have never played dungeons & dragons. I've never gotten into the Stargate TV series. I've never dressed up as my favourite character from a show/game/movie. I do not own a dice with more than 6 sides. I've never participated in an RPG that wasn't a video game.
It's because of these facts that I feel I was not the target audience for GenConOz 2008. I'm sure if you read the above paragraph and found yourself shaking your head in disgust, then I've no doubt that the expo would have been an absolutely fantastic and worthwhile experience for you.
Realistically, I was there for the video games ... the promoted 'Best 4 Days in e-Gaming'.
Which is why I was disappointed.
But I'll get back to that in a moment.
The table top gaming area took up over half the expo
GenCon actually has a long and established history, founded in 1968 as one of the largest and most prominent gaming conventions in North America. These days it has expanded internationally, with conventions also held in the UK and France, with the US version held in Indiana now similar in size to E3. So the Australian show, to be held in Brisbane, Queensland, had quite a history to live up to.
Held at the Brisbane Convention Centre and taking up two of the massive halls, there seemed to be about a half and half split - on one side an endless sea of tables and chairs for the board, card and table top games - on the other side your exhibitor booths, main stages, screening rooms and LAN Competition.
No doubt about it, when you say 'gaming' to most of the people there, they aren't thinking about video games.
So what e-Gaming was there to be had?
Well to start with, AustralianGamer had a booth there - the usual setup of course: crappy TV, bean bags, bowl of lollies, a Super Nintendo and a Sega Megadrive. Games on offer included Sonic 2, Mario Kart, Tetris, Donkey Kong Country 2 and Mario All-Stars to name a few. Our booth was generally constantly full, although until the weekend it did feel like we were a bit of a babysitting service for parents to dump their kids.
GameTraders probably had the most prominent area, with a setup comprising of PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and N64. Guitar Hero, Smash Bros Brawl and Call of Duty being the big draws in their area, although there were plenty of times when we had GameTraders staff sneak into our booth for some Tetris battles.
Queensland Games had an area there, unfortunately the only playable game being the admittedly fun but casual title 'Tumblebugs' by Wildfire Studio. Other than that, a video that showcased locally produced games from Pandemic, Krome, THQ Studio Oz, Fuzzyeyes and Half Brick, and a bunch of guys from new indie studio Vahalla standing around telling people about their latest Dawn of War mod project.
Krome Studios had their own booth, and provided the latest and most exclusive gaming to be had, with playable versions of their upcoming games Hellboy 2 on the Xbox 360, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on the Wii. Steve Stamatiadis (or Space Captain Steve!) - creator of Ty the Tasmanian Tiger and the upcoming Blade Kitten game, was also available to meet and greet.
There was also a decent sized LAN being held by JB and the LAN Smash people, which while small for most of the days was packed during the Saturday. I'll need to confirm final numbers but it did look like there were over 60 gamers there during one stage, and for those that participated it seemed like alot of fun.
Krome had a fantastic display, including playable Hellboy 2 and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
And ......... well, that's it. You would have at least expected some of the local publishers of upcoming Warhammer or table top game based franchises to make an appearance, but they didn't. Where was a Warhammer Online preview by EA? Where was Eye of Judgement on the PS3 from Sony? Even local distributor Red Ant should have had Warhammer: Mark of Chaos on display, and THQ certainly has an existing catalogue of Warhammer games, with a complete collection coming out soon on the PC. Where were they?
Ultimately, at an event like this - unproven and untested - the majority of publishers and distributors aren't about to take the risk ... yet. If anything is to come out of this event from a video game perspective, it's that if it's going to be advertised - it needs to be backed up, because the interest is there.
There were a few other events that were of interest during the 4 days there, stage presentations and lectures, but good luck trying to find them. On the Friday there were two sessions organised by the GDAA featuring Mick Dobele from Half Brick, Lauren Pears from THQ Studio Australia, and Truna from the IGDA ... but it took myself and my friend Mark a good 15 minutes to find when and where they took place.
The 'How to get into games' Panel
Similar with our live podcast with Yahtzee from Zero Punctuation, I couldn't find mention of the time or place where it was being held anywhere on the website or in the GenCon booklet ... I'm amazed that any of you found it at all! And those of you that did may have been disappointed with the length, but unfortunately it seemed we were given the '5 minutes left' signal only 10 minutes in! Regardless, Matt, myself and Yahtzee loved being up there and hope to do more public podcasts in the near future. You can listen to it here.
The rest of GenConOz was enjoyable depending on what separate niche you were into. It was great to see Handy and the Animavericks guys there again, I found out about Jugger - a competitive weapon based sport modelled on an old Rutger Hower movie, the cosplayers that attended ranged from muffin top overweight manga chicks to amazingly detailed an impressive Square characters, the stage presentations ... well, the less said about some of the songs I heard the better (Chain Mail Woman sung to the tune of Pretty Woman??).
This is the first year GenCon was run here in Australia, and regardless of anyone’s thoughts on the show, I look forward to the improvements and evolution of the expo next year!
I am not a table top gamer. I have never played dungeons & dragons. I've never gotten into the Stargate TV series. I've never dressed up as my favourite character from a show/game/movie. I do not own a dice with more than 6 sides. I've never participated in an RPG that wasn't a video game.
It's because of these facts that I feel I was not the target audience for GenConOz 2008. I'm sure if you read the above paragraph and found yourself shaking your head in disgust, then I've no doubt that the expo would have been an absolutely fantastic and worthwhile experience for you.
Realistically, I was there for the video games ... the promoted 'Best 4 Days in e-Gaming'.
Which is why I was disappointed.
But I'll get back to that in a moment.
The table top gaming area took up over half the expo
GenCon actually has a long and established history, founded in 1968 as one of the largest and most prominent gaming conventions in North America. These days it has expanded internationally, with conventions also held in the UK and France, with the US version held in Indiana now similar in size to E3. So the Australian show, to be held in Brisbane, Queensland, had quite a history to live up to.
Held at the Brisbane Convention Centre and taking up two of the massive halls, there seemed to be about a half and half split - on one side an endless sea of tables and chairs for the board, card and table top games - on the other side your exhibitor booths, main stages, screening rooms and LAN Competition.
No doubt about it, when you say 'gaming' to most of the people there, they aren't thinking about video games.
So what e-Gaming was there to be had?
Well to start with, AustralianGamer had a booth there - the usual setup of course: crappy TV, bean bags, bowl of lollies, a Super Nintendo and a Sega Megadrive. Games on offer included Sonic 2, Mario Kart, Tetris, Donkey Kong Country 2 and Mario All-Stars to name a few. Our booth was generally constantly full, although until the weekend it did feel like we were a bit of a babysitting service for parents to dump their kids.
GameTraders probably had the most prominent area, with a setup comprising of PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and N64. Guitar Hero, Smash Bros Brawl and Call of Duty being the big draws in their area, although there were plenty of times when we had GameTraders staff sneak into our booth for some Tetris battles.
Queensland Games had an area there, unfortunately the only playable game being the admittedly fun but casual title 'Tumblebugs' by Wildfire Studio. Other than that, a video that showcased locally produced games from Pandemic, Krome, THQ Studio Oz, Fuzzyeyes and Half Brick, and a bunch of guys from new indie studio Vahalla standing around telling people about their latest Dawn of War mod project.
Krome Studios had their own booth, and provided the latest and most exclusive gaming to be had, with playable versions of their upcoming games Hellboy 2 on the Xbox 360, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on the Wii. Steve Stamatiadis (or Space Captain Steve!) - creator of Ty the Tasmanian Tiger and the upcoming Blade Kitten game, was also available to meet and greet.
There was also a decent sized LAN being held by JB and the LAN Smash people, which while small for most of the days was packed during the Saturday. I'll need to confirm final numbers but it did look like there were over 60 gamers there during one stage, and for those that participated it seemed like alot of fun.
Krome had a fantastic display, including playable Hellboy 2 and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
And ......... well, that's it. You would have at least expected some of the local publishers of upcoming Warhammer or table top game based franchises to make an appearance, but they didn't. Where was a Warhammer Online preview by EA? Where was Eye of Judgement on the PS3 from Sony? Even local distributor Red Ant should have had Warhammer: Mark of Chaos on display, and THQ certainly has an existing catalogue of Warhammer games, with a complete collection coming out soon on the PC. Where were they?
Ultimately, at an event like this - unproven and untested - the majority of publishers and distributors aren't about to take the risk ... yet. If anything is to come out of this event from a video game perspective, it's that if it's going to be advertised - it needs to be backed up, because the interest is there.
There were a few other events that were of interest during the 4 days there, stage presentations and lectures, but good luck trying to find them. On the Friday there were two sessions organised by the GDAA featuring Mick Dobele from Half Brick, Lauren Pears from THQ Studio Australia, and Truna from the IGDA ... but it took myself and my friend Mark a good 15 minutes to find when and where they took place.
The 'How to get into games' Panel
Similar with our live podcast with Yahtzee from Zero Punctuation, I couldn't find mention of the time or place where it was being held anywhere on the website or in the GenCon booklet ... I'm amazed that any of you found it at all! And those of you that did may have been disappointed with the length, but unfortunately it seemed we were given the '5 minutes left' signal only 10 minutes in! Regardless, Matt, myself and Yahtzee loved being up there and hope to do more public podcasts in the near future. You can listen to it here.
The rest of GenConOz was enjoyable depending on what separate niche you were into. It was great to see Handy and the Animavericks guys there again, I found out about Jugger - a competitive weapon based sport modelled on an old Rutger Hower movie, the cosplayers that attended ranged from muffin top overweight manga chicks to amazingly detailed an impressive Square characters, the stage presentations ... well, the less said about some of the songs I heard the better (Chain Mail Woman sung to the tune of Pretty Woman??).
This is the first year GenCon was run here in Australia, and regardless of anyone’s thoughts on the show, I look forward to the improvements and evolution of the expo next year!
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Miracle @ 11:27pm 18 Jul
seconded. that's a brilliant idea. Mdobele for GenCon PR next year.
QUOTE (Mdobele @ Jul 18 2008, 08:03 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I'm still looking forwards to next years despite any criticism I have of the event 
In terms of the lineup I'd simply rather line up in 1 line outside the main entry to purchase and redeem my ticket. And then move your event registration booth to actually be INSIDE the expo so that:
a ) It doesn't confuse people lining up outside to get in.
B ) If lines are big at the event registration booth people can wander around, make up their minds based off the program, see the expo and come back to the event registration line up in their own time. Having it outside made people feel they HAD to register for everything before they walked in otherwise they would be unable to come back out and do it later.
In terms of the lineup I'd simply rather line up in 1 line outside the main entry to purchase and redeem my ticket. And then move your event registration booth to actually be INSIDE the expo so that:
a ) It doesn't confuse people lining up outside to get in.
B ) If lines are big at the event registration booth people can wander around, make up their minds based off the program, see the expo and come back to the event registration line up in their own time. Having it outside made people feel they HAD to register for everything before they walked in otherwise they would be unable to come back out and do it later.
seconded. that's a brilliant idea. Mdobele for GenCon PR next year.
Mdobele @ 8:03am 18 Jul
I'm still looking forwards to next years despite any criticism I have of the event
In terms of the lineup I'd simply rather line up in 1 line outside the main entry to purchase and redeem my ticket. And then move your event registration booth to actually be INSIDE the expo so that:
a ) It doesn't confuse people lining up outside to get in.
B ) If lines are big at the event registration booth people can wander around, make up their minds based off the program, see the expo and come back to the event registration line up in their own time. Having it outside made people feel they HAD to register for everything before they walked in otherwise they would be unable to come back out and do it later.
Yug @ 12:28am 18 Jul
Hey Ian, haven't had a chance to touch base after the show - figured I'd leave you to perhaps take a vacation and some R&R for a bit
I think at the end of the day, most of the feedback tends to be more 'constructive' than complaints ... the impression I get over all is that people WANT this to work, and WANT it to come back next year ...
As for the video game aspect, well I know as well as anyone that the publishers are a fickle bunch, but I have no doubt that they will look upon next years show with more interest, especially if its later in the year, and especially if you hit them up around January next year.
QUOTE (GenConOZ @ Jul 18 2008, 12:17 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Hey Gamers!
I appreciate the dramas that our lining system caused. There were some major discussions that occurred between us and the convention centre to get it down to a two step process, but alas, because it was our first show, it became a case of "Not until you've proven yourself".
The correct system is that people line up to register for show badges. They then purchase that through our people, then enter the show.
If you wish to register for an event, you can then go to the second step and go to Event Registration.
The idea is that it frees up the people who want to go and see insiode without playing in tournaments. Well that's the theory anyway. I think for next time, signage is going to have to be the way to go, and perhaps some "ushers" at the front who can explain to people what the process it.
Unfortunately dealing with 500 different events means that if we just have the one Purchase Point, all the people who want to go in for a look will be waiting behind people who for the most part will take some time "make up their minds".
As for Computer Gaming not being as big a part of the show as we wanted, I can only say that we tried. I think the biggest hurdle for us was that we were a new concept to Australia (with our mix of more traditional tabletop gaming) and so the larger companies (and in some case smaller ones) wanted to see how we performed first. Something that I can understand and appreciate. Hopefully we have now proved ourselves that we are capable of taking on a show of this size.
The other hurdle was the fact that there wasn't a lot of "NEW" information being thrown around mainly because placing the event in July meant that we were in between announcements such as Origins, Gen Con Indy, and E3. Next year we intend to change that by moving into the third quarter of the year after those three major US conventions.
Hopefully this will be seen to be a positive and we will see a lot more in the relam of previews, and announcements especially in the area of the electronic realm.
As Brad mentioned, any feedback is appreciated.
I appreciate the dramas that our lining system caused. There were some major discussions that occurred between us and the convention centre to get it down to a two step process, but alas, because it was our first show, it became a case of "Not until you've proven yourself".
The correct system is that people line up to register for show badges. They then purchase that through our people, then enter the show.
If you wish to register for an event, you can then go to the second step and go to Event Registration.
The idea is that it frees up the people who want to go and see insiode without playing in tournaments. Well that's the theory anyway. I think for next time, signage is going to have to be the way to go, and perhaps some "ushers" at the front who can explain to people what the process it.
Unfortunately dealing with 500 different events means that if we just have the one Purchase Point, all the people who want to go in for a look will be waiting behind people who for the most part will take some time "make up their minds".
As for Computer Gaming not being as big a part of the show as we wanted, I can only say that we tried. I think the biggest hurdle for us was that we were a new concept to Australia (with our mix of more traditional tabletop gaming) and so the larger companies (and in some case smaller ones) wanted to see how we performed first. Something that I can understand and appreciate. Hopefully we have now proved ourselves that we are capable of taking on a show of this size.
The other hurdle was the fact that there wasn't a lot of "NEW" information being thrown around mainly because placing the event in July meant that we were in between announcements such as Origins, Gen Con Indy, and E3. Next year we intend to change that by moving into the third quarter of the year after those three major US conventions.
Hopefully this will be seen to be a positive and we will see a lot more in the relam of previews, and announcements especially in the area of the electronic realm.
As Brad mentioned, any feedback is appreciated.
Hey Ian, haven't had a chance to touch base after the show - figured I'd leave you to perhaps take a vacation and some R&R for a bit
I think at the end of the day, most of the feedback tends to be more 'constructive' than complaints ... the impression I get over all is that people WANT this to work, and WANT it to come back next year ...
As for the video game aspect, well I know as well as anyone that the publishers are a fickle bunch, but I have no doubt that they will look upon next years show with more interest, especially if its later in the year, and especially if you hit them up around January next year.
GenConOZ @ 12:17am 18 Jul
Hey Gamers!
I appreciate the dramas that our lining system caused. There were some major discussions that occurred between us and the convention centre to get it down to a two step process, but alas, because it was our first show, it became a case of "Not until you've proven yourself".
The correct system is that people line up to register for show badges. They then purchase that through our people, then enter the show.
If you wish to register for an event, you can then go to the second step and go to Event Registration.
The idea is that it frees up the people who want to go and see insiode without playing in tournaments. Well that's the theory anyway. I think for next time, signage is going to have to be the way to go, and perhaps some "ushers" at the front who can explain to people what the process it.
Unfortunately dealing with 500 different events means that if we just have the one Purchase Point, all the people who want to go in for a look will be waiting behind people who for the most part will take some time "make up their minds".
As for Computer Gaming not being as big a part of the show as we wanted, I can only say that we tried. I think the biggest hurdle for us was that we were a new concept to Australia (with our mix of more traditional tabletop gaming) and so the larger companies (and in some case smaller ones) wanted to see how we performed first. Something that I can understand and appreciate. Hopefully we have now proved ourselves that we are capable of taking on a show of this size.
The other hurdle was the fact that there wasn't a lot of "NEW" information being thrown around mainly because placing the event in July meant that we were in between announcements such as Origins, Gen Con Indy, and E3. Next year we intend to change that by moving into the third quarter of the year after those three major US conventions.
Hopefully this will be seen to be a positive and we will see a lot more in the relam of previews, and announcements especially in the area of the electronic realm.
As Brad mentioned, any feedback is appreciated.
Brad @ 11:49am 9 Jul
Heya, I know this was a pain, I was one of the volunteers and the story I was told is basically the convention center said that they would take the money. pretty much no choice was given to the organisers.
The three line system slowed things down and any feed back you guys want to give will be gratefully taken, there are a few places on the gencon forum for feedback, or a private email link if you prefer.
just give them time to recover
The first year of any Con is a steep learning curve, we were very lucky to have a couple of experts fly in to help from the US and Canada and teach us (volunteers) how to make everything work. Over all I volunteered over 70 hours for the con, I _will_ be back next year.
Brad
P.S. My personal feelings are that it's fine to offer constructive advice, but before you complain, offer to help fix the problem first.
QUOTE (Mdobele @ Jul 9 2008, 08:20 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
My one major complaint about the whole thing would have to be the ticketing system. You lined up and bought a ticket at one booth...... took 4 steps to your right, lined up AGAIN at a different booth and traded in the receipt to actually get the wrist band to let you in..... then you took another 4 steps to your right, LINED UP AGAIN AT A THIRD BOOTH, to sign up to attend the talks / events etc..... it was a fucking joke splitting it up like that and took my girlfriend a solid 30 mins to get through the whole thing. I was sitting back just watching so many people get confused by it all, line up in the wrong spot and have to repeat the process again once they got told 
Heya, I know this was a pain, I was one of the volunteers and the story I was told is basically the convention center said that they would take the money. pretty much no choice was given to the organisers.
The three line system slowed things down and any feed back you guys want to give will be gratefully taken, there are a few places on the gencon forum for feedback, or a private email link if you prefer.
just give them time to recover
The first year of any Con is a steep learning curve, we were very lucky to have a couple of experts fly in to help from the US and Canada and teach us (volunteers) how to make everything work. Over all I volunteered over 70 hours for the con, I _will_ be back next year.
Brad
P.S. My personal feelings are that it's fine to offer constructive advice, but before you complain, offer to help fix the problem first.
