Tonight I went to a really fun event. Unexpected, but very cool, I learned a lot about opportunities available in the Portland area in the game development industry. This event?
Poster for the Game On event. Found on the facebook site.
Game On: A Celebration of Oregon’s Growing Video Game Industry and a Gathering of its Most Prominent Companies, Developers, and Craftspeople.
It was held at OMSI, where in the hallway in front of the IMAX screen a couple different indie developers set up their games for display. The event took advantage of the IMAX screen, where they introduced the sponsors and also featured some of the multiplayer games such as Skullduggery by ClutchGames and Hardlander by Soulareus. Watching Skullduggery get demo’d was incredibly intense, and I got to try out Hardlander myself (which was very fun, and reminded me of Starwhal).
The night started out with an hour for people to check out the games and get a chance to talk and hang out – which for me means I got a chance to network. As a fresh-out-of-college graduate, I have been looking into ways to really step into the game development world and this event opened my eyes. I exchanged business cards (which I am very happy I brought mine!) and learned of more upcoming events that would connect myself to more companies. The people I met were very open and friendly. They offered advice on how to navigate the upcoming months, get my feet in the doors, and informed me of ways I can be involved. I suddenly found myself mentally filling up my schedule for the next couple of months so that I can make sure that I will be at these other events – as a potential employee, as a peer, and as a fellow gamer. It was extremely encouraging.
I also learned a lot about the state of the Game Development Industry in Portland – there is none. It is currently made up of a bunch of Indie companies and it has been in the recent months (or years?) that people are looking to try to organize them all. The city of Portland has taken notice and is helping the industry to grow. Part of that growth also comes to the education. There is very little local opportunity for students to develop their skills as programers, artists, and animators in the Portland area. I am very well aware of this – I just lived through 4 1/2 years of university piecing together the kind of education I wanted so I could try to be prepared to walk into the game development world. I know my portfolio is not necessarily… a spectacular example of what game companies are looking for, especially some of the big companies that are located in the California and in the Seattle area. They house far more developed opportunities and connections for the education and the business worlds.
But that is what events like Game On are trying to change by creating opportunities for developers and students to connect, learn, and create. It is encouraging to see opportunities for a young and hopeful artists like myself to meet people like Peter Lund, COO of SuperGenius Studio (seriously check out their work, it’s incredible!) and Will Lewis of PIGSquad and Pixel Arts. It was great to try out games, talk with people, and get introduced to a growing industry that I definitely want to join as I take my steps out of George Fox University and into the ‘real world’.
Other games I tried: Crash Planet, King Dude Man, Pew Pew Pew by IncredibleApe, and Mimic (which I couldn’t find a link for 😦 ).
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