James Tauber : James Tauber's Blog 2005/03/11

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SxSW: Arrival

Got up at 3am to catch the early morning flight to Austin via Dallas Fort Worth. Boston is supposed to be hit with another round of snow. Austin weather couldn't be better (makes up for last year when it was raining).

Checked in to the Hilton right across from the convention center (it's the best place to stay if you're attending the conference parts of SxSW) and grabbed a bite to eat at the hotel grill before heading over to register.

Alas, the "computers were down", the line was hundreds long and not moving and I was told I should just come back later.

Crossing the street back to the Hilton, who should I bump into but Robert Scoble.

Was good to see you again after over four years, Robert!

by : Created on March 11, 2005 : Last modified March 11, 2005 : (permalink)

What Vacation?

Yesterday at work, people kept wishing me well for my vacation. It was strange because I don't feel like I'm going on vacation. I feel like I'm switching to one of my other careers full-time for a week. Attending all three streams of SxSW (film, music and interactive) for a total of ten days isn't what I'd call a vacation. At least as fun. But not "vacation".

by : Created on March 11, 2005 : Last modified March 11, 2005 : (permalink)

SxSW: Tom Fulp and Alien Hominid

Just got back from an excellent talk by Tom Fulp opening the interactive stream. 26-year-old Fulp took us through how he co-founded the San Diego-based Behemoth indie game development studio to turn his hit Flash game Alien Hominid into the console game Alien Hominid.

Take aways:

self-funded; initially through one of the founders mortgaging his house and later by them selling Alien Hominid merchandise.
hard to get the console dev-kits if don't have a publisher already. Microsoft and others have a program for unpublished game developers but still hard to get without previous game development experience.
initial negative responses from publishers largely based on view that 2D games were not hot.
one of the few "original" console games released in a year of sequels and movie tie-ins.
they went with a publishing deal that meant less money but they retained rights to characters, sequels, etc.
suggestion that sequels often come about because of extra ideas that couldn't be fit in the original rather than merely trying to cash in on the original success (expect a sequel to Alien Hominid but not as next game from studio)

by : Created on March 11, 2005 : Last modified March 11, 2005 : (permalink)