iFest was a Blast!

   I have to admit that the room with all the old classic Atari and Nintendo game consoles was a pretty damned nostalgic.  You forget those old games that made you fall in love with computers in the first place.  Good job on the iFest organizers to have those consoles up and running for everyone to play.  There was everything from old Atari 2600 to the more modern Nintendo Entertainment System.  Lots of game cartridges too.
    The event itself was also very entertaining and especially informative.   There was an excellent Virtual Reality simulation with a simple target shooter.  We got there early, so the wait was minimal and worth the effort.  It is always fun to see someone standing in a room with a bunch of equipment on his head and back, moving and twisting in reaction to whatever only they can see.  Of course, once you are that person in the harness, you realize the monitors everyone else is watch do not do the game justice.  You need that sound and the environment moving when you do.  I don't know if I got high score, but I did enjoy that prototype game.
  It was amazing to talk to the other game designers/developers that were showing the results of months or even years of work.  Walking around and seeing these impressive games and their creators was a real treat.  There was everything from interactive graphic novels, to real world physics games using spaceships or even swinging from cables all over a city.  I know we will be buying a few of these games, which we were unaware of until we saw them at iFest.  We also learned a few tips on how to market our products in the future.  I must admit, I think Zenerdgy will be displaying a game or two next year.
   There were also some lecture hall talks about how independent gamers have dealt with various issues in creating and marketing their games.  We attended a few of these and really enjoyed getting some background behind some of the design and funding choices made by other developers.  There was also a good talk on how to keep your chin up and deal with happiness as a small independent developer.  It had an impact on both Rebecca and I and we are still talking about that today.  The mental aspect of the independent developer is critical in this field.  Instead of working for the 'Man', you have to make all your own decisions and live with the results.  It is not for everyone, we realize.

Side Note

Why is it always the 'Man'?  Isn't that a bit sexist in this day and time?  Why not the phrase, "Working for the Woman"?  or Person?  Eh, it just loses something in the translation when you say it that way.  Oh well, someday it will be a computer running everything, then we will say we are working for "The Bot" or something.  

I, for one, welcome our new Computer Overlords...  (Simpsons joke)