Conversations at SRGE Part 1

I could write a big long essay on everything I saw, but that wouldn’t quite match the experience. Instead, here are multiple conversations that went on as I patrolled, and chatted with folks. Expect another set of conversations and thoughts next week. There is tons here to study.

Eight Bit Fix

Paul Westphal  seemed ready to talk about Atari. His display had an Atari 800, Atari 2600, and a special display for the ill fated Jaguar. His job is interesting, because he is not just talking about the games he loves, he evangelizes you to love the system. There won’t be a sale, unless the system is loved, and he intends to help you love it. He sat talking with others, but then I asked what his favorite game was.

He reached into his collection of old games, and pulled out Encounter. The machine was a keyboard with a cord that went to a classic Atari joystick control. It was an odd set up, but the game itself was a lot of fun.

The joystick is all you need as you hunt down those circling spheres of death. There is a bit of strategy by using the poles around you to bounce shots into another direction, but Paul said he had never gotten it done. If you imagine it as an arcadey doom with one joystick, you have a good idea of how to play, and what is happening.

I asked why he got into Atari’s, and he told me his very first console was the Atari 800. He has been working on them ever since. Without really thinking about it, he grabbed a game called Rescue on Fractalus, which was mint in box.

“I’m opening it up,” said Paul to another seller.

“Oh, hes opening it up,” said the seller.

The game is difficult to describe. You fly over a planet, looking for downed pilots, and fighting off enemies. The entire world is open, so you can fly around, and just search. Because of the way it was designed, the planet would never the same way twice. You guided the ship with the joystick, while turning on landing, and other parts with the keyboard. The graphics are fun, and have an aesthetic that looks like an animated drawing.

You really need to see it in action to enjoy it. 

I was really enjoying it, but was called back to guard duty. Some random watchers were given the controller, and I hope they bought the game. It was fun, and deserved to be enjoyed.

Later, when we were taking down everything after the show closed, Paul told me that I needed to see PRGE, because a bunch more Atari fans would be there. They would be praising the Jaguar at their display. I look forward to seeing it in a few months.

Hyperkin

The Retron 5 is the latest system I want. Sure, the Xbox One, and PS4 look good, but do they play NES games? This question is especially important since my NES doesn’t seem to work.

“We sell every shipment we get within a few days,” said the Hyperkin rep. “We don’t manufacture them, we just design them.”

“What we do is wait for a patent on a console to run out, and then see what we can do with that. So, Genesis, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo and a few others opened up, and we pounced on it. Actually, the Nintendo 64 just opened up, so we are trying to figure out how to do that right now. As for the new systems, it is entirely a waiting game. The CD based games have other patents on them, so we have to wait extra long for them.”

The coolest feature is that the machine takes the video from the games, and upconverts them to 1080p. It’s sort of strange seeing Super Mario being that crisp.

“It’s all run through filters that we have,” said the rep, “one filter raises the pixels to the exact needed size. It works great in the GameBoy games that we showed off earlier. Right now, you can’t use multiple filters at the same time, just one.”

I asked about updates.

“We work to update it the best we can. If there is something big that needs fixed, we also have a list of smaller things that could be done for the same update. So, it tends to be big with little. We don’t do one small fix, that would get annoying after a while.”

The rep was thorough, he explained why the price was raised. The machine needed updated parts to work correctly, and that cost a little extra. My next big question was if anyone had thought about making games for these old systems.

“We have spoken with various companies about it. Travellers Tales is very interested in making some old school games, but there haven’t been any bites so far.”

I asked what the rep did for the company.

“I am in the design department, we try to figure out what will work for the next system. We look into the price of circuits, and how things will work. We tend to start off with some ideas, and needs for the design, and then build off of that. The Retron 5 has five game ports, and can play several game types. In fact, if we were to name it for all the systems it plays, it would be the Retron 10. We worked to get it down to form factor, and what the average gamer wants.”

“Let’s take the machine we brought for the show. It has been sitting on my desk for about a year. I have taken it apart, and put it back together countless times, trying to find the right circuit, the right chip, the right spot for everything. In fact, it was there before I got assigned to the Retron 5. We would take apart the old systems, and bang them together to make a prototype. Then we write out everything we know and what works with what. After that, we look for chips that do the same thing, or are similar enough that it won’t matter. It’s a lot of trial and error. You have to learn how things work on the go, and constantly get around problems.”

This brought up older systems, like the Colecovision, or the the Atari.

“I would love to have a port for them, but the truth is they are hard to find. I recognize that there are dealers here with games to sell, but outside of this, finding a Colecovision game is rare. Even rarer is someone who wants to buy that game, and put it onto a system that isn’t the original. So, as much as I would love it, there is little chance of it ever happening.”

I asked how people learn to work at Hyperkin, in fact, I had an idea for a study I wanted to do. Specifically learning how to program for each major console.

“We have internships, and we know how to work around schedules. It’s not paid, so we understand if someone can’t work here full time for free. It is probably the best way to do what you describe. You have to be willing to open up a system, and take it apart. That sounds like sacrilege at first, but its the only way to learn.”

I doubted they had openings for Anthropologists.

“We take all kinds. If they are able, and willing to do the work, we work them. Though yeah, I doubt you have the right experience for that.”

Crazy Vikings Studio

There are only two members of Crazy Viking, and they really don’t need anyone else. The two have worked on games for the DS, and other systems. The proudest game has been Assasin’s Creed for the Nintendo DS.

“It’s really not a conversion, since that would mean we took any of the previous files, and moved them over. It was a completely different game, and had the same themes.

They made Volgarr -a game I made sure to buy- using some spare money, and very patient wives.

“Our wives are a lot happier with the idea of our company now. We have a profit, and can pay for things. When we were just starting off, the bills were adding up. This is a real commitment to do this. They had to get jobs, and be the main bread winners for a while. If this hadn’t worked, there wouldn’t have been as much joy.”

Although I spoke with both men, one would say something, the other would add to it. It became a complete paragraph by the time they were done bouncing back and forth.

“Volgarr is based on the games we enjoyed making, and playing. It’s an old arcadey game that kills you sooner than looks at you. The other game we have is more of a prototype. Those graphics aren’t final, even some of the movements will be tweaked by the time its released.”

17 Bit Studio

There is one really good reason to show off a game at a small convention like SRGE. Jake Kazdel, the owner of the company explains by showing me a note book, entirely about the game on display. There are doodles

“This is the best way to test games. I know the game inside and out, and its really hard for me to see what it is like for someone who has never played it, or at least not as much as my staff. I find out so much from watching others.”

I asked how he got into the business.

“Well, I was a game producer at various companies, and decided to go out on my own. I found some folks who were ready to go, and we started. Because of my connections, I was able to find an Angel Investor with our first game Skulls of the Shogun.”

I mentioned that I have been watching the game, but have not bought it yet.

“See, most people have been that way. Especially on Steam, they wait for the price drop or big sale. Our best sales were during a daily deal. It becomes a real gamble to make games now a days.”

The Viking Studio folks were also veterans of game companies, and so have been a lot of indie game studios.

“Yeah, I hear about kids who just want to start out, and I think my best advice for them is to go work for a company. Going indie is a gamble, and most of the companies making money are from experienced crews. Even then, its a gamble. I have tons of connections with journalists, know all sorts of insiders, and was even able to get us investors. We barely broke even with Skulls of the Shogun. It is a very difficult market to play in.”

“And thats a good market. iPhone, and other mobile devices is just a killing field. So many people have entered, its next to impossible to grab someone’s attention. 5 games will be made the same, and one of them becomes popular, while the others are ignored.”

The other presenter of the game chimes in. He has worked at Squaresoft, and helped with all things Final Fantasy for years. Currently he programs shaders for the game.

“I keep hearing that the indie scene might be a bubble ready to burst, and it sort of scares me. We won’t stand a chance.”

A random person begins playing a level. As the graphics play, the two presenters talk about how cool everything looks, and feels on the game. Jake looks back at me.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love this job. I wake up every morning excited because I get to work on it. I am ready to do anything to get it to work. Every day, I play this game, and work out various bugs. We have levels of difficulty that even I can’t quite beat. I love that, this is a work of love.”

http://youtu.be/hfbzvzW12Zw

I asked about how soon the game will be out for PC.

“We want to get it out on as many markets as we can. Sony invested in us, so we have to release it first for the PS4. Honestly, I think PS4 is one of the better markets. It has just a few games, and a lot of people ready to buy. After that, we will try to release it for other consoles as fast as we can. Each market is money to us.”

I asked about the Wii U.

“I don’t know anyone that has released anything for the Wii U. Don’t get me wrong, I think if we could, we would totally release on it. But I don’t think it has the power, or fan base. The PS4 stuttered a little bit until we did some tweaks, I expect the Wii U would do even worse. I could be wrong, We just haven’t been told anything. Nintendo is famously quiet, and we don’t know anyone who has released for the system. But if we can, we totally will. I mean, there is a special form of Unity for the Wii U, maybe it has some tweaks.”

It seemed that games were not going with just a lone programmer or designer for even the big indie games.

“We are using the Unity engine. For Skulls of the Shogun, we tried to do it on our own, and it just slowed us down. There is too much to do, and making your own engine takes too much time. We have some of the best AI out there. In fact, we are the beta testers for it. This game will be the big product the AI company will use to sell their product. We have a specific idea in mind, and want as many ways to not let us do all the work as possible.”

Check out video here.

It seems like games are getting a lot of compartmentalization from this.

“Even for a small company like us, if we want to make a polished fully featured game, it takes a lot of manpower. If we relied on just ourselves, it would take too long, and the product would never release. The AI company charges an amount that ultimately costs less than hiring a team, or even one guy to do it all. We specialize it from there, and thats all we really need. It is getting compartmentalized, because the industry has so many needs for each product. People are specializing in a small thing. We end up with great games, for a cheaper price in the end.”

The player next to us is busy trying to get his ship into the end warphole. Jake tries to keep talking to me, but he is distracted. Eventually, he helps the player by pressing the R button to stop the spaceship in the end zone hole. I wave, and he nods.

Charity Auction

There was an auction section near the entrance. It was well placed, and had several amazing items that I totally wanted. All you needed to do was sign a paper near the item with the amount you would pay. I won’t say the amounts, but they were well over the price of the items.

The charity auction was for studying Cystic Fibrosis, and finding ways to end it. A picture of the late Michelle Lee Taylor, who was only 31 when she passed away, was posted around the auction tables. It was particularly poignant since the woman running the auction was Michelle’s mother.

She was married to Sean Taylor who was one of the organizers of the show. They raised money well, and felt that it did a lot of good.

3D Printing

One of the managers at SRGE has a really cool accent. He is a South African, that loves to talk about stuff. Without even thinking about it, he will just jump into a conversation with you on anything.

“3D printing is a lot of fun. The problem is that its still in its infancy. Those cool dice were made by a printer, and they were a headache.”

I mentioned the cost of making items.

“You are also forgetting time. It takes three hours to make something. That’s only if it makes things right. The first layer or so has a bad habit of curling up a little, which screws everything on top of it. Instead of nice rigid lines, you have Salvador Dali.”

“This means that you have to watch it, and figure out tricks to keep it in the right shape. You may have to go through a few tries to get a single item in workable shape. It’s a brilliant system, but its a real headache right now. “

Intellivision Guy

Perhaps dressed as the most Seattle person in the entire show, the Intellivision seller is bald with a long beard. His glasses are thin strips of metal. A long bushy beard comes off his chin. He wears a kilt.

Because of security patrol, I spent a lot of time around him. So it wasn’t hard to start up a conversation with him. He had one really cool story.

“When I started to get into Intellivision collecting, it was because I remembered my grandfather. He had a system at his house, and I have fond memories of playing it. So when I told my Dad I was getting into Intellivision, he told me that my grandfather’s system was still around. So, my very first Intellivision was my grandfather’s, and we sort of keep it in high esteem.”

The banner behind his display is pretty simple.

“I just found out that someone else has the rights to this name. So I have to sell under a new name next time. Who knew there were so many Intellivision folks.”