Jeppe Carlson (Playdead): 4:30pm
(official GDC brief) (note: I was 5 minutes late)

SUMMARY:

puzzle designer discusses his process for designing much-lauded physics puzzles in recent indie game hit, Limbo.

EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVE:

Mostly interesting to hear about the tools they used. One of their programmers created an AI element which automatically playtests the level every time you compile it (run the level, and instantly see what most players would do in it). I think this was a huge insight into why the game turned out so well. Ingenius idea (to simulate the average player). Continue reading

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Satoru Iwata (Nintendo): 9am – 10am
(official GDC brief)

(it occured to me that from OSU’s perspective: my notes and personal perspective might seem useless. So I thought I should try to explain how this relates to the Ecampus perspective – which turned into a huge rant unto itself)

EDUCATION PERSPECTIVE:
1)It is interesting to consider Nintendo’s transition from old-hardware business models into modern-online territory (sort of like education’s transition from on-campus to online?). it’s fairly widely known that Nintendo built their legacy product by product, by re-purposing existing hardware components and then creating innovative games to make the hardware look good. Their games expertly engage the player, but the key to their success is that their hardware was cheaper to manufacture (existing calculator parts, cartidges from factories they owned, etc.). Competitors tend to gamble the farm on expensive (often unstable) innovations, and hope someone else can make nice software.

The key point for online learning is really: Engage your audience with expert experience design, if you want to sell them on whatever platform.
Continue reading

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