Computer Game Technology Conference

This was a very enjoyable conference at a small university in northern Ontario. The conference was held to inaugurate a new degree program at Algoma University College, but it turned out to be considerably more than that. The local steel mill is in financial difficulties and the entire region is beginning to suffer economically. The local civic leaders are hoping to reverse this trend by bringing computer game development to Sault Ste. Marie.

I was privileged to be one of the keynote speakers and gave two different lectures, “"Fundamental Principles of Game Design" (to an audience that included bankers and economic development people, no less!) and a new one called "Bad Game Designer, No Twinkie!" based on some of my Designer's Notebook columns.

Tutorial at Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Barcelona, Spain

In January I was invited to address a Master's class at the university in Barcelona, and after some planning I flew there to present three lectures. It was a fun group, probably nearly 100 people. I gave them "Lessons Learned from the Game Industry," "Fundamental Principles of Game Design," and "Dogma 2001."

Since we hadn't had a vacation in quite a while, Mary Ellen came along with me and we spent three days seeing the sights. It was our first trip to Spain and a wonderful introduction to the country -- or at least to Catalonia, since it considers itself nearly autonomous.