First draft
December 3d, 2023
What?
This will be a meeting of veteran game designers who were prominent in the 1980s. Over two days, we will discuss the forces at work on the games industry in the 1980s, and our assessment of the future of games.
When?
I propose the weekend of June 29-30, as this is early enough to be less than insufferably hot, and late enough to avoid the risk of low temperatures.
Where?
I propose that this take place at my place in the forest of Southern Oregon, but I am happy to consider other potential sites. My land can be found here:
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2663317,-122.9755375,1084m/data=!3m1!1e3?authuser=0&entry=ttu
It covers 40 acres, and includes plenty of forest as well as open areas. The house sits amid a great many trees, and we can sit in the shade to talk. It may seem inaccessible, but in fact it is less than 30 minutes from the airport (Medford, MFR), which has direct flights to Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Phoenix.
Who?
The basic criteria is as stated above: "veteran game designers who were prominent in the 1980s”. If I sent you the link to this page, then you are an obvious candidate. I am, for the moment, keeping the distribution list small so that there are plenty of openings left for nominations. Here is the current (tiny) list of those whom I have invited:
Roger Keating
Brian Moriarty
Gordon Walton
Don Daglow
Noah Falstein
I think it best to limit the attendance to 20 people. More than that would certainly make it a more fun social event, but I fear that we wouldn’t be able to have productive discussions with a large group.
How Much?
We will provide lunch both days and snacks all day each day. I propose to pay for this with a small fee to each participant. We will also have two press people there: one for print and one for video. They’ll have to pay for the privilege. Also, we’ll live stream the video to paying customers. I have no idea how much money we can get for these services. I also propose to allocate some money to assist geezers who will face large airfare costs or could use some financial assistance.
Schedule
Saturday, June 29th
Introductions. Five minutes per participant to recite their many design triumphs.
What happened in the 1980s? Not so much a recitation of the facts as a contemplative retrospective on the forces at work and important developments in the industry as a whole.
The audience
The developers
The hardware
The development environments
The publishers
The marketplace
The press
Sunday, June 30th:
Where do games go next?
What are the clear failures of the medium in capturing the range of human expression/art?
What evolutionary branches of gaming experiences got snipped and why?
What are the paths to widen that experience aperture?
What is the impact of games being the dominant entertainment form?
Is there something coming that might succeed us?
Should we talk about an ethics framework for game developers given the power of the medium?
Housing
There are four hotels in Jacksonville and about 14 B&Bs; Jacksonville is about five miles away from my place and less than 15 minutes. It’s a small historic town with a main street just four blocks long.
Medford is further away; typically less than 30 minutes travel time. It has plenty of hotel rooms.
Although we don’t have guest capacity in our house, adventurous types are welcome to camp out on the land. There are plenty of nice spots in the forest.