Notgames Forum

Me and some pals will run yet another No More Sweden event this summer. It's a place for indie game developers from all over the world to meet up (without us Europeans having to travel to San Francisco).

Here's the website: www.nomoresweden.com (http://www.nomoresweden.com)

Previous years we've had a big focus on the game jam and making stuff. This year we will try another approach and have people present their previous work or talk about something game creation-related close to their heart. I'm thinking about maybe talking about the notgames initiative since I think a lot of people are interested and/or suspicious of it. If so I will probably post some ideas for my presentation here to see what you guys think.

If anyone here's interested in attending you're very welcome! (more info about registering at the website)

Seems interesting, I'm in the right country at least. It's free to go? What kinds of attendees are typically there - mostly Swedish indie game developers, or other people too? Would someone who isn't a game developer feel lost?

Hope notsweden likes notgames! ;)

It's going to be free! It's not an event for fans, you should be interested in actually making stuff. But you are, right? :)

Oh i really want to go, last year was fun meeting all the people. And as you said this year should be more talk and less just making games, which sound awesome. To far to go this year though.

Just wanted to report that I gave a presentation "What is Notgames" this weekend. It was very short but I think it resonated with some people there (Jonatan/Cactus said it made a lot of sense). I think some people will start lurking here at least :) We actually had to cut the discussions afterward because people were asking a lot of questions. Maybe the talks will be put online so that you all can see it.

:)

http://bambuser.com/channel/nomoresweden/broadcast/881027 @ 59:00

Excellent. Thank you for doing the presentation in English. :)
And of course for presenting the idea to the Swedes.

I wonder if notgames is a European thing...
Or if it should be, given that we somewhat missed the boat of the high-commercial videogame industry.

Thanks! Yeah there were a bunch of Europeans there (+1 Canadian dude, Michael Todd). I think Finland, Denmark, Germany and Italy were also represented. I have also thought about how there is a slight European kinda feel to this forum.
For a couple of years I have seen part of my goal as a game creator to be a counter force to the American way of making video games, which is the same kind of "negativity" (as a creative force) that is behind notgames I think...

Is that a motivation that anyone else here recognizes? (And of course you could have that motivation even if you're actually American)

Half of Tale of Tales is (or was). :)

What is the American way of making games exactly?

Well, to me commercial video games are American. Even if they are made in Sweden or Japan or wherever, they still are trying (desperately) to be American. To make a successful video game is to make it the American way.

American games are "awesome" or "fucking cool". ;)

So even if it's not American, it's still American. That's stupid. Sounds to me like you just want to hate on Americans.

Don't worry, ghostwheel. This is not about individual people, American or European. But more about a -very general- difference in culture.

Commercially successful entertainment products tend to be either American, or made according to the American model. That's one of the reasons why the European games industry (as well as its film industry) are much smaller -"we"'re just not very good at doing things "the American way". But rather than seeing this as failure, I think Erik and I are suggesting to see this as an opportunity. Perhaps the commercial failure of Europe provides for a space in which artistic, creative development can bloom.

And as much as commercial European developers are welcomed by the American industry, maybe Europe can open its arms to artistic American developers. :)

I love Americans! And some of their games! The only thing I hate is when people don't have the guts to use themselves as the foundation for their creative work; something that seems to happen a lot in Europe.

For instance all the big Swedish game companies are making games that I'm sure the rest of the world think are made in the US (the Battle Field series, Just Cause, World in Conflict). It's ridiculous!

A lot of the problems with video games that we perceive here in this forum would be fixed a lot faster if more people just made games a bit more for themselves and the people around them, about things in their lives that interests them. I really hope notgames can help some people to gather the courage to do so.

Amen. We were just talking about this the other day.
I guess this is another way of saying that there should be more authors in game development.

That requires it to be easier to issue interactive pieces. Maybe that's a pragmatic way to reach our goals here quicker - create good "game" creation software that doesn't assume you actually want to create a "game".

@Utforska - What would you envision to be the primary difference between such a tool and a "traditional" game creation tool?

I'm a great advocate for creation software that is more accessible to actually creative people.
But while we wait for that, maybe artists and authors can do a little extra effort too and learn how to use these unwieldy tools.
My craving for good interactive art surpasses even my craving for good tools! :)

I haven't a clue to tell you the truth, except that it should be easier for non-trained people to approach them. There are probably a thousand ways that could be done, some good, some bad. It might not even be possible, or it's too hard/expensive to be worth doing.

Easier is a non-argument, since that is just as valid for game creation software.

Perhaps we should start a thread on what (y)our ideal creation environment ( using conventional hardware ) would look like?

Good idea!
I think this is very pertinent to the Notgames effort!

Indeed it is a non-argument, but I don't have any better arguments or descriptions, since I haven't given it more than some superficial thought... do start a thread, it might turn out quite interesting.