New York Comic Con 08
by Drew Sikora, Oluseyi Sonaiya

Contents   Introduction   Getting a Job in the Industry   Writing for Games   Video Game Journalism   Making Iron Man and The Hulk   Ambulation in EvE Online   Printable version   Discuss this article

Introduction

Drew Sikora

The New York Comic Con was nearly a spur-of-the-moment thing for me, as a press release one week before the media registration deadline ended up in my Inbox detailing the game development sessions that would be going on this year at the convention, which was held at the Javits Center in downtown Manhattan. Seeing that some fo the sessions ran simultaneously, I rang up Oluseyi since he resides in the city and got him attending as well so we could nail all the events. The game sessions ran on the last day of the 3-day convention, which was Sunday the 20^th of April, from 11am straight through to 5pm. Unlike other conferences/conventions I've been to, every session was back-to-back with no breaks in-between, so we were hustling - luckily around a small area of rooms.

Dr. Micheal Capps, president of Epic Games, was on hand to give an over view of Gears of War 2, which was a session I sat in on - it was mainly a fanboy interview though, as he and two other members of the development team answered audience questions about the game. After that first session, Mike was rushing around like the rest of us, but as moderator of several panels, including Breaking Into Games and Writing for Video Games. There was also a session put on by 38 Studios (formerly known as Green Monster Games) about starting up your own game company, but it was more a presentation of how 38 Studios got their start rather than a lecture on how you could get started - unless of course you too can find a Major League pitcher like Boston Red Sox's Curt Schilling who's interested enough in games and game development to fund his own studio. Not to mention signing on author R.A. Salvatore and illustrator Todd McFarlane. This better be a damn good MMO when they release their game in several years.

Luckily the Breaking In, Writing for Games, Game Journalism, Iron Man and EvE Online sessions were worthy of some decent write-ups, and you can read on to learn more. NYCC is already scheduled for February 6^th - 9^th 2009, so I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for any more game development sessions that pop up in the programming.

Oluseyi Sonaiya

The 2008 New York Comic Convention, surprisingly, had a rather involved game track, and while it was relegated to an obvious basement ghetto as far as session placement was concerned, its contents proved to be entirely worth the while. A mix of end-user focused demonstrations and announcements alongside information useful to jobseekers, especially writers, sprinkled with developer-centric details, the game track turned out to be as exciting, puzzling and intriguing a collection of sessions as its parent convention.

Another surprise was some of the names attached to the sessions, including the president of Epic Games, on hand for a reveal of Gears of War 2 as well as sessions on getting into the game industry and writing for games; the writer for the aforementioned Gears of War 2; the executive editor of The Escapist; and a whole raft of producers and developers associated with upcoming Marvel Studios movie games (perhaps the only “logical” presence of the bunch).

NYCC’s game track will be one to keep an eye on, as a solid start like this is bound to lead to more impressive things in the very near future.

Getting a Job in the Industry