Whether you’re an experienced gamer, an industry veteran, or somewhere in between, SXSW Sydney 2024’s gaming festival will bring some good fuel and fire to the Australian and Sydney sides of our beloved gaming industry. I sent it in and injected it. Now that that’s out of the way, here are some personal highlights and standout moments from this week.
Three Australian streamers and the CEO of Twitch walk into the bar…
We started with Twitch CEO Dan Clancy himself interviewing three Australian streaming superstars: Jackhuddo, Kwoli and Hayzee. A lively and intimate fireside chat might be a nice way to describe it. These diverse, eclectic, yet fun and unique streamers spoke humbly and down-to-earth about how they’ve built their own content and audiences over time.
Being authentic, open-minded, and engaging with the community all seemed to be prevalent themes throughout their inspiring journey. Additionally, it was peppered with unique and entertaining anecdotes and personal values from Dynamite streamer personalities about how they achieve success for themselves and for both. their viewers.
Master class on game mechanics
If you’re willing to pay to see how games are actually played, this session with game coordinators and industry insiders was enlightening. Here are some highlights about the game’s mechanics and the panelists’ personal philosophies.
Scope Creep – The ultimate compromise of resources on a developer’s backend. What are the discoveries and hooks for players? It needs to happen as soon as possible. Negative Reinforcement – People may enjoy overcoming difficult situations, but punishment is still brutal. However, many elements can be added to the design and gameplay to make it more tolerable, to avoid players repeating the waste of time instead of a new experience. Jeopardy – Increases engagement and replayability when play has a reason to care about the outcome. However, more testing and iterations are required. Metaphors – Game developers know that players understand the theme and bring their own pre-existing knowledge, so they tend to be overused and opportunities for innovation are lost.
Overcoming economic challenges in the gaming industry
An economic downtown coupled with layoffs, unsustainable shifts, risk aversion and deep uncertainty? That sounds exactly like the gaming industry, both worldwide and underground. A gaming culture and industry overview moderated by Powerful Program Curator Chloe Appleby, along with panelists Dr. Jaime Garcia, Ben Armstrong, Allie MacLean-Hennessy and Lauren Schmandiuk is. .
As someone who was recently laid off, I would love to hear how certain panelists hit it off and shared their personal stories in what seems to be a very dangerous situation for the industry these days. became food for the soul. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. The darkness is darkest just before dawn, and dawn is near. We just have to keep fighting the good fight!
The media side of this industry isn’t easy either.
Gaming media is an integral part of how our games reach our eyes and ears, from top-tier titles to popular indies. There have been a lot of layoffs and economic downturns in journalism, broadcasting, and even gaming guides, so creators and journalists in the field (Edmond Tran, Ruby Innes, Gemma Driscoll, Ryan Staunton) have found a community. I could hear you talking about sharing. Their work further emphasizes that writing about games remains one of the most magical things in the world.
While there is a generational shift from mainstream media on how games are perceived, the gaming industry still needs gaming media for its business, even if it’s just for the pure marketing it can provide for games. Masu. Change is coming, but people are still looking for great writers and creators for gamer and game maker media.
Catharsis game that will make you cry at the club
The most emotional story-driven cat game of 2024, the developers of Copycat, Samantha Cable, and Kostia Liakhov cleverly exploit vulnerabilities to form a unique game mechanic that becomes a euphoric “cathartic wheel” He gave a lecture on all the senses that can be felt. , pride, emptiness, sentimentality, and heartbreak.
Drawing on Aristotle’s concept of catharsis, the duo emphasizes the relevance of modern video game narratives, evoking emotions such as euphoria, pride, emptiness, sentimentality, and heartbreak through storytelling, direction, and music. We provided practical insights on how to do so. They highlighted the growing demand for cathartic games in a saturated market and encouraged developers to embrace these themes to create meaningful player experiences.
Copycat is now available on Steam for PC!
SXSW Sydney 2024: Game Festival Showcase
The energy and people there were palpable. Hundreds of games were on display, some of which had only been at the booth for a day and were taken out of rotation. Here are some highlights we found and played.
A lot of Mr.Coo – The most appealing art style and gameplay to match.
Mystiques: Haunted Antiques – Love, detail, craftsmanship, lore, charm and more are packed into this innovative mystery adventure game.
My Arms Are Longer – Don’t you hate it when you’re on the subway and a giant, ever-growing hand comes along and takes your money and belongings?
420BLAZEIT 2: GAME OF THE YEAR – A fairly intuitive FPS with mechanics reminiscent of FEAR but with a “naughty” philosophy.
Crabgod – Take care of your fellow crabs. Then they will take care of you too.
Death of a Partisan – Experience solitary story-driven survival on the Eastern Front of World War II.
Death of the Reprobate – Experience a true Renaissance painting, minus the scandalous and cheeky storyline that is anything but classy.
Off-Score: A Game of Songs – Far from a rhythm game, this is a music-driven game.
Palace on the Hill – A charming and intimate art style that will melt your heart.
SXSW Sydney 2024: Game Awards
There was an incredible atmosphere inside the Alienware Arena Theater as movie and game makers came together to celebrate the efforts of so many. Below is the complete list of the night’s winners:
Best International Game – 1000xRESIST, Sunset Visitor
Discovery Award – No case should remain unsolved, Somi
Best Student Game – MMMMMM: Multimerge Mix & Match Minigame Mayhem, Team Party Bomb
WINGS Award – Fishbowl, imissmyfriends.studio
Tabletop Prize – Battle with the Spirits, Storybrewers Role Playing
People’s Choice Award – Mystiques: Haunted Antiques, Lemonade Games –
SXSW Sydney 2024 Game of the Year – Mr. Koo, Nacho Rodriguez’s many works
Mark your calendars for SXSW Sydney 2025. No doubt there will be more creative inspiration and new releases to come. Stay tuned for more content that expands on the games and topics mentioned in this article.
