GDC 2008: Game designers rant

Perhaps the most interesting and thought-provoking session at the Game Developers Conference is the annual rant. Each year, a group of people who work in game development get together and spout off about a particular them.

This year’s theme was the state of game design, and it was a solid hour of passion as the panelists took their eight minutes of time to bear their soul about the topic.

Clint Hocking - who it may seem like I am stalking this year, but I’m not. Not really - went on about how the problem in the video game industry is not creative stagnation, but a lack of courage to create games that challenge people.

Jane McGonigal implored designers to start making the real world as wonderful as they make virtual worlds.

Jenova Chen thinks that mature games need to be made for the crop of aging gamers, and he’s not talking about sex and violence.

Daniel James believes that the virtual can shape the real.

The best rant - or at least the most intriguing - came from Jonathan Mak. He had everybody in the room, some 600 people, standing up and batting balloons around the room to a pop guitar soundtrack playing over the PA. I’m not sure what his point was, but it was a dramatic - and fun - expression for everyone.