This year November 2, also known as
the Day of the Dead, fell on a weekend. Video game development studio Double
Fine teamed up with iam8bit to put on a event comprising of video games, art,
music, food, and general entertainment. Though I was not able to stay too long
at the venue, I thought I would share my perspective on this fabulous festival.
Even before the sun went down, the
party was in full force. I needed to reach the event by train, so I ended up
standing in line about a half hour before the building opened up to the public.
Master of ceremonies Tim Schafer documented the line running around the corner
and down a few blocks in a Vine video or two. Admission was free, and everyone
received a free arm band before heading in. While the event was advertised for
ages 21 and over due to the alcoholic beverages served indoors, the outdoors
area had food trucks and video game kiosks for partygoers of all ages. I could
move around the first floor of the building easily enough, but the second floor
was packed with people trying to play or see demos of Double Fine’s latest
games and other gems like the new game from Supergiant Games.
The highlight of my short stint at
the party was seeing developers show off their work on the main stage. As I
sipped part of an Irish mule, Schafer appeared in front of the crowd to tease
some sequences in Broken Age, the Double Fine PC adventure that received its
initial wave of funding through Kickstarter. The game looked stunning for a
point and click adventure title, and the cloud-based world the demo was set in
exuded charm. Schafer announced after showing some characters in the demo that
they had acquired the voice talents of fan favorites like Richard Horvitz, who
voiced Raz in Psychonauts, Pendleton Ward, creator of the TV series Adventure
Time, and Jack Black, who voiced the protagonist in the Brütal Legend. More
developers came on stage to show off the latest work on their games, but I was
just happy to get Schafer to sign my PlayStation 3 copy of Double Fine’s heavy
metal adventure. After that, I ended up talking with the guys at Whole Hog
Games, who were happy to hear that I knew them from backing their project on
Kickstarter. I wish my photography skills were better so I could properly show
off the guy who came dressed up as Manny Calavera from Grim Fandango, the 3D
adventure game Schafer worked on at LucasArts. That’s what I get from only
carrying around a Droid Bionic to capture such magic.
I ended up leaving the Day of the
Devs party at the halfway mark, but I still had a blast. The local festival was
a chance to chill out in a club and get a look into games from smaller studios
that would not otherwise be available. On a final note, I am pretty sure that
the mask I gave Mr. Schafer did not affect the status of his eternal soul. I
regret that I had no walking stick to give him for the journey of the
afterlife.
 |
| Tim Schafer is a cool guy. |
No comments:
Post a Comment