Something EGX This Way Comes...

EGX tickets went on sale yesterday morning. The four day event will host the cream of the crop of the world gaming industry from big publishers and developers to smaller indie teams and solo devs. You'll be able to play new releases, future releases, hear from industry industry insiders and mingle with people who love the thing you love and do the thing you do. Last years event saw 70 000 gamers come together and this years event is expected to be even bigger. Get your day or weekend tickets from the site and perhaps I'll see you there! I'll be there with the SU Productions team, taking notes as they interview some awesome people! It's a little ways away but best to get those tickets early, don't wana be late to the party.

It will be better than this. I think...

In other news, I have begun the planning stages of a new game that will be exhibited around June at my University for the final year exhibition. I don't want to say too much about it now but I would like to point to the IGCCGD conference that I attended recently. Simply being in that environment, hearing people talk about their ideas and learning about one's trade is such a valuable resource. I strongly urge any and all who are interested in becoming part of the industry, in whatever capacity (I mean you voice actors, PR people and producers), attend events! Aside from the obvious networking opportunities it is unbelievably helpful for your grey matter to be in that environment, and you'll learn more about your tools and new tools you might want to use too.

No! Bad reader! Not those kind of tools!

Even if you think you're anti-social and hate crowds, go to smaller events and talks. You don't have to run around shaking everybody's hand. Just listen and absorb. I'm not the most social penguin but by attending stuff like this I've learned so much and it's sparked so many ideas. If there aren't any events near you, have a go organising some. Meet in a local pub, talk about your latest efforts, issues with design and development, future projects, whatever! Twitter is another great tool for this stuff but you'll get so many more Twitter contacts by attending events as well as digital networking.

He's not sad because he's lonely, he's sad because he missed EGX.

So do it! Get out there, show your games, discuss your trade, hear others and develop your own ideas further. The best thing you can do is be there for this stuff. Whether you want to create something fresh, new and unique or improve on something you think can be done better these events can be key to your success, whatever your view of that is.