Session Name: | Herding Cats Doesn't Begin to Describe It: Reflections on 20 Years of the IGDA |
Speaker(s): | Ernest Adams |
Company Name(s): | Independent |
Track / Format: | Advocacy |
Overview: | Twenty years ago, in the middle of a firestorm of criticism against video games caused by the release of Mortal Kombat, Ernest Adams asked several influential friends to help him set up a professional society for game developers. He didn't want it to be a union or a trade association, and he knew it would be a tough sell because game developers are some of the most libertarian, contrarian, independent and downright unsociable people on the planet. Today, Ernest takes a wry and humorous look back over the 20-year history of the International Game Developers Association with reflections on what went wrong, what went right, how in some ways it has exceeded his wildest dreams, and why we need it now more than ever. |