Ritual. It was the only word used as a slogan by the thousands of developers who, for 48 hours, submitted themselves to the creation of videogames all over the world last weekend. This initiative, called Global Game Jam, had 90 Uruguayans as protagonists, who created 12 titles.
"If they tell you to create a game, it's not so easy to do it. Now, if they give you a slogan, it's easier to develop creativity," says Juan Lagisquet, a member of one of the local teams.
After assigning a word, they put the groups together. The background of the initiative was that they worked with people they had never met before. They always "end up getting to know each other and talking about different topics," says Fernando Sansberro, who organized the event at the A+ academy.
Once the teams were formed, 36,000 people from 93 countries around the world began to work.
The teams - made up of programmers, designers and sound designers - defined what they wanted to do on Friday afternoon. Then, those who were at A+ last Friday were able to go home to sleep, bathe and eat. At 8 o'clock, they went back to the arena. At the Antel Tower, they went on.
What followed was a "very intense" day of work, according to the participants. "There were tense and very intense moments where everyone was very crazy, but you learned a lot," says Lagisquet, who was the soundman on one of the creations.
Against the clock, the video games were ready on Sunday afternoon. Then, the creators had to explain what their development consisted of and show their "gameplay".
The organization asked the creators to upload their creation to the website. On the website, in addition to finding images and explanations of what each title consists of, you can download the version to enjoy it.
What did they create?
According to the organization's figures, 68,000 games were created worldwide.
In Uruguay, there were all kinds of initiatives. Some were based on the endless runner methodology: a video game without an end, in which you have to run forward. They are score-based (the player must beat his or her own records) and end when the player loses.
A much applauded one was Morning Ritual, invented by nine people, which forces the gamer to run forward and not fall asleep. The protagonist must grab coffee beans and dodge other characters who seek to kill him. The difficulty lies in controlling the levels of coffee you drink, so you don't explode from caffeine or slow down because you need it.
In Totem Garden the main character must run forward, to the rhythm of the music. The player must listen and jump depending on how low or high pitched the sound is.
Others appealed to create games linked to witches. For example, Black Cat Ritual features a witch, who with her black cat must perform a ritual to defeat a monster. In the process, she must fight zombies and bats.
Prize: the experience.
Those who participated in the Global Game Jam did not win any prizes. "The experience of living it is your reward," says Sasha Alentorn, one of the artists who worked on Totem Garden.
Many people participated for the first time in this initiative. Some of them did not come from the videogame industry but took the risk to do it. Others, more experienced, took on some challenges.
Lagisquet, for example, said that as a soundman he had the challenge of, in this event, making music with his voice. "I set myself the challenge," he says.
The background of the initiative was to connect with other people in the industry. "The main idea is for them to work with people they don't know and to network," says Sansberro. It's something that is highly encouraged; otherwise, you get too locked into your work, they point out.
"It's encouraged because a lot of people involved in video games tend to be introverted," says Lagisquet. Above all, he believes it happens with people who work in the programming area.
For Alentorn this is a sign of "love for video games". "It's cooperating with people who feel the same love and don't sleep for a weekend. It's fun and stressful at times, but it's so worth it," he says.
Aid to the industry.
Many people who already work in the industry participated in the event, which according to Sansberro improves year by year in terms of the quality of the product presented and the number of developers. Juan Lagisquet, for example, does it from Polyraptor Games, a small company that is incubated in Ingenio, an organization that is responsible for accelerating technology-based initiatives.
These types of events are an instrument to accelerate the industry here and around the world.
This is one of the fastest growing areas in the XXI century. According to estimates by PwC consulting, during 2015 the industry mobilized 75,000 million dollars in the world. For the future, estimates are better: in 2016 it will be 79,000 million and 84,000 for 2017.
Uruguayan creations are coveted. In 2014 they had 10 million downloads, according to a survey by the National Telecommunications Directorate (Dinatel).
There are 20 formalized video game companies in Uruguay.
More and more people (and companies) are looking to create video games in Urguay. According to a survey conducted by the National Telecommunications Directorate (Dinatel) there are 20 formalized companies in the country, two of which have more than 20 workers. The rest do not have that number of employees. One of the main tools to develop is incubation. One of the platforms that allows this is Ingenio, which provides an office to establish a company. Today, according to data from the organization, there are eight incubated video game companies. The cost for physical incubation has a monthly cost of 6,373 pesos plus VAT. It is also possible to do a remote incubation, which has a cost of 3,187.
Source: JUAN PABLO DE MARCO for Portal elpais.com.uy
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