[This post transferred to the Gute Fabrik blog for archival purposes]
Last week I had the opportunity to visit Bonn and Cologne for GDC Europe. It was the first year that GDCE hosted an Indie Summit. I was there to give a talk about some of my games as they relate to my dissertation research (coverage here). Lau was also there as a co-chair of the summit.
Man, I look so goddamn skeptical!
I also took the weekend to visit some friends in Bonn (big thanks to Joanna, Kay, and Nele for all the hospitality!).
And of course I had to stage some public J.S. Jousting while I was in Germany! I’ve already run the game in the streets and at the beach, and so I’m always looking for crazy new locations in which to stage the game. My attention immediately gravitated towards the Cologne Cathedral – a massive and imposing building that dominates the Cologne skyline. As Brandon Boyer noted, apparently the cathedral took 630 years(!) to build, and withstood multiple bombings during WWII. Yup, I just had to play there.
So on Tuesday afternoon, Brandon and I climbed to the top of one of the towers. After stopping to catch out breath, we setup shop in the tower atrium, heavenly light streaming down upon us:
Jousting at the top of the Cologne Cathedral. I think I found religion. Photo by Brandon Boyer.
Epic!! We were joined by our friends Dean, Paolo, Ricky, and Dick. Man did we have a good time! And I think we confused a lot of tourists in the process. At the very least, they’re going to have a hard time explaining those trip photos, heh.
Dean also caught some super excellent photos, which I embed below. Also check out Dick’s photos and Paolo’s photos.
After climbing down, we joined up with our Dutch friends and played some more right next to the cathedral:
Laurens and Rami faceoff by the cathedral.
All in all, it was an energizing few days! The conference itself was surprisingly enjoyable. Brandon delivered an inspiring talk (the same one he had given at Nordic Game Conference 2011), and Dan Pinchbeck and Heather Kelley were on hand to deliver some excellent mini-talks (as expected). I also really enjoyed Dean’s (from Harmonix) talk about the process behind designing their hit game Dance Central. Those Harmonix guys are always so classy!
But the real highlight of the trip was hanging out with so many friends and colleagues there, old and new. Too many people to list, but I will briefly note that it was especially nice to catch up with Ricky and Dick, who were at Gamescom to announce their PlayStation Vita game, Frobisher Says. Check out this video trailer for the game – surely the trailer of the year! It’s one of my most anticipated games right now.
And now, without further ado, Dean’s photos. Epic!