STRAYLIFE

So there I was, all prepared to write about “Convergence” (wonderful buzz word that it is), and how often it is misinterpreted. I figured I’d let the ideas settle over the weekend, then distill my thoughts into a great blog entry.

But – and there’s always a but – that’s not quite what happened.

During the weekend, I bought the Orange Box from Valve. The prospect of two episodes of Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2 was too good an offer to turn up. And here comes another but… I didn’t play any of them! Instead, I gave my time to Portal, the ‘freebie’ in the set, and it’s the best gaming experience I’ve had in a long time.

Sure, I could go on about the games physics, its humour (and more humour) or even the fairy tale story of the development team that were picked out of College by one of the top developers / publishers in the business. There are people who have already told those stories far better though (warning: ‘strong’ language).

What I found myself thinking of though, was our company’s new vision – ””Meaningful Play””:http://www.meaningfulplay.com – the idea that game playing should be about more than just filling in time, or “seriously” gaming to learn how to repair a 747 engine.

So what has this got to do with Portal? Valve have made a top rate game, there’s no doubt of that. But mixed subtly into the game play are questions of ethics and morality. They don’t preach, they don’t even demand that you pay attention to them. But it’s hard to play the game and not think of the computer as a real person, with motivations and feelings. And don’t get me started on the gun turrets. It’s the Turing Test made real for a new generation.

Amidst the fun and challenge of Portal, Valve has snuck in a story that makes you ponder important, long term issues, without ever feeling preached to. Thank you Valve, for bringing meaning into my play without removing any of the fun.

In the latest Auckland City Council news, Auckland has been crowned the home of New Zealand’s creative industries. Within the city there are approximately 5250 employees in the design sector alone. This totals
39% of the country’s creative workers . Whilst this can mean more competition, it also means the ability for more collaboration; which the majority of designers appreciate.

The Council is pleased to be supporting the upcoming Semi-Permanent 08 conference that is to be held on August 15th – 16th in the Aotea Centre. Design is crucial to the city’s economic future, says chairperson of the City Development committee, Councillor Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga. “Design adds intrinsic value and provides unique points of difference that give New Zealand enterprises an edge in the global marketplace.”

Auckland City council have initialised an action plan called Blueprint: Growing Auckland’s Creative Industries . As mentioned on the Auckland City Council website, Blueprint aims to build on the vital contribution the creative sector makes to Auckland. “This plan views the creative sector through an economic lens and will result in the council actively promoting and assisting Auckland city’s creative industries to greater national and international economic success.”

Blueprint will be implemented over the next 10 years hoping to raise awareness, support enterprise and create environment for the creative industry in Auckland.

It has been two weeks since we moved into our new office and everything is going swimmingly. Everyone has been very welcoming and friendly and I have even been invited on a ski weekend away to Ruapehu. It is a pity the timing is off; otherwise I’d have been there with bells on (more than likely because it would be white-out conditions and wearing bells would be the only way to identify where I was.)

I have had a couple of visitors that took me up on my free coffee email that I circulated. They have been very impressed with the space. I look forward to getting some more visitors in the future.

For your reference our new address is:
Studio CO-4,
74D France St,
Newton,
AUCKLAND