GDC 12 panel - Reaching Into the Toy-Chest: A Look into Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure's Design

SPEAKER/S: Mike Stout (Activision Blizzard)
DAY / TIME / LOCATION: Wednesday 2:00- 3:00 Room 130, North Hall
TRACK / DURATION / FORMAT / AUDIENCE LEVEL: Game Design / 60-Minute / Lecture / All
DESCRIPTION:
Making games is hard. Making a game with more than 32 playable characters is very difficult. Now integrate a huge line of collectable toys and you get Activision's Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure. Activision designer Mike Stout talks about the highs and lows of making this very challenging game.


TAKEAWAY: It's hard to make a game with so many unknowns (audience, franchise, and needing to question so many basic design concepts), but with good planning and solid design principles it is possible to succeed. This talk will outline how, from a design perspective, Skylanders did that and more.
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Designers will probably benefit most from the talk. I'm not planning to use any crazy jargon, though, so I think there will be good content for all disciplines.
ELIGIBLE PASSES: All Access Pass, Main Conference Pass