BitWall part of Showcase at SF BETA: The Future of Gaming - Wednesday, January 27th As BitWall has grown, we have brought on a variety of different publishers. One particular subset of publishers is those who write content about games and the gaming industry. We decided to attend the SF BETA: The Future of Gaming showcase to better understand the gaming world and how to better drive value for these publishers and gaming developers in the community. As part of the startup showcase, we were able to engage with a great group of people, ranging from gaming developers to hard core gamers. This included not only industry veterans but also people looking to get started in the gaming industry, such as students studying animation and illustration at San Jose State University.
In the showcase, there was a wide variety of game developers showing off their latest games. There were single developer teams, such as Wigl (a flute controlled robot that teaches kids to learn music in a fun way), and companies as large as Episode, a choose-your-own story adventure produced by Pocket Gems.
After each showcase company gave a brief pitch, Matt Conn (CEO of Midboss) moderated a panel that included Bob Mills (Developer Relations at OUYA), Rick Johnson (Founder of Technical Illusions), and Tony Parisi (Virtual Reality Pioneer). The panel engaged in a 30-minute discussion, followed by an audience Q&A segment. The panel covered topics such as augmented reality, better inclusion in the gaming industry, where board games fit in the future of gaming, and the inevitable sloth/human cross-over with the increase of technology replacing human tasks.
It was particularly exciting to see the panelists emphasis to foster an environment more female friendly and what larger companies should be doing to create this environment.
Huge thank you for Christian Perry and SFBeta for bringing this all together and making it possible. We look forward to future opportunities to be part of a great gaming community.
