Smithsonian GameFest Recap

I must apologize for the lapse in posting.  That ends now!  Let me tell you about GameFest!

GameFest was a three day event marking the opening The Art of Video Games exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.  To say it was a massive success would be selling it short.  Over twenty-two thousand visitors came through the museum and enjoyed a variety of activities in addition to the exhibit itself.  Some of those activities included panel discussions and keynote speeches given by industry greats like Hideo Kojima and Nolan Bushnell.  For those who couldn't make it into the limited seating, all the discussions were recorded and are available online.

My highlight from volunteering at GameFest, however, was having the opportunity to meet Rand Miller and his wife Denise.  I was stationed in the part of the exhibit where visitors can play five different games.  One of those games is Myst. I had just given a guest some instructions on how to play the game and was moving back from the display when a gentleman approached me and introduced himself and his wife.  It was Rand Miller!  He said he was having a blast just sitting back watching how the different museum goers were playing the game.

We chatted about the exhibit and how unbelievable it was to have something he'd made be in the Smithsonian.  I also asked a few questions about Myst development, mostly about the puzzles and focus testing. Many of the puzzles were altered and solutions/hints made more apparent after feedback gathered from lots of testing during development.  I know, it's hard to imagine an even more difficult version of Myst ever existed.

Myst was one of the games I played a lot of growing up.  The puzzles, fantastic worlds to explore, and just complete mystery surrounding every environment kept pulling me back in.  This was before the internet, so solutions were not readily available.  Your only resource was your wits and your friends who were also playing the game.  To have met one of the minds that made those experiences possible was a dream come true.