You Can't Do That! Crossing Platforms and Genres with Shadowrun

Lecturer: Dana Hanna, Microsoft Game Studios

Shadowrun is a pen and paper RPG, right? Or is it a classic Super Nintendo game? But maybe it’s a team-based, cross-platform shooter for Xbox LIVE and Vista? The answer is (D): all of the above. How do you bring the followers of all these incarnations of Shadowrun together without the risk of serious bodily harm? If you’ve ever played an MMO, you may understand the answer to that question.

FASA Studio’s Shadowrun offers some insight on how traditional MMO community management practices are becoming increasingly relevant in console gaming. Join us for tales of making the first-ever game to allow head-to-head play between Xbox 360 and PC gamers, engaging in meaningful dialogues with the RPG, console, and PC gaming communities, and assuring old-school Shadowrun fans that the developers weren’t all puppy-kicking Philistines.

Intended Audience: Community managers, game designers, producers, marketers.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites. This talk is meant to be a (somewhat humorous) look at the challenges of / lessons learned from bringing very different gaming audiences together while preventing them from doing serious damage to each other (or us).

Format: Mini Lecture

Track: Community

Date/Time: Wednesday, 3:30 PM

Room: Salon F