It's been over a week since the Freeplay Independent Games Festival, which might be enough time to start properly gathering my thoughts.

I want to start with a massive disclaimer. I am not about to do the festival or the many excellent presenters justice. The positive energy and ideas are better covered elsewhere.

For example, in Brendan Keogh's write-ups on Gamasutra:

Brandon Boyer Tells Indies To 'Be Yourself, Be Wonderful'.
Why Adam Saltsman Makes Video Games.
The Difficulty of Understanding A World That Can't Exist.

I spent the weekend at Freeplay Independent Games Festival here in Melbourne. I wasn't at my most interactive that's for sure, but did sit quietly and listen to a lot of great speakers. I'm still turning it all over in my head.

Others will probably write about more specific ideas from the various sessions. As usual, I'm going to write about a more individual experience.

I wasn't too sure what I might get out of Freeplay, given that I enjoy playing and writing about games, but have never been interested in making them myself. I expected some new ideas to think about, possibly also a bit more insight into the development process.

I didn't quite expect the level of passion and inspiration. I also didn't expect to start making connections in my mind to my day job, and where there might one day be great synergies. I keep different aspects of my life fairly fragmented, so crossovers come as a surprise.

This Saturday at 8:30PM is Earth Hour, so my lights, consoles and computers will be staying off. It's a very small sacrifice. When it comes to the scale of anthropogenic climate change I think this must have a rather small direct effect in the scheme of things. But it is also a valuable symbol, and I consider that important. It's unfortunate that raising awareness remains such an important part of this issue.

The power use involved in gaming is something I think about fairly often. The number of consoles and gadgets I use has increased over time. Recently I've started turning non-essential things off at the wall when I'm not using them, but I still wonder about the impact of spending so much time on electronic entertainment.

There are far worse things I could be doing -- I don't own a car, and it's extremely unusual for me to utilise air travel. But that doesn't mean my own habits are not worth thinking about.

(From April 2008)

I wasn't at my best on Saturday morning. But I did not let it interrupt plans to see the Game On exhibition at Fed Square. I wasn't sure I'd be up for doing much. But they had so much fun stuff.