私はデジタルハリウッド大学院4年生の中村竜乃介です。大学院ではVRとくにHMDの演出について研究しています。この度幸運にもスカラーシップに選抜され、3社のゲーム会社とCEDEC2015を他校の学生と共に訪れることができ、当初想定していた以上の知見を得られました。
1日目の会社訪問では、会社の説明までは変わりありませんでしたが、質疑応答や現場で働いている人たちに自身のポートフォリオを見てもらう時になると、スカラー生はみな真剣でした。そして他社へ移動する最中などでは、作品を見せあったり、どの様なことを研究している、これからしようとしているなど、お互いの夢について語り合うなどしていました。
2日目、私は朝一でOculus Rift体験会の整理券を手に入れ、待機列に並びましたが、他にスカラーはいませんでした。体験を終えた私はぜひ他のスカラーも体験した方がいいと感じ、後ほど他の学生にも体験した方がいいと話しました。
お昼には事前に告知されていたランチミーティングで、SIG-Indie正世話人の大澤範之さんがゲストに来られました。ランチミーティングでは毎日いろいろなゲストを呼ぶと聞いており、他のスカラーもそれについては触れると思われるので、ここで多くは触れないでおきますが、私は3日間のゲストの中で最も大澤さんの話が面白く、得るものが多かったと感じています。大澤さん自身のゲームに対する考え方や、今回のCEDECに関する話、スカラーに対する期待などは大きな刺激になりました。
そして、その日の終わりに大澤さんの宿泊しているホテルで飲み会をやるとのお誘いを受け、数名のスカラーと共にお邪魔しました。そこでも面白い話を聞いたり、CEDECボランティアスタッフや、直近にあった福島ゲームジャムの運営責任者の方などとも、遅くまで話すことができました。
3日目では、前日にOculus Riftの体験を話したこともあり、スカラー数名と朝一で体験をしに行きました。
大学院の研究で体験したことのない人のリアクションなどはよく目にしていました。しかしHMDの体験が初めてというスカラーはゲーム業界に強い関心があるだけあり、HMDゲームの可能性やOculus Riftのここが良い、悪いなどすぐに分析が始まったのも特徴的な行動だと感じました。
そしてこの時には既にスカラー生と完全に打ち解けており、同じセッションで会ったときには、待ち時間に互いの見たセッションの情報交換を盛んに行うようになっていました。同時に互いに意見交換をすることで、自分とは異なる視点と気付きを得られるようになっており、まだ出会って3日目でしたが、非常に濃密な関係を築くことができていました。
また、大澤さんの計らいで実施された飲み会で出会った企業の方と、企業ブースで会うことができました。せっかくなのでブースにお邪魔し、提供されているサービスについて直々に教えていただきました。
その夜に行われたDevelopersNightでも、他のスカラーと同様に数名の方と話すことができ、大変有意義なものになりました。先日とは異なるメンバーが参加していた2次会でしたが、DevelopersNightで出会った方や2014年スカラーの方と、今までとは異なる踏み込んだ話や、学生のような馬鹿な話もとびだし、笑いながら遅くまで語り合うことができました。
最終日、私はSONYのMorpheusの体験会が1番の目玉だと感じていたので、スカラーで留学生のMaxさんと共に1番で整理券をもらいに行きました。彼の研究テーマと私のテーマが同じVR関係であったこともあり、列に並んでいる間は期待に胸を膨らませ、色々なことを予想したり、語り合いました。午後のセッションでは午前中に体験できたMorpheusのサマーレッスンの開発者である、鉄拳チームによるセッションが約4時間半にわたりおこなわれ、スカラー生の田中さんと共に聴講しました。
4日間を通して、一学生では決してできない体験と、出会うことのないような人たちとの出会いを得ることができました。この体験を今後もより多くの学生に体験して頂けることは、多くの学生とゲーム業界に良い影響を必ず与えていくと私は信じています。それと共に、改めて私たちにこうした機会を与えてくれたことに大変な感謝を申し上げます。
CEDEC 2015 Scholarship Participant Report 05: Ryuunosuke Nakamura (Digital Hollywood Graduate School)
My name is Ryunosuke Nakamura, and I am a fourth-year student at Digital Hollywood Graduate School, where I am researching VR, and HMD production in particular. I was fortunate enough to be chosen for this year’s scholarship, which allowed me to visit three game companies as well as CEDEC 2015. Overall, I was able to gain even more knowledge from this experience than I had first imagined.
During the company visits on the first day, while each company’s explanation of what it does was not too different from the others, all of the scholars were serious and engaged when it came to Q&A and time to show those who worked in studios our portfolios. While we moved from company to company, we also showed one another what we’ve created, talked about what we’re researching or planning on doing next, and discussed our dreams.
On the second day, I lined up first thing in the morning for a ticket for the Oculus Rift demonstration, but none of the other scholars were there. After getting to experience it, I felt that the other scholars needed to experience it as well and let them know this later.
During the previously-announced lunch meeting that day, we were joined by Noriyuki Osawa, chair of SIG-Indie. We were able to hear from different guests every day during lunch meetings, and while I will not touch on this subject for very long because I assume the other scholars will also discuss it, Mr. Osawa’s talk was the most interesting to me among all of the guests we met over the three days, and I also felt I was able to gain the most from it. Mr. Osawa’s own approach to games as well as his thoughts on the current CEDEC and the expectations he had of the scholars worked to encourage me strongly.
We were then invited to an after-party at the end of that day in the hotel that Mr. Osawa was staying in, so I attended along with a number of other scholars. I was also able to hear interesting stories here until late in the night, and I was also able to speak directly to CEDEC volunteer staff and the individual responsible for running the recent Fukushima Game Jam.
On the third day, I went with a number of scholars to the Oculus Rift demonstration I spoke to them about the previous day.
I had seen many people react to these kinds of demonstrations for the first time before throughout the course of my graduate school research. However, I thought it was very notable that when experiencing HMDs for the very first time, the scholars, as people with an interest in the game industry, immediately began analyzing and talking about the possibilities of HMD games, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the Oculus Rift.
By this point, the scholars had already become comfortable with one another, so when waiting in line for the same session, we would partake in lively exchanges about the sessions had seen. By trading information back and forth in this way, we were able to learn about points of view and highlights of the weekend that were different from our own. While we had only known each other for three days, we had already created full and deep relationships with one another.
I was also able to meet some of the individuals working at companies who I met at Mr. Osawa’s after-party at their corporate booths. As I had gone out to their booths, I took the opportunity to learn about the services their companies offered directly.
I was able to speak to other scholars in similar ways during the Developers’ Night that was held that night, which was a very valuable experience. While different students participated in the after-party for Developers’ Night as compared to the one the previous night, I was able to have different kinds of conversations, including silly, student-like ones, with individuals I met there for the first time, as well as 2014 scholars late into the night.
I felt that SONY’s Morpheus was the biggest sight to see on the final day, and so I went together with Max, a scholar who is a study abroad student, to receive a reservation ticket the first in the morning. Both he and I are researching VR-related subjects, so we waited in line with excitement filling our chests, each of us talking about all of our own predictions. The afternoon session I attended was held by the Tekken team, who also worked on the Morpheus title Summer Lesson that I had played that morning. The session ran for about four and a half hours, and I was able to attend it together with another scholar, Tanaka.
Over these four days, I was able to experience things and meet people that a regular student would never have the chance to otherwise. I believe that allowing more students to have these experiences in the future would have a positive effect on both many students as well as the games industry. Once again, I am deeply grateful that we were all given this opportunity.