GDC Friday 2018. Confidential meeting with Nintendo and 2k. Not to break that confidence now, but what I said back then speaks to how I feel about Civilization 6 on Switch just as well today. Let me try and re-iterate what I told Nintendo on that day.
The first time I saw the Civilization game was before it was even a franchise – yes the original game. I walked from the office I shared with two other game developers into the larger office where much of the MegaDrive/Genesis development took place. On of the programmers was playing this very interesting looking game on his PC. I asked him what it was and he told me the name of it (Civilization) and he showed me what he was doing. It looked awesome.
If asked, I will deny that he pulled the floppy drive from his PC and told me to go and install (copy) it on my own. I was however so fascinated with this game that the potential for piracy aside, on the way home that night I stopped off at the game store and purchase the version for my beloved Commodore Amiga. I was hooked. I would play the game at home on my Amiga. I would play the ‘borrowed’ version on the PC during lunchtimes over a number of days. I would re-start games over and over again. I loved the manual – every time I looked at the many intricate details of it, I would learn a better way of playing the game even if was only because I had gained a better understanding of a particular technology or wonder.
Civilization games because a lifelong passion for me.
On that GDC Friday, I recalled the same GDC Friday of 2017. It was Nintendo Switch launch day. I was incredibly excited about this device and I was looking forward to the one waiting for me at home – the pre-order had been delivered.
When new consoles launch, I have this strange or maybe healthy habit of hanging around in stores and seeing what kind of excitement is going on. Before GDC opened up for the day, I went over to the Target store that is now part of the Metreon Center in San Francisco.
I have to admit, I had other motives too. I did not expect it, but if somehow they had stock I would have purchased a Switch and a copy of Zelda to play on the airplane home – with the excuse given that the pre-order was actually for my son. I just couldn’t wait.
It was not to be. No Nintendo’s in stock. Before I go on, I should say my son got ‘his’ Switch the next day as we were lucky on some kind of Amazon Prime Now pop-up.
Now Target on GDC Friday might have been out of stock, but full of excitement. People were looking around the shelves, picking up whatever game or peripheral they could even if they did not own the device. Some of them the public and others, clearly conference attendees like myself. I picked up a spare JoyCon and my copy of Zelda. I laughed at the electronics desk – the phone was ringing off the hook and each time the staff answered ‘Hello thanks for calling Target, this is the electronics desk. We do not have any Nintendo Switch consoles in stock, how may I help you?’. They were polite, but they knew why the phone was ringing and got straight to the point.
It was a special day for Nintendo. Lot’s of excitement for what was going to very clearly be a winning device.
Back to GDC 2018. He we were, a year later on from that day. I think some of the Nintendo staff were touched that I remembered it was GDC Friday last year. I guess they also might have been concerned too, after all it was quite nerdy to be recalling this.
Anyway, I went on to speak of my experience with the Switch since that day. I played Zelda Breath of the Wild more or less non-stop for six months. Explored almost every inch of that map, but never actually tried to complete the last few steps just because I didn’t want the experience to end.
All this wasn’t a long rant, the point of the story I was coming to. I explained something along the following lines.
The Civilization Franchise is something that I’ve always followed, been a major fan of. The games I’ve put 100’s of hours into with each release. It’s important to me as a gamer and as a game developer.
The Nintendo Switch had caught my attention well before release and I had since become passionate about it. It’s a great device and I think some of the gaming I’ve had from it would make up for some of the greatest times I’ve ever had playing games.
Up until that point during the meeting, I had had it in my hands but been kind of distracting them from it. Paraphrasing what I said next: ‘To put these two passions together, was something that meant an awful lot to me. Bringing together Nintendo, the Switch and the Civilization franchise is very personal, very important to me.’
No longer hiding it, I turned the Nintendo Switch in my hands around and I showed them Civilization VI, playable.
A great GDC moment. A great moment for me. It’s a pity that more or less as soon as I opened my mouth, my boss walked out the room to greet a latecomer and missed most of it.
He stepped back in the room and said ‘what did I miss?’.