High ScoreとPAXの間に二日間オーストラリア最東端のバイロンベイという美しい海辺の街にも休暇で行ったのですが、そこで高台から沖の海をみると鯨やイルカの群れを見ることができて、それはまさにこの世のものとも思えない程の美しい光景でした。こんなものを日常的にみていたら感情的に反捕鯨に向かう感覚もわからんでもない気がしました。カンガルーの件も含めて感情的にもつれた文化的なコンフリクトは実際に現地で体験しないと実情は伝わらないなと思いました。
This is a report of Games Week in Melbourne the other day. First of all, I'd write about the event called High Score 2019 that specializes in game audio, which I took part as a Keynote Speaker and participated in the panel discussion. High Score is a networking and presentation event held at a non-commercial workplace called The Arcade, which is a collective of emerging game developers in Melbourne. The concept of The Arcade is to make an environment that allows easy and frequent exchanges between venture businesses similar to the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) in Boston and Level 39 in London.
The Arcadeの位置するメルボルンの南側エリアは中心地の雰囲気とはかなり異なり、いわゆる高層ビルなどはなく明らかな観光目的のための建物や店もなく、落ち着いていながらも新しくビジネスが立ち上がる雰囲気を彷彿させる新興エリアという感じです。というのもオーストラリアの中ではシドニーに比べてまだこちらは不動産価格の高騰がなく、家賃が安く抑えられており、さらにはヴィクトリア州からゲーム産業に対して成長産業としての助成金が投入されていることもあって、オーストラリア中から多くのスタートアップとさらにはそれに付随してビジネスチャンスを求めるゲーム関連のクリエイターも多く移り住んで来ているとのことで、まさに街の雰囲気だけでなく、ビジネス環境的にもかつてのブルックリンやベルリンにとても近いという、今後の成長を予感させる街です。
Melbourne's south area, where The Arcade is located, is quite different from the central Melbourne's atmosphere, there are no so-called high-rise buildings, no obvious constructions or shops for tourist purposes. It feels like an emerging area that is reminiscent of a new business startup atmosphere. This is because there is still no real estate price rise in Melbourne compared to Sydney, the rent is kept cheap, and further, a certain amount of subsidy has been put in from Victorian Government to the game industry. As a result, many startups from all over Australia and many games related creators seeking business opportunities have also moved in. Not only the atmosphere of the city, but also the business environment is very close to former Brooklyn and Berlin. It is a city that gives you a sense of future growth.
As for the contents of my Keynote Speech, refer to the previous blog, anyway, I think the overall atmosphere of High Score is like a cozy compact version of GDC specialized in audio. However, when I asked what kind of people was coming there at the beginning of the speech and discussion, there were a large percentage of students who wanted to be in the game industry. In addition to being majored in this field, many of them are studying technical expertise in digital audio and marketing in the industry as well, and some of the YouTube channels where they uploaded their songs already have had over 10,000 of subscribers. However, they still seem to try and error "how to get a chance as a composer in the game industry". In addition, there were a few participants from the United States and Canada, and I realized the intense competition in the game industry in recent years.
High Score期間中の3日間は2回の登壇、ゲーム関連のウェブラジオにABC(オーストラリア放送協会)の番組の計2回、またイベント後のネットワーキングパーティ以外にも主催者宅でのホームパーティや船上パーティなどにもお呼ばれされて色々と興味深い意見交換ができました。中でもホームパーティではアメリカから来ていたゲーム音楽の権利ビジネスのストラテジスト、某超大手オンラインゲームデベロッパーのオーディオコーディネーター(肩書だけではふたりとも具体的に何をやってるのかいまいちわかりませんが^^;)との話は非常に興味深かったです。ゲーム音楽の権利に関してはアメリカの著作権管理団体であるASCAPでは著作者単位ではなく楽曲単位での登録が条件次第では可能になっていることなど、また日本のゲームコンポーザーもすでにJASRACを避けて国外のPROに加盟することによって上手く自曲の管理と従来の日本での譲渡契約の受注を両立させているケースを聞きました(これは個別の条件によって複雑に権利の範囲が変わるので今なお難しい問題だとは思いましたが)またオーディオコーディネーター氏からはプロジェクト内の分業および効果的、効率的な情報のシェアに関する戦略を。また彼らおよび今回自分を招聘してくれたホームパーティの主催者(彼はゲーム音楽のレーベルと制作会社2つのオーナー)は皆もともとはコンポーザー出身ということもあって音楽に対する愛情はもとより、実際の制作環境を理解した上で現在の専門分野のスキルをうまく構築してる点が素晴らしいと感じました。
During the High Score period, I gave two presentations, appeared on game-related web radios and ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) program. In addition to the networking party after the event, I was invited to the home party at the organizer's house and exchanged various interesting opinions. I was particularly interested in talking with the game music rights business strategist who came from the US and the audio coordinator who works at a certain major online game developer. Regarding game music rights, ASCAP, a copyright management organization in the United States, allows registration in units of music instead of authors, depending on the conditions, etc. I also heard that some Japanese game composers have already successfully managed their songs and received orders for transfer contracts in Japan by avoiding JASRAC and joining a foreign PRO. I think that it is still a difficult problem because the range of rights changes depending on the case. The audio coordinator also spoke about the division of work within the project and strategies for sharing information effectively and efficiently. In addition, they and the home party organizer (He manages game music label and game audio production company) were originally composers, so they love music and have built their current specialized skills well after understanding the actual production environment. I felt that it was wonderful.
By the way, I was invited to the event with composer Manami Matsumae, who has been active in the game industry since the Nintendo era. In contrast to what I gave a presentation-style speech using Keynote, Manami took the style of explaining only necessary points with a reference sound source while reading a prepared text. Firstly, she spoke in Japanese and then Interpreter spoke it in English. I thought it could be monotonous, but the audience seriously listened to Manami's speaking. Many attendees are students and still young composers, and I think the words of Manami, who provided music from the genesis of the game industry, were heard by them as a kind of "word of God". Nowadays It is so difficult to enter the game industry, and the young people seemed trying to get some hints from the words of God. At the same time, I realized the significance of the history of the Japanese game industry that created the genesis of the game and the strength as an asset that still has a big influence.
Bayonetta, Blog Updated, Dugo, Mac, Melbourne, Metal Gear Solid, Soundtrack, Video Game, Video Game Music
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メルボルンのゲームオーディオイベント High Score 2019で行った講演の際につかったKeynoteファイルをアップロードしましたので興味のある方はダウンロードしてご覧になってみて下さい。英語のプレゼンターノート(アンチョコ)も残してあります。
I have uploaded the Keynote file used during the lecture at the game audio event High Score 2019 in Melbourne, so if you are interested, please download it and have a look. I also left an English presenter note.