Dr. Sc. Carlos Gonzalez Tardon talked to us about Informatica 2018 and videogaming

During the recently concluded 17th edition of the International Convention and Fair Informatica 2018 in Havana, we had the pleasure of counting on the presence of Dr.Sc. Carlos Gonzalez Tardon, founder of People&VIDEOGAMES and curator of the Section of Videogames and Education of Mediateka BBK Azkuna Zentroa. Associate Professor in U-tad, Tecnocampus and MSMK. In spite of his tight agenda he agreed to grant us an interview for our journal.

How was your experience at Informática 2018?

Havana's Convention and Fair Informatica is a very interesting option, it is an international meeting that unites two points of view, the researching and the industrial one, for the exchange of knowledge. I have been able two attend this event only in the last two days because of my complex schedule but I have gained knowledge about the situation of the development of Cuba.   

Regarding your conference Videogaming for Social Transformation, could you tell us something about it?

The conference was divided into two parts, the first one had to do with how entertainment video games have indirectly changed society, with the presentation of their potential as technological democratizing tool, job opportunity or cross-generational leisure, among other aspects. The second part show the potential of serious video games and gamification, which are aspects that directly transform society.

What about the stand on the current situation of video games in Cuba?

It was a very interesting stand in which several developers presented their proposals, the main conclusion I drew from these presentations is the Cuban videogaming industry is blossoming and developing. One of the main issues was that there was no chance of developing this industry during the 90's, in my opinion, this should not be an obstacle, because in Spain something very similar happened, and we had to practically hit the industry's reset button, but it was not such a big problem.

On Saturday, an activity about Cuban and Spanish video games featuring presentations and game zones, along with Joven Club took place. How did you like it?

In order to make the most out of our last day in Cuba a #monstruosindies activity was suggested. This kind of activity has already been carried out in other Ibero-American countries, it is basically a small number of conferences and a displaying zone in which we are able to find video games from this country but also Spanish ones. The conference I gave about frequently asked questions on Game Design, for sharing certain concepts that we have in Spain about the development of Game Design Document and Videogaming Mechanics. Moreover, several Cuban initiatives related to videogaming were presented. After that, we moved on to the exhibitory part in which I could test multiple institutional and indies projects, some of them were really interesting.
 

Any recommendations for the Cuban video game developers?

The first thing is that the development seems very focused on the educational environment with Cuban themes, although it is an interesting and useful approach, we must not leave aside the video games of pure entertainment and more universal themes. Entertainment-oriented video games are not less and there is no need of excusing yourself for developing them. The second piece of advice is that they have to think that they are developing for the world and they should also bear in mind that they need to participate in as many international events as possible, since there is a high level of ignorance about Cuban development outside of Cuba.
 

Any recommendations for gamers' parents?

A recurrent topic in informal talks has been the great concern of the adult population about the use of video games by children and its long-term impact, so I think we will make a special article in this magazine in the coming months.