Wacom, the manufacturer and seller of products such as pen tablets and display tablets, hosted an event called “Connected Ink 2024” on November 15 and 16 in Tokyo, in the plaza of the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building. Sankei Digital orchestrated and oversaw the planning of the indie game experience corner set up within the venue for the second consecutive year.
The event, which has been held since 2016, this year focused on the theme of “ordinariness,” based on the consistent theme of “creative chaos” that has been highlighted since 2020. Stages, workshops, and booths were set up focusing on daily life, and talk sessions were also held by creators active in various fields such as art, education, and technology.
Sankei Digital’s game and entertainment media division, “IGN JAPAN,” curated game works focusing on the “ordinariness”. An experience corner was set up for four works: “Exit 8,” which aims to escape from an underground passage and was nominated for the 2024 Buzzword of the Year; “Enjoy the Family Restaurant,” which unravels the mystery of a wandered into family restaurant; “GOODBYE WORLD,” which follows the story of two game developers while playing a puzzle platform game; and the text adventure “Moonless Moon,” which is like a playable music video. Many people came to try out the games.
Also, the IGN JAPAN editorial team, Kazuhide Oka, the creator of “Moonless Moon,” and Nobutaka Ide, the Representative Director and CEO of Wacom, co-appeared on stage. The talk focused on the theme of “The Creator’s Everyday Life and Turning Everyday Life into a Game,” discussing the relationship between “games” and “everyday life.”