Gaming Steve: Game Developers Conference 2006

March 20, 2006

Game Developers Conference 2006 - Day 1 Report

Today was the "first" day of the Game Developers Conference and it was, for the most part, a whole lot of nothing (well, except for the big Spore announcement). You see there are two "parts" to the five day GDC conference.

The first "part" consists of the first two days and all-day tutorials covering topics such as "Embodied Agents in Computer Games" and "Physics for Games Programmers" and are geared towards the hardcore developer. Not much happens during these first two days as they're still getting the "main" conference ready, you can actually see them building the booths and other exhibits during these two days.

The other "part", AKA the "main" conference, covers the last three days (Wednesday through Friday) and is a total madhouse of gaming news and information. Lectures and panels are only an hour long during these days and cover such topics as "Bootstrapping a Game Company in the Age of Blockbuster Budgets" and "Valve's Design Process for Creating Half-Life 2". Since these talks are only an hour long they are often jam-packed with juicy information. And just to make things a bit more interesting there are an average of twenty five of these panels per hour! Looking over the program can be a dizzying experience trying to pick and choose which panels will "make the cut" and vie for your attention.

So today I spent nearly an hour just looking over the hundreds of lectures, carefully deciding which will be worth my time and effort to attend and report upon. I'm still making my picks but definitely on the list are the various keynotes -- the big PS3 keynote, the Nintendo keynote and Will Wright's (of course) -- and I'll be attending all the talks regarding Spore (again, of course) but the rest are a tricky bunch. Hopefully I'll have the final picks ready in time for Wednesday...

Oh yes, as for today I spent most of time at a conference titled "Do-It-Yourself Usability: How to Use User Research to Improve Your Game" given by Microsoft Game Studios. As you might imagine the bulk of the tutorial dealt with methods for setting up and testing your game design. The best part of the tutorial was viewing the various market research movies and watching how easy it was for average users to get lost in games. Really interesting stuff.

Look for more coverage throughout the week.

Posted by Gaming Steve at 09:00 PM | Comments (10) | Posted to Culture |

Comments

NOTE TO SELF: Take a break from playing oblivion for GDC updates.

Posted by ilikesanta at March 20, 2006 10:07 PM

Excellent reporting Steve, this is practical the only place to turn for GDC coverage. Its good to have an inside man.

Posted by James at March 20, 2006 10:12 PM

Special Agent Steve Infiltrates GDC =-)

Posted by WoozleWazzle at March 21, 2006 12:44 AM

Sounds all very interesting - enjoy yourself!
BTW: users getting lost in games: you mean they can't find their way around or they get so immersed they forget everything else?

Posted by otaku62 at March 21, 2006 03:08 AM

I just surfaced from oblivion, pretty good stuff, I guess ill check back to see whats happening for the rest of the days.

Posted by Evil Lil Spore at March 21, 2006 09:28 AM

Hey Steve, great to hear from you! If you can make it fit your schedule you should try and hit up Ron Moore's talk about Battlestar Galactica. If it's as good as his podcasts it should be worth the time!

Posted by Beomoose at March 21, 2006 01:00 PM

don't forget to check out the Blizzard booth too :)

Posted by genki at March 21, 2006 02:03 PM

Nice. Thanks Steve. Although, you may be downplaying your audience's interest in gamedev. 'Embodied Agents in Computer Games' sounds awesome.

Posted by riverfr0zen at March 21, 2006 05:08 PM

Give us the list so we can point out stuff we really want to have a report on ^^

Posted by FoxSpirit at March 21, 2006 06:57 PM

As a hobby developer, I wish I could see every single part of that conference. Do any of those tutorials ever get published online?

Posted by Ben M. at March 21, 2006 10:36 PM



Recent Diablo III to be Announced This Week Gaming Steve Review: Keep on the Shadowfell GCA and ESA Fight Over E3 Awards Maxis Responds to the Spore DRM Controversy Vivendi, Activision-Blizzard Snub ESA, E3 Grand Theft Auto IV Quick Observations How to Sell a Grand Theft Auto Clone: Gary Busey Ubisoft Announces a New Prince of Persia Game So Who Isn't Buying GTA IV? And Why? Gaming Steve Members Featured in Latest Spore Update Spore Interview with Will Wright, Part One Interview with Will Wright, Part Two Pictures and Podcast from GDC Spore Archives Will Wright's Spore Forum Forums Forum Index Will Wright's Spore Forum The Podcast Podcast Episode Archives What is Podcasting? Subscribe to the Show (using iTunes) Subscribe to the Show (using another podcasting software program) RSS Feeds Contact Who is this Steve? Gaming Steve Frappr! Search Search this site: Categories Classic Culture GameCube Interview MMORPG PC PlayStation 2 PlayStation 3 Podcast Poll Portable Preview Random Review Spore Stuff Wii Xbox Archives March 2007 October 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005	<< Spore Confirmed For Mobile Devices in 2006 \| Main \| Spore NOT Confirmed For Mobile Devices in 2006 >> March 20, 2006 Game Developers Conference 2006 - Day 1 Report Today was the "first" day of the Game Developers Conference and it was, for the most part, a whole lot of nothing (well, except for the big Spore announcement). You see there are two "parts" to the five day GDC conference. The first "part" consists of the first two days and all-day tutorials covering topics such as "Embodied Agents in Computer Games" and "Physics for Games Programmers" and are geared towards the hardcore developer. Not much happens during these first two days as they're still getting the "main" conference ready, you can actually see them building the booths and other exhibits during these two days. The other "part", AKA the "main" conference, covers the last three days (Wednesday through Friday) and is a total madhouse of gaming news and information. Lectures and panels are only an hour long during these days and cover such topics as "Bootstrapping a Game Company in the Age of Blockbuster Budgets" and "Valve's Design Process for Creating Half-Life 2". Since these talks are only an hour long they are often jam-packed with juicy information. And just to make things a bit more interesting there are an average of twenty five of these panels per hour! Looking over the program can be a dizzying experience trying to pick and choose which panels will "make the cut" and vie for your attention. So today I spent nearly an hour just looking over the hundreds of lectures, carefully deciding which will be worth my time and effort to attend and report upon. I'm still making my picks but definitely on the list are the various keynotes -- the big PS3 keynote, the Nintendo keynote and Will Wright's (of course) -- and I'll be attending all the talks regarding Spore (again, of course) but the rest are a tricky bunch. Hopefully I'll have the final picks ready in time for Wednesday... Oh yes, as for today I spent most of time at a conference titled "Do-It-Yourself Usability: How to Use User Research to Improve Your Game" given by Microsoft Game Studios. As you might imagine the bulk of the tutorial dealt with methods for setting up and testing your game design. The best part of the tutorial was viewing the various market research movies and watching how easy it was for average users to get lost in games. Really interesting stuff. Look for more coverage throughout the week. Posted by Gaming Steve at 09:00 PM \| Comments (10) \| Posted to Culture \| Comments NOTE TO SELF: Take a break from playing oblivion for GDC updates. Posted by ilikesanta at March 20, 2006 10:07 PM Excellent reporting Steve, this is practical the only place to turn for GDC coverage. Its good to have an inside man. Posted by James at March 20, 2006 10:12 PM Special Agent Steve Infiltrates GDC =-) Posted by WoozleWazzle at March 21, 2006 12:44 AM Sounds all very interesting - enjoy yourself! BTW: users getting lost in games: you mean they can't find their way around or they get so immersed they forget everything else? Posted by otaku62 at March 21, 2006 03:08 AM I just surfaced from oblivion, pretty good stuff, I guess ill check back to see whats happening for the rest of the days. Posted by Evil Lil Spore at March 21, 2006 09:28 AM Hey Steve, great to hear from you! If you can make it fit your schedule you should try and hit up Ron Moore's talk about Battlestar Galactica. If it's as good as his podcasts it should be worth the time! Posted by Beomoose at March 21, 2006 01:00 PM don't forget to check out the Blizzard booth too :) Posted by genki at March 21, 2006 02:03 PM Nice. Thanks Steve. Although, you may be downplaying your audience's interest in gamedev. 'Embodied Agents in Computer Games' sounds awesome. Posted by riverfr0zen at March 21, 2006 05:08 PM Give us the list so we can point out stuff we really want to have a report on ^^ Posted by FoxSpirit at March 21, 2006 06:57 PM As a hobby developer, I wish I could see every single part of that conference. Do any of those tutorials ever get published online? Posted by Ben M. at March 21, 2006 10:36 PM Post a comment Please keep your comments relevant to this entry: inappropriate or purely promotional comments may be removed. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags. Your name (required): Your email address (required, will not be shown to the public): Your site's URL (optional): Do you want us to remember your information for next time? YesNo Your comments:
All contents copyright © 2005-2006 Gaming Steve. All Rights Reserved (unless otherwise specified) \| \|