GDC Losing Focus In E3's Wake? 42
In the wake of E3's breakup, developers and attendees going to the annual Game Developer's Conference this week are wondering out loud: is the event losing its focus? As GDC expands, what was once (even just a few years ago) a somewhat quiet and intimate affair is taking on the airs of the now-deceased videogame extravaganza. The key for the Conference this year, the first post-E3, is going to be to make sure that the community aspect of the event remains intact in the face of over 12,000 attendees. As conference director Jamil Moledina points out, "The main lesson from (the transition of E3) is that we have to stick to what we do best: providing learning and inspiration to independent developers." Here's hoping the coming week bears that out.
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Re:Interesting (Score:4, Insightful)
It's pretty much the same for about any kind of conference I know, that's not limited to game development. You have the same in hardware, databases,
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GDC Never Had A Focus (Score:4, Interesting)
Or job hunting.
The lectures/presentations are nothing more than public ego masturbations. The last thing the vast majority of game developers want to do with the cutting edge tech we've developed is stand up in front of the entire game development world and talk about it.
Re:GDC Never Had A Focus (Score:5, Informative)
We are doing lectures and tutorials. Our graphics/programming tutorials are very in depth and not only offer a behind the scenes look, but code examples as well. We also author articles in many shader/game programming texts to offer a decent level of transparency in the work we do. Lastly, when we released Far Cry, it came with an SDK and many of the assets on their non compiled forms (3dsmax files).
Though yes, this hurts us sometimes. For instance, another large developer has mirrored a lot of the feature set we have shown in the past two years, with only about a 6 month lag, then put the R&D money into a large marketing campaign, to make people think that the features (renamed) are original, and their own.
The game development community, and sharing knowledge matters a lot to us. Game developers don't have to act in the manner you described; many just choose to. We are presenting some really great stuff this year, if you are in SF you should check it out!
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Maybe I went to the lectures who weren't given by peo
GDC = E3? (Score:3, Interesting)
GDC != E3, but some possible alternatives (Score:5, Informative)
To a lesser extent, E3 always put a lot of demand on developers for having that E3 build ready for demo. Eliminating E3, or at least having it moved later, theoretically makes things easier. Some would argue, though, that having E3 as a milestone isn't necessarily a bad thing, and for many companies, they'll continue to have some sort of early milestone build target anyway (if you won't show it at E3, you can always show it off at other events, or private showings).
Back to GDC, that's not really an appropriate 1-for-1 replacement of E3. GDC really is supposed to be a gathering for developers, not just one big marketing bonanza. There are some E3 replacement ideas being kicked around, such as the Entertainment for All [wikipedia.org] show, which is actually open to everyone (not just those in the games industry). There is also the Penny-Arcade Expo [wikipedia.org], a gathering of gaming fans that's getting larger and larger each year. Personally, I think those are better fits for a true "E3 replacement", but one that's really focused towards the fanbase.
Sony Is Having An Insane E3ish GDC Week (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14459 4 [neogaf.com]
Heavenly Sword:
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http://www.playsyde.com/news_4067_en.html [playsyde.com]
Warhawk - Downloadable Playstation Network Game
32 players online play with dedicated servers
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14457 6 [neogaf.com]
http://retromovies.ign.com/games/video/article/693
Tekken 5DR - Downloadable 1080p Playstation Network Game 2
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Of course, if Sony really wants my money, they'd convince Kojima to make Zone of the Enders 3. Number 2 is still one of my favorite PS2 games.
I'm not sure why people are hyping up Flow. It's an OK game, but lost my interest after about 15 minutes. And you can already play it online for free.
Pointless article (Score:5, Insightful)
E3 was a tradeshow for the publishers to interact with the distributors and the media. The problem was that because that was where all the new product is unveiled, it was overrun with people who must have that sneak peak, yet are inconsequential to any potential business opportunites that are to be had. Distributors like Wal-Mart and Best Buy were complaining that they couldn't get business done because the place is just so damned packed with college students, bloggers, and low level game industry employees who weren't there on business.
Big publishers, mostly Sony and EA, looked at the millions they spend preparing for the show, the amount of manhours involved, and compared it to how little was actually accomplished and they said 'screw it'. They realized they could fly all the journalists, executives, and sales people first class to their own offices, wine and dine them, developing a one on one personal relationship rather than being in a flimsy cubicle at E3, yelling at one another because DDR is blasting full volume behind you and Paris Hilton is throwing t-shirts for a game she's endorsing, but can't remember the name.
Why have game shows? (Score:1)
We'd watch it.
Wii might need more storage space though.
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dinosaur (Score:4, Insightful)
Isn't it obvious? (Score:4, Interesting)
It's simple, and obvious, make a gaming/technology industry show, that is for the people. Developers, businesses etc are all welcome regardless, and could setup booths of their own. I know, someone will quote me PAX but for every video game or console promoting itself there, there are another couple hundred people sitting around playing CCG's and such which while cool in their own right wouldn't fit in too much with a video game themed place such as an E3-like show. So you host this show, stick it some place neutral for god sakes, no West Coast, no East Coast. Make'em meet in the middle, hold the shit somewhere in north Texas or something. A large building, open to the public via purchased tickets, booths to be rented. No need to fake some industry connection to get in. Keep the booth babes but tame them up some, other wise you run the risk of having your show being labeled as adults only, which would cut into the fan base that could attend.
It would suck, as an idea, if no companies came out for it. If Nintendo, MS, Sony and others didn't show up, you'd basically just have one giant LAN party where people walked around from console demo unit to demo unit playing various games. But it could work. It would solve the "omg E3 ain't what it used to be, cancel it" or the "omg GDC is turning into E3" bullshit and make way for a more open E3-style show that is more accessible to the entire country.
Is Nintendo Talking About Anything? (Score:2, Insightful)
The online stuff appears to be in shambles.
The Wii games so far have been underwelming. Zelda was good, and stuff like Wi
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Nintendo needs to support their developers more, these rumours of no third party Mii support and no online till 2008 don't make me happy =/
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Its all in the name (Score:5, Interesting)
E3 (previously): Electronic Entertainment Expo.
The focus of each event seems to be pretty clearly stated in their names.
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Are the GDC organizers making sure that GDC sticks to what it should be?
Red Herring (Score:1)
"Now that the industry is big enough to sustain (several other) segment-, market- or platform-specific developer conferences, will GDC still continue to be mecca for game developers? We'll see," Pallister said.
It is still all about the developers.
Big names say yes, everyone else says what? (Score:2)
We have Sony going all out to start a pissing contest in the Expo room (something that will likely come up next year when EA, Activision, and Microsoft jump on that bandwagon an
GDC less technical now, because the industry is. (Score:2)
The GDC used to be more technical, but that's because the field is more mature now.
Back in the late 1990s, people were struggling with trying to get game physics, programmable shaders, NPC control, and MMORPG services to work at all. So there were heavy technical sessions on subjects like that. Most of those problems have been solved now; improvements continue, but the basic problems are understood.
Today, most of the problems in game development aren't algorithm-related. They're more concerned with
It's been an extravaganza for 7+ years (Score:2)
It can't all be done online... (Score:2)
One of the biggest draws for developers is the opportunity to network among their industry peers. For individual developers, it's a chance to meet other devs and industry reps. Smaller game studios have an opportunity to talk to publishers. Vendors can meet-and-greet their clients and potential clients. Game developme