I have to admit that I was initially a bit skittish about attending the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. It isn't that I have an aversion to video games or technology in any way (I've attended TGS a few times now, happily) but I guess I was worried that GDC would be less vibrant than the academic conferences I love to attend and participate in. Maybe this is because of the various art fairs I've attended in the past few years that felt more bleak, dried up, and forced rather than resourceful, progressive, and innovative. But at GDC 2010 all of my worries were quickly put to rest as I was quite impressed with the aggressively robust and open-minded environment all throughout the exposition--as well as the many insightful conference sessions we attended. In fact, some parts almost reminded me of the amazing TEDxUSC conference I had the privilege of attending last year. The discourse was analysis-rich as well as highly creative, and no doubt does this industry have exponential burgeoning in both its immediate and long term future.
The usual industry heavyweights hosted lively panel discussions and seminars throughout the week--a really efficient schedule that allowed the attendee to experience the expo while gathering tons of data and networking opportunities. We had the ultimate pleasure of chatting with Jack Buser from Sony as well as hearing Jason Rohrer's talk in a meeting called "Artgame Sessions."
It's hard for me to imagine a GDC without the hands-on involvement of the White House and the other national foreign governments I witnessed--unlike my tech-veteran husband Nikos, I have not personally watched the GDC evolve from a much quieter event in San Jose to the urban spectacle it is now. But I do believe that this visually-measurable evolution is indicative of not only the inevitable growth and prosperity of this segment, but also the exponentially multifaceted concepts that this industry will lend to other schools of thought--no matter how dismissive they may be of this prospect now.
Signs indicative of California's water shortage are dispersed throughout the areas just outside of San Francisco.
The Independent Games Festival was probably the most consistently crowded area, with hundreds of people testing out what may be the next "big game" by up-and-coming designers.
I can't wait until the iPad arrives, but in the meantime I'd love to sit in front of this in my office!
Among other things, I'd really like to know how many calories this motion capture demo dancer burned during the week.
In case you're wondering, this guy is Steve Wiebe, the Donkey Kong World Champion. There always seemed to be a small crowd around him. For the record, I've never played Donkey Kong but I'm sure it's grand.
Attendees could battle in a 3D world upon entering this VirtuSphere.
One of the most interesting aspects of GDC was the presence of countries promoting their tech industries. Above is the South Korea booth; other nations included Germany and Scotland.
We ended the week at Tommy's Joynt on Geary Boulevard--not my usual healthy fare but Nikos tends to trust that Guy Fieri fella!
The usual industry heavyweights hosted lively panel discussions and seminars throughout the week--a really efficient schedule that allowed the attendee to experience the expo while gathering tons of data and networking opportunities. We had the ultimate pleasure of chatting with Jack Buser from Sony as well as hearing Jason Rohrer's talk in a meeting called "Artgame Sessions."
It's hard for me to imagine a GDC without the hands-on involvement of the White House and the other national foreign governments I witnessed--unlike my tech-veteran husband Nikos, I have not personally watched the GDC evolve from a much quieter event in San Jose to the urban spectacle it is now. But I do believe that this visually-measurable evolution is indicative of not only the inevitable growth and prosperity of this segment, but also the exponentially multifaceted concepts that this industry will lend to other schools of thought--no matter how dismissive they may be of this prospect now.
Technorati Tags: aneesh chopra, balance of culture, game developers conference 2010, GDC, government, Guy Fieri, Independent Games Festival, Jack Buser, Jason Rohrer, Let's Move!, Linda Constant, media, Motion Capture, Sid Meier, Sony, Steve Wiebe, technology, TED, Tommy's Joynt, USC, video games, VirtuSphere
I thoroughly enjoyed IGF this year as well. Fun recap, cheers!
Posted by: Caltech03 | 03/15/2010 at 04:35 PM
Who made that huge monitor? I must've walked right past that thing
Posted by: Lady Haha | 03/16/2010 at 03:27 PM