#gdc15

[whispersofashell]

I'm also showing two pieces at the MicroMetamorfosi exhibition in Vicenza. Fino al 3 novembre 2019 INGRESSO LIBERO MicroMetamorfosi | PONTI espone una selezione di opere che indagano i rapporti tra persone, città e paesi intesi quali costruzioni vitali che rendono possibile il superamento delle barriere e delle differenze. MicroMetamorfosi | PONTI è patrocinata dal Comune di Vicenza e rientra tra gli eventi di AMACI - Associazione dei Musei d'Arte Contemporanea Italiani per la #GdC15.  VERNICE sabato 12 ottobre ore 18:00 Il vernissage rientra nel programma inaugurale del nuovo spazio per l’arte in contra' Piazza del Castello, 18 - Città di Vicenza ______________________________________________________  ORARIO APERTURA MOSTRA PONTI > dal 12 ottobre al 3 novembre Da lunedì a sabato 10:00 - 14:00 e 17:00 - 21:00 Domenica 17:00 - 21:00 @metamorfosi_vi @amaci_musei @cittadivicenza #GdC15  #krs2019  #ponti https://www.instagram.com/p/B3fGWbGhRcw/?igshid=16ah79tahkakt

[benamgames]

Post GDC 2015 thoughts

Last week was busy for me. Between interviews, arranging family business, and going to GDC, my legs were pretty much made of jelly by the weekend. Now that I’ve had time to reflect and rest up, I wanted to jot down a few quick thoughts about the event. 

Less full 

PAX east was unfortunately being held on the same week. So a lot of developers (and press people I’d assume) had to either choose one event to cover or just spend a day here and a day there. It was kinda nice to not be super crowded. In fact, now that I think of it, I can’t remember a single instance of accidentally brushing shoulders with someone. Weird. 

On the plus side it made talking to people at booths much easier than in the past. Most booths I could just randomly walk up to them and have a conversation about whatever. 

Less hands on time with new stuff

Last year I remember you could just stand in a short line to try out Oculus demos or Morpheus demos. I remember having a nice long chat with a Developer at Valve last year where I played a couple of games with the Steam Controller and talked general design with her. This year you had to have appointments just to see Valve and they seemed to be booked full right away. 

The few things there was to try out were a little underwhelming. An assault rifle controller that was too loud to ever use in a real home. One Oculus demo that was “meh.” A giant swing set thing that was... weird. Some poorly designed slot machines that required a developer there at all times to explain if you won or not. Nothing all that amazing.

There was however a really interesting area called “alt.ctrl.” where you could play a couple dozen games that all had unique ways to control them. One game you wore a mask and had to touch spots on the mask to play. The most interesting/fun/dumb game there to me was Butt Sniffin Pugs, a game where you use a giant tennis trackball to move around pugs and make them pee and poop everywhere. Pretty great.

It’s dangerous to go alone

I’ve been to GDC a few times now and I have to say, it is way less interesting when you’re by yourself. Last year I went to GDC with a college buddy of mine and that was great! Sure you still strike up conversations with people here n there, but not having someone to just chat with about booths and stuff was kind of a bummer. I had talked to a few people who said they’d be there then dropped out a week before. 

I had a great time as always. I hope next year there’s no scheduling conflict with another big convention

[pocketgems]

GDC 2015 Has Come and Gone

Each March in downtown San Francisco, a magical change happens. Walking down Market Street, one starts to overhear more conversations about virtual reality or free-to-play systems. In every Starbucks, hotel lobby and available power outlet, more games are being played. All the signs that Game Developers Conference has come back to town.

Last week, GDC brought 26,000 games industry professionals to San Francisco's Moscone center. Pocket Gems participated in the conference with a couple of presentations and our second annual GDCompression party. 

On Wednesday, Cass gave a presentation titled Harnessing the Power of User-Generated Content on Mobile. She talked mainly about some things we've learned while implementing UGC in Episode.

"We don't always know what our players want," said Cass. "We want to give them the power to make it themselves."

A few hours later that day, Ben gave a talk called Bringing Console Development Practices Mobile: Lessons From My Cross-Platform Transition. He discussed how Pocket Gems is implementing more AAA development practices for our future games. 

"Something I'm really compelled by is creating games that are pure and reach millions of people," said Ben. 

To cap off the week, Pocket Gems hosted our second annual GDCompression party. After a long week of presentations and networking, we wanted to invite people to unwind at our office with some pizza, beer and video games.

From the 8-person Super Smash Bros. games on a projector to the impromptu Ping-Pong tournament, a great time was had by all.

Thanks again to everyone who came to our party and good luck to all those recovering from the inevitable GDC colds they picked up last week. See you again in 2016!!

[chadschulz]

Game Developer's Conference Wrap-up

Over the three days I was at the Game Developer's Conference 2015, I played some great games, and attended some interesting sessions.

I attended a few sessions from Microsoft, Unity, and Bungie. Microsoft had a few announcements surrounding games, Xbox on Windows 10, and DirectX12. Microsoft pushed big in support of indies with the ID@XBOX program and their openess of what is coming on the platforms. Unity anounced the release of Unity5 and had content throughout the event on what's new -- great content for getting started to upgrading your game. Microsoft's sessions are available on Channel9 and most sessions should be avalable on GDC Vault in the coming weeks.

Throughout the conference I got to check out some games I am really looking forward to playing.

Elite: Dangerous A space shooter that I played with both a flight stick and an Oculus Rift and it was awesome! I am excited to hear this game is coming to the Xbox One, but am interested if similar periferals will be supported.

This War of Mine A war survival game that pits you between survival and your morals.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter A beautiful first-person exploration mystery game.

Invisible, Inc. A turn-based stealth game inspired by X-COM where two agents complete missions.

[masterworksinteractive]

baaaaah

So I was supposed to update y'all during the week about GDC shenanigans but I barely had any time to sleep! Had a great time and met some amazing people as usual. As far as the conference itself, this one has been the least educational (this one being my fifth). Not to say it was uneventful! But I've definitely come out with more knowledge from the past ones I'be been to. That said, I might have talked to as many people this year as I have in the past four conferences combined. Lots of friendly faces and an enthusiasm to share experiences. Loved it. 

It is also very clear that I need to go full throttle on Dodeca and Finite bowling. Got some amazing feedback from people. 

And for those concerned about the state of the industry. It is clear to me that the push to make this a more inclusive and welcoming industry is stronger than ever. So proud of the things we have been able to accomplish. The future is bright! There is no other place I'd rather be!!

[thecaffcoder]

What now?

With the dust beginning to settle from my first GDC experience, I've begun to process what exactly happened over the last week or so. A lot of hand shaking, meeting new people, meeting old friends, listening to developers express their ideas and thoughts etc.. Yet within all that, I'm bombarded with the same question which I feel most of us now have: What now?

I can't go back to before GDC; where none of these now present possibilities/questions existed, I have to take some kind of action. 

But I'm really scared. 

Not necessarily of the potential for failure, although that's certainly part of it. No, I'm more terrified of the other more complex questions that I need to answer for myself.

What is important to me? What is success to me? What impact do I want to make? What is it I want to be?

I think it's going to take a while before I can genuinely answer these questions. In the mean time, I guess all I can really do is be reflective, receptive and above all, grateful for the opportunities I have and the support of the people that surround me.

Yeah, I think for now. That is what's important to me.