March 20, 2006 4:00 AM PST
Let the games begin at GDC
- Related Stories
-
Sony delays PS3 launch to November
March 15, 2006 -
Nintendo's New Year's resolutions
January 18, 2006 -
Xbox 360 makes desert debut
November 20, 2005 -
E3: The battle of the boxes
May 20, 2005
(continued from previous page)
Last year, Wright won again, topping "Black and White" creator Peter Molyneux and "Splinter Cell" lead designer Clint Hocking with his concept for a game about the poetry of Emily Dickinson.
This year, Zimmerman has tasked three new entrants--Epic Games lead designer Cliff Bleszinski, Midway studio creative director Harvey Smith and "Katamari Damacy" creator Keita Takahashi--with coming up with a concept for a game that could win the Nobel Peace Prize.
But GDC is also as much about the hard-core inner workings of the game development process as it is about high-concept ideas. Thus, the conference schedule is filled wall-to wall with panels such as "3ds Max--Complex data mapping production techniques," "Advanced light and shadow culling methods," "Artificial intelligence in computer games--present and future" and "How ambient experiences can take adventure gaming to the next level."
Still, for many, GDC is about having a chance to reality-test new ideas and projects with peers and see what others have done in the past in similar situations before having to show them to potential retailers and marketers at E3 in May.
"Because of the risky nature of what we do, technically and fiscally, we are all a little scared," Steele said. "There is security in the validation of hearing how a well-established studio solved a problem you are facing."
Meanwhile, with the biggest GDC crowd in the conference's history expected to jam the San Jose Convention Center and meeting rooms in nearby hotels, some are worried that organizers will repeat the mistakes of last year when, for example, Wright's talk about his next game, "Spore," was scheduled in a room far too small for the hordes who wanted to attend.
And that's because Wright is about as big a celebrity as the game industry has.
"I am fond of saying," said Steele, "that Will Wright doesn't even realize yet that he's the Jimmy Hendrix of our generation."
Moledina said everyone who wants to will be able to see Wright speak.
"Wright's keynote will be in the civic auditorium, which has a 3,000-seat capacity," Moledina said. "I was there last year (for Wright's talk) and couldn't get a seat. So no, that's not going to happen again."
See more CNET content tagged:
game company, conference, video game, San Jose, creator
20 comments
Join the conversation! Add your comment (Log in or register)
Since the video game business is driven by fanboyism and
rumor-speculation reporting and not actual sales of games, can
the annual conference of morons really be taken seriously?
Video games are toys, plain and simple. People who say
otherwise also refuse to grow up. Call what you will, but that's
the way I see it.
This industry is still trying to recapture the heyday of the NES,
Genesis and Super NES era, and keeps lying and mental
masturbating itself into thinking people care.
Hey, I'll care about a good game that fun to play. I don't want
unique, I don't want boring, I don't want drawn-out, I don't want
video in my game, I don't want simulator rules, I don't want
mods and cheaters, I don't want boy-meets-girl . . . I want a
game where I go around looking at crap, finding crap, and
rescuing crap.
But since I'm talking to a majority of gamers who'll post after
me, I'll expect nothing but dumb repsonses either defending the
story, or defending lousy games via brand loyality.
Of course, I just went straight for the neck in my attack of the
gaming world.
Just waiting for all of the silly responses to come out of the
woodwork, though I'll enjoy any well-written responses that any
posters write, as long as it's intelligent.
Name-calling, insults, and immature attacks indicates a lack of
self-control, self-esteem, self-worth, and intelligence.
So, I'm saying I've seen this song and dance every year since
1996, give or take what the industry is calling the show now.
They want to go to new directions? Then just go there! Instead
of wasting our time with upgrades and sequels that look/play
the same as the previous ten games in their series.
The thing is, you want games that, quite frankly, small developers and studios have been making for years. They're just really hard to find, and sell really bad. And no big publisher is usually willing to take the monetary risk associated with it (see: <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://news.ft.com/cms/s/2c08ef9a-b776-11da-b4c2-0000779e2340.html" target="_newWindow">http://news.ft.com/cms/s/2c08ef9a-b776-11da-b4c2-0000779e2340.html</a> )
The sad thing here is that, as much as people want newer things, the amount of people who would rather play rehash after rehash of Madden or Rainbow Six games with slight improvements make up the greater majority, which is why developers will continue to make games for them.
Since the video game business is driven by fanboyism and
rumor-speculation reporting and not actual sales of games, can
the annual conference of morons really be taken seriously?
Video games are toys, plain and simple. People who say
otherwise also refuse to grow up. Call what you will, but that's
the way I see it.
This industry is still trying to recapture the heyday of the NES,
Genesis and Super NES era, and keeps lying and mental
masturbating itself into thinking people care.
Hey, I'll care about a good game that fun to play. I don't want
unique, I don't want boring, I don't want drawn-out, I don't want
video in my game, I don't want simulator rules, I don't want
mods and cheaters, I don't want boy-meets-girl . . . I want a
game where I go around looking at crap, finding crap, and
rescuing crap.
But since I'm talking to a majority of gamers who'll post after
me, I'll expect nothing but dumb repsonses either defending the
story, or defending lousy games via brand loyality.
Of course, I just went straight for the neck in my attack of the
gaming world.
Just waiting for all of the silly responses to come out of the
woodwork, though I'll enjoy any well-written responses that any
posters write, as long as it's intelligent.
Name-calling, insults, and immature attacks indicates a lack of
self-control, self-esteem, self-worth, and intelligence.
So, I'm saying I've seen this song and dance every year since
1996, give or take what the industry is calling the show now.
They want to go to new directions? Then just go there! Instead
of wasting our time with upgrades and sequels that look/play
the same as the previous ten games in their series.
The thing is, you want games that, quite frankly, small developers and studios have been making for years. They're just really hard to find, and sell really bad. And no big publisher is usually willing to take the monetary risk associated with it (see: <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://news.ft.com/cms/s/2c08ef9a-b776-11da-b4c2-0000779e2340.html" target="_newWindow">http://news.ft.com/cms/s/2c08ef9a-b776-11da-b4c2-0000779e2340.html</a> )
The sad thing here is that, as much as people want newer things, the amount of people who would rather play rehash after rehash of Madden or Rainbow Six games with slight improvements make up the greater majority, which is why developers will continue to make games for them.
Creative, fun, visionary - and we will no doubt have enough seats for everyone.
Creative, fun, visionary - and we will no doubt have enough seats for everyone.
It's too bad that for every good game that becomes a critical hit, 20 million clones follow and flood the market, confusing consumers with crap after crap.
Same thing applies in gaming. When a game, like you
mentioned, Psychonauts, is made, marketing must be made in
the right places. Mario 3 on NES and Street Fighter II for SNES
sold beyond extremely well because kids in school were going
around boasting about these games.
We I listen to kids these days, they don't really care, there's no
jumping up and down for a game. They look lost, compared to
the consoles before this gen, when a kid would come in and
jump up and down for Tekken 3 or Mega Man Legends.
If the companies realized, no matter how they want to deny this,
as well as losers, i mean, hard-core gamers, want to deny the
point, as Steven Kent reported to Congress about the gaming
industry, it's toys for kids.
If the industry finally wants to admit they've been wrong in their
marketing, and their fiscal results are pointing this out, then
maybe we'll make progress.
It's too bad that for every good game that becomes a critical hit, 20 million clones follow and flood the market, confusing consumers with crap after crap.
Same thing applies in gaming. When a game, like you
mentioned, Psychonauts, is made, marketing must be made in
the right places. Mario 3 on NES and Street Fighter II for SNES
sold beyond extremely well because kids in school were going
around boasting about these games.
We I listen to kids these days, they don't really care, there's no
jumping up and down for a game. They look lost, compared to
the consoles before this gen, when a kid would come in and
jump up and down for Tekken 3 or Mega Man Legends.
If the companies realized, no matter how they want to deny this,
as well as losers, i mean, hard-core gamers, want to deny the
point, as Steven Kent reported to Congress about the gaming
industry, it's toys for kids.
If the industry finally wants to admit they've been wrong in their
marketing, and their fiscal results are pointing this out, then
maybe we'll make progress.