game developers conference
Latest
We're live from GDC 2011, in sunny San Francisco
If San Francisco suddenly seems a bit stranger and a bit more wonderful, it could be thanks to the global game development community's annual pilgrimage to the Game Developer's Conference. This year marks the conference's 25th anniversary and, to celebrate, it's featuring nearly a dozen classic gaming post-mortems like Prince of Persia, Maniac Mansion and Doom. That's in addition to our usual gauntlet of interviews, demos, meetings and late nights. Stick around all week as we deliver the news straight from GDC 2011 – and be sure to be here Wednesday at 12PM ET for our liveblog of Satoru Iwata from Nintendo's GDC keynote and Wednesday night at 9:30PM ET for our liveblog of the always entertaining GDC and IGF awards. Protip: Keep your browsers locked on our GDC-2011 tag to track all of our coverage.
The Daily Grind: What are you hoping to hear from GDC?
This week, Massively's own Shawn & Rubi are headed out to San Francisco to check out all the sights and sounds of this year's Game Developers Conference. In fact, this year marks the 25th anniversary of the event, one that has grown from a small gathering held in someone's house into an enormous industry-wide event. There are tons of topics to look forward to, from intricate development issues to the wider ramifications of online and social gaming. Given how many varied and interesting panels, discussions and more bedeck the conference's schedule, we thought we'd ask whether there's anything in particular you're hoping to hear from this year's event. Are there any games or topics you're really craving more news about? Grab your morning cuppa wake-up beverage goodness, check out the schedule, and tell us what you're hoping to learn more about in our upcoming GDC 2011 coverage! Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
GDC giving Molyneux lifetime achievement award, tapping Schafer to host again
That's right, one of the most prominent game designers to hail from that magical land across the pond (Merlin and dragons, anybody?) is going to be honored at GDC 2011 with a lifetime achievement award. Peter Molyneux, best known for the creation of the "god game" genre (and child coercion), will be honored during the show's Game Developer's Choice Awards. Not a bad way to celebrate a career that's over 23 years in the making. In addition, Tim Schafer will return as host of the show. He will give a talk on March 2nd and, we imagine, go around the show with a desk on wheels, interviewing random attendees, Conan style. That's what we'd do, anyway.
Independent Games Festival 2011 competition finalists announced
Out of nearly 400 entries, the 2011 Independent Games Festival has narrowed down finalists into six categories for another year's festivities, culminating in the actual awards presentation on March 2. Featured prominently in this year's awards are world creator Minecraft and the terrifying Amnesia: The Dark Descent, both taking three category nominations. Supergiant Games' Bastion and QCF Design's Desktop Dungeons each earned two. Aside from being granted free passes to this year's Game Developer's Conference (where the IGF awards show happens), finalists must present "playable versions of their game to all GDC attendees at the IGF Pavilion on the GDC Expo Floor from Wednesday, March 2nd through Friday, March 4th." That means, after winning the $20,000 grand prize, that team has to stay on the show floor and contain their explosive excitement for the next two days, while dullards like ourselves ask questions about this and that. The ultimate game? Perhaps! Head past the break for all the finalists broken down by category.
Epic Games to reveal new IP at GDC 2011
Cliff Bleszinski said recently that Epic Games would unveil a brand new IP at next year's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. This will be a brand new universe, unrelated to anything Epic has done before, according to Bleszinski. "Gamers votes with their dollars and they often like established IP, but those IPs came from somewhere, right?" he told EGM. "Call of Duty was crafted by the original Medal of Honor guys. Gears of War was crafted by the original Unreal Tournament guy. I look forward to creating what's next." We pinged Bleszinski ourselves to try and find out what platform Epic is aiming for, but he tells us there's "not much to say yet." The company has had a lot of success with Infinity Blade on iOS recently, and has also been rumored to be working on a Kinect title. GDC 2011 kicks off on February 28 -- we'll be there in San Francisco to cover any announcement for you.
Free for All: F2P and microtransactions at GDCO
Last week I wondered about how free-to-play would be discussed at GDC Online. After attending the event -- it was all a blur -- and listening back to my audio notes, it seems that free-to-play has reached some sort of level as a standard pricing option for a modern world. It could have been the fact that many of the developers at the event are making browser-based, iPhone or Facebook social games, but the word "subscription" came up rarely. Blended models seemed to be the runner-up. It appears that all the older companies -- the Turbines, SOEs and other western companies -- just cannot let go of that sweet, sweet subscription cash-flow. Can you blame them? It's a good deal for many, and it could be argued that without that subscription, many players would be turned off. Does all this talk of free-to-play and microtransactions signify some sort of change in quality or style of game? No, not really. It's my argument that things are different in only one way: quality has gone way, way up.
GDCO 2010: Panel and interview roundup
As you may have noticed if you're following our GDC Online 2010 coverage, we were there in full force. Karen Bryan, blogger and podcaster extraordinaire, covered the event along with our own Beau Hindman. As a wrapup to her interview articles, Karen gives this final impressions piece on the panels of GDC Online 2010. I had a busy week at GDC Online, seeing some great panels and speaking with some enthusiastic developers. Since not all of you could attend this Austin, Texas event, we've done our best to bring you the highlights. Follow along after the jump for a quick rundown of what I saw, as well as the big takeaway from each.
GDCO 2010: Bigpoint's Alan Dunton on the next-gen of browser MMOs
Bigpoint has had a very successful run as a multi-game publisher over the last few years. If you're familiar with Seafight or Dark Orbit, then you have played some of the company's games. Of course, those titles -- plus the many others -- are just not enough for the devs at Bigpoint. They wanted to host, create and specify a game for the North American market. What they ended up with are a few titles -- The Mummy Online, Battlestar Galactica, and Ruined Online -- all crafted in the same amazing Unity browser engine. What this will do is allow for more flexibility, accessibility, and possibility. Bigpoint's background in free-to-play and microtransaction-based games will also help to monetize the titles -- a delicate science in itself. We were able to meet up with Alan Dunton, and he explained to us what Ruined Online meant for the company and for the future of Battlestar and The Mummy.
GDCO 2010: gPotato's Tara Einis on Iris Online and Allods' cash shop
When I heard that I had landed an interview with Tara Einis of gPotato (publisher of Allods Online, the upcoming Iris Online, and many others), I immediately began daydreaming about poring over hours and hours of audio and transcribing hard-hitting interviews filled with fiery give-and-takes. Instead, I found myself calmly wanting to know about gPotato's general cash-shop practices, long history in free-to-play, and reaction to Allods' perceived "debacle." I also found evidence for my theory that the company is, yes, still publishing games and still excited for the future. It should be no surprise, though -- gPotato has maintained a hefty presence in the world of free-to-play for longer than most. So, what are we going to see next? What did gPotato have planned for the future? Turns out quite a lot.
GDCO 2010: Rich Vogel and Calvin Crowner on 13 years of Ultima Online
At this year's GDC Online in Austin, Ultima Online was the first game inducted into the Game Developer's Choice Hall of Fame. Massively had a chance to look back at UO's thirteen years of history with its original senior producer, Richard Vogel, and its current one, Calvin Crowner. Follow along after the jump to read more on their impressions of those 13 years.
GDCO 2010: UTV True Games wows with three new titles
One of the most thrilling aspects of this job is visiting game studios. It's essentially like stepping into a toy factory, complete with strange noises and funny personalities. Nerf guns are a staple, and each desk or station is decorated with all types of toys, posters, and other trophies from Nerd-dom. UTV True Games is no different, so when we were asked to sit down with three (count 'em, three) different teams to preview some new titles, we knew we were in for a good time. Of course, our professionalism prevented us from actually clapping and going "sqqquuueeeee!" every time a new product was shown, but it's very possible that the teams would not have cared anyway. So what did we see? What do we have to look forward to from the same people that brought us Mytheon? Well, click past the cut and let's take a look!
GDCO 2010: APB's Executive Producer talks about what went wrong
It may feel like the dead horse has been beaten enough, but APB's Executive Producer Josh Howard sat down with Gamebreaker at GDC Online this week to talk about the game's failure. Josh's perspective feels like that of both a player and an insider, which gives him the ability to explain what the developer and publisher each wanted -- and why it didn't work. The interview is almost 45 minutes long, and Josh is very open about how it all went, why he left, and much more. The interview was streamed live, but a recorded version is available for those interested in a detailed "post-mortem."
GDCO 2010: Spacetime Studios' Cinco Barnes talks mobile design
Spacetime Studios, the developer of the popular mobile MMO Pocket Legends, was started back in 2005 to create large-scale MMOs. Its founders decided to make a mobile platform MMO upon seeing the obvious marketing opportunity that the iPhone provided. After all, the players would already be connected and would be accustomed to microtransactions through exposure to iTunes and the app store. Of course, development could prove disastrous if the wrong game plan were followed, so Spacetime decided to keep it simple. How simple? Cinco Barnes of Spacetime was on hand at GDC Online to explain how his team members did it. What they found was a chance to do more than they'd initially planned on -- and an audience ready to gobble up everything the studio could create.
GDCO 2010: Running MMOs for the long haul
In a year that seems overshadowed by the premature demise of big-budget titles, the question on everyone's mind is just what does it take to not only successfully launch an MMO, but keep it going for the long haul? At GDC Online this past week, several devs who find themselves struggling with this very issue got together for an informative panel entitled "Strategies for Successfully Running an MMO from Launch and Beyond." At the panel, Lorin Jameson (SOE), Nathan Richardsson (CCP), Jeff Hickman (EA Mythic), Jeffrey Steefel (Turbine), Rich Vogel (EA-Bioware) and Min Kim (Nexon) stepped up to the plate take a swing at the common pitfalls, the unseen consequences and the harsh realities of the industry. So if you're curious about why some titles thrive while others fall apart or why a particular MMO makes it to launch and beyond while another fades into obscurity, hit the jump and see what these industry experts have to say about the enormous and complex task of getting an MMO to lift off -- and then keeping it soaring for as long as possible.
Free for All: How will F2P fare at GDC?
GDC Online is one awesome event. Although I attended the event in the name of a different site last year, I remember it well. It was a mass of my favorite developers and inside-thinkers, clumping together to discuss customers, design and community. Of course, there were some panels and talks that, frankly, bored me to tears. Then there were many that were so exciting that they strengthened my resolve to be a games writer. In fact, it was around this time that dreams of design began to take a back seat to visions of writing. That's the power of attending such events. On the other hand, these events have the ability to convince writers of almost anything. When attending, we must promise to always stay skeptical -- no matter what anyone says to us. Let the information sink in for a while before we take it as gospel. Let the varying ideas of the various speakers blend together a bit -- then let's form our opinions. I am most excited to see how the last year's wave of free-to-play games and switch-overs will affect the chats. In '09, social gaming was the whipping boy (everyone said he/she hated it, yet everyone seemed to be planning some sort of social game), so will free-to-play receive the same treatment?
Massively.com and GameBreaker.TV: Coming to you live from GDC Online!
GDC Online (formerly GDC Austin) is rapidly approaching, and we here at Massively.com are making sure that we're on the front lines of coverage from the event. We have plenty of interviews lined up with a huge variety of companies, and we're teaming up with our friends at GameBreaker.TV to deliver live coverage of the event via GameBreaker's live show at the Vivox booth! To get you excited for the coming conference, we've provided the list of companies we're meeting with just after the break! The list isn't fully extensive, as we'll be covering a variety of panels as well, but it will give you an idea of whom we're meeting with. Plus, keep an eye out for a link to the live GameBreaker.TV broadcast on our right-hand sidebar! Their coverage of the event will be starting on Wednesday, October 6th at 12:00 p.m. EDT!
Game Developers Choice Online Awards to knight Richard Bartle as a "Game Legend"
If it's cool to be officially dubbed an "Online Game Legend," then it's doubly cool to be the first person to ever receive such an award. Richard Bartle will be rocking cool two ways from Sunday this fall, as the Game Developers Choice Online Awards plans to honor the good doctor this October. The Online Game Legend Award stemmed from a pool of open nominations and was chosen by the GDC Online Awards advisory committee. They specify Bartle's co-creation of MUDs and his 2003 book Designing Virtual Worlds as the key reasons why he deserves to be named a capital-L Legend. Bartle isn't the only one due for a special award, however. Ultima Online will be inducted into their Hall of Fame as "a specific online game that has resulted in the long-term advancement of the medium, pioneering major shifts in online game development and games as a whole." The full awards ceremony will take place on October 7th, and will include a number of other categories including Best Online Game Design and Best New Online Game. You can eyeball the full details over at GDC Online Awards' website.
GDC Roundup, day four
The tenth annual Game Developers Conference is in full swing in San Francisco, CA, and our sister sites Joystiq and Massively are on the scene! No matter what kind of games you're into, there's a ton of news on its way out of the convention, and we're compiling some of the stuff that might matter to you in daily roundups just for you. If you want the whole GDC news experience, check out all of Massively's and Joystiq's coverage, or previous roundups. I apologize for my appalling lack of Michael Sacco-ness. Saccosity? Massively's Interview with DC Universe Online "We're hitting major milestones right now. We're pushing as hard as we can right now to get a launch date out there. [...] We're trying to get it in your hands as quick as possible. The great thing about Sony is we really are taking our time. We have been given the opportunity to make this right." Fable 2 Episodes Massively Successful "That was hugely successful. There were something like over half a million. I think it was 600,000 downloads of the first episode, which was very, very cool." "Save your fork, there'll be pie" After confessing to having a big appetite for Borderlands, the Gears of War developer used the pie analogy to explain to Joystiq how games without any sort of DLC "hooks" are becoming increasingly rare. GDC 2010 Microtalks: Big ideas, tiny speeches Ten lecturers -- all from different sectors of the game industry -- each spoke for five minutes and each were allowed to use 20 different slides. Naughty Dog's Richard Lemarchand set the stage for the speakers, announcing the theme of the talks as "come play with us." Massively's Interview with Dungeons and Dragons Online Today, the numbers speak for themselves. Their revenue is up 500%, they've had over one million new players, and you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who would refer to the game as "forgotten." Turbine has arguably set the standard for a hybrid free-to-play business model, and it's paid off very well. However, it wasn't always a sure thing and it certainly wasn't a snap decision. GDC 2010: The Future of Champions Online At the end of our brief discussion on the future of Champions, Bill had this to say, "Past that, I think it's just about remaining as responsible as possible to what the community is telling us they want." That sounds the right approach to us.
Rob Pardo speaks about Blizzard game design
The tenth annual Game Developers Conference is in full swing in San Francisco, CA -- and yesterday included a panel by Rob Pardo, Executive Vice President of Game Design at Blizzard Entertainment. Pardo spoke about design philosophy and how Blizzard approaches it, sharing not only Blizzard's success stories, but where they failed along the way, and what they did to fix it. Blizzard's design philosophy follows some key elements: Gameplay First: Before anything else, you want to concentrate the game on the fun. All aspects of the game -- the design, the mechanics of encounters, the quests and story are focused on making the game fun to play. Not only fun to play -- but fun to play for players, not developers. The challenge is to keep players jumping through the correct hoops, while making those hoops fun. Sometimes this involves making some changes -- for example, only night elf males could be druids in Warcraft III, but for the sake of making the druid class, something that sounded like all kinds of fun, they had to be made accessible to both genders, and both sides. So the lore was adjusted so that females and tauren could both be druids -- otherwise they couldn't have introduced the class at all. And that wouldn't be any fun.
Mac drivers to be available for all Razer mice
World of Warcraft players using a Mac should be pleased to hear that gaming peripherals manufacturer Razer pledged their commitment to supporting the Mac gaming community at the Game Developers Conference. They announced that all upcoming Razer products will come with Mac driver support, including the Razer StarCraft 2 peripheral suite scheduled for release later this year. Prior to the Razer DeathAdder Mac Edition in 2008, all Razer mice and peripherals only had native Windows support and drivers. While these products would generally work with a Mac through its plug-and-play technology, customizing them was more difficult and in some cases, impossible. In order to configure my Razer Lachesis to make all its buttons usable on my Mac, I had to configure it on a PC and mapped some of the buttons as little used keyboard keys because the Mac wouldn't recognize click-throughs from more than a few mouse buttons. This situation improved with the release of the Razer Naga, which shipped with native Mac support, although the key-mapping functionality for the Mac came several weeks after the PC version. Currently, newer mice come with basic Mac support, although Razer promises the same functionality and customizability as their PC counterparts through future updates. Razer also promises to release Mac drivers for all existing products, which presumably includes their line of headsets and keyboards. While Mac gamers have always been treated as second class citizens by most peripheral manufacturers, it's encouraging to see a major player pay the community some attention. I mean, the Magic Mouse is awesome and all, but there's nothing like having a real gaming mouse to play WoW.
