One-Page Designs
(GDC Summary)
My Summary:
Probably the most useful talk I attended. Basically nobody reads design docs, so it’s more useful to make a poster which will attract attention, and convey the core ideas/vision. Lots of thoughts on the presentation of information. (slides posted on his website)
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From Metroid to Tomodachi Collection to WarioWare: Different Approaches for Different Audiences
(GDC Summary)
my Summary:
Yoshio Sakamoto talks about the path that brought him here (teen detective games to metroid to wario). A charming dude with some interesting stories/inspirations.
(Some news services later claimed that his translator got several things backwards. Not 100% i understand the confusion. but, i believe he said the new Metroid:Other M game would have been purely 2d side scroller, like the original, but the translator said “on rails” which made many think of no movement controls at all. which would have been weird.)
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Creating Multi-touch, Multi-user Games on Microsoft Surface
rm301 (sponsored) (GDC Summary)
Eric Havir (MS Surface) , Dyala Kattan-Wright (Carnegie Mellon University – D&D), Gretchen Richter De Medeiros (MS Surface), Joe Engalan (Vectorform)
My Summary:
Pretty damned useful sales pitch, actually. All my questions were answered, and I was left pretty excited by the possibilities. If this catches on. Later I talked to some industry mocap people and my excitement was reeled back in a bit (because they can track more dots with single $500 camera than this entire $10,000 5 camera system can handle).
Answering the AI Wish List
rm310 – 5:15 (15 min. late – had to change buildings) (GDC summary)
My Summary:
Uh, basically this talk was way over my head. But I found it fun to sit in on a couple talks like this, just to see how the big brains rollllll. when the roll out. the discussion. stuff. uh…
Grand Challenge for Game Developers rm132 – 4:20pm – Kumar Garg (GDC summary)
lots of nervous nods to the idea that they’re the first administration to approach the gaming community.
talking about how he played games. and what the first family plays.
we’re apparently challenged to build innovative games to help kids eat better and be more active. www.appsforhealthykids.com – announced today.
His appearance, and the challenge, is part of open government initiative.
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Global Game Jam – 3pm rm302 (GDC summary)
My Summary:
This session let a handful of teacher-types get up and talked about their favored memories/lessons from this year’s “global game jam” (Basically, there’s this yearly event, where small groups meets up and make a game in under 48 hours).
Raw Notes:
– They had over 900 games submitted. All are available at their .org (w: ….infoverload. yikes). Continue reading
Disruptive Innovation – 2:15 (GDC summary)
Host/Moderator:
Chris Morris (Editor, VentureBeat)
My Summary:
Some dudes from wildly different companies fail to have anything in common, and mostly just promote themselves.
Control Inspiration – Mark Essen and Daniel Benmergui
(summary) | My Summary:
Huge waste of time. First guy had no real presentation prepared. Second guy stammered about the process of one of his games.
Social Games inspiring real world action – Josh Williams Gowalla – rm 130 (GDC’s summary)
My Summary :
Social networks, with lightweight game mechanics, can encourage players to share locations with their friends. Lots of Examples.
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The Games for Learning Institute: Research on Design : 10am – rm133 (summary)
arrived 5 minutes late.
Three G4LI speakers. Ken talking first (looks like ted raimi), about how we (schools) usually try to make games with no idea how, and thus threw/blew a bunch of money. So his group turned to science(!). …dropped a game name, but i didn’t catch it (mac was still booting up). check slides? (numbers in circle… factoring?).
Talking about eye trackers. shows horrific old torture device to prove kids won’t wear. then talks about the built into tv solution (likely the one those rude Australian bastards invented. “Tobii“). claims you can’t get these for less than $20,000. He’s unaware of cheaper solutions, classic (I recall Arrington Research selling one for just a couple grand that used black and white imagers. Wonder if he’d take it seriously…).
