After being stuck in Texas for a while due to a delayed flight, as well as enduring more than the usual amount of jetlag, I’m finally back and ready to reflect on this year’s Game Developers Conference.
The mood at GDC 2008 was very positive, perhaps even elated. It feels as though video games have entered a golden age, though that was already fairly obvious from the excellent games that came out in 2007.
Even the Game Designers Rant, normally a place for passionate complaints about the industry, dealt primarily with exploring future opportunities. (Daniel James decided not to rant at all, instead celebrating the gaming medium with a short talk that can be accurately summarized as “wheeeeeeeeeeee! video games ^_^”, while Jon Mak apparently just wanted us to play with balloons.)
On a personal note, it was great to again meet so many people this year. It was an honor and a pleasure.
Unfortunately, due to a cold (not due to partying!) I lost my voice for much of Tuesday and Wednesday, which according to one witness made me sound “like an evil swamp creature”. This sadly meant having to cut some conversations short, but hopefully we can continue those online. Losing your voice at a conference is truly a nightmare and I hope you will never have to experience the same.
In the coming days I will be blogging my thoughts about some of the lectures. In the meantime, check out such blogs as BrainyGamer, Hit Self Destruct or Remowned for some post-GDC reports.
Dude, I got the cold, too! I’m just finally getting a lot better after feeling like crap these past days. I think I got it from a friend of mine. Apparently there was a GDC virus going around…
Edmundo
February 28th, 2008
Oh man, that’s lame! There was indeed a small epidemic at GDC. When I zoned out for a while during a lecture I suddenly noticed a symphony of coughs going on in the background.
Marek
February 28th, 2008