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SUMMARY
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The Game Developers Conference 2006
March 20-24
San Jose, California
@ the San Jose Convention Center

We've got lots of keynotes, and all sorts of interesting panels... I'm sure we'll get plenty of great tidbits from all over the place. But will there be big news? I'm sure someone will say something worth a 20 page thread about. Who will it be? Revolutionton with Zelda: Twilight Princess fly fishing? PlayStation3ton with Phil destroying our souls with a 499.99 price point (we won't get price here)? Xbox360ton with Microsoft announcing the death of core pack?

Something for everyone, I'm sure. GDC isn't E3, so... you know... keep the hype at a manageable level

Keynote/Seminar Summaries

● "Risks and Rewards of Going Global w/ Mobile Games"
● "Taking mobile games to the next level"
● "Getting excited about serious games"
● "Laskey dials up mobile gaming's future"
● "Juul's rules on games without goals."
● "Big Brands on the Small Screen"
● "World Tour of Mobile Innovations"
● "Epic shows off Unreal Tools (Gears of War 360, Unreal Tournament PS3)"
● "Games for brains: The effect of gaming on developing and sustaining cognitive abilities."

~Special thanks to Gamespot for most of these links.

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MICROSOFT
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Here's a list of some speakers for the Microsoft group...

Brian Keller Product Manager Microsoft XNA Programming
Frank Savage Development Manager Microsoft XNA Game Design
Pete Isensee Lead Software Design Engineer Microsoft Xbox Programming
Jennifer Boespflug Software Test Engineer Lead Microsoft Game Studios Production
Nick Dimitrov Business Development Manager Microsoft Game Studios Business and Management
Kevin Goebel User Research Engineer Microsoft Game Studios Game Design
Charles Harrison User Research Engineer Microsoft Game Studios Game Design
Philip Hove User Research Engineer Microsoft Game Studios Game Design
Marcos Nunes-Ueno User Research Engineer Microsoft Game Studios Game Design
David Quiroz User Research Engineer Microsoft Game Studios Game Design
Tracey Sellar User Research Engineer Microsoft Game Studios Game Design
John Wendl Art Director Microsoft Game Studios Business and Management
Greg Canessa GM, Xbox Live Arcade Microsoft Corporation Business and Management
Jon David Lead Xbox Live Arcade Program Manager Microsoft Corporation Programming

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For a full list, click here and go to schedule.

News

● Microsoft delivers pre-release version of the first XNA Studio tools and unveiled the XNA Framework. They also announced that the company is opening its Xbox Live® server platform to game developers and publishers, "allowing them to innovate and extend the Xbox Live experience in their titles." Thanks to Ecrofirt. (Press Release)
● Arne has posted some pics of the XNA demos showed today. (Images of "Culture" and "Pocket-Jong". For more comprehensive info on XNA news, click here.)
● Microsoft is going to distribute two to three times the number of Xbox 360 consoles than ever before starting this week. In addition, there will be new downloadable content for PGR3, PDZ and Kameo. (Press Release)
● Microsoft announced that its scheduled rollout of Windows Vista had been delayed until January 2007, setting back its planned "PC rededication". (News Article)

Not really sure what can be announced here... Arne suggested we're gonna get something "of interest" especially after the recent Sony conference, but he said definitely don't hype it up. So... should be fun.

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NINTENDO
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The IMPORTANT event that every Nintendo fan should be watching is the Iwata keynote.



Satoru Iwata
President, Nintendo Co., Ltd.
"Disrupting Development"
Thursday, March 23
10:30 – 11:30am

This year will see the arrival of more new portable and home game systems, and outside attention remains predictably focused on technical specifications and processing muscle. This is not trivial; but also not newsworthy. After all, every new system is more powerful than its predecessor.

Developers know what drives the video game business. It is our work. We are the creators, the innovators, the entertainers. We understand that people who imagine things, even more than the people who engineer them, are the key to reaching players.

Unfortunately, the application of imagination is getting more and more difficult. Larger games require more hours, more manpower, and a lot more money. And as budgets rise, the appetite for risk falls.

As Nintendo has demonstrated with Nintendo DS, our goal is to expand the industry to new players—and to surprise existing players.

In a speech entitled, ”Disrupting Development,” Nintendo President Satoru Iwata will reveal the backstory of how a string of recent disruptive products from Nintendo—the Nintendo DS, the ‘brain-training’ games, and Nintendo WiFi Connection—surprised the market. He will share his thoughts on the role Nintendo’s video game systems will play in expanding the market and widening the possibilities for developers.

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For a full list of people scheduled to speak from Nintendo group, click here.

News

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Oh, we'll get something here alright...

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SONY
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For the Sony fans, they've got a nice keynote to look forward to. Hopefully for some clarification of the events of Wednesdayton.



Phil Harrison
President, Worldwide Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment
"PlayStation 3: Beyond the Box "
Wednesday, March 22
10:30 – 11:30am

Focusing on the new creative, technical, and business opportunities provided by the arrival of PlayStation 3, the keynote will share Sony Computer Entertainment's innovative plans for the format and will provide a look at how new technology and new business models will help fuel the growth of the computer entertainment industry by attracting new consumers.

SCE is recognized as the global leader of the video game business with over 200 million hardware units and billions of software units sold across the three PlayStation formats. The recent global success of PlayStation Portable has shown the company’s commitment to continued innovation—developing the market beyond the traditional definitions of the game consumer.

This keynote will look at the tremendous opportunities presented to game developers worldwide as the industry goes “beyond the box.”

Click to expand...

For a full list of people scheduled to speak from Sony group, click here.

News

● AGEIA™ Technologies, Inc., the pioneer in hardware-accelerated physics for games, today announced that the latest version of AGEIA PhysX™ SDK version 2.4 will become available to registered PLAYSTATION® 3 game content developers on March 31, 2006. (Press Release)
● Two new PS3 demos shown - New LOD demo, and an underwater demo featuring thousands of fish. (Article, Videos)
● Blu-Ray talked up. Blu-Ray was said to promise 200 times more space for gaming than other platforms. With this much space, one global SKU (or version of the game) could be developed for all regions across the globe. Getaway demo shown in real-time, the system pulls data from the BRD to display all the detail and data and population of the hotspot. (Article)
● Heavenly Sword demo shown, like the one at E3. Except this time it was real-time. (Video)
● A Car demo was shown. In it, a car was subjected to bullet shots as paint chipped and the car eventually exploded. (Article)
● A real-time demonstration of Warhawk was shown. Across a massive battlefield, you could see ambient warfare everywhere, with background battles raging far away from you. (Article)
● Sony discusses more about its online plan. Sony's online network will offer downloadable content and online commerce using micropayments. The company also plans a subscription service. (Article)
● Ratchet and Clank demo shown. The demo featured a bright, lush, bustling city somewhat similar to Coruscant from Star Wars or designs from The Fifth Element. Gagetron vehicles hustled here and there -- the whole environment was busy with activity. (Article)
● Phil Harrison confirmed that online would require broadband, and confirmed that every PS3 will come with a HDD. Update - Kotaku says HDD is NOT confirmed. "First, he declined to talk about whether the hard drive will be included in the PS3. Instead, he said that all PS3 games will require the hard drive." (Article)
● Sony reiterates that PS3 will be fully backward compatible from day one.
● Sony reveals that PS3 will be playable at E3. Warhawk is one of the games that will be playable. (Article)
● New "real-time" Motorstorm demo shown. "Compared to the E3 presentation, the game looked surprisingly like its promise. The game featured buggies and motorcycles running through a rugged desert." (Article)
● Songstar announced for PS3. Songstar is a singing title which supports downloadable games, as well as adding pics and videos using the EyeToy camera peripheral. (Article)
● Resistance: Fall of Man demo shown. The new realtime demo showed the game in much more complete form than the simple FPS that was shown at E3 in 2005. (Article)
● Harrison reveals PS3 games will be region-free. (Article)
● Sony showed a video of God of War II: Divine Retribution. The trailer consisted mostly of Kratos fighting off a 3-headed dog (where he viciously ripped off heads), then grabbing a griffon in flight and chopping off its wings. (Article)
● Sony talks up PSP. GPS launch in winter, Eyetoy launch in Fall.


An anonymous source said there will be at least 1 live PS3 gameplay demo during Harrison's keynote. Possibly 2-3. Guess he was right.

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MISC
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Here's the spot for everything else. Who knows what that would be...

News

● NVIDIA Corporation and Havok, the game industry's leading supplier of cross- platform middleware, will be demonstrating a physics effects solution that runs completely on a graphics processing unit (GPU) -- an industry first. (Press Release)
● Nokia unveiled a new software development kit (SDK) and consumer interface for its next generation mobile gaming platform. Its next-gen mobile game platform is set to launch in 2007. (Press Release)
● Dell Enhances Its Commitment to High-Performance Computing With Planned Acquisition of Alienware Corporation. (Press Release)
● Crysis GDC 2006 Trailer
●

Anyway... that's all for now. Discuss.

another very nice compilation thread, thanks.

i think it's going to be an interesting conference. it sounds like harrison and iwata will (hopefully) have a lot of meaningful stuff to say.

Looking forward to Harrison's and Iwata's keynotes very much. Hope something good comes out of it.

Wonderful thread. Since it's so close, can you sticky this?

I think all future "official" threads of "insert whatever here" should emulate Amirox's excellent presentation as much as possible.

I love how major DS titles get released at event times. I'll be playing Tetris and Metroid to keep out of the pre keynote threads. New Super Mario Bros before e3 is also soo awesome.

Crisis said:

can you sticky this?

Click to expand...

Should be interesting to see what they will reveal.

They'd all want the developers to develop for their system, so I don't know what they're going to show. Iwata might want to show some stuff around a bit what Nintendo has been working on (Zelda demo with Rev functionality, or something).

Crisis said:

Wonderful thread. Since it's so close, can you sticky this?

Click to expand...

Yeah, we'll sticky.

Amir0x said:

GDC isn't E3, so... you know... keep the hype at a manageable level

Click to expand...

Yeah, right. Once the Nintendo keynote starts this thread will gain about a page a minute.

xsarien said:

Yeah, right. Once the Nintendo keynote starts this thread will gain about a page a minute.

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yeah, i know. And 80% of the posts will just be "IT HAS BEGUN" and "LOL IGN UPDATES IS SO SLOW GOD"

Iwata/Harrison double-header (well, Wednesday-Thursday). Can't wait.

Do not for one second think that either keynote is skippable.

Kobun Heat said:

Do not for one second think that either keynote is skippable.

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They're going to do dueling banjos, aren't they? HAWT!

kaching said:

They're going to do dueling banjos, aren't they? HAWT!

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Don't be silly.

Dueling Guitar Hero.

kaching said:

They're going to do dueling banjos, aren't they? HAWT!

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If by that you mean "Zij gaan het vechten banjos doen, zijn zij niet? SPANUUUND!" then yes.

Amir0x said:

yeah, i know. And 80% of the posts will just be "IT HAS BEGUN" and "LOL IGN UPDATES IS SO SLOW GOD"

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yeah, or people posting whatever stupid internet meme they want.

I'm hoping we get some more concrete ideas of when we can expect Rev and PS3 in the US, but we probably won't.

This page to be updated with news? Awesome man, I hate trawling these things when they become massive. Good work amir0x!

I'm looking forward to my bomzeldroppathingy!

SPANUUUUUUND!

xsarien said:

Don't be silly.

Dueling Guitar Hero.

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I was thinking more along the lines of a Eyetoy vs. Revmote "virtual banjo" faceoff.

As I recall, I'm pretty sure I've heard that the GDC is a good place to go if you want to be hired for a company. What positions do companies usually interview for or whatever at the GDC? In a few years I'll be out of college and ready to pimp myself out to devs out there looking for programmers.

Oh, and if I wanted to go to the GDC for this purpose, what package would I have to get? The price range is from like $200 - $2000.

Does anyone have any tips for things like this? When I go, what kind of programs should I bring? What other materials should I go with to benefit myself?

If you're looking for jobs, what you do is get the Expo Pass. That gets you into the show floor, and all the companies have booths set up specifically for taking resumes, giving you packets of info about their company, and having reps there to talk to you about employment.

You'll come away with a lot of follow-ups and not a small amount of swag.

Thanks

There will be at least 1 live PS3 gameplay demo during Harrison's keynote. Possibly 2-3.

~ Anonymous

*whistle*

Amir0x said:

There will be at least 1 live PS3 gameplay demo during Harrison's keynote. Possibly 2-3.

~ Anonymous

*whistle*

Click to expand...

ibtn

Spill it Kobun!

Doc Holliday said:

Spill it Kobun!

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I didn't say anything! Amirox, however, seems to be a bundle of info...

I didn't sign any NDAs man!

Edit: Plus it's not my info, it's ANONYMOUS' info. We all know how reliable ANONYMOUS is. Bastion of the free press.

Thanks for this great thread Amirox..Always appreciated

xsarien said:

Yeah, right. Once the Nintendo keynote starts this thread will gain about a page a minute.

Click to expand...

And that'll be if your settings are to view 100 posts per page! Well, maybe not quite that fast.

Amir0x said:

There will be at least 1 live PS3 gameplay demo during Harrison's keynote. Possibly 2-3.

~ Anonymous

*whistle*

Click to expand...

fight night was live PS3 gameplay demo. its just out on X360 first.

Amir0x said:

I didn't sign any NDAs man!

Edit: Plus it's not my info, it's ANONYMOUS' info. We all know how reliable ANONYMOUS is. Bastion of the free press.

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Will we be seeing The Revenge of Boxguy at GDC? :lol

fight night was live PS3 gameplay demo.

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According to many it was a just an interactive cutscene which would explain why the animation was so much better than the Xbox 360 version.

I'll be at GDC wednesday and thursday.

Amir0x said:

Something for everyone, I'm sure. GDC isn't E3, so... you know... keep the hype at a manageable level

Click to expand...

To be fair, did'nt Nintendo annouce their online service in GDC during last year? There might be a bomb or two this time from Nintendo as well.

Amir0x said:

There will be at least 1 live PS3 gameplay demo during Harrison's keynote. Possibly 2-3.

~ Anonymous

*whistle*

Click to expand...

Killzone - that's why some of Guerrilla have gone to the USA for a week.

Wax Free Vanilla said:

Killzone - that's why some of Guerrilla have gone to the USA for a week.

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LOL Don't do that, you're going to get Ferret flooded with questions again.

Wax Free Vanilla said:

Killzone - that's why some of Guerrilla have gone to the USA for a week.

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Didn't they say something like: "Don't expect news about Killzone for a while" at the forums recently?

If they are showing three games I bet we get to see Resistance, Lair and Warhawk But I'd rather see Motorstorm than Lair.

Wax Free Vanilla said:

Killzone - that's why some of Guerrilla have gone to the USA for a week.

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PLEASE NO CONSPIRACY THEORIES!



I think - if true - it will be Lair. And I also predict massive damage control on what could be the most gorgeous game ever, and nitpicking of small details...as well as dismissing it as a non-valuable addition to the library like has been done to most of the games announced for PS3.

Lair makes sense because there have already being (closed) presentations on it, and Matthias Worch is going to be presenting on asset creation for the game anyway.

Striek said:

PLEASE NO CONSPIRACY THEORIES!



I think - if true - it will be Lair. And I also predict massive damage control on what could be the most gorgeous game ever, and nitpicking of small details...as well as dismissing it as a non-valuable addition to the library like has been done to most of the games announced for PS3.

Lair makes sense because there have already being (closed) presentations on it, and Matthias Worch is going to be presenting on asset creation for the game anyway.

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Damn I hope so! Lair > *

This thread needs more Will Wright love. I've just watched his speech from last years GDC again and I can't wait for this years.

Striek said:

Lair makes sense because there have already being (closed) presentations on it, and Matthias Worch is going to be presenting on asset creation for the game anyway.

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Could be UNREAL Tournament 2007. It was already in playable form last year when PSM played it. That'd even allow them to show off the PS3's online abilities.

SolidSnakex said:

Could be UNREAL Tournament 2007. It was already in playable form last year when PSM played it. That'd even allow them to show off the PS3's online abilities.

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Could be anything, but I think visually Lair will have the biggest impact outside of GT, HS or KZ (if not even greater than them too).
I don't think they will have any online component running however - seems like they're still busy at implementing it; wouldn't want to show an incomplete version and give the wrong impression...maybe networked (via WiFi? Is that possible?).

I'd be interested in it being Lair just to see what the game is about. I liked the description that was posted awhile back about it being a game about slaying dragons. But it looks more like its going to just be flying around as a dragon and fighting which is..Not so interesting.

Nice thread Ami.

Amir0x said:

yeah, i know. And 80% of the posts will just be "IT HAS BEGUN" and "LOL IGN UPDATES IS SO SLOW GOD"

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That's what makes those threads so enjoyable to read.

Duderz said:

That's what makes those threads so enjoyable to read.

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If your idea of a good time is being annoyed, then yes.

Revolution news cometh. Set phasers for disappointment.

xabre said:

Revolution news cometh. Set phasers for disappointment.

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But set phasers to "sweet" for Zelda news.

next week will be awesome!!!

or more specifically wednesday + thursday.

LOST ~ new episode!
PS3 ~ game footage at GDC!
REVOLUTION BITCHES ~~ BOMB ZAL DROPPENTON!!!!

GDC 06: Bomb strike in the 4th Dimension of the Lucid dreams

hmm killzone and lair!! Can't wait!