R
Rösti
Unconfirmed Member
GDC 2017 does not begin until February 27 next year, but the floor plans for the expo appear to have been made available as early as now. There are many small booths currently available, but most of the large exhibitors seem to be set with Sony and Oculus right at the entrance of South Hall, just for example.
Anyhow, last year I wrote a thread titled No booth for Nintendo at GDC 2016 - Relation to NX reveal?. There I brought up the subject of Nintendo not booking a regular booth at GDC 2016 and what it could mean for NX. Now we know from the Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ended March 2016, Apr. 28, 2016 that Nintendo "will take another opportunity prior to the release to discuss the features and price of the NX, as well as the software lineup for launch", so that thread is no longer relevant in that context. However, it points to Nintendo skipping a regular booth at GDC becoming a trend. This is what it looked like in the past:
Main booth(s) of Nintendo at GDC, 2010 - 2016
2010: 50x40 (1224 in South Hall)
2011: 50x40 (1012 in South Hall)
2012: 50x50 (802 in South Hall)
2013: 50x50 (802 in South Hall)
2014: 50x50 (612 in South Hall))
2015: 3 10x20 (BMR2742/BMR2738/BMR2732 in North Hall. Business Center)
2016: 3 10x20 (BMR2742/BMR2738/BMR2732 in North Hall, Business Center)
Next year Nintendo has:
3 10x20 (BS5225/BS5226/BS5230 in North Hall, Business Center)
North Hall at GDC 2017
I have marked Nintendo's booths with bob-ombs.
South Hall at GDC 2017
Source: http://fp37.a2zinc.net/Clients/fpUBM/gdc2017/Public/Eventmap.aspx?mapID=33&shmode=E
The floor plans are of course not complete, and things could change. But the only larger booths available in South Hall are 1238 (60x20) and 1902 (20x60). These seem too small for Nintendo.
North Hall has one large booth available, BS4734 (50x30). GDC Play is for emerging/indie developers, so that space is not for Nintendo. Still, North Hall/Business Center is not the main expo area and is intended more for business meetings, not for exhibiting new games or technologies.
I bring this up because GDC 2017 should happen well after the reveal of NX, and I assume Nintendo would want as much exposure as possible of this new machine, both to the public and to developers. Therefore I find it strange Nintendo seemingly has so little presence at this event. It is the premiere event for video game developers after all.
There is one small change in 2017 though. Nintendo is no longer in BMRs (Business Center Meeting Rooms) but in BSs (Business Center Suites). If this has any greater effect on Nintendo's presence at GDC I don't know.
There you have it.