Since I was waiting for a few key photos I decided to wait on doing a full on GDC recap. I got sick of waiting ... so here it is! GDC has always been a show where things happen! My first GDC, I met Tommy Tallarico and ... well ... ended up out here in California working for Video Games Live. That was in 2005.
My second GDC we ended up getting into a fight with this giant bouncer in the Fairmont Lobby. He threatened to hunt us down in our room and "Kick our asses". Tommy stood up to him (and when I say up I mean belly button level) and began talking back. The ENTIRE lobby full of people started shouting TOMMY, TOMMY, TOMMY! The cops were called... punishments were given out .... and we ended up with some very nice free robes with our names embroidered on them as an "I'm Sorry" from the hotel. That was in 2006.
This year was another year of stories to be added to the book. Since the past two GDC's were monumental, I couldn't possibly see what could top them....
BEHOLD THE TOPPING!!!
Now, I know that many of you don't consider me a Nintendo fan. While I was dissapointed with the Wii, I CAN state that I love my DS. Mario is one of my favorite series of all time. I LOVE what Nintendo has done and continues to do for gaming culture. Therefore, when the opportunity to meet and spend time with the Godfather of Nintendo came about ... I couldn't help but feel a little giddy inside.
Miyamoto, Koji Kondo, Charles Martinet (voice of Mario) and Eiji Aonouma were out in full force at this years GDC. I had the honor of escorting them around during the Game Audio Network Guild awards as well as Video Games Live.
That being said .... let's start at the BEGINNING Of the week ....
On Monday I flew into San Fran and met up with Raychul and Meagan at the airport. We hopped in a cab and headed to our hotel to unpack and chill for the evening. Note to those traveling in San Fran: The Opal is a very stinky hotel!!
The Girls and I on our first night in San Fran.
I was so excited to finally meet Meagan. She is our newest GGN girl (our RPG rep) and you never REALLY know what someone is going to be like until you meet them face to face. Boy... Meagan didn't let me down! She, Ray and I bonded immediately and I was so happy to have her with me during the event.
On Tuesday, the girls and I headed over to the convention center to find our rides to the Women in Games Conference that was being held at EA. Come to find out ... there were no rides. Of course, hold a girl gaming convention and then don't give the girls any way to get there! Our friend Trina (From Gaming Angels) was a trooper and ended up going out to the convention. Her report back was that it was nothing we hadn't seen before. Sort of glad we didn't spend the $85 for a cab to get there! Instead, the girls and I milled around the convention hall, picking up swag and handing out our business cards at every opportunity we could find.
Wednesday started out on a much more positive note. Phil Harrisons keynote was WONDERFUL! The event began with two gianormous soccer balls being tossed into the audience. We were split up into two teams and had to collectively get the balls into goals. Unfortunately, our side didn't quite comprehend this part of the game and ended up losing something like 18 to 10. Silly humans!
Phil showcased the new Sony Home for the PS3. While I realize that it's nothing new and that the PC has been doing this for AGES, it was nice to see the ability to take files (such as movies and photos) that are on your PS3 and display them in your home. I also enjoyed seeing the customization options and advertising opportunities in the main area. For a business person, advertising is actually pretty important. As a gamer ... it's kind of annoying. I guess that puts me on the fence!
We had to skip out before the Little Big Planet demo for a meeting with Yahoo Games. That being said, we had an opportunity to review the game at a later date. This is the game I am MOST excited for. The physics, ability to co-opporitively create levels and then play them is unlike anything I have seen before. The graphics are really interesting and unique. Every aspect of the game uses real life textures and shapes. It's one of those things that is hard to explain in a blog so, if you have not yet checked out IGN's coverage of Little Big Planet, make sure you do. I would be interested to hear your own opinion of it.
After the meeting with Yahoo (which went GREAT!!) we checked out a few awesome gadgets on the show floor. They were SO awesome, in fact, that I have decided to do a seperate blog about them. That will be coming later.
We hung out a bit with the Mega 64 cats, Visited with Cliffy B, saw some of our G4 buddies and then - at night - headed over to the W to network.
The Destructoid guys were in FULL force at the W!
Thursday was the Miyamoto Keynote. I was REALLY looking forward to this. I had high hopes that he would discuss the reason that the Wii was created the way it was, the issues with developing games for the Wii and possibly even a little bit about future development of the Wii system and games for it. I had gotten so much out of Phil's talk and came out really excited about the industry and it's future.
While it is ALWAYS fun to watch Miyamoto and I can't say his talk wasn't entertaining - it wasn't what I was hoping for. Instead of a discussion about the Wii and development we got a pictorial of his dog, his garden and the "Wife-O-Meter".
After a few more meetings (and some rest) we headed over to the Koji Kondo keynote. The keynote was geared toward audio professionals and, while highly informational, probably not something you guys are that interested in. I'd be happy to go into more detail about it in the comments if you are interested.
That night was also the Game Audio Network Guild awards. I had the honor of presenting Koji Kondo with the lifetime acheivement award. Meagan and I also presented trophies to the audio crew from Gears of War and to our friend Christopher Tin who walked away with Rookie of the year! (YAY CHRIS!!)
Friday was Video Games Live. We started out early and headed over to Sega to pick up the Sonic costume. Ray and I had one hell of a time getting that sucker into a cab! ha ha
Me and Sonic - no... I didn't kill him!!
This thing was REALLY scary to be in!!!
That night, Raychul (Sonic's body gaurd), Meagan (Cosplay Contesnt Queen) and myself worked our little TOOSHIES off for the show. Our friend Jonathan Mann had a chance to sing his song to Miyamoto, we hung out with Zelda and Link, and Charles Martinet even recorded a little shout out to the GGN!
Ray and Jonathan
Me, Meagan and Charles Martinet
Meg, Me, Pikminlink (Link) and Jackie (Zelda)
Overall, it was an AMAZING GDC! I love this event moreso than all other gaming industry events. This event is a chance for the game devs to come together and hang out without all the bullshit. There is no pressure to look good or sell anything. It's just the best of the best coming together to share ideas on how to make things even BETTER! I'll be posting another blog about the gadgets we saw at GDC and also this weekends experience at Wizard World LA. For now ... In the words of the great Jonathan Mann
And there not just video games they're works of art. And I want the whole wide world to know that everything he's done has come from the heart and that's what makes him different .. sit back or you might miss it. Painting the whole picture is Miyamoto!
