Game Developers Conference

Games Developers Conference

This week’s blog is to focus on the G.D.C held in San Francisco, CA.

To be honest I have never heard of this conference and was excited to do a little research into it. As I have been told to find something of interest at the conference, I am eager to see what it’s all about.

So as I began looking through the web site for the GDC, I began to ask myself the question why and who would want to attend?

Who Should Attend GDC and Why

Career seekers and recruiters

Meet face-to-face with the top talent worldwide committed to making better games. Job seekers, meet companies and recruiters who are hiring now.

Studio Managers and Heads of studios

Gather new methods for studio management during uncertain economic times and learn new techniques on how to market emerging game platforms to target every demographic.

Developers

Hone your skills using the latest tools and techniques from the hottest games released this season.

Exhibitors and sponsors

For three days showcase your company’s products, services and innovations to the most dynamic and concentrated game development community.

New business and venture capitalists

Take advantage of a multi-billion dollar industry by networking with top studio heads, international developers and investors. Gain knowledge of opportunities in digital entertainment and communities that will mould the future of video games and new opportunities.

"The GDC is the direct line to tap into the soul of the game development community at large, to see a snapshot of the state of the industry from all angles, to rub elbows with the superstars in the field, and to study the front-line techniques first hand from the experts themselves. In short, if you're in the industry, it's where you want to be."

-GDC 2009 Attendee

http://www.gdconf.com/attend/index.html

So now that I understand what it’s all about I decided to take a look at some of the news and information blogs and came across something that interested me.

It was a blog in regards to a scheduled talk from Tom Niwinski and Dee Jay Randall from Dead Rising 2 developers Blue Castle Games. They were discussing how the Dead Rising 2 team is using in game telemetry to tune the game, tracking item usage, and ensure all the nooks and crannies have been visited.

Unfortunately the talk isn’t set to take place until May 6^th and 7^th at the G.D.C in Canada so I’m going to have to wait until then to read all about it. I do however know that telemetry is a feature used in the game engine. I can only hazard a guess as to what it is going to be used for but my guess is that it is something to do with the vast amount of zombies that are now able to be displayed on screen at one time.

In the previous game it was only capable of displaying 800 zombies on screen at any one time, whereas now in the sequel, it is capable of displaying 6000! I am a fan of this game and I’m looking forward to its release on August 31^st 2010. I will be chasing up this blog when I have read what Tom Niwinski and Dee Jay Randall have to say at the G.D.C in May.