Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, January Jones’ leaked mobile phone photos, nerd flu from private suite parties, or excellent drinks with excellent company presidents, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Game Developers Conference 2012 is in the bag and, for me, that bag was mixed. It was mostly an excellent show personally and professionally, but there were some mishaps and annoyances too. Here’s a breakdown of the RPad experience (which is about two percent as cool as the Jimi Hendrix Experience) at GDC 2012.
– Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first. I’m sick from GDC, a cab driver from Arrow Taxi refused to return my mobile phone (leaving me phone-less for two days), and I didn’t get to attend any panels. The first two things are…whatever. People get sick and people lose phones. The last part still annoys me. The opportunity to hear incredible game creators talk about games and trends in gaming is rare. I can catch a game preview any week. Getting to learn from and report about the top creators in the business doesn’t happen nearly as often. It was a wasted opportunity for me and a lot of people that write about games. Speaking of which….
– Last year, I wrote that I was happy to see more GDC panel coverage. I didn’t notice any progress this year. It annoys me that so many publishers show product during GDC. It annoys me more that game journalists cover so many products during GDC. Last time I checked, the “D” in GDC stands for developers. Instead, the publishers are shaping the majority of GDC coverage. That sucks. Products are covered most of the year. Let’s take a few days to focus on the people behind the products, right?
One of my friends was complaining about journalists calling GDC boring. “They don’t know what they’re missing,” was the sentiment. He was totally right. Instead of covering fascinating panels, learning about how games are made, interviewing developers, and learning about trends in game development, a lot of reporters spent the vast majority of time writing game previews. It’s such a tremendous waste.
– Okay, let’s change the record to something positive. I got to see so many outstanding people. My favorite parts of the show were the nights. Going out to dinner or attending parties with some of my favorite game makers and/or old friends was brilliant. Food highlights include House of Prime Rib with some friends from Japan and a brilliant rib eye with a hot chick from 2K. The drink highlight was Bourbon & Branch with Zoe and the Capps family. Actually, that was probably my favorite night of the show (aside from the phone incident) — great conversation with fantastic people and exotic alcoholic concoctions.
– I really don’t like that Apple’s iPad press conference overlaps with the GDC keynote. That’s two years in a row. It was dickish last year and it was dickish this year. I know that Apple is one of the biggest and most successful companies in the world, but its iOS products benefit greatly from gaming. It would be nice if Apple acted like “a part” of the videogame business instead of “apart” from it.
– Speaking of the iPad, I was completely caught off guard by a joke from one of my favorite game creators. The delivery was soft spoken and the tone was serious. Thank Zeus I wasn’t drinking anything when the punchline was delivered because I would have spit whiskey on an outstanding game maker. Basically he said, “Well, you know when the iPhone 4S came out people said that the ‘S’ was for Steve. It was going to be called the iPad HD to stand for ‘He’s Dead.'” I laughed, felt guilty, and felt shocked all at the same time.
– It was cool seeing Blake Freeman promote Noobz. We hung out for a bit one night and I also caught him at the restaurant where I devoured that monster rib eye. I’m thrilled for him and I hope the movie does well. Gamers should support it for being “real” with gaming. On a side note, he saw me with Zoe one night and with Melissa the next night. I wonder if this gave him the false impression that I’m slick with the ladies. I’ll have to clear that up for him…and also confirm my role in Noobz 2.
– It’s funny that a lot of people I know in publishing and development are exponentially richer than when I first met them 10+ years ago. It’s sad that I’m poorer than I was 10+ years ago. At least I have my health. Oh wait….
– I’m really impressed by the progress of mobile gaming. Infinity Blade and Rage raised the bar for mobile games. Infinity Blade: Dungeons looks phenomenal on iOS; I can see myself playing more of it than Diablo III. Eden to GREEEEN looks sweet on Tegra 3 Android tablets. There’s a secret game that I saw on Tegra 3 that totally blew me away. Mobile is arguably the most exciting segment of the gaming market. It’s getting pretty awesome.
– There’s a lot of stuff I’m leaving out because it would be improper to share, but it was phenomenal talking to so many talented people at GDC 2012. Although I didn’t get to learn from any panels (still annoyed at that), I did learn quite a bit from talking to people from some of the most creative companies in gaming. Perhaps next GDC will be covered the way I want it to be (Gamasutra’s outstanding coverage aside — it’s their show, after all). Until then, I’m grateful for catching up with excellent people that I know and meeting a bunch of excellent new people too.
Yeah no panels would be annoying. Then again too many gets overbearing! At least at the conferences relating to my profession ha!
The thing with GDC is that there are hundreds of panels. There's always bound to be something interesting during any given slot. Usually there are three or four awesome ones going on at the same time.
It was great to share awesome prime rib with you but it sucks that I didn't get to see you more. Let's rectify that at GDC!
I hope you meant E3. :P
But yes, it's always excellent to see you Brad. The second half of my week was full of your Sony America peeps. I'm going to check about trading Ted for you.
Why wouldn't the cab driver return your phone?
Because it was better than the one he had.
-M
He said that Zoe was waiting at the wrong entrance of the hotel, even though she specifically told him which side. Then he yelled, "You waste my time! I pick up regular and throw phone out window!!!"
Prob wanted a big cash reward.Sent from my iPhone 4
He was offered $50. Perhaps he felt low balled?
Probably so or he was at least hoping to extort you with the device nearly back in your possession. Maybe he mistook you for a guy who never backed up his phone??
Hopefully you can share your experience with STP for next year. Id rather hear more about the game dev process especially at GDC. Everytime you come back from GDC I always get learned and appreciate the process more. There are other conferences to get game previews done at especially with there are no titles coming out until after E3 (unless I'm forgetting something).
There were a few cool interviews with actual developers, but that was a small, small part of the coverage. I don't mean to single out STP either. It's a problem with most videogame outlets.
1. This is such a coincidence because at the same time you were at GDC, my dad went to Washington and also left his smartphone in the cab. He wa unable to retrieve it, so he went to the nearest Apple store and just bought a new one… since his phone is now the equivalent to a limb.
2. Yet another chapter to add to my book titled: "Why Publishers are Ruining the Gaming Industry"
3. "Gaming Journalists" that are bored by GDC's panels are neither gamers nor journalists.
4. That food looks like a heart attack on a plate… but I wouldn't mind taking a bit or two or ten.
5. The people at Apple are dicks because they can afford to be. As long as we keep buying their crap, they will keep being dickish. They will humble themselves when sales slip dramatically. This is a universal law.
6. That is a funny joke. Don't feel bad, it's a dead issue.
7. It's better that someone think you are slick with the ladies than not… especially if this person is in the movie industry.
8. Don't be jealous. The reason they are rich is because they have a job, work hard, save money and/or live below their means. Anything else is fake. I think that in today's day and age, simply getting a good job is the hard part, everything else is common sense and restraint. You could always take up a graphics design (animation) or a software programming course to expand and complement your game-writing skill set. Plus, you've already got connections in the industry which is half the battle. Keep your chin up (both in boxing and in life).
9. If I ever take the plunge and buy an iPad, I'll probably explore this mobile gaming thing a bit more. For right now, however, I am content with just flinging angry birds at pigs.
10. GHA!! WHAT?! But.. but… the "improper to share" stuff is always the best stuff to share.
….
The ninjas have been dispatched to interrogate you.
-M
Iceman bad news. Dolphins just traded away Marshall.
I know. I read that about two hours ago.
Why bad news? It clears up the salary cap and he was inconsistent all last season. In addition to that, we had no talent to actually throw him the ball.
I'd rather have Peyton for like two years and mediocre WRs instead of a bad QB and a "good" WR. The Dolphins need a whole new offense and they also need to patch some holes in their defense.
-M
You think the Fins are gonna make a play for Peyton? I don't know if that's wise. I also heard the Redskins were courting him pretty hard.
I don't know though, we'll see.
Washington won't land Manning. They are going straight after RG3 whom I think will be a stud. I think Andrew Luck is destined to fail with Indy though. They will try and recreate Manning and that's impossible.
Well say the Dolphins do sign Manning which I doubt but lets say they do. Who's he going to throw to? Devone Bess? Manning doesn't want to go through any rebuild plans. I say he's probably going to Denver or Arizona.
Tokz, bad news.
That new MLB '12 The Show commercial does not represent reality.
[youtube JVGAfA15U1I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVGAfA15U1I youtube]
That's so wrong. Why would they possibly want to tourture Cubs fans any more than they already are? That is just cruel, and petty, and it's just so immature for someone to do something like that.
-M
I know! I'll never believe it until it happens and then I still won't believe it.
Outstanding comment! As for item #10, you should joint Google+. I'm writing a private post there a bit later.
I guess it's not fair to expect game journalists to be as interested in the people who make the games as the games themselves. It's like people who like Daytona but don't give a shit about the cars themselves. Maybe it speaks to the immaturity of the current crop of journalists; I don't know. One of the several industries I left but still follow closely as an informed customer.
Yes, but GDC isn't a NASCAR race. That's E3. GDC is more like a pit crew convention.
So, my daughter (who's in KINDERGARTEN for christ's sake) had a fundraiser at school.
She went to various bowling alleys and stuff and hustled her ass off. She sold over 100 items and raised like $650 for her school.
Because of this (and here's how it relates to something you all might be interested in)… the school is giving her a 3DS among like 6 other prizes.
I am super proud of her. She worked really hard and she's only in Kindergarten. On a scale of 1 to 10, how awesome is that?
It's hard to say no to a 5 year old girl
I know, i have one
That's the kind of kid my wife wants to raise… a little hustler. Good for her.
-M
Just make sure Bobby Kotick doesn't try to hire her. *joke*