This was my second GDC and while it was totally awesome; it was pretty different from my first. The major difference was that this year I totally sprung for a main conference pass; so I was able to get in and see a bunch of talks.
All in All, I really enjoyed the talks and they really have shared a bunch of practical knowledge about the 'triple-a' style game development. I don't mean triple-a in the million dollar budget sense; but more in the style of games that are typically produced and I feel like the knowledge they develop and seek to pass on is important. These games are going to be nostalgic for people; heck they are nostalgic for me. A big part of my formative experience in high-school (before I thought I could make games or if I should) was playing first-person shooters and mods. Dear Esther to me is weird creepy mod; a rehash of assets from HL2, with birds that are way too loud, and a confusing voice over that tells me stuff based on where I go. Part of my remembrance of the Iraq War was firing up the Desert Combat mod for battlefield 1942 (that demo totally sold me on the game). Unreal Tournament... I will buy every Unreal Tournament that ever comes out just because I wanna capture that adrenaline nostalgia of 2005 graphics and gore (I played more UT2k4 than UT99 but I can't decide on which is better; UT3 even has its merits). The amount of hours I have spent playing Rainbow Six... I shutter to think.
OK, whoa, way too much nerding out there for a sec... let's bring it back to what I was saying. The talks and knowledge about these games. The games that are being developed and the knowledge that is out there is in a way very specialized but... It's really a mark of achievement and specialization and maturation that the genre's popularity created. Its like going to the moon. You would only figure out and develop this technology if there are the right forces behind it. There is a lot to be said, and a lot to be loved about indie games and that revolution of novelty. I think its becoming easier to forget the specialization; the massive, epic undertaking of a AAA game and what that collaboration can create.
Or maybe I'm just feeling nostalgic...
