GDC 2010 - Disappointment

So I went to the Game Developers Conference today, on a free Expo pass that I got from a friend at school. Thank goodness because if I had to pay $250 to get in there I probably would have rage killed and teabagged everyone in there like a 15 year old on Xbox Live. At least I would have had the common decency not to shout racist epithets while doing so.

Anyway, here's why it was a disappointment, and it's probably my own fault - incorrect expectations. This isn't like the TGS (Tokyo Game Show), CES (Consumer Electronics Show) or E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) - no, this is a convention for Game Developers to learn about new industry technologies, paddle their resumes around, network with other nerds and occassionaly catch a glimpse of top quality developer's masturbatory material. For an ad school student, you're really out of place, no matter how much you like games.

Want to know the highlights? There were 2: 1) Registration - you have to enter your name, company name and position which will be printed on your badge. Thanks to some genius programming those are all required fields. So being the quick thinking writer that I am, I filled them in. Bob Tallman "The Next Big Thing" Miami Ad School. Yup, that's probably my number 1 highlight. 2) Watching a couple of guys play through probably the first 2 hours of God of War III. Game looks great, the boss deaths are awesomely hilarious and fun - killing Poseidon was great.

Now don't get me wrong, it was intersting to walk around the expo floor and see a veritable whos-who of the industry: Naughty Dog (whose Uncharted 2 picked up 5 more awards), Ubisoft, Telltale Games, 38 Studios (owned by Curt Schilling and now involved with EA on a major project), Blizzard and their evil half - Activision and many more. But all of these companies were trying to recruit young developers and other talent and gain favor with them by offering small trinkets and schwag, and for me, there was nothing relevant. Oh well, it was an experience, and I did get some industry mags for free and got to see God of War III, Final Fantasy XIII (has me worried) and the Playstation Move up close.

I guess it was worth the $2 bus fare.