I do not want to go any further without saying that I appreciate and I am thankful to all of the companies who band together to bring this experience to Austin. Not everyone in the game development community is capable of making some of the larger shows, and so a little hometown love here in Austin is appreciated more than I can say.
Just a real quick overview of what GDC Austin is comprised of, in case you have never experienced one. Discussions and panels are held in every major focuse of game development. There are also focused summits where the entire time is dedicated to one field in gaming or another. For example, this year the Game Audio, Game Writers, iphone Games and Independent Games Summits were held here. Each summit is focused on their topic and lasts several days. If asked who this is really for, I would have to say just about everyone. If you are looking for a job in the industry, they have a summit focusing on just that. Veterans in the industry have an opportunity to pass on their knowledge to an eager audience. Groups with a singular focus can discuss their craft. You get the idea.
With that out of the way, I have to say that I felt a little weakness in the panels this year. It was more that I felt a sense of déjà vu, actually. It seems to be a weird time in the ebb and flow of the development cycles where people may not have had time to put a lot together and present the ground-shaking panels that they could have. This is not a dig on the panelists this year, but I am definitely craving some enlightenment and revelation that honestly I have come to expect at GDC. This is a call to arms of those who may find themselves on the fence of rather to go and speak - just go do it. Take the time to speak to your employers as well to continue to grow the Austin conference. Become active on the site and the community of GDC.
After the panels comes the show floor, of course. This is where I will continue my gratitude to the companies who come out and do the work to present their services. I was impressed with the number of companies that were there to actually find new blood. There are times in which, let's face it, there are not many jobs to be had. It seems that even though the hiccup I mentioned before was keeping the out in the open business opportunities talks from happening, at least people were successfully finding job opportunities. I would like to see more middleware and development companies at the conferences. We are seeing a shift in the monetization structure of gaming. Smaller, faster, and leaner development cycles are becoming more of the norm. This style of development requires innovative and intuitive tools to function well. It is these types of tools that will allow better, more stable independent development - all of this in the hopes that we see a return of developers making the games they want to.
Even after the conference is over, well, it just isn't. I am only one man. I could not make it to every single seminar or panel that I wanted to. This is where the Vault comes in. You can go back and view the material and slides form the panels. This is not as good as being there, but it does allow you to catch up on some of the things you missed, or just grant you access to material presented you wished to have. This is a fairly new service in this format and I really hope that they continue this service next year, and hopefully more audio will be saved. It is not without hope that you can watch all of the panels again if you had attended.
I would be absolutely remiss without the admittance that it is just good to go party afterwards and talk to your peers about all things gaming chic. It is once again that I spread my appreciation for the companies who make these gatherings possible. As a whole, it is no secret that some people need only a little inhibition to open up and begin to talk passionately about what we do. Make it out for next year and you will not be disappointed. Now, if you don't mind I am going to go enjoy all of my swag. This includes the flu which it seems is the hot item to hand out with the myriad of shirts and fliers.
