Where does the gaming industry go to compare notes and raise the bar for interactive entertainment?
The Video Game Developers Conference.
This year, the annual industry show, held in San Francisco’s Moscone convention center, showcased the latest in hardware and software for developers to use to create the next big thing in video games.
From virtual reality glasses and a headset that “reads your thoughts” to countless toolkits for making games on the next-generation consoles, GDC showed fans of one of America’s fastest-growing industries that there’s plenty to look forward to.
On the first day of the show, Sony unveiled a few things for its troubled Playstation 3 that many think will bring new life to the system.
Sony’s “Home,” a virtual Sims-like community, will allow players to create a digital apartment and trophy room where they can talk to gamers and show off in-game accomplishments. The software will be available to download on the PS3 within the next year.
During Nintendo’s keynote the next day, famed designer and creator of Mario and Zelda Shigeru Miyamoto spoke at GDC for the first time in eight years.
He spoke of expanding the video game audience by creating games that appealed to his “Wife-o-meter,” the scale of how much his wife wanted to play the games. Nintendo’s nonviolent and accessible games have brought players from all walks of life into the video game market.
Nintendo will have a number of titles in the next year, including three new Pokemon games, two new Mario games and a version of the critically acclaimed “Brain Age” for the Nintendo Wii.
Other show highlights included Richard Garriott’s “Tabula Rasa,” a massive online game he described as an answer to the “turn-based whack-a-mole” games like “Worlds of Warcraft” and expanded looks at Sims creator Will Wright’s upcoming title “Spore.”
