GDC is Over
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I would have called this the “Day 3 Wrap” or whatever, but I just realized that GDC is actually a five-day event. I just didn’t go on the first two days, because it’s mostly focused on mobile games. Anyway, onward!
Today was the lightest day of the three, so we showed up around 12:30 or 1PM. I hadn’t really wandered around the show floor yet, so I did that for a little while.
Nintendo was showing Smash Bros. Brawl and Wii Fit. I stared at Wii Fit for awhile and think it looks really good. It’s got stuff like ski events, hula hoop stuff, and one where you must shift your weight on the balance board to tilt a playing field and try to get balls to fall through holes.
I got in and played a round of Brawl with three other show attendees. It’s essentially exactly what you would expect it to be. Down and punch with Mario makes the Mario Sunshine backpack appear on his back and he shoots some water!
Intel was showing off a few upcoming PC games on their new hardware, like the SKULLTRAIL board. They’ve since changed the name to something more official sounding like “Extreme Multi-CPU Super Boner Jam” or something, but that’s not nearly as cool as SKULLTRAIL. I suggest that everyone reading this should get together and start a heavy metal band called SKULLLLLLTRAAAAAAIL.
Bionic Commando looks really nice on the PC. They were showing some jungle-based action and I caught a bit of a destroyed city level that made great use of HDR lighting. With messed up buildings, cracked streets, and destroyed cars in every direction, it totally sets a mood. The action looks pretty neat, too. The guy manning the booth was playing it with a 360 controller. Not a huge surprise, but I guess consider that confirmation that the PC version will have controller support, if they haven’t said that already.
I also spent some time watching a guy use a gun to shoot at a bush in Far Cry 2. He’d sever a piece of the bush, it’d fall off, and then blow away in the wind. The bullet points on the FC2 display included my new favorite/ridiculous-sounding feature: “high quality vegetation systems.”
The indie games from the IGF were there, as well, and I got to meet Audiosurf’s Dylan Fitterer. He seems like a totally smart dude who knows what the people want and is dedicated to supporting Audiosurf post-release. I’d say he’s already off to a great start. If you’re not on-board with Audiosurf yet, there’s a demo available through Steam now.
I didn’t stop to play any of the indie games because I figured I could probably download most of them later. I quickly wrote down the names of a few so I could try them later. Of course, not all of them are available just yet. Noitu Love 2: Devolution, for example, isn’t available yet, but the original game is. Polarity, Battleships Forever, Clean Asia!, Fez, and World of Goo were the others that immediately stood out. Someone also highly recommended Crayon Physics Deluxe to me. Anyway, check out all of the entries at the IGF entries page.
After some floor time, it was time for lunch. Alex and I decided to take advantage of the free lunch offered to GDC attendees and got some decent pastrami sandwiches. As we were finishing up, we met four guys from Io Interactive, the developers of the wonderful Hitman series. We all took some very funny photos together, took turns saying “hey, sorry about what happened,” and had a good laugh. I was hoping I’d get to meet some of those guys at GDC, and I suspected it would go like that, though I guess I wasn’t 100% sure if it would be smiles or knives.
From there it was on to my first session of the day, which was titled “Up Against the Wall: Game Makers Take On the Press.” Here, Newsweek’s N’Gai Croal solicited questions from game developers to ask to the panel, comprised of Andy McNamara, Brian Crecente, Stephen Totilo, Garnett Lee, and Geoff Keighley. It was interesting, with a couple of tough questions asking about why (and should) preview coverage be generally positive. Though there were a couple of moments of “well we don’t do things that way” posturing, it was a decent session. Though I have to say that I wish the questions were a little more savage. There are a lot of things about gaming criticism and journalism that feel like they’re either on the verge of or in the process of changing dramatically, and the hard questions are the ones that help shape the future.
As I expected, aggregate review score sites were brought up, though solely from the perspective of “hey, that means no one reads our reviews anymore and that sucks.” Garnett Lee made it sound like 1up’s upcoming review score revamp is partially designed to break sites like Metacritic. But 1up isn’t the first site to use a school-style letter grading system. And in my mind, an A grade pretty readily translates to a 90, a B to 80, and so on. EA and other publishers need to realize that with sites like this changing the way they rate games, year-over-year statistics (like the 77 to 72 average score drop that EA groused about in a recent conference call) are completely meaningless, because too many factors change every single year. If it’s not an existing site changing its review scale, it’s a new site coming in and deciding that a 7 is average instead of a 5, or vice versa. The aggregate score sites are designed for the consumers and they’re fine for that, even though trying to mash together a collection of subjective scores into an objective-sounding average isn’t exactly sound science.
As a writer, the worry is that no one reads the actual reviews anymore. If that’s the problem, then people should be writing more compelling reviews. Though there’s probably a way to tie aggregate scores to LTD sales figures, too many people inside the game industry are using those numbers for evil, rather than good. Just ask a developer with a track record of low-scoring licensed fare who can’t get publishers to sign on to put out their exciting new original product “because their Metacritic score is too low.” Or the developer who has a bonus clause with its publisher based on its Metacritic score, only to miss it by a tenth of a point because an outlet assigned the review to freelance reviewer who isn’t well-qualified in that particular style of game. I heard both of those stories over the course of GDC.
OK, where was I? Right, so the game press grill session could have been more fiery. After that I had to sneak into line where Alex was already waiting for the Portal Post-Mortem, which was the last session of the day and was completely packed. Kim Swift and Erik Wolpaw put on a compelling show about their game and got into the way that the gameplay influences the story, only to later have the story influence the gameplay. Since there was nothing using the room afterwards, the Q&A at the end of the talk went on way past its scheduled conclusion.
Once it was over, I turned around to realize that Greg Kasavin had been sitting behind us the whole time. We went up front to have a few words with Erik about his days as an expert reviewer of Romanian games, then Alex, Greg, and I took off to have some drinks with Brad Shoemaker, Tor Thorsen, Matt Rorie, Billy Berghammer, and a few others that stopped by. At that point, things get a little out-of-focus, and my car is still sitting over at Alex’s house. Anyone wanna give me a ride over there so I can get it?
All in all, certainly the best time I’ve ever had at GDC. It was great to get around and talk to a ton of people, and I feel like I made the right session choices, though I suppose I would have liked to have seen the Fable 2 talk that Peter Molyneux gave. It felt like a valuable show, something I can only really appreciate now that I’m not totally product-focused.
Be sure to visit Ryan’s Day 2 entry for more on the show, including a video that actually has sound this time, and a pretty crazy story that reflects the weird sort of “hey, I heard you guys have a new podcast” thing that happened to he and I a lot over the course of the show. It’s one thing to hear a few people claim that “the whole world is watching to see what you do next.” It’s another, more surreal thing to have several representatives of that world come up and effectively say “keep on talking about Gatorade Tiger because that’s a viable way to cover gaming.”
Speaking of which, I bought some. The red and grape flavors are great, and I’m about to try the citrus-golf style in a few minutes.
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Hopefully I’m first on this.
But hey Jeff, awesome write-up man, really look forward to your posts. I’m glad you’re doing this blog:)
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:37 pm
first?
I’d just like to say that I’m so happy you have a blog, I can get all the unfiltered Gerstmann I need to get through the day.
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Also…you so totally need to post some of those pics with the IO folks!
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Thanks for the advertising - Gatorade loves you, man!
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Wow i bet that was a bit of a surprise to see Greg like that. I wish there was some Gatorade Tiger over here…or just at least more than 2 flavours
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Nice work, Jeff. I really like reading your thoughts on GDC as a game enthusiast and not as someone just reporting for a website. It must have been weird to meet face-to-face with the Io Interactive dudes after everything that went down last November.
Anyway, I don’t know if you’re going to read this before your next podcast with Ryan “Ron Graphite” Davis, but I would love it if you discussed the indie scene currently gaining momentum in the industry. Having played through the XNA titles, I got an idea of the types of games being exhibited through IGF and, perhaps, what to expect in the coming years—I get the sense that this indie movement will continue to grow. What are your thoughts on seeing more of these quirky and eccentric—but fun—games?
Can’t wait for the next ArrowPointingDown podcast. Peace out, homes. ✌
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
You know you’re blog is successful when people start posting “first!”
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:18 pm
GDC had some interesting stuff.
Nice to hear you enjoyed the GDC!
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I’m looking forward to my travels to the grocery store, to pick me up some Tigerade.
February 23rd, 2008 at 2:14 pm
I have to say, this is my favorite of your blog posts yet! From what I heard on fridays 1up yours podcast the questions at the journalism session were pretty tame, that really is a shame I always love to see people be faced with the tough shit and have to lay the truth down.
February 23rd, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I had a way good time last night. I never thought I’d have a chance to sit around and talk games with Kasavin and Jeff at the same time after all the stuff that’s happened over the last years. Doing it over beers made it even better.
But, uh, stay in school, kids. Drinking isn’t cool.
February 23rd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Thanks for the vivid commentary! It certainly sounds like a good time was had by all…
Regarding game reviews, it does seem that the way reviews are done is in a tangible state of transition, and I reckon your worry is justified that a lot of reviews aren’t read anymore and that the scores are deemed as an equally valid indicator of the quality of a game. On the one hand, it’s human nature that we want a simple answer to our questions, e.g. “Is a game any good?”, and a score appears to offer such an answer. On the other hand, web publications have to deal with the fast reading habits of site users who might not want to take the time to read 2-3 page reviews.
Maybe more compelling reviews could help. However, a lot of reviews already out there are pretty compelling, and how will people tell if the review is any good, if they only scan the first paragraph? Video reviews seem like a good way of tricking people into learning more about a game than just by looking at the score, and maybe a new structure of written reviews could help to make them even more accessible to readers, who knows…
And sorry about the length of this comment, I just found the topic compelling!
February 23rd, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Haha nice.
February 23rd, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Dude, you should totally get some sort of compensation from the makers of Gatorade Tiger.
Next time I’m out at the store I’m going to pick some up. Perhaps I’ll get some purified spring water… or rubbing alcohol to purify my palate and have my own taste testing session. (OK so not really)
Obviously your reviews of beverages can make or break a product.
FFXII Potion, was not good as a chaser. See how popular that beverage became. (That was one of the best segments ever by the way.)
Game on Gerstman.
February 23rd, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Jeff, I’ve been a fan for a while now and I’m glad to see you’re still alive.
You (and Alex) keep up the good work. I’ll stay tuned.
February 23rd, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I think that’s really cool that you met with the Io guys and they were real cool about everything. I wonder if they actually benefited a bit from the whole media explosion, anyway. Really heartening.
Hoping to see a tape of that Will Wright talk soon, he’s got the mad skillz.
I shall mark the media explosion with a special porno bang picture to my left.
February 23rd, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Garnett Lee is so nice you named him twice!
February 23rd, 2008 at 4:07 pm
I hope you will keep with the daily updates,Jeff, now that GDC is over. I’m addicted to your blog, I need my daily fix.
February 23rd, 2008 at 4:54 pm
I had to link the FFXII Potion challenge video.
http://www.gamespot.com/video/0/6148074/videoplayerpop?
“It’s creeper” LOL
February 23rd, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Nice write up, sounds like it was an interesting event, wish i’d been there. i might have to import some gatorade tiger to the uk!
February 23rd, 2008 at 5:21 pm
That gatoraide bottle does look a bit like a certain place on a male body.
February 23rd, 2008 at 5:28 pm
The “sorry about what happened thing made me LOL.
So, Jeff, what ARE you doing next? I was kinda wondering myself.
February 23rd, 2008 at 6:02 pm
I hope some grand plans were laid over those post-GDC drinks!
In the short term, looking forward to the next podcast. In the long term, looking forward to the ultimate creation that grows out of the Gerstmann/Davis/Navarro alliance!
February 23rd, 2008 at 6:41 pm
So, the guys at IO Interactive are known for the Hitman franchise? And all this time I thought they’d made something else…. Oh well. I also find it interesting that you ended up a discussion piece in this months Game Informer. You got so much heat behind you right now, you could probably get paid to just keep doing this.
February 23rd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
The coverage of GDC this year has been so positive this year! Makes me super hopeful for the coming years in the industry.
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:14 pm
good coverage of GDC Jeff and crew.
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Audiosurf is a blast; thanks for the recommendation. I just wish they made a version for Mac…
February 23rd, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Instead of game review scores, what about going the NPR route (similar to music and movie review) and leaving out any mention of score? Just write the review and let the reader decide. Do you think Gamespot.com would ever do something like that?
February 23rd, 2008 at 11:57 pm
holy fuck, crayon physics deluxes looks fucking astounding!
February 24th, 2008 at 12:59 am
You’re still on speaking terms with IO Interactive? I thought they wanted you dead.
Review score averages on aggregate sites have always been broken. 60%, for example, means a different thing depending on the original scale used.
On a 10 point scale, 60% is six out of 10 At best, that means “fair.” Three out of five, however, is pretty good. And a letter scale makes 60% is a D-minus, which is awful.
So, yeah, you still have to read the reviews.
February 24th, 2008 at 2:04 am
Your thoughts on GDC were fun to read and really interesting. To be honest, since all of you guys (the former GameSpot editors) left, it’s been even better than before on the side of your readers. Keeping with all of you guys in your blogs gets down to what everyone really wants to know - your opinions. We’ve gotten to know you guys over the years and trust your judgements. I thought all of you leaving GS would dramatically change how I kept up with games. Instead, I simply type in a different URL.
Thanks for everything.
Wow, it’s way too late and I should probably be sleeping…
February 24th, 2008 at 2:18 am
At first i thought audiosurf was just another generic rhytm game but after playing it i realised that its one of the more exciting games i have played in a while. I genereally like to listen to music while im drinking and what happend friday friend and I totally skipped going out and just played the game until early morning.
The lession: listen to what jeff says!
February 24th, 2008 at 3:43 am
I also must thank you for metioning audio surf it’s pretty cool. I enjoyed reading your points on GDC
February 24th, 2008 at 4:10 am
Wow. That Gatorade DOES look like a penis.
February 24th, 2008 at 5:10 am
Next time maybe a little more about the sandwiches and a little less about things you’ve done and various opinions. Thanks.
February 24th, 2008 at 5:50 am
HEY, has anyone else noticed that MicroSoft is going to disable our ability to play the XNA games in a few weeks? Yeah, that’s right, games we downloaded are just gonna go poof in early March. Anyone else pissed off about this? And does anyone else know of a precedent?
February 24th, 2008 at 7:00 am
YEA!jeff lives!nice post on GDC,i cant trust gamespot anymore,dont know why…but hell got to love your new blog
February 24th, 2008 at 11:05 am
This certainly was the most exciting GDC I’ve ever seen, I’m sure it was even more exciting for you and everyone there.
You should totally post pictures of your time there, if you took some pics of Greg, it would be really cool to see him again.
February 24th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Thanks for the awesome coverage guys! Looking forward to the next big event/conference.
February 24th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Tight.
February 24th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Hey!
Good to meet you and Alex.
Here’s one of the pics for you. Drop me a mail and I’ll put the rest up for you somewhere.
http://heiberg.net/random/ioi_gerstmann_navarro_small.png
From left to right: Morten Heiberg, Alex, Jeff, Jesper Christiansen, Jonas Meyer.
Take care!
February 24th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
So it was you Heiberg! Awesome
February 25th, 2008 at 1:17 am
What was the Io reference all about? Is there some history?
February 25th, 2008 at 2:50 am
[...] turned out quite nicely. They even took a picture together. Jeff wrote a bit about it in this post (Around the middle), and it sounds like everybody felt kinda the same [...]
February 25th, 2008 at 3:05 am
[...] have the pleasure of going to GDC, but Morten Heiberg, one of our coders, sent us this photo from a rather momentous event. It made my Monday [...]
February 25th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
TIGER UPPERCUT!
February 26th, 2008 at 4:04 am
There’s a picture of the IO guys (and the pastrami sandwiches) here: http://binarybonsai.com/archives/2008/02/25/io-crew-ex-gamespot-crew/