GDC, as always, was a visual treat, being filled with all manner of interesting games and gadgets that will surely come to affect the game industry for years to come. This year’s event was absolutely no exception, featuring things that were all high end concepts, and also equally as fun to play!
Virtual reality was the big theme this year, as well as augmented reality. Augmented reality in particular was being given a strong push, probably thanks in no small part to Apple and other companies trying to fund it with smart phone sales and otherwise. It may also be due to the fact that virtual reality in general right now is very cumbersome, and augmented reality gives the developers a way to bridge that gap without cutting off players.
This year’s event in San Francisco was particularly packed, only matched by the crowd that was drawn in 2016. Every time March rolls around, all the venues in the city get sold out, and parking is impossible. Although in San Francisco, this could be considered almost any other day! Even though the convention itself is very pricey, the attendance has never gone down over the years, and it retains its very strong following despite other events such as the Electronic Entertainment Expo having largely fallen out of favor.
This is easily the biggest game conference targeted specifically at developers, but that is also part of the reason that it tends to put off most everybody else. Although it is still very accessible, this is the geekiest of the geeky when it comes to conferences, getting right down to the bits and bytes, and forgoing the flashier aspects of gaming that most people tend to get it on. One of the games this year, for example, involved using a virtual spray bottle to clean things and kill bugs. That would probably never make it into the top seller list, but at a convention like this, it was easily one of the most popular games!
Summing Up How This Year’s Con Went
This year’s GDC was a packed event from head to toe, with wonderful developer showing off new virtual reality and augmented technologies, and trying to improve our ability to clean mundane things! We had a blast this year, and are looking forward to the next!
