With Game Developers Conference 2010 now at an end, the event's sister editorial website Gamasutra.com has rounded up the top announcements - from Sony Move through OnLive's release specifics - and write-ups of the biggest talks into one handy news story.
The official GDC 2010 page on Gamasutra has more than 100 news stories on one of the biggest events of the gaming year, and Gamasutra is now highlighting the biggest product-related announcements of the show.
This will be followed by the site's pick of the top ten most intriguing write-ups from the more than 450 sessions on display at this year's GDC in San Francisco. Here's some of the top announcements and write-ups from last week's show, according to Gamasutra:
The Announcements
GDC: Sony's Motion Controller Is 'PlayStation Move'
"At GDC on Wednesday, Sony revealed more details about its PS3 motion controller, which isn't called Arc or Gem, but "PlayStation Move," a product Sony says will bring on 'the next generation of motion gaming.'"
GDC: OnLive Gets Launch Date, Reveals Initial Publishers
"Cloud-based game streaming service OnLive has announced an official U.S. launch date of June 17, 2010, including games from Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, 2K Games, THQ and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment."
GDC: Microsoft Announces XNA Game Studio 4.0
"Microsoft has announced version 4.0 of its XNA Game Studio development package, which includes support for its new Windows Phone 7 Series, as well as enhancing features for Xbox 360 and PC game development."
GDC: InstantAction Reveals Platform For Instantly Playing Large-Download Games
"InstantAction unveiled its platform allowing users to play full PC games in their browser as they download titles, made possible with a delivery mechanism that CEO Louis Castle tells Gamasutra is superior to OnLive."
Valve Confirms Mac Versions Of Steam, Valve Games
"Valve will release its Steam digital distribution service for Mac along with Mac-native versions of its own games, the company confirmed today, calling the Mac a 'tier-1 platform.'"
Other notable GDC-timed announcements include: Bigpoint Announces Battlestar MMO, Unity Partnership, San Francisco Office; Unity Announces 3.0 Platform, Support For PS3, iPad, And Android; Palm to Debut webOS Plug-in Development Kit at GDC 2010; MySpace Launches New Games Experience, Tools.
The Top Lectures
GDC: Will Wright Peels Back Layers Of Entertainment, Games
"Will Wright (The Sims, SimCity) explained how "perspectives are more valuable than solutions" in a fascinating talk during the closing hours of the Game Developers Conference 2010 on Saturday."
GDC: Jenova Chen's HeavenVille Wins Game Design Challenge
"HeavenVille, Jenova Chen (Flower), took this year's top prize at the GDC Game Design Challenge, which also featured games by designers Kim Swift, Heather Kelley, and Erin Robinson."
GDC: Sid Meier's Lessons On Gamer Psychology
"Gameplay is a psychological experience," according to legendary Civilization creator Sid Meier, who gave tips on taking advantage of player psychology during his GDC keynote Friday.
GDC: Hecker's Nightmare Scenario - A Future Of Rewarding Players For Dull Tasks
"It's possible that an over-reliance on metrics-driven design and extrinsic rewards for in-game actions could lead to a future of "designing shitty games that you have to pay people to play," warns independent developer Chris Hecker."
GDC: Blizzard's Core Game Design Concepts
"Blizzard EVP of game design Rob Pardo shares Blizzard's core design concepts, offering examples of places where the World of Warcraft developer succeeded and failed in creating compelling multiplayer experiences."
GDC: Nintendo's Sakamoto's Four Creative Tenets
"Nintendo’s Yoshio Sakamoto explains the methodology that allows him to create two franchises as polar-opposite as Metroid and Wario Ware -- and drops hints on Other M."
GDC: Peter Molyneux On Simplifying And Enhancing Fable III
"Lionhead's Peter Molyneux talked about the "angst" Lionhead went through on whether to de-RPG Fable III -- and why and how the team went through that process, from a design perspective."
GDC: ThatGameCompany's Santiago, Hunicke Talk Exploratory Development
"An exploratory development process can be a solution to the anxieties of game development, but only if it's managed with confidence and honesty, say ThatGameCompany's Kellee Santiago and Robin Hunicke."
GDC: Indie Keynote - Championing Immediacy And Depth
"Tiger Style co-founder Randy Smith (Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor) delivered the keynote of the Indie Games Summit, encouraging indie developers to embrace a philosophy of immediacy and depth to hasten their popular ascendancy."
GDC: 2D Boy's Carmel On A New Alternative For Indies
"At the 2010 Independent Gaming Summit at GDC, 2D Boy's Ron Carmel talked about why traditional publishing just doesn't work for indies -- and why the newly-unveiled Indie Fund hopes to offer alternatives."
Other notable GDC 2010 lecture write-ups include: Facebook Keynote Discusses True Multi-Platform Gaming; Taking Inspiration from EVE Online's Espionage Metagame; Creating Deus Ex Human Revolution's Cybernetic Renaissance; Refining The Real-Time Combat In Mass Effect 2; EA's Cousins Talks Social Gaming's Wal-Mart Parallel.
