GDC Europe 2012 might be over, but there was a wealth of information gained in the gaming community.
GDC (Game Developers Conference) Europe 2012 concluded earlier this month with some staggering numbers. More than 2100 game professionals arrived, coming from a plethora of areas. Several keynote speakers attending the conference include recognizable names from major publishers: Ubisoft Montreal’s Creative Director Alex Hutchinson; CEO of Wargaming.net Victor Kislyi; and Epic Games senior engine programmer Niklas Smedberg. Over a hundred more European and international speakers were there, 65+ exhibitors and sponsors and more than 290 media representatives converging at GDC Europe 2012. There is a lot that was revealed and learned at this conference, so think of this as a summary of the highlights at GDC Europe 2012.
Martin Hollis, director for the Nintendo 64 classic GoldenEye 007 revealed at GDC Europe 2012 that multi-player portion was a last-minute feature in the game. The majority of the game was built in three years, yet the highly praised multi-player where you slap people with kung-fu chops or only have rocket launcher weapons was developed in a month. This same game inspired other multi-player console games like Microsoft’s Halo franchise. However Microsoft forgot the important lesson of what makes GoldenEye 007 so much fun is your kill-stealing buddy is an arm’s reach away from a slap across the head. In Halo, you have to deal with the twelve year old brat through a headset.
GDC Europe 2012 also brought up discussions on story, characters and plots in video games. Dan Pinchbeck of thechineseroom, creators of indie hit Dear Esther, gave their two cents on how imagination is important in storytelling. Leaving vague, abstract or ambiguous elements in a game (such as Dear Esther) lets the player fill in their own theories on how the game’s story plays out. I like a game that lets me think of what exactly is going on in the game instead of being driven through exposition dumps, but I think Pinchbeck and the crew were too vague with Dear Esther considering we’re just moving from one monologue to the next with nothing in between them.
Alexander Hutchinson explained why the Assassin’s Creed franchise is still going strong at GDC Europe 2012. He explained that with the unique setting of Assassin’s Creed being set in a person’s ancestral genes while he is sleeping, they can explore new worlds like the American Revolution while keeping a consistent universe. I’ll admit that the setting for Assassin’s Creed III is interesting, but I’m kind of wondering how they would continue this franchise without our favorite sleeping main protagonist Desmond Miles.
For more information on GDC Europe 2012, visit their Web site. Official GDC Europe 2012 pictures can be downloaded from their Flickr site here.
