The Fringes of the Game Developers Conference

By Scott Crabtree (Intel) (7 posts) on February 13, 2008 at 7:59 am

The annual Game Developer's Conference will be held in San Francisco next week, and thousands of game developers like me can't wait. It's the fringes of the conference I'm most excited about. I mean the things you find in the hallways, side sessions, and even parties that are often the most interesting things at GDC. We're providing one example this year: the Intel lounge, near the session rooms. The lounge will feature various demos including my personal favorite, a demo called "Carry Small, Game Large".

This pair of game prototypes--a tanks game and a group jigsaw puzzle--plays with the idea of big shared screen multiplayer games. What if portable games didn't have to be small? What if you could control an avatar on an enormous screen using your hand held device? We decided to find the answers to those and other questions, and the resulting demos are quite fun and interesting. We'll be giving away the code here on ISN before long, so stay tuned. More importantly, what are your ideas for this new usage model? We would love to hear them here and see you take the code we are giving away and build them. Will you be the one to build one of my favorite ideas: a communal virtual graffiti wall for artists and others to play with?

Of course at GDC there will be the usual great keynotes, tutorials, sessions, and yes, parties. In fact Intel will be putting on a 1/2 day tutorial on PC Threading Success Stories, as well as hour-long sessions on everything from Intel Graphics to Laptop gaming. And we'll have our big booth as well, filled with cool demos and knowledgable staff. All of that will rock. But pay attention to the fringes as well...that may be where some of the most interesting innovation will be found.

Categories: Cool Software, Events, Gaming, Visual Computing

Comments (4)

February 13, 2008 6:10 PM PST


jamie		 I know the GDC is great but are there any "dream" forums or tutorials you'd love to see at the next GDC? I'm looking for ideas in planning a future conference, so all thoughts are welcome!

Thanks!
February 15, 2008 9:09 AM PST

Scott Crabtree (Intel)
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 One of my favorite GDC sessions ever was the result of the "Indie Games Jam" that was put on years ago. Developers got together for a weekend, and crammed out small, experimental games. The results were reviewed in a session at GDC, and they were great.

We could even do something similar with the "Carry Small, Game Large" framework I mentioned above. Game developers gather, build or connect their games to the new usage model, then show them off at the conference.

I would love to see various "game jams" happen again. :)
March 26, 2008 12:15 PM PDT

Amy Barton (Intel)
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 Scott - Jerry and I just posted your video from GDC on Carry Small, Game Large. Take a look: http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/videos/home.aspx?fn=1426
May 6, 2008 12:37 PM PDT

Scott Crabtree (Intel)
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 Hi All,

The gamasutra.com article about the "Carry Small, Game Large" demos and framework came out today. It's the cover feature. The direct link is http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3649/carry_small_game_large _big_.php

Source code is available.

The main point of this work isn't the games we made, but the way they are played. I'm hoping that others will take the framework code and produce some cool new games that are played this way. The code could even be used for things like audience polls that are not games.

I look forward to hearing what you think.

Cheers,
--Scott

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