The whole thing.
Talkin' GDC with Jamil Moledina
With the Game Developers Conference almost upon us, we spoke with GDC Director Jamil Moledina about what to look forward to at the event (including new PS3 info), preparing for GDC, the Choice Awards, and more.
GameDaily BIZ: So this year's theme or catchphrase, if you will, is "What's Next." What exactly does that mean? What should attendees take away from GDC:06?
Jamil Moledina: This refers to several elements. First is the obvious reference to next generation consoles, and that at its core, GDC covers from art to programming to production what you need to know to make next generation games. But beyond that, what's next refers to broadening the market, collaboration with film, and new ways of developing revenue and distribution, as well as distributed development.
BIZ: What can you tell us about Phil Harrison's keynote? Will we finally get some new information on the PlayStation 3?
JM: The answer is yes. In general, platform providers have a unique opportunity at the GDC to share knowledge with and inspire the people who will make or break their consoles, namely the game developers themselves. With that in mind, this GDC keynote, along with the Nintendo keynote by Satoru Iwata, have both been in development for several months, and contain significant editorial value and developer takeaway. I strongly encourage you to attend both platform keynotes.
BIZ: Why do you think Microsoft isn't giving a keynote this year, or is it just that they haven't announced one yet?
JM: Microsoft is not giving a keynote at GDC this year, but that makes sense since they've already had their huge debut with the Xbox 360 last fall. Keep in mind though, that GDC is more than just keynotes. Microsoft continues to play a leadership role at GDC, with a giant booth and equally large expo suite, and several Xbox 360 sessions, including postmortems of Project Gotham Racing 3, Ninety-Nine Nights, and the UI of the console itself. Plus, developers like EA and Ubisoft will be previewing certain Xbox 360 titles at the show.
BIZ: This is now your second GDC as director. What lessons have you learned from last year and in what ways do you think you may have improved GDC:06 as a result?
JM: The biggest lesson was time management. I started on GDC in August of 2004, for a show in March 2005. That was pure crunch. This show requires a 16-month production cycle, and I only had 7 months to gather the work done, and take it from there. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I hated to cut elements from the show. This time, I actually had some time, and the result is an extremely strong show. The obvious metric is what's new, and for that I'd point to our new art competition in conjunction with CG Society, the addition of a Modding Competition to the Independent Games Festival, and a new press preview for journalists.
BIZ: What are your own personal guidelines for directing a successful GDC?
JM: Great question! Officially, it's about bringing the GDC in on time and on budget. Personally, it's much more intangible; it's about hearing what developers are saying in the hallways, and how much value they get from the learning, inspiration, and networking of the GDC.
BIZ: How do you feel about GDC being back in San Jose? Some people liked it in San Francisco last year, while others didn't like the change.
JM: I love San Jose, there's a lot of history with the GDC there. We really take over the city, and the Fairmont Bar is practically an institution of the GDC. San Francisco was a great experiment for us, to see how the show would do in a larger city. As you may have noticed, the GDC is growing considerably, with over 12,000 attendees in SF. We are currently experiencing a hotel space shortage in San Jose, for GDC 06, and the convention center is maxed out. For those reasons, we're going back to San Francisco in 2007, with the dates of March 5-9 in Moscone West and North. Realistically though, you can't go wrong in the San Francisco Bay Area, considering how many developers are based here.
BIZ: If you had
When I first purchased Suikoden 2, back in the PS1 days, I loved the game. Unfortunatly, I sold the game to EBGAMES along with almost all the other PS1 games I had for 4 PS2 games.
Now that I look at it, the game is worth well over $100 bux on E-bay.
Also the strategy guide is worth a ton of money too. A lot of people collect the guides, and they serve as a base for introductory players to a game.
Think of it as a class in school, you learn the material, but in this case, it is the game you learn.
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The whole thing. Talkin' GDC with Jamil Moledina With the Game Developers Conference almost upon us, we spoke with GDC Director Jamil Moledina about what to look forward to at the event (including new PS3 info), preparing for GDC, the Choice Awards, and more. GameDaily BIZ: So this year's theme or catchphrase, if you will, is "What's Next." What exactly does that mean? What should attendees take away from GDC:06? Jamil Moledina: This refers to several elements. First is the obvious reference to next generation consoles, and that at its core, GDC covers from art to programming to production what you need to know to make next generation games. But beyond that, what's next refers to broadening the market, collaboration with film, and new ways of developing revenue and distribution, as well as distributed development. BIZ: What can you tell us about Phil Harrison's keynote? Will we finally get some new information on the PlayStation 3? JM: The answer is yes. In general, platform providers have a unique opportunity at the GDC to share knowledge with and inspire the people who will make or break their consoles, namely the game developers themselves. With that in mind, this GDC keynote, along with the Nintendo keynote by Satoru Iwata, have both been in development for several months, and contain significant editorial value and developer takeaway. I strongly encourage you to attend both platform keynotes. BIZ: Why do you think Microsoft isn't giving a keynote this year, or is it just that they haven't announced one yet? JM: Microsoft is not giving a keynote at GDC this year, but that makes sense since they've already had their huge debut with the Xbox 360 last fall. Keep in mind though, that GDC is more than just keynotes. Microsoft continues to play a leadership role at GDC, with a giant booth and equally large expo suite, and several Xbox 360 sessions, including postmortems of Project Gotham Racing 3, Ninety-Nine Nights, and the UI of the console itself. Plus, developers like EA and Ubisoft will be previewing certain Xbox 360 titles at the show. BIZ: This is now your second GDC as director. What lessons have you learned from last year and in what ways do you think you may have improved GDC:06 as a result? JM: The biggest lesson was time management. I started on GDC in August of 2004, for a show in March 2005. That was pure crunch. This show requires a 16-month production cycle, and I only had 7 months to gather the work done, and take it from there. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I hated to cut elements from the show. This time, I actually had some time, and the result is an extremely strong show. The obvious metric is what's new, and for that I'd point to our new art competition in conjunction with CG Society, the addition of a Modding Competition to the Independent Games Festival, and a new press preview for journalists. BIZ: What are your own personal guidelines for directing a successful GDC? JM: Great question! Officially, it's about bringing the GDC in on time and on budget. Personally, it's much more intangible; it's about hearing what developers are saying in the hallways, and how much value they get from the learning, inspiration, and networking of the GDC. BIZ: How do you feel about GDC being back in San Jose? Some people liked it in San Francisco last year, while others didn't like the change. JM: I love San Jose, there's a lot of history with the GDC there. We really take over the city, and the Fairmont Bar is practically an institution of the GDC. San Francisco was a great experiment for us, to see how the show would do in a larger city. As you may have noticed, the GDC is growing considerably, with over 12,000 attendees in SF. We are currently experiencing a hotel space shortage in San Jose, for GDC 06, and the convention center is maxed out. For those reasons, we're going back to San Francisco in 2007, with the dates of March 5-9 in Moscone West and North. Realistically though, you can't go wrong in the San Francisco Bay Area, considering how many developers are based here. BIZ: If you had
When I first purchased Suikoden 2, back in the PS1 days, I loved the game. Unfortunatly, I sold the game to EBGAMES along with almost all the other PS1 games I had for 4 PS2 games.
Now that I look at it, the game is worth well over $100 bux on E-bay.
Also the strategy guide is worth a ton of money too. A lot of people collect the guides, and they serve as a base for introductory players to a game.
Think of it as a class in school, you learn the material, but in this case, it is the game you learn.