GDC Europe - Warren Spector to Keynote

Warren Spector will deliver a keynote speech at GDC Europe, discussing what games can learn from other media:

Spector's keynote address, titled, "What Video Games Can Learn from Other Media ... What We Can't ... And What We Shouldn't" will kick off GDC Europe, which returns to Cologne Germany August 16-18, 2010 for three days of learning, networking and inspiration.
During his keynote, Spector will share with the audience his thoughts on video games as they compare to other media such as movies, television, theater, radio and comic books and explore the ways in which video games use techniques borrowed from those mediums.

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Thanks, Gorath.
More information.

Why is attenting to the GDC so expensive for non-students ?

To make sure only professionals attend the conference. For them the tickets are tax deductible.

Students can get in if they show enough commitment. (Order the ticket before it's sold out and have their student pass ready.)

Press gets in for free.

I'd like to do a consumer-based conference on gaming where developers must stay out, and bussiness reps, too.

But nobody would do that, because everyone believes that it isn't possible to do that with simple customers.

I know there are security-related conferences out there (Heise does one), but no-one does that with simple customers.
This is a problem to me, because the customer, but not the companies are the far weakest member of the "security chin". all of the spam and the bots are unloaded from compromised customer PCs into the net, and not from the heavily reinforced, massively protected PCs of companies.

Plus, it shows how the makers of these conferences look at the customers: Because there so much more business property that is valuable, it must be protected.
Consumer property doesn't need to be protected, otherwise they's educate consumers on how to do that.

Some are more equal than others. Companies, for example.

Nonsense.

These conferences are about (a) increasing knowledge and (b) networking. For (a) you need knowledgeable people, typically pros, and for (b) you need people the guys in (a) would like to network with, which are typically also pros.

Like Gorath said.

These conferences are there for the industry people to learn from eachother and get to know eachother. If the conference was full of gamers instead of people who work in the game industry, there would be very little sense for the developers to travel from all over the globe. And lets be realistic, we gamers love games and we love to disscuss about them, but academic discussions/lectures are a whole different thing. (I'd love to see a podcast about spector's lecture though.)

Hopefully the press will cover the most important bits to us.

I guess the GDC homepage will upload many lectures on video. At least they did over the last couple of years.

But still - there aren't any conferences for consumers to learn about security techniques which they could use for their own PCs.

They are just designated to buy stuff. Nothing else.

Dez said:

but academic discussions/lectures are a whole different thing.

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The only reason I'm discussing here is that I want THAT kind of level.

Discussing games as such is dull for me. If there was a *professional* forum, 'd like to drop in - but no-one would take me serious, because nobody knows me.

I want a higher level of discussions that what I see in other forums. So far I feel content here. But I wish I could discuss on a much deeper level. And that NOT with people who insist on their point of view being the ultimate and right one, which I see here sometimes.

I feel like an Alien sometimes.

Alrik Fassbauer said:

The only reason I'm discussing here is that I want THAT kind of level.

Discussing games as such is dull for me. If there was a *professional* forum, 'd like to drop in - but no-one would take me serious, because nobody knows me.

I want a higher level of discussions that what I see in other forums. So far I feel content here. But I wish I could discuss on a much deeper level. And that NOT with people who insist on their point of view being the ultimate and right one, which I see here sometimes.

I feel like an Alien sometimes.

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Alrik, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you wouldn't be suitable for such conferences or you wouldn't try to archive such level . You're already doing great job by offering intresting viewpoints to ordinary discussions. I think I have an idea what kind of discussions you desire: an intellectual discussion about games similar to book clubs.

I however feel that watch is quite close to that definition. Sometimes we argue too much but we are passionate! Most of us have been enthusiastic gamers years and everyone one of us has a strong opinion what makes a good game. There are even professional developers among us. We all know what makes us tick. We have played quite many games and some of the older gamers (like yourself) have seen the dawn of crpgs.

And oh by the way I think it would be wondefull thing to have a gamers's conference. Lectures to developers (and other gamers) what makes us gamers tick. Sadly to publishers we are seen as customers who don't know what they want unless they are told

The interaction between the guys who make games and the ones who play games has been improved over the years. Online press has expanded the pubilicy margin. Even smaller developers get their 15 mins of fame. Forums have offered developers and gamer a new way to communicate, but there is still lots of area unexplored. A gamers conference would be a great thing. Less marketing and more talk about what makes a good game. Ofcourse a well known fact that not every dev likes to discuss about games with their fans. And often publishers don't give them permission to do so.

I don't really need a lecture about how to corrupt art with the business mindset, thank you

At your service.