Someone had left several copies of a developing magazine called "develop" on some shelves near the entrance.
http://www.develop-online.net/
I found this a good idea, because this morning I too the time to read halfway through it meanwhile I had my breakfast.
It was imho quite a nice read. A few snippets standing out for me:
- there was a several pages long article on development studios in Scotland (yes, the mag is UK-based)
- there was a report of kind of a festival (?) of the magazine, where prizes were given away. Huge winner: the makers of Little Big Planet (5 prizes: Best New IP, Technical Innovation, Visual Arts, Best New Studio, Best Independent Developer).
Other prizes: Lifetime achievement: Jacqui Lyons. Development legend: Phil Harrision. Grand Prix: Codemasters. Best Use Of A License: Traveller's Tales [Lego Batman], Publishing Hero: Apple, Audio Accomplishment: Fable II, Best Engine: Unreal Engine 3, Recruitment Company: Amquis, Best Tools Provider: Autodesk, Services: Audiomotion, Creative Outsourcing: Side & Sidelines, Best In-House Team: Rockstar North, Best Handheld Games Studio: Rockstar Leeds, Business Development: Playfish.
- there's an interview on the Trinigy's Vision Engine, which is "the first engine to get a pre-backed Havok Physics integration"
- a short look at 4 audio engines (WWISE, FMOD, CRI VIBE 2.0, OPENAL)
- two "comment" articles: 1. "Will family-friendly controllers cripple the console giants ?" - with a look at the arcade market in the 90s. Owain Bennallack muses about
"New control methods let the industry revisit games or genres without an awkward messing about inventing gameplay."
And:
"The more console manufacturers try to please everyone, the bigger the risk of satisfying no-one ..."
This latter quote managed to get to the first non-ad page after the index of contents at the beginning of the magazine. He also wires, which I found imho interesting:
"But there's a contrary take on what even the BBC is describing as 'The Controller Wars' : what if, rather than innovation, the controllers hint at desperation ? What if the focus on controllers signifies not games going forward, but games being relegated to the level of sideshow amusements ?"
I'm actually glad that there is another person who sees the lack of innovation in the games industry, too. To me, this just supports my my theory of catering the mass market leading to some kind of monotomy and lack of innovation. In this kind of interpretation by me, this "controller thing" is just another facet of it.
- as a sidenote, there's a small outlooking article on the GDC Europe. Among other "sessions" there is one striking at me:
"Designing women". Speakers: Margaret Wallace (Co-founder and CEO, Rebel Monkey, Inc.), Tracy Fullerton (Associate Professor, USC Interactive Media), Sheri Graner Ray (Senior Game Designer, Schell Games), Kellee Santiago (President and Co-Founder, thatgamecompany, LLC), Cynthia Woll (Founder and CEO, Cul de Sac Studios).
Take this to the designing team of Gothic 3 ...
Honestly.
