GDC 2010: Complete coverage with GDC Awards, Sony conference video

[UPDATE 4] Uncharted 2 tops Game Developers Choice Awards with five trophies; PlayStation Move debuts; write-ups of Meier, Pardo, Molyneux, Muzyka, Sakamoto, Yamaoka, Toriyama, and Schafer talks also on tap; full rundown of event and new Deus Ex trailer inside.

SAN FRANCISCO--The 2010 Game Developers Conference began today with the Independent Games Summit kickoff, a session on "guerrilla" development, and a (very) brief talk by Caleb Arseneaux from Scribblenauts developer 5TH Cell.

Though not as flashy as E3, GDC still draws a big crowd of game development's best and brightest.

Wednesday morning, the main conference began with a series of presentations, including talks by BioWare cofounder and CEO Dr. Ray Muzyka, Bungie creative director Joseph Staten, and Electronic Arts COO John Schappert. The event then shifted into high gear when Sony Computer Entertainment unveiled the PlayStation Move motion controller.

As can be seen in GameSpot's live blog of the event, the LED-based controller system will launch in a variety of retail configurations, including a starter kit that includes the PlayStation Eye camera, one Move remote, and one game. That title will likely be Sports Champions, the Wii Sports-like compilation that includes table tennis, archery, and a gladiatorial contest. Also shown were the Move Party minigame compilation, a street-brawling/boxing game called Motion Fighters, and SOCOM 4, which will be playable with the thumbstick-enabled Move Subcontroller.

Thursday saw presentations by Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka, Metroid cocreator Yoshio Sakamoto, Naughty Dog's Richard Lemarchand, Lionhead's Peter Molyneux, and Blizzard Entertainment's Rob Pardo. Besides the arrival of the latest NPD report, there was a special live GDC edition of Today on the Spot.

That evening, GameSpot exclusively streamed the Game Developers Choice Awards, hosted by Deus Ex and Thief creator Warren Spector, who is currently at work on Epic Mickey at Disney Interactive Studios. Uncharted 2 was the big winner at the ceremony, taking home a record five awards, including Game of the Year. Id Software's John Carmack took home the Lifetime Achievement Award for more than 20 years of work on the Doom and Quake series, and Valve Software's Gabe Newell received the Pioneer Award for his work on the Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, Portal, and Left 4 Dead series. The ceremony was accompanied by the Independent Games Festival winners, and both ceremonies can be viewed below.

Friday morning coverage began with a live blog--and video (below)--of GDC keynote speaker Sid Meier, founder of Firaxis Games and creator of the iconic Civilization strategy series. Writer Motomu Toriyama talked about penning Final Fantasy XIII, and there were sessions covering Batman: Arkham Asylum and Xbox Live achievement data and new IP.

GameSpot also covered a panel that saw Gearbox reexamine Borderlands' dramatic art change three-quarters of the way through its development. Pardo, Muzyka, and other industry heavyweights discussed how online connectivity and communities will become more central to games in the future. That afternoon also saw another live edition of TOTS.

Warren Spector hosted the 2010 Game Developers Choice Awards on Thursday night.

GDC 2010 wrapped up on Saturday with sessions focusing on Mass Effect 2 and Assassin's Creed II. Ubisoft Montreal's narrative director Richard Rouse gave a talk on evoking serious emotions in games, while Double Fine CEO Tim Schafer hosted a panel discussing (what else?) comedy. Sims creator Will Wright also gave a surprise session in which he likened making games to dealing drugs.

For more on these events and all the latest screenshots, videos, previews, interviews, and breaking news, keep your browser set to GameSpot's ongoing 2010 Game Developers Conference coverage.

GAMESPOT'S GDC 2010 COVERAGE - SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

TUESDAY, MARCH 9

Scheduled Sessions:

--"From Big Studio to Small Indie: Guerrilla Tactics From Hello Games " - Sean Murray (Managing Director, Hello Games)

--"Indies and Publishers: Fixing a System That Never Worked" - Ron Carmel (Cofounder, 2D Boy)

--"5TH Cell: From Mobile to Handheld & Beyond" - Caleb Arseneaux (Producer, 5TH Cell)

--IGF KEYNOTE ADDRESS: "Increasing Our Reach: Designing to Grab and Retain Players" - Randy Smith (Owner and Game Designer, Tiger Style)

BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka shared his thoughts on building blockbuster franchises like Mass Effect.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10

4 p.m. PST: PlayStation Move motion controller unveild at Sony Press Conference, will cost under $100. SOCOM 4 to support system.

Scheduled Sessions:

--"Building a Blockbuster Franchise" -- Joseph Staten (Creative Director, Bungie), Ray Muzyka (CEO and General Manager, BioWare Corp.)

--Indie Gamemaker Rant! - Various speakers

--Mythbusting Fireside Chat - John Schappert (Chief Operating Officer, Electronic Arts)

--"The Relentless March Toward Free…and What It Means to the Games Industry" - Kristian Segerstrale (Vice President and General Manager, Playfish)

The new Deus Ex: Human Revolution trailer debuted at the GDCAs Thursday.

THURSDAY, MARCH 11

4 p.m. PST: Today on the Spot Live: Special GDC Edition

6:30 p.m. PST: Independent Games Festival Awards

~7 p.m. PST: Game Developers Choice Awards, hosted by Warren Spector

Scheduled Sessions:
--"Achievements Considered Harmful?" - Chris Hecker (Definition Six Inc.)

--"Among Friends - An Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Post-Mortem" - Richard Lemarchand (Game Designer, Naughty Dog)

--"As Long as the Audio Is Fun, the Game Will Be Too" - Akira Yamaoka (Grasshopper Manufacture Studio)

--"Building an Open-World Game Without Hiring an Army" - Nate Fox (Game Director, Sucker Punch Productions [Infamous])

--"Creating a Unique Visual Direction: The Successes and Failures of Creating a Near-Future Cyberpunk Setting With a Renaissance Twist in Deus Ex 3" - Jonathan Jacques-Belletete (Art Director, Eidos Montreal)

--"Epic Games/Unreal Engine 3 Media Briefing" - Mark Rein (Vice President, Epic Games), Alan Willard (Senior Technical Artist and Designer, Epic Games), Mary Beth Haggerty (Autodesk, maker of Maya), Dave Jones (Creative Director, Realtime Worlds)

--"From Metroid to Tomodachi Collection to WarioWare: Different Approaches for Different Audiences" - Yoshio Sakamoto (Group Manager/Software Planning and Development Department, Nintendo)

--"Making a Standard (and Trying to Stick to it!): Blizzard Design Philosophies" - Rob Pardo (VP of Game Design, Blizzard Entertainment)

--"Peering Into the Black Box of Player Behavior: The Player Experience Panel at Microsoft Game Studios" - Bruce Phillips (User Researcher, Microsoft)

--"The Complex Challenges of Intuitive Design" - Peter Molyneux (Head of Studio, Lionhead Studios), Josh Atkins (Studio Design Director, Microsoft Games Studio)

Civilization creator Sid Meier used his keynote address to talk about crafting an "epic journey" for players and offered psychological tips to make better games.

FRIDAY, MARCH 12

10:30 a.m. PST: GDC KEYNOTE ADDRESS: "The Psychology of Game Design (Everything You Know Is Wrong)" - Sid Meier (Director of Creative Development, Firaxis Games)

4 p.m. PST: Today on the Spot LIVE: Special GDC Edition

Scheduled Sessions:
"Accessibility Arcade: Bringing AAA Game Titles to the Disabled Through Controller Hacks" - Michelle Hinn (Chairperson, IGDA Game Accessibility Special Interest Group), Tara Tefertiller (VP Game Industry Relations, Right to Fun Foundation)

--"Borderlands and the 11th Hour Art Style Change. Or: Kids, Don't Try This at Home!" - Brian Martel (Cofounder and Chief Creative Officer, Gearbox), Aaron Thibault (VP of Product Development, Gearbox), and Mikey Neumann (Creative Director, Gearbox)

--"The Crystal Mythos and Final Fantasy XIII" - Motomu Toriyama (Scenario Writer for Final Fantasy XIII, Square Enix)

--"The Art Direction of Batman: Arkham Asylum: Rebooting a Super Hero Video Game IP" - David Hego (Art Director, Rocksteady)

--"The Connected Future of Games" - Min Kim (Vice President, Nexon America Inc.), Ray Muzyka (CEO and General Manager, BioWare Corp.), Rob Pardo (VP, game design, Blizzard Entertainment), Brian Reynolds (Chief Designer, Zynga), Jason Holtman (Director of Business Development, Valve)

--"Double Header Analysis: Xbox Live Achievement Data and Intellectual Property Trends in Video Games" - Geoffrey Zatkin (President & COO, Electronic Entertainment Design and Research), Jesse Divnich (Vice President of Analyst Services, EEDAR)

SATURDAY, MARCH 13
--"Five Ways a Video Game Can Make You Cry" - Richard Rouse III (Narrative Director, Ubisoft Montreal)

--"Make 'Em Laugh: Comedy in Games" - Tim Schafer (CEO, Doublefine), Rhianna Pratchett (Freelance Scriptwriter and Narrative Designer, Independent), Sean Vanaman (Writer & Designer, Telltale Games), John Teti (Games Writer, The A.V. Club)

--Surprise Will Wright session - Will Wright, Stupid Fun Club

--"Rock Band Network: Postmortem" - Matthew Nordhaus (Senior Producer: Design, Harmonix Music Systems), Caleb Epps (Senior Sound Designer, Harmonix Music Systems)

--"Where Did My Inventory Go? Refining Gameplay in Mass Effect 2" - Christina Norman (Lead Gameplay Designer, BioWare)

--"Designing Assassin's Creed II"--Patrick Plourde (Lead Game Designer, Ubisoft)

135 Comments

  • rhshc5948

    Posted Apr 6, 2010 5:51 pm PT

    next they should put the playstion move in gta 4

  • aseer-432

    Posted Mar 16, 2010 1:29 pm PT

    sweet but no one can defeat ps3

  • Shiftfallout

    Posted Mar 16, 2010 11:32 am PT

    @ blacksaibot Not sure how long you have been around but Half Life and the franchise is fairly historic when it comes to progression within game design. The father of Half Life and more importantly Valve's method of running a development studio are all relevant to their IP. Valve, unlike other development studio's doesnt have a hierarchy system in place. Everyone is equal and can equal say on the projects, including Half Life episode 3. All this news is inter related, if it bothers you then I suppose you might just have to live with it. There really is no logical reason for some of the attitudes, childish in nature, seen on these boards.

  • blacksaibot

    Posted Mar 16, 2010 7:57 am PT

    @Angel_Belial I'm worked up? Wow ... you're that easy on the internet....?

  • Angel_Belial

    Posted Mar 16, 2010 7:50 am PT

    @blacksaibot I wasn't trying to justify anything, because I don't believe there's anything TO justify. If you want to get so worked up over a news article that tells you about Gabe Newell, go right ahead. I'm personally happy to be notified about it in my Episode 3 updates.

  • syler4815162342

    Posted Mar 16, 2010 2:33 am PT

    Hmm...

  • 30NIGHTCRAWLER3

    Posted Mar 15, 2010 8:42 pm PT

    12 facts I know about u
    1. Your reading my comment
    2. Now your saying/thinking thats a stupid fact.
    4. You didnt notice that i skipped 3.
    5. Your checking it now.
    6. Your smiling.
    7. Your still reading my comment.
    8. You know all you have read is true.
    10. You didnt notice that i skipped 9.
    11. Your checking it now.
    12. You didnt notice there are only 10 facts
    Copy and paste to 1 video, tomorrow will be your best day ever! no matter what

  • XenoLair

    Posted Mar 15, 2010 7:46 pm PT

    All in all it was a good GDC I believe. John Carmack is a good programmer but Tom Hall is the true genius behind Commander Keen and John Romero behind Doom & Quake. They all should have gotten it!

  • ds_null

    Posted Mar 15, 2010 7:06 pm PT

    1 fact about your comment: you are a douche.

  • pancupancu

    Posted Mar 15, 2010 4:40 pm PT

    12 facts I know about u
    1. Your reading my comment
    2. Now your saying/thinking thats a stupid fact.
    4. You didnt notice that i skipped 3.
    5. Your checking it now.
    6. Your smiling.
    7. Your still reading my comment.
    8. You know all you have read is true.
    10. You didnt notice that i skipped 9.
    11. Your checking it now.
    12. You didnt notice there are only 10 facts
    Copy and paste to 1 video, tomorrow will be your best day ever! no matter what

  • blacksaibot

    Posted Mar 15, 2010 11:27 am PT

    @Angel_Belial it has NOTHING to do with the actual Episode 3 game. So they shouldnt' frickin tag it with the game. But thanks for trying to justify gamespot's garbage.

  • thorsen-ink GameSpot staff member

    Posted Mar 15, 2010 11:25 am PT

    @kntowrry @blacksaibot we're not trying to manipulate you to see anything, just letting you know that one of the creators of Half-Life, Gabe Newell, got a major award. Nobody's forcing you to read anything.

  • thorsen-ink GameSpot staff member

    Posted Mar 15, 2010 11:23 am PT

    @hjoe1981 John Carmack got a lifetime achievement award. John Carmack is working on Doom 4, so we associated it with that amongst many other games.

  • AceCometh

    Posted Mar 14, 2010 12:38 pm PT

    Are emblems available for this GDC 2010 like there is for watching stuff from E3?

  • hjoe1981

    Posted Mar 13, 2010 12:19 pm PT

    How the EF is this a Doom4 update? How gay gamespot.

  • Angel_Belial

    Posted Mar 13, 2010 7:41 am PT

    This is why it appears as a Half-Life update: Valve Software's Gabe Newell received the Pioneer Award for his work on the Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, Portal, and Left 4 Dead series.

  • kntowrry

    Posted Mar 12, 2010 8:43 pm PT

    I agree with blacksaibot. This is advertising trash and I am getting sick of Gamespot manipulating me to see this advertising trash by saying it is an update to a game I have .

  • parrot_of_adun

    Posted Mar 12, 2010 1:11 pm PT

    I really don't care for any motion controller.

    As it was, the PS3 and 360 had the upper hand amongst "hardcore" gamers, and thusly only needed to maintain that audience. Now everyone's just going to be fighting over the same lame casual audience, and those that helped build their empires are just going to be left to rot...

    Though, I suppose the "move" will mean RTS will suck just a little less on PS3.

  • Kleeyook

    Posted Mar 12, 2010 12:15 pm PT

    PS Move looks very lame. I hope it'll do very well though, so that Nintendo wouldn't sit around and finally release Wii HD.

  • blacksaibot

    Posted Mar 12, 2010 11:15 am PT

    Why is this TRASH in my Episode 3 updates?

  • johnpiszton

    Posted Mar 12, 2010 10:54 am PT

    nice

  • siddarthshetty

    Posted Mar 12, 2010 9:49 am PT

    This device looks much better then wii

  • Lateraliss

    Posted Mar 12, 2010 9:16 am PT

    The Playstation Move is like 5X the size of a Wii Remote... It looks like he's holding a couple robot penises....

  • biokrysty

    Posted Mar 12, 2010 8:42 am PT

    GDS always shows smth gnew

  • amroto

    Posted Mar 12, 2010 6:04 am PT

    ps3 move looks lame,like the lamest design ever
    i don't know but it reminds me of an ice-cream like controller....can't w8 for the big deal "NATAL FOR SURE"...

  • NS_NIXON

    Posted Mar 12, 2010 5:41 am PT

    nice things we've seen here on GDC...

  • Thomasskins

    Posted Mar 12, 2010 5:08 am PT

    O wonder if they are in partnership with Wii, or have they simply ripped off Wii to steal their gamers and make then want to come to PS3 simply because Wii graphics sux?

  • Thomasskins

    Posted Mar 12, 2010 4:50 am PT

    Like sims in 3D with game demo's and game movies, shopping mall, good place to hang out if your new to PS3 and looking for new friends, also its updated regular with new content and places.
    @Chickan_117
    I think SOCOM 4 is an addon downloadable for SACOM Confrontation.

  • KILL3RJ3R3MY420 posted Mar 11, 2010 5:46 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    KILL3RJ3R3MY420

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 5:46 pm PT (hide)

    Im tired of hearing about Uncharted 2. Its not the most acclaimed game to ever come out. Other games are far better. A game shouldnt win GOTY when its a console exclusive.

  • Chickan_117

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 3:12 pm PT

    Looks like a great innovation but I'm a bit worried after seeing the SOCOM 4 demo. I hope it's an addon for titles and not an essential. I still want my main controller games to be coontrolled with a sixaxis How well did it integrate with LBP? Very impressed.

    Did anyone from gamespot get a hands on? If so did you try the "lazy man" wrist flick method of playing? Interested to see if this tech will pick that up

  • Shardz7

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 2:56 pm PT

    42 minutes of promotional video of the PS3 controller. Hey, Gamespot; there are a LOT of games you need to review yet....better get crackin'! As soon as some kid gets their eye poked out with this controller, it will be yesterday's news.

  • Skargamer

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 2:14 pm PT

    wow!

  • Pete5506

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 2:10 pm PT

    A lot of stuff going on

  • Burner101

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 1:09 pm PT

    Quite the schedule GS has planned, and a great one at that. I'm definitely looking forward to all of it.

  • Taking-Aim

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 12:50 pm PT

    so much stuff so little time

  • Nesysli

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 12:44 pm PT

    This looks interesting, can't wait till more news on releases.

  • mariostar0001

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 11:32 am PT

    So much live stuff to watch, but I might be the wrong time period to watch much.

  • HBC14

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 11:03 am PT

    @Chickan_117 I like R gladiator but my favorite is ratchet and clank 3. that's an awesome game. A pack with the 1st 4 ratchet games would be cool, even more with tropihes like u said.

  • Kratos2030

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 10:15 am PT

    I think that sony is getting better and better by the second!
    These motion controllers are really going to help the gamers and you can get the game, the camera and the motion controllers for less than a hundred dollar!!! And the games are way better than eye toys

  • mjk1

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 9:08 am PT

    can't wait for some of the stuff on friday

  • PHOENIX1617

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 9:03 am PT

    Thanks GAMESPOT! all of u r the best... i think i'm going to get the playstation move...

  • DEATH775

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 7:38 am PT

    Thanks a lot GS, I really appreciate it.

  • Garrison_Ford

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 6:37 am PT

    Thanks for covering this GS.

  • Kratos2030

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 5:53 am PT

    I am a big fan of Sony and the motion controllers looks cool!
    Thank you Game Spot!

  • NS_NIXON

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 4:26 am PT

    Nice GDC Coverage... well done Gamespot

  • awesome

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 3:56 am PT

    Just wanted to say 'Thank you' gamespot for the coverage video... nothing makes me happier than seeing new ground breaking developments in the field of hardware & software for the PS3.... Yes! I AM a SONY fanboy and proud!

  • benleslie5

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 3:44 am PT

    interesting

  • thattotally

    Posted Mar 11, 2010 12:27 am PT

    I'm glad to be able to read up on news from here

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