GDC Opens its Doors

Ron Chaimowitz, former GT Interactive CEO and now CEO of OneZero Media, and Doug Lowenstein, Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) president, rallied Game Developers Conference attendees Monday morning with their back-to-back keynote addresses.

Chaimowitz presented a studied look at Deer Hunter and what that game's success meant for the industry in 1998 and what it means for the industry's future. In a word, get ready for an explosion of Bubba games that will be built using low-cost tools similar to those used in Deer Hunter (I and II). Also, watch out for continued consolidation, keep a lookout for Hollywood studios that will show greater and greater interest in software publishers, prepare yourself for even lower price points from publishers of casual games, and get ready for a slew of motorcycle and fishing titles - two niches the Deer Hunter buyer is also predisposed toward.

Lowenstein gave his view from Washington, DC perspective, where IDSA is located. He suggested the industry start policing itself in the areas of violent content and advertising. If it doesn't, he pointed out, government regulation will surely follow. "Get ahead of the policy curve... self-regulation is vastly preferable to government legislation," he said in his address.

The Game Developers Conference and GAMEXecutive Conference runs this week in San Jose, California. More than 7,000 attendees are expected at the developers conference - which opens Tuesday evening with a “booth crawl” replete with beer and wine spritzers - and runs through Friday. The event features additional keynote speeches from Sony's Phil Harrison, presenting a glimpse of the next generation PlayStation for the first time in the U.S.; Bernie Stolar of Sega, speaking about redefining game and hardware development; and Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong.

Winners in the GDC Independent Games Festival contest will be announced on Wednesday. And GameSpot News coverage of GDC will continue all week.