Session Madness at GDC 2009

Because I focus so much on previewing games, GDC is an extremely busy week for me and others around the office. And although, each year I promise myselft that I'll spend more time in the always fascinating GDC sessions than I did the year prior, this year I mean it. Pinky swear. Here's a few of the sessions I hope to check out:

• The LittleBigPlanetJam: At this point, I'm resigned to the fact that I don't have near the amount of time to devote to LittleBigPlanet that I'd like to. That said, I'm endlessly fascinated by its charming, open-ended nature and love hearing the folks at Media Molecule discuss it. Alex Evans did a great job of it back at DICE 2009 and I'm guessing MM's Siobhan Reddy (executive producer) and Kareem Ettouney (art director) will be just as fascinating.
• Failure is NOT an Option - Basic Survival Techniques for any Producer/Designer - With development studios closing down and game developers getting pink slips, this session like a very timely topic in these tough economic times. GDC tends to be part-job faire anyway, so I expect this session to be well-attended.
• IV Style: Returning to the Roots of a Fighting Game Classic - Yes, this session takes place at exactly the same time as the previous session listed. Which is why I plan on cloning myself. After all, Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono giving a detailed look at the planning and production of Street Fighter IV? I'm not even a fighting game fan, and I'm intrigued...

That's three of the big ones, but there will also be sessions on RE 5, Dead Space, Far Cry 2, and Crysis Warhead, all of which look interesting. And then there's the show floor which is bound to have some surprises, and a whole slew of brand new game announcements...

Of course, all of this could be ruined for me by the ever-looming spectre of jury duty on Tuesday. Please, California Justice System, please don't take my GDC away from me!