Because the plot market place does n’t concentrate a huge amount of attention on the Mac , much of what ’s on showing at the annualGame Developers Conferencein San Francisco this week is tie to console gambling and , to a lesser grade , PCs . Almost all of the conferences and session concentrate on these areas , too , although there ’s a lot of attention pay to the business of gaming . And that translate across chopine .
That ’s not to say there ’s no Mac news program here at all . My schedule has been filled with meetings since I arrived on Monday , both on and off the show floor .
“ The important thing to understand about GDC is that it ’s not so much about the group discussion or proficient seance or keynote address , ” said Wallace Poulter . And he would know . Poulter used to crop Apple as a games partnership managing director — the key contact for secret plan developers with Apple ’s developer recounting group . He ’s an diligence veteran whose curriculum vitae includes stints at Atari , Sega , LucasArts , and other companies . Poulter is now an independent consultant who focuses on the game industry .
“ What happens during the show often is n’t nearly as important from a business development stand as what chance outside of the show , ” say Poulter , concern to the myriad party , mixers , and function that fill the night of GDC attendees .
That ’s emphatically been my experience . I ’ve been surprised with the level of involvement in the Mac program from the developer I ’ve met with — everyone , from casual biz makers likePlayFirstto industry heavyweights like Intel and AMD — is excited about Apple ’s current efforts .
outdoors of the conference sessions , GDC features two exhibit halls — the first floor of the West Hall and the North Hall at Moscone Center . Both see constant foot traffic from developers in between expert session and game businesspeople look to scope out the newest trends in the grocery . Take a tone at a slideshow of picture that I ’ve take at GDC .
Much of what ’s being shown on the show floor contain prick that developer apply to make games or design them — motion - gaining control system , for illustration , or middleware that controls the display of video content ; audio control software ; codecs ; and more . There are also mental institution like DeVry University and DigiPen , which tender programs in picture biz development and aim . Even Adobe is here , pitch Flash and Director to developers in a modestly - sized booth .
There are a few trafficker of product target at consumer — Logitech , for instance , show offits a la mode gaming mouse and guidance wheels ; Matrox , which lately announced its TripleHead2Go user interface that break open a individual two-fold - link DVI connector to corroborate up to three displays simultaneously;MumboJumbo , which bring out casual game for the Mac and Windows platform and recently branched out to consoles ; and Sony and Nintendo , which are both vying for care with their new PlayStation 3 and Wii consoles , and are supply kiosks equipped with the PlayStation Portable and DS Lite so visitors can get their hands on the latest biz .
On the second floor of Moscone West , there ’s a career fair — a packed labyrinth of kiosks , booths and secret group meeting elbow room where company grade from Activision to Blizzard to THQ are actively recruiting plot developers wait for work . That area has been pack from the start .
Wednesday afternoon saw the annual booth creeping , where developers walk the show base in legions . marketer use the promise of loose beer and other goodies to get expo goers to sing with them — now there ’s an idea that IDG World Expo should pick up for next year’sMacworld Conference and Expo .
