GDC Day 1

Wednesday, 10 March 2010 15:32 Written by Rebecca Fortelka

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It was back to school this week for me. Hard to believe that I am a senior in college it seems like just yesterday my mom was dropping m...

So, GDC Day 1 went amazingly well. The day started at 6 am bright and early but since I was excited to go to conference, it was not a struggle at all. Wish it was that easy to get up that early on a school week. When you take 20 credits a semester sleep is something that is not easy to come by.

My Dad and I got the powerchair loaded up and packed up our stuff and hit the road. That was at 7 AM. We had some minor trouble with our tires so we had to stop to refill them with some air.

Word to the wise: check the air in your tires before a long adventure. Luckily my Dad actually knew what to do so the car trouble was fixed quickly and we were on our way.

Traffic was not terrible so were able to get through the Bay Bridge toll plaza rather quickly. It also helped that we were in the carpool lane. So we zoomed right through. We then saw the beautiful skyline of San Francisco.

Even though I have lived here for 13 years I am always captivated by the city and its beauty. I am always shocked by the amount of billboards in one area and the amount of traffic within the city streets it can sometimes take an hour to go nine blocks.

We got to the parking garage at about 9 a.m. and got the last handicap spot in the whole garage. I knew it was going to be a good day. We got slightly lost and took it me a while to get used to driving my powerchair since this was the first big outing with the chair. I was nervous about the hills and the curb cuts because they are most of time uneven and steep.

We headed to the press room and picked up our badges and got our swag bags with our maps and brochures about GDC. Then it was time to hit the first lecture called Friends and Facebook. I was amazed by the crowd and how many people had to sit on the floor to attend the lecture. So, I found a convenient spot on the side to park and watch the slideshow. Since I could not plug my computer I just feverish typed notes on my iPod touch.

This lecture was very informative because it just shows how important games are social outlet for people of all abilities. With that being said most people use social gaming on sites like Facebook to satisfy social emotions, to compete with friends and family or collaborate with friends and family to accomplish a goal. But you will hear more about the power of friends in a later article. Stay tuned!

Next session was about the ever changing landscape of social gaming. This lecture discussed the top three contenders which are Zynga, playfish, and playdom. Also, the top three gaming applications of Facebook are Farmville, Birthday Cards and Café world. In an upcoming article I will discuss more about the changing landscape in social gaming so hang tight for more info.

The last session of the day was about virtual worlds and how they have changed how we play social games. This is because there are six easy kinds of play within the social gaming world and best of all these games are free, instant, and friendly to all types of gamers.

Now, it was off to my first meeting with Mytheon. This was a great meeting and the game was amazing. It is perfect mix of RPG and history lessons about all types of mythology from Greece, to Egypt and then to China. I will be playing the game and writing a review soon! Also, Mytheon was gracious enough to give 50 beta keys so the Ablegamers will be able to get in on the fun!

Then it was off to the last meeting and that was with Bigpoint and I got to see two games. One was Poisonville which is Browser based mmo with huge production values and budget featuring console quality graphics. Poisonville is basically a mix of Mafia Wars and the Grand Theft Auto Series but it’s all online so you access it anywhere. I then saw a racing game that will be cross platform game but it was shown on iphone/ipod touch. This will be released later on in the summer. They also announced that Battlestar Galatica will be coming out soon but that is all they could say.

With all the meetings and lectures done for the day it was time to head home. I was so tired but the day was so much fun and I learned so much! I Hope to make all you ablegamers proud.

Check out Rebecca's Pics from day one!

Comments (4) Add Comment

Stephanie Walker

March 10, 2010

Votes: +0

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What a fabulous day! Thanks for the write up Rebecca. You are one hard workin gal!

Carol Williams

March 11, 2010

Votes: +0

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Very nice, Rebecca! I think my son would love Mytheon.

Robert Quick

March 11, 2010

Votes: +0

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I also wanted to say thank you as well. Your write up was really nice and it looks like you are on a great start for the GDC event.

I hope you all enjoy trying out Mytheon, and I welcome you all to our community.

Robert "Guardian" Quick
Community Manager
True Games Interactive