London Heat

Goodness, what a hot week in London. The fact that GDC Europe was packed to the brim didn't help any...

Kudos to the American game group of CMP for reviving GDC Europe and putting on a great conference - especially under greater scrutiny given last year's mess... I particularly enjoyed all the non-conventional talks on stuff like government intervention, curriculum initiatives, global development hotspots, and designing games for grannies... And while my quality of life panel was well attended/received, I was a bit disappointed to discover that the IGDA's whitepaper and related QoL initiatives have not gotten the same exposure in UK/Europe...

As noted earlier, I kept pretty busy during my short stay. In particular, the Develop Industry Excellence Awards were quite enjoyable (with a wholly different, more social vibe, than the IGDA's Choice Awards). The IGDA's own members-only party was a blast and served an a good chance to unwind after the conference.

I'd write up a more complete set of notes, but I am sadly swamped with catch-up work. Besides, the folks at Gamasutra have done a great job at summarizing most of the sessions and news (and/or grabs bits from the proceedings page).