GDC 2016: My Impressions

Picture of a huge crowd at GDC — GDC draws a huge crowd of developers and journalists

The second day of GDC is upon us. Tuesday; the calm before the storm, since the main expo floor opens on Wednesday.

I’ve walked the halls of the conference, listened to 5-10 talks and presentations, and checked out all the currently-available booths. Obviously much of the conference is still locked behind closed doors until Wednesday, but a few things stick out clearly from the preliminary exhibits:

VR is the Hot New Thing

Right from the start, one thing is abundantly clear here at GDC: VR is everywhere. Mobile VR, desktop VR, console VR, AR, cardboard-style VR – literally every form of VR you could imagine is on display at practically every booth.

The Whirlwind VR headset — This VR headset blows air in your face while you play

Interestingly, the approach each parties are taking to VR and AR are wildly different from one another. We have $10 cardboard VR devices that hold your phone up to your eyes, and right next to that, we have thousand-dollar high-end rigs designed to work with PCs. There’s some gimmicky stuff – one VR headset has a fan that blows air on your face while you play – but the vast majority of VR systems are gunning for mainstream popularity.

A player in a racing chair — Not quite VR, but a similar idea

Throughout the conference, I’ll be doing my best to find as much mobile-gaming-focused content as possible. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find some controller-based news. But one thing is becoming increasingly clear: I’m probably not going to find much hardcore mobile-gaming-related news that doesn’t incorporate VR in one form or another.

Apple is Everywhere and Nowhere.

Apple has never had an official presence at GDC, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t here. In my cursory glances at people’s GDC badges, I’ve seen a lot of people with Apple on their badges.

I’m sure some of these folks are gamers who just so happen to work at Apple; Apple employees are people too, after all. But when there’s smoke, there’s fire. The sheer number of Apple badges I’ve seen suggests Apple might have sent people to at least visit the conference.

A talk on copycats and clones - I hope Apple was watching

This many Apple employees have to be doing something here. Maybe just taking in the sights. Maybe just keeping an eye on the latest mobile games.

Whatever they’re doing, I’m happy to see Apple with some sort of presence here. Apple has a lot of blind spots when it comes to gaming. Listening to, meeting with, and talking to some of the smartest people in the games industry can only help Apple do a better job. If enough developers gripe about how terrible the App Store is for making a sustainable living designing games, maybe it’ll get through someday.

Mobile is Missing

The only mobile devices of any form I’ve found are a few Intel tablets and smartphones, and that has more to do with Intel’s desire to push for X86 smartphones and tablets than it does for an actual desire to talk about mobile gaming.

There are a few possibilities here. There’s a longstanding stigma from so-called “real gamers” against mobile gaming, and perhaps this discourages indie developers from showing off the mobile versions of their games. There’s also the idea that mobile is no longer the hot new thing – that’s VR – so it isn’t worth showing off.

There are multiple panels and conference talks about various aspects of mobile gaming, but the lines for these talks are far lower than those for VR gaming. From my perspective, this is insane. Mobile is the biggest game platform in the history of gaming, and ignoring it in favor of a technology that is at least a year out seems shortsighted.

The Train Jam tasked players with building a PC game during a train ride

The Future

The good news is, the actual GDC expo hasn’t started yet. That comes Wednesday. Monday and Tuesday are made up of lectures, discussion panels, and lobby exhibits.

The actual expo will have more presentations from the big name companies. Sony, Microsoft – you know the big guys. It’s possible that something more mobile-focused will be shown off in the exhibit hall. I’ll continue to keep my eyes open.

This is my first GDC, and it seems like I picked an odd one to start with. There’s a feeling in the air that VR is the next gold rush. In the next few years, this prediction will either be proven true or false. We’re right on the precipice of this new media, so that’s all anyone is talking about.