GDC: Day 3

Hey,

Today was the day where I could actually go to sessions with my expo pass. Gamecareerguide had set up a game career seminar with sessions that covered several different aspects of getting into the industry. The keynote was done by Fallout 3's Lead designer who talked about his path into the game industry. The session was interesting but as always telling how they borke in never perfectly fits what your skillset or situation. I would have rather heard 10 panelists quickly state how they broke into he industry than one famous person but the information was good and it was interesting.

The next session was my favorite session that I went to. It was given by a woman who has been teaching/working in the industry for a long time and was basically her giving you her insights from what she has learned so far. At the end of the session she had gone through 300 slides answering 100 questions. It was extremely informative and kept you paying attention the entire time.

The next session was canceled that day and so I was left with several hours to burn again. I went back to the career pavillion but basically just wandered around. The only interesting moment was when several blizzard members went and played guitar hero at the Activision booth. They kind of made a spectacle of themselves and several other Blizzard employees came to watch. As the song went on everyone, audience included, was bobbing their heads in tune and having a good time. To me it encompassed why I want to make video games, to have fun with friends and get a little escape into a different universe.

The last session I attended was a panel that talked about interviews. The session was also highly informative but never really covered how a production interview would go. I went up and asked one of the panelists and ended up talking to someone else at his studio. He gave me a general overview which was really useful.

Thus ended my first GDC experience....

Cyaz