The Summit has been focused more on serious game design than in years past, where it focused more on procurement and getting into the serious games space as a business. I think the result is a much more engaging discussion on the finer details of making a good product. Surprisingly, attendance is down for the Serious Games - way down. The space taken up by the summit is somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of what it was before.
As a result I've been trying to gauge whether conference attendance is down overall. It would make sense if it is. I have heard a lot of discussion about trouble finding jobs, developers leaving big-name companies, and the emergence of social online media, which appears to be changing the landscape of the games industry altogether.
It's interesting to look back at the evolution of the industry in just the last 7 years I've been to GDC. Back then it was focused heavily on 3D rendering for desktop applications, then mobile gaming was the next big thing, and now it's the online/social media space that is the next big buzz. The great question is, where next? Wherever it is, I'm sure it'll be on the edge of the next information technology wave.
Today continues my venture in the Serious Games Summit. I also hope to get some more pictures and perhaps swing by the expo floor to check on our booth.
