GDC Europe 2009: Gamasutra's Full Coverage

Author: by Staff

Gamasutra brought you market-leading coverage from the 2009 Game Developers Conference Europe all this week. The debut event, which ran alongside the GamesCom consumer trade show, presented four tracks of the top European and internal speakers, talking on the art and business of game development. As its first Cologne appearance winds down, here's all of our stories on the top keynotes at GDC Europe (part of Think Services, as is Gamasutra), which will return to Cologne in August 2010: - Thatgamecompany's Santiago On Flower's Emotional Search "Talking at GDC Europe on Monday, Thatgamecompany's co-founder and president Kellee Santiago discussed the design philosophy behind much-acclaimed PSN title Flower, asking of games: 'Can we go beyond just excitement.. and frustration?'" - Dyack Gets Fervent On The Rise Of Cloud Computing "Cloud computing is vital to the future of gaming, says Silicon Knights' Denis Dyack (Too Human), and he says such technology could 'profoundly change the industry forever'". - Remedy's Myllyrinne Makes Plans For Alan Wake "Remedy's goal is 'entertaining the largest possible audience with the best games', and in a GDC Europe keynote, director Matias Myllyrinne eloquently described the studio's development values, with pointed criticisms of 'me-too multiplayer' and generic naming for today's games." - Sony Claims 'Huge Steps Forward' With PlayStation Home "Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's James Cox and Martijn Van Der Meulen gave a talk at GDC Europe on Monday updating the current status on Playstation Home development, recent successes of the Home platform, and what can be expected for developers looking to implement Home in the future." - Zynga Talks The Rise Of Social Games "In a GDC Europe talk at Cologne on Tuesday, Zynga's Hugh De Loayza discussed the rise of social network games, outlining how one of the leading Facebook and MySpace game providers grew and flourished, and the growing competition in the space." - CCP Announces Dust 514 Console MMO "In a surprise GDC Europe announcement, CCP CEO Hilmar Petursson has debuted Dust 514, a strategic first-person console MMO that connects in to the existing EVE Online universe, allowing ground battles for planets to be fought by console teams." - Hilmursson On The History Of CCP "CCP CEO Hilmar Petursson discussed the growth of the Icelandic EVE Online creator, contrasting 'themepark' with 'playground' MMOs along the way." - Crytek's Button-Brown Says Too Much Risk In Self-Publishing "Speaking at GDC Europe on Tuesday as part of a panel discussing alternative finance and business models, Nick Button-Brown, director of business development at Frankfurt, Germany-based Crysis developer Crytek, said that he doesn't believe self-publishing is a good strategy for independently-owned developers." - Quantic Dream's Cage On Aiming For More With Games "In his keynote at GDC Europe in Cologne, Quantic Dream's David Cage discussed "the thoughts behind" PlayStation 3-exclusive Heavy Rain, detailing his ideas on storytelling and the future of the medium." - Gas Powered's Taylor On Demigod's Singleplayer Regret "In an entertaining GDC Europe talk, Chris Taylor talked about his experience creating multiplayer 'defense'-style game Demigod, suggesting that 'you can't cut the single player game' out of the title and still expect it to be a massive success." - Quantic Dream's Cage Talks Hot Coffee, Why 'We Should Blame Ourselves' "During his GDC Europe keynote, Heavy Rain director David Cage said when it comes to mature content in video games, developers have to stand up for themselves against public criticism -- and if they don't, they only have themselves to blame for their hardships." - Publishers Debate Early 'Online Momentum' "Talking as part of a select handful of games publishers, Capcom director of development Adam Boyes told a room full of eager developers that already having online momentum for your game can be 'a double-edged sword'". - Do You Need A Publisher For Your iPhone Game? "In a panel on iPhone game publishing at GDC Europe in Cologne, panelists discussed the success of the App Store and whether you genuinely need a publisher for your iPhone game." - Gameforge - Free-To-Play 'Will Dominate Soon' Klass Kersting, CEO of Gameforge Productions, the largest developer of MMOGs in Europe, gave a keynote talk at GDC on Wednesday in which he stated that "free-to-play will dominate [the gaming industry] soon". - Molyneux Talks Fable III - The Hero Who Would Be King "At his GDC Europe keynote in Cologne, Lionhead's Peter Molyneux discussed steps forward for Fable III, explaining how moral choices in the new game change when the player is king." - NCSoft's Jee On Aion's Genesis "In a GDC Europe talk, NCSoft's Yongchan Jee intriguingly discussed the creation of Aion, the upcoming subscription MMO from the City Of Heroes and Lineage publisher, explaining the design elements that have made it a Korean hit." - Playdom's Meretzky On Making Social Games More Viral "Steve Meretzky, VP of social game developer Playdom, spoke at GDC Europe this Tuesday on the key elements required in creating a successful social game. The talk focused on how to achieve virality and cash flow in a rapidly emerging market." - GDC Europe: Crytek's Yerli On The Future Of Gaming Graphics "In his keynote at GDC Europe, Crytek co-founder Cevat Yerli discussed the future of gaming graphics, defending the company's high-spec PC games and outlining how Crysis 2 will be more console-specific in terms of tech."