Second day at the GDC conference and I managed to hit one other interesting display for us gamers: the Sixense TrueMotion system. Available for demonstration using an in-house demo peripheral, Sixense hopes to ship this new motion-sensing technology for use in a new Razer product.

Where the Wii and the Sony Move rely on infrared detection, this new technology detects motion and position through magnetic fields. Each of the two remotes/paddles being used contains a magnet, and position and direction are defined by their relation to the surrounding magnetic field. Sixense hopes a planned product manufactured by Razor will be more precise than the Wiimote or the Sony Move. They plan to convert older titles for use with the Sixense.

The Sixense was originally planned to support casual games, but demonstrations with the new technology using a converted Left 4 Dead 2 demonstrated its promise. Sixense had a booth available with the demo for play; it not only supported specific arcs of thrown grenades or aiming guns with both remotes, but also supported free-flowing control of the game’s sword, allowing for a variety of strokes and twirls. Precision and control both seemed more fluid than some wii titles, allowing for sweeping movements.

At this time, both the final price of any completed product and its release date are unknown. Sixense hopes for a winter release. They also hope to see the technology utilized in future releases.

Here are some of my personal highlights from the GDC expo floor. Most of the booths this year were technical rather than games-oriented, but there were some interesting new gadgets and a few games on display.

Sony Move

Taking center stage for Sony at the GDC was the newly-announced Sony Move, being demonstrated through a title called Eyepet. This “augmented reality” title put the player in charge of caring for a furry little gremlin whose endearing mannerisms bordered on the creepy. Demonstrated functions included washing him, taking him on a ride upon a drawn plane, and soaping him down with your hands. Also on hand was a technical demo for the Move itself.

Inspired by the difficulties other developers had with the Wiimote, the Move nonetheless shares some of its difficulties with its competitor when it comes to precise motions and Z-axis detection. There’s promise, but it doesn’t seem groundbreaking; the same basic drawbacks to the Wiimote are still present in that the Move still has trouble with precision movements and movements in-game do not correspond intuitively to movements in the real world. Fortunately, Sony plans to market the Move as an optional accessory for many compatible games, rather than a core system requirement.

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Back at PAX 2009, we were introduced to and played many independent games that we knew where going to make a big splash the the video game pool.  Shank was one of these games.  A 2D side scroller with great animation.  Below is the newest trailer from GDC. Also, if you haven’t seen the first trailer, click here.

Jamie and James will be heading out to this years Game Developers Conference to learn, play and “shmooze” with the gaming industry. The conference will be from March 9th to the 13th and I assure you all that Jamie and James will do their best to cover what needs to be covered.

Man, March is going to be one busy month.  GDC2010 in the west then PAX East in the, well, east. *phew*.  But it’s all fun and all good.

Congratulations are in order for Gabe Newell, who has won the 2010 Game Developers Choice Awards ‘Pioneer’ award.

The pioneer award, which first showed at the 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards, is for those who are ‘responsible for developing a vital technology or game design at a crucial juncture in video game history, paving the way for the many who followed them’.

Steam is this vital technology. Not only has it helped the Valve team bring award-winning games like Half-Life 2, Portal and Team-fortress 2 to our computers, but it has brought us a constantly growing list of non-Valve games, from AAA titles to Indie classics.

Gabe Newell will be getting up on stage in front of over 3,000 of the industry’s top developers at GDC 2010, held in San Francisco this March.

Excellent work, Gabe.

Mega64 is at it again, but this time making a totally hot and sexy commercial that’s straight dope yo.  They be reppin’ that Yay Area for dat GeeDeeSea twenty-ten! ‘Cause dat show be hella tight daw– ok ok ok.  I’ll stop.

I’m still new at this.

Charles Martinet, Voice of Mario

In the past few months, I’ve been fortunate to attend this year’s Game Developer’s Conference and Electronic Entertainment Expo. I will additionally be present at Comic-Con, Penny Arcade Expo, Blizzcon and (perhaps?) Tokyo Game Show. I’ve always been a spectator – it wasn’t until this year that I’ve been lucky enough to be considered a part of the industry. And during this time, I’ve mingled with, been courted by, taken shots with, been harassed by, become Facebook friends with and developed friendships with people from the video game companies who make the games that I’ve been playing all of my life.

I’ve also snagged some free tote bags and t-shirts.

In spite of my limited time in this wonderful industry, I’ve learned a few lessons that I don’t mind sharing with you. I will most likely expand on these points later; there’s no pain in scratching the surface for now. I was taken aback a bit in learning some of these “DUH-YOU-SHOULD-ALREADY-KNOW-THAT” lessons, but bear in mind that the practical is always different from the theoretical.

As a well-respected CEO of a well-respected video game company kindly informed me, “It’s entertainment, baby.”

Nobody gives a shit about your small video game blog.
PixelatedWho? It’s hard to realize this at first, but the first time always hurts. People will not click to your web site for breaking video game news unless you already have a big name in gaming journalism: Kotaku, Joystiq, IGN, Gamespot, etc. Should you somehow break a story for your cute little video game blog, it will get swooped away by one of the aforementioned sites and enjoy all of the hits, anyway. Absolutely no disrespect intended – imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

If you can’t break it, make it.
Seeing as how we have limited opportunity to get in touch with the Public Relations representatives at all of our favorite video game publishers, the question begs: what do we write about? It seems that the only way to get anyone’s attention is to make your own news. What? Original content on the Internet? Unfortunately, “Original Content” has seemingly transformed into an invitation for top ten lists and galleries of booth babes. I don’t mean to quote a woman who makes handbags, but Coco Chanel has a point: “In order to be irrepplaceable, one must always be different.” Our cute little blog won’t survive if our main content consists of images from 4chan and articles inspired by Cracked.com.

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