GDC08: Dennis Dyack is worried about GDC
by Xav de Matos 
{ Feb 25th 2008 at 12:15PM }
During the Game Developers Conference, 1UP.com was able to record interviews with developers in the guise of their weekly 1UP Yours podcast, one such episode was with outspoken Silicon Knights boss Dennis Dyack. In the episode on February 21, Dyack outlined his worries for the future of GDC based on the marketing spin put on the, "once sacred," developer gathering.
"I worry about GDC [because] how many talks are you learning something versus when somebody is trying to sell you a product?" Dyack asked the crew made up of editors Garnett Lee, Shane Bettenhausen, Bryan Intihar and former 1UPer Mark MacDonald. "Are we calling this the Game Developers Conference [or] are we calling it the Game Demo Convention?"
Currently the industries hottest topic is the suit filed against Unreal Engine 3 developer Epic Games by Silicon Knights and while Dyack never addresses that issue formally he did maintain a strong dislike for the method in which Gears of War 2 was announced. "When people are jumping out of smoke and telling you what's coming, I am not learning anything here," he said referring to Cliff Bleszinski's Lancer busting reveal of the November '08-bound sequel.
"We're running into a real crisis in some sense with GDC," Dyack added in the lengthy podcast, "If people are going to continue to call it [GDC] the next E3, E3 just exploded because there was no point to it ... I would hate to see that happen for GDC."
While no one has come out to agree with Dyack's specific points, others are echoing his concerns for the conference. During their first foray into podcast territory since leaving GameSpot, Jeff Gertsmann and Ryan Davis discussed the merits of a press presence at the show on the Arrow Pointing Down podcast. "I still maintain that they should not let press into this stuff [dev conferences like GDC and the DICE Summit ]," former GameSpot reviews editor Gertsmann said. "The whole reason there is stuff like the Game Developers Conference and DICE is so that developers can get together without the scrutiny of the press and talk about their trade and actually learn something." While he agreed, Davis added that GDC coverage was something he loved to see.
During the show Dyack reiterated that GDC, since it's inception, is supposed to be a meet-n-greet for developers to share best practices and ideas and not about sales pitches. "I'm so tired of going to GDC and seeing a talk where someone is trying to sell their game, where someone is trying to sell you their middleware, trying to tell you what the future of videogames will be as long as it's their world ... that is a big problem." Begging the question, is the press presence forcing GDC to take a turn into a sales convention much like E3 was?
Therein lies the rub. News outlets, such as us at X3F, cover these events because the public craves information on the latest gaming news. Videogame marketing is directed, mostly, to the enthusiast press who maintain a strong connection with their readers. While GDC does display a substantial amount of PR spin it also offers great ideas for people in the industry, such as BioShock lead Ken Levine's discussion on storytelling. The points made are very interesting, and we'd like to hear your ideas. So readers, what are your views on GDC coverage and the future of this industry event?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Josh @ Feb 25th 2008 12:23PM
The exact same thing happened to the San Diego Comic Con. I used to go every year for the great industry panels and whatnot, but now every last panel is just a product lineup, or some other marketing.
flameofdoom666 @ Feb 25th 2008 12:28PM
I think Dyack is right. It should be about trading techniques and ideas, rather then showing off a game.
It was unprofessional to reveal Gears of War 2, but they did talk about its technology- which was okay for a show like that.
ccc @ Feb 25th 2008 12:38PM
Sounds like more bitching comming from the Sillycon knights cubicle to me. They are always sweating about something, anyone else ever notice that.
The proof will be in the pudding as they say when two worlds releases. Thats when I'll form my opinion of this company, till then they need to just shut up and work on it.
thecmoneyshow @ Feb 25th 2008 12:45PM
In theory I agree that something like GDC should remain a developers conference. However, with the reformatting of E3 and pushing it back into late Summer the publishers need an event in which to build "hype" and give "big reveals" for their holiday line-up.
Not saying that GDC should be filling this void but I was one of the thousands eagerly awaiting a GEARS 2 annoucement (2008, YES!).
I'd bet if their were as much hype about 2Human Mr. Dyack would be sporting a custom weapon of his own.
Chill-lax!
hunter2223 @ Feb 25th 2008 12:55PM
I think the issue is that every game announcement now seems to need to be done with as much fan fare as possible. Why is it that Gears couldn't have been announced in a press conference a month ago, or in a month for that matter.
The need to create buzz is getting silly in the game world, and I'm thinking it's going to start wearing people out on it. Get us spooled up for 6 months+ for what?
So now any place where the Games Media machine assembles, the big companies will make their big announcements. And the conference, regardless of it's original intent will become about the big announcements instead of the creative exchange of ideas and techniques.
It's sad really, but the sales burden to recoup the expense of development requires an optimization of pre-release Buzz.
Delgado @ Feb 25th 2008 12:49PM
When GDC gets booth babes, then I think Dyack can bitch. Until then, his complaining doesn't seem too warranted.
JM @ Feb 25th 2008 2:18PM
with the amount of bitching that comes out of this guy's talkhole, Too Human better be the best game ever made or he is going to look like the biggest sore loser who ever released a failure.
Shut up and make the game.
Preston Crawford @ Feb 25th 2008 4:12PM
Please resist the urge to pile on Dyack. He has a valid point. E3 died of its own excesses and thankfully so. I'd love it if GDC were more about developers and development.
Urza @ Feb 25th 2008 2:21PM
He's right though. E3 was less the stellar and devs are looking for another E3, can't blame them from doing "the E3 thing" at every major convention they can.. even if it's not appropriate.
JM @ Feb 25th 2008 2:41PM
the probelm is that the video game industry is not what it was in the 90's. It's rivaling Hollywood in terms of revenue. Game development budgets are approaching blockbuster movie budgets (and surpassing: Halo 3).
If all Hollywood made were small indie flicks with modest budgets then the need for huge conventions, award shows and press junkets would not be needed. But because a lot of films are $70 million and up to produce, they HAVE to hype it.
The game industry is now in the same position. Hype the game or fail. The publishers can't afford to
kick out $20-$50 million and not get a decent ROI.
It's the natural evolution of things.
Sounds to me like Dennis got outshined by a company they are suing over their (possible) failure and as a result he's wishing this was the good old days of computer geeks talking N-64 code back in the 90's. Seriously, Too Human didn't look that impressive to me. It looked like a polished version of Dynasty Warriors. He gripes about people demoing their games at GDC, but there he was doing the same thing.
He's just pissed he forgot to bring his own smoke machine.
BerNasty @ Feb 25th 2008 3:53PM
I think Dennis has a very valid point. Gamers are always complaining about the monotony in the game industry but when the opportunity comes for an exchange of relevant ideas that could possibly spawn creativity we flake and turn to the hype. I am sure Dennis is as worried about his game as the next developer which means that an expression of his concerns should not be dismissed as "Oh, he's just mad because GoW is a bigger, better game". I believe that even if there were no legal problems going on with Epic, he would still have expressed his concerns.
OTAM @ Feb 25th 2008 6:17PM
I listened to that 1up show today at work on my mp3 player and I have to agree. It's not becoming a learning show for talks between developers,but people trying to sell you shit. There's a reason E3 imploded and there doesn't need to be some other big show to reveal stuff at. Dice and Game Developers Conference have their own agenda,E3 is not it.