GDC 2019: CFG’s Game and Session Highlights

by Vincent Lai | May 20, 2019 9:00 am

It’s been a little while after the Game Developers Conference happened this year, but we experienced some timelessly impactful moments that warrant sharing. With a substantial roster of games and sessions, traversing the halls is an exhilarating experience that has surprises for every attendee. Here are a handful of some of our favorite games and sessions throughout the event.

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Overtime was one of our favorite games from the annual alternative controller exhibit alt.CTRL.GDC. The Chicago-based Overtime Games team drew inspiration from basketball and anime in order to create a condensed, dynamic mini-game experience. Overtime simulates the sensation of performing buzzer-beater actions in order to score a win for the team. The most striking aspect is the accessible custom 3D printed controller, which actually looks like a basketball court. Players control the game by moving a horizontal slider with a built-in button. We instantly figured out how to play the game without any instructions, and this instant ease of play resulted in a meaningful universal experience.

One of the standout games at The MIX party is CatBean Games’ Calico, which just successfully became funded on Kickstarter. Calico features a playful vibrant world in which magical girls run cat cafes. The game is a heartwarming take on the simulation genre, and it is shaping up to be full of fun activities for players. Player can explore distinct colorful regions, play with cats, and arrange furniture in the cafe. The sheer whimsicality brought many smiles to players’ faces. Calico is currently slated for release on PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2020.

Brazil’s GILP Studio is currently working on Areia, a thoughtful take on adventure games. The player moves around a variety of natural and abstract landscapes in a third-person view. Areia draws inspiration from Hinduism, Buddhism, and other spiritual beliefs to take players on a soothing emotional journey. The warm and cool color palette is familiar and expressive, and the pathways’ hypnotic patterns mirror the captivating emotional nature of the game. Areia is slated for release on Steam later this year.

We also thoroughly enjoyed checking out some of the sessions during the entire week as well! The sheer number of tutorials and retrospectives is staggering, and GDC provides plenty of ways to learn about notable games from the past and present. You can check out the recorded sessions on the GDC Vault. Here are some of our personal favorite retrospectives.

Classic Game Postmortem: ‘Command & Conquer’

With a distinct splash in 1995 and many sequels, the Command & Conquer series has made a distinct mark on the history of online PC gaming and real-time strategy. This postmortem session reunited some of the original developers and also included a comprehensive lineup of video clips from other members as well. From trying a near-future universe to assembling real-time video on the fly, we really got a taste of the developers following their passion and developing the game they wanted to make. The most striking part of this session is the video and audio elements closely recreated elements of the original Command & Conquer interface, which practically brought audiences back to to 1995!

Classic Game Postmortem: ‘Panzer Dragoon’, ‘Panzer Dragoon Zwei’, and ‘Panzer Dragoon Saga’

Yukio Futatsugi and Kentaro Yoshida of Grounding Inc. had an insightful session regarding the development of the three Panzer Dragoon games on Sega Saturn. Panzer Dragoon is a a cult classic rail shooter that features flying dragons and riders, and we caught a glimpse of how the team built the games’ memorable mythos. We learned about the Saturn’s technical limitations and how the team still passionately created a three dimensional world using the system’s strengths. Just hearing about the team’s energy and enthusiasm was quite invigorating.

‘Tetris’ World Championship: Building Explosive Esports on 8-bit Nintendo
Making ‘Tetris Effect’-ive

These dual Tetris sessions encapsulated two distinct points of Tetris history between the NES version and last year’s Tetris Effect. Chris Tang did a marvelous job explaining how NES Tetris players still maintain a competitive scene, and we got a sense of the community’s dynamism and dedication. The Tetris Effect panel featured Mark MacDonald, Takeshi Ishihara, and Tetsuya Mizuguchi of Enhance Games. We learned about the challenges of creating a new take of Tetris that balanced the game’s renowned mechanics with a new audiovisual vision. The team’s extensive prototyping certainly demonstrated how game development is a challenging and fulfilling endeavor.

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ConFreaks and Geeks had a marvelous time at the Game Developers Conference this year, and we certainly believe it showcased plenty of exciting developments. We eagerly anticipate experiencing next year’s games and sessions.

Source URL: https://www.confreaksandgeeks.com/gdc2019gamesessionhighlights/

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