Just one day before discounted registration ends, GDC 2013 organizers are calling attention to several interactive events for the March conference, including playable board games from video game designers, plus multiple game history exhibits spanning The Neverhood through classic Sega games.
These events will be free to all GDC passholders for the week of the 2013 Game Developers Conference on March 25-29 and will be found in the common areas across the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. The full line-up of exhibits is as follows:
The MADE - Game History Exhibit
Firstly, occupying part of the West Hall's Street Level, the Oakland-based Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment will host and curate a playable, diverse game history exhibit in three parts: 'Games You Can Frame', 'The Sound of Games', and 'African-Americans in Game Development'.
The main exhibit, 'Games You Can Frame' focuses on beautiful visuals from video gaming's past, and includes titles spanning GDC Classic Postmortem honoree Myst, Cinemaware's It Came From The Desert!, LucasArts' Grim Fandango, Q's Rez, and Fumito Ueda's Shadow Of The Colossus, to name but a few.
'The Sound Of Games' is a mini-exhibit featuring games with amazing audio or soundtracks, including Streets Of Rage and Super Metroid, and the mini-exhibit on African-Americans in games will feature the Fairchild Channel F game console, Designasaur 2 and Battlecruiser 3000AD.
Eric Zimmerman - 'Board Games by Video Game Designers' Exhibit
In another GDC first, Eric Zimmerman's card and board game lounge, cheekily named 'Doing It On the Table', will be located on the Second Floor of the West Hall. The exhibit has been designed to showcase board and card games from notable video game developers, and all games will be playable throughout the week.
Some of the board games playable will include Crows, a graveyard-themed game from Hoard designer Tyler Sigman, strategy card game Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space from IGF finalists Santa Ragione (MirrorMoon), and fighting card game Flash Duel from veteran designer/balancer David Sirlin (Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix).
Also available in the lounge are games including The Metagame (by the Zimmerman-affiliated Local No.12), plus one-of-a-kind tabletop game artworks from Wizardry franchise designer Brenda Romero (a rare public showcase of her poignant boardgame Train) and Stone Librande (Spore and SimCity designer, showing the boardgame Crash City).
Videogame History Museum - Sega & More
In a GDC debut, 'The History of Sega' video game lounge will fill the Second Floor of the West Hall with generations of games and gadgets to play from the hardware and software giant, including multiple arcade machines and playable home consoles.
With a plan to showcase different prominent game companies over multiple years, GDC organizers have partnered with curators The Videogame History Museum, the individuals behind the Classic Gaming Expo and prominent classic gaming exhibits at E3 and DICE. The host of items - including some special non-Sega bonuses - will include many items never exhibited in public before.
Wild Rumpus - Indie Game World Champs
As previously announced, masterful twitch gamers and novices alike can hone their skills for the 'indie game world championships' in Rumpus Royale, located on the Street Level of the West Hall.
Partnering with Wild Rumpus, the games to be showcased include Bennett Foddy's running 'simulator' QWOP (in a special new version!), Ramiro Corbetta's acclaimed multiplayer sports game Hokra, Terry Cavanagh's twitchy, twisty Super Hexagon and Beau Blyth's IGF 2013 nominated multiplayer fight to the death Samurai Gunn.
There will be ongoing open-to-all training sessions every day, plus official commentated championships featuring the game's developers and other special guests - from Monday to Thursday at 4pm.
I Am 8-Bit - 'Class Of GDC'
Lastly, in its own area on the Lower Lobby of the North Hall, iam8bit will offer GDC attendees free photo shoots to memorialize their week at GDC. Along the way "attendees are welcomed into an elaborate snapshot experience, harkening back to those days of bad dos, questionable fashion and laser backdrops" - with clothes available to wear and hair & make-up artists on hand to dress you.
GDC still offers over $100 discounts to select pass purchases made by Wednesday March 20th at 11:59pm EST, with prices increasing for onsite registration. GDC 2013 itself will take place March 25-29 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
