GDC 2008: Jamil Moledina: Probing the Mind of GDC, Part One

TE: It's interesting you bring that up, because ... as soon as I get back from GDC, I'm going to turn right around and head to SXSW, and that's another conference that has sort of morphed over the years from its humble music beginnings ... now they have interactive and film and all these things. And just hearing you talk, it sounds like GDC may be headed in a similar direction.

Can you imagine a future in which you have a film track, or an interactive film track, or all these kinds of other things that maybe now are smaller parts of GDC, maybe their own sessions but could later become like the Worlds in Motion Summit?

JM: It's definitely possible, if the game industry itself moves in that direction. The interesting thing to note here is that all of these new trends that we're observing are happening in addition to the inherent expansion of the core game industry itself. So GDC still needs to have its main conference, with over 300 sessions in it, dedicated to programming, art, design, production, and 2007 was a banner year, with games like BioShock, Halo 3, and amazing new games on the horizon like Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and Final Fantasy XIII, so there's a lot of amazing content for us to cover in terms of what went right and what went wrong in creating these games. And that's really where most of our demand comes from.

So these summits are then a way for us to make sure we're not missing anything, by dedicating individual content streams to it. Having said that, GDC does adapt over time. Like a couple years ago, we introduced the Business and Management track, and shortly after that, we introduced the Vision track. So it's very likely that we could be seeing additional tracks depending on where the game industry heads.

TE: That also reminds me ... we're not seeing as much involvement with the IDGA (the International Game Developer Association) this year. Is that by design, or have GDC and the IDGA just sort of gone off in different directions at this point?

JM: Well, we have a really strong relationship with the IDGA; they have the largest booth of a non-profit at the GDC. They're a very strong partner of ours. The reason why we went with Gamasutra and Game Developer in administering the Choice Awards is because we wanted to make sure that we captured the full breadth of game creators. So there's a lot more people that are in the Gamasutra membership database.

So we wanted to make sure that we captured them, and that we had a very efficient system for tabulating votes. It really speaks to what we want to spend time on as organizations, and the IDGA is primarily about advocacy. This was something that we simply had a better ability to handle in terms of the mechanics of executing.

TE: Do you sit back with a cocktail glass and a cigar, just kind of pleased that the GDC has become the new destination convention for gaming? I mean, it's obviously the one everyone is going to ... does that make you a little anxious about the future maybe?

JM: At the GDC I will enjoy a drink ... that's true. Implied in there is the sense that we have now accomplished something and it's a chance to just kind of sit back and relax, which I'm afraid is not the case. We've worked very hard to develop the GDC to the point that it's at. Certainly, the show has a momentum, and it has a word-of-mouth. And it has a point of respect for decades in the industry. So it's incumbent on us to ensure that we keep that level of editorial integrity, that we always make it clear to the community that we are beholden to them first, and never lose sight of that, never do anything that comes off as slightly ... that shows a tin ear, that seems out of touch in some regard. That is one of the things that guides us in how we develop each show.

So every year it's a challenge to create a better GDC. I don't see us kind of shirking off that responsibility, nor do I think it's an impossible goal for us, because the industry is continually expanding and getting into new areas, and it opens up new possibilities for the GDC itself, which is a reflection of that industry.

GDC begins today and will run through Friday, February 22nd. The Escapist will be there providing exclusive coverage of panels, events and parties. Part Two of this interview will appear in this space tomorrow.