At the risk of provoking the ire of Miyamoto worshipers everywhere, before GDC I had only a vague idea who the guy was. My ignorance may surprise you considering that everyone who plays games (and I play many games. In fact I play so many, sometimes I play two at a time—one with each hand) knows of the Father of Modern Video Gaming. I have no good explanation for my philistinism unless it’s that I’d had no time to read the news because I was busy playing games. So it was that I went to GDC Thursday morning serenely naïve, with no idea that something, call it Fate, call it Destiny, had determined to bring Miyamoto and me together.

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As mentioned in my GDC Diary, I became aware of Sony's Phil Harrison (or at least put a face to the name) after watching that satirical "PS3 Song" video on YouTube. He seemed on the video not only to be clueless, but a bit of a stuffed shirt as well, the perfect target for console schismatics everywhere. I went to the keynote to check him out, to see if he really was as flat as an ironing board.

The start of the presentation wasn't promising. Phil manfully announced his intention to give the presentation via the user-friendly PS3 and accidentally gave the audience license to titter when said device was less than responsive. Then just like James Brown, the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, Phil issued a guttural "HEY!" and then collapsed on the stage until a group of horn players picked him up and wrapped a sequined cape around his shoulders. Ok--I made that last part up but my point is--Phil soldiered on, not wanting to disappoint the scads of Sony enthusiasts waiting to hear the Good Word.

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7:30 am – Starfish and Coffee
Having learned my lesson the day before, I took a scarf next morning on the bus so I could wear it western-outlaw style, pulled up over my mouth and nose to filter out the worst of the communal miasma. Thus outfitted, I felt comfortable enough to catch 40 winks on the ride down, in spite of the wall of humanity threatening to flatten me at every sudden stop. Having the GDC morning routine down, I breezed through the latte line without incident, inhaled a cake donut and skipped to the West hall to catch the LucasArts presentation.

9:00 am – Conference hop

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Day 1
7:30 am – Bus rides and coffee

This year's Game Developer's Conference was held in San Francisco which is good for me because I'm a local. No travel costs--whoooo! The day started with a bus ride downtown from my place in the Inner Sunset. Having ridden public transportation all the time when living in Chicago I should've been prepared for this, but since moving to the Bay Area I drive everywhere and had forgotten the distinct olfactory experiences found on a city bus. After a half hour of holding my breath, I burst out the back doors of the bus a couple blocks from the Moscone convention center with only one thing on my mind. NO, not games. Caffeine. There's usually free coffee for attendees at these convention dealies but if there's one thing I won't abide in the morning (or any other time) it's crappy coffee.

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