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GDC Canada 2010: Welcome to the city

The thoughts and curiosities upon arrival to Vancouver

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The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers and associated members of the industry, that focuses on learning, inspiration, and networking. The event comprises an expo, networking events, and even awards shows. The venues and locations vary, with separate events being held in USA, Canada, Europe, China and others. This year, New Game Network is attending the second annual GDC in Canada, which highlights local talent in this great country. Taking place once again in the heart of Vancouver, GDC Canada aims to be a premier event and the addition of the nFirst Anual Canadian Video Game Awards to the week’s proceedings certainly helps.
 
This is a daily blog that will run through the rest of the week, covering our trip out West. The city of Vancouver is a coastal municipality, located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is named for British Captain George Vancouver, who explored the area in the 1790. The largest metropolitan area in Western Canada, Vancouver ranks third largest in the country and the city proper ranks eighth. The city recently hosted the huge 2010 Winter Olympic Games, which means that tons of effort was invested in improving the architecture and the versatility of the city. The Olympics were a success, and the city now enjoys an even better reputation as a great place to visit and live.
 
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Not exactly ideal takeoff weather
 
Most importantly, the city and surrounding areas are a hot spot for Canadian Game developers and publishers. Companies such as Blue Castle Games, Big Park, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Radical Entertainment, Relic Games, Sony, Ubisoft and many others call this city home. Unsurprisingly, most of these companies will take part in the coming day’s GDC events. The show is set to kick off on Wednesday night, with the opening party courtesy of Relic Games, along with another big show – the first Canadian Video Game Awards.

The Canadian Video Games Awards aims to be a unique show that focuses on Canadian products and rewards developers and publishers from the country. Though just because the nominee list is limited to locally created titles, does not mean the winners will have an easy pass. With tons globally-popular titles such as Assassin’s Creed 2 and Dawn of War 2 leading the nomination lists, it promises to be a tight race that’s more exciting than some may give it credit for. Other huge titles such as Dragon Age Origins and FIFA10 are also up for numerous awards, leaving the door wide open for some real intriguing winner selections. The Game of the Year vote was left up to fans, giving the Canadian gamers a chance to pick their top title of the year from a Canadian developer. The Awards unfold on Wednesday evening, and are a public event so the organizers hope they are able to draw in a sizable crowd.
 
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The Convention Center is a beautiful piece of architecture
 
The stay in downtown Vancouver has been pleasant thus far. Apart from some unpredicted (but far from unexpected) precipitation, the city seems very welcoming and bustling with culture. The convention center itself, where all of the events this week are taking place, has seen an amazing renovation with a new modern yet stylish architecture. We are already very much looking forward to our time here, both as a business trip and as a tourist destination.
 
Wednesday promises to be a very busy day. We have lined up a chance to check out Mod Nation Racers via a press event taking place with Sony and the game’s developers United Front Games. The title looks to draw a lot of inspiration from the kart racing series that are extremely popular on Nintendo’s platforms, while adding in major creativity elements similar to those in LittleBigPlanet. The title is a PS3 exclusive, and we look forward to what the developers can show us in regards to the title. For the evening, meanwhile, the CVGAs are taking place at the Convention center, followed by the GDC Opening night party. It’s sure to be a thrilling night in the heart of Vancouver. Until then.  

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#1 May 5, 2010 02:57:27 (May 5, 2010 02:57)

with_teeth26
 Welcome to Vancouver, hope you brought an Umbrella! Wish i could have attended, crazy coincidence that the opening night and after party are on the same day as my birthday! I look forwards to hearing about stuff from the show, particularly any news Relic has about upcoming games/DoW II expansions/updates. 
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