GDC 2011 – Miss anything?

A record number of industry professionals attended last week’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, and it’s fair to imagine the event was covered by more media outlets than ever.

Hundreds of developers speaking at the event had their opinions republished across the world, and numerous companies used GDC as a platform to announce their product.

In case you missed anything, here is a list of all the key happenings:

Lectures and lessons

‘Game development is drowning’ – Iwata
Quantity muscles over quality for the likes of Apple and Google, Nintendo president claims

Zynga opens its heart on studio culture
How the FarmVille team stole code, made guesses, sped through development and achieved the impossible

‘Become your brand’ says Cliffy B
Want to be as successful as Epic’s design director? Bleszinski tells you how to become a ‘power creative’

Piracy is not theft – Persson
Minecraft creator attacks accusations regularly directed toward games piracy

Valve’s dream to read your mind
Mike Ambinder outlines the extraordinary potential of biometric feedback

Rovio on Nintendo’s $0.99 app warning
Studio opposes description of cheap apps as ‘dangerous and disposable’; Insists console Angry Birds will routinely update

Iwata disappointed by WiiWare
Nintendo president admits download services ‘have not operated as well as they should have’

Zynga’s five tips for social game success
Mark Skaggs on ‘the matriarch network’, building 24/7 businesses and keeping play light

Bleszinski: The double-A game is dead
Only blockbusters and indie curios are viable, says Epic design director

‘Tech is in the past, the future is people’
Smule co-founder Ge Wang says technology has ‘disappeared’, though player expression is blossoming

Announcements

70% PSN Store revenue growth
Sony reveals year-on-year PSN traffic and revenue spike at GDC

Sony unveils PhyreEngine 3.0
Latest engine iteration to support PS3 and NGP development

Valve’s new Steam security
Steam Guard to offer platform users ‘greatly increased account security’

New Partnertrans website revealed
Europe-based Localisation company unveils latest online iteration from San Francisco conference

Akamai launches net games publishing kit
Electronic Software Delivery for Gaming offers download aid and metrics insight

3DS Super Mario announced
Galaxy team working on new handheld platformer
3DS Zelda title dated
Best-selling Zelda adventure coming to shelves this summer

3DS to use NetFront net browser
Nintendo ditches Opera in favour of Access software seen on PSP and PS3

Wii-integrated Netflix service for 3DS
Gamers will be able to pause movies on 3DS and finish viewing them on Wii

Shenmue 3 in the works?
‘Sega would probably let me make Shenmue 3’ says series creator

In pictures – Epic’s next-gen showcase
Gallery of shots from what firm jokes is ‘UE3.971’, showing future of game graphics

Sony opens Move to hacking community
The ‘Move Me’ app will transfer PS3 data to PC, allowing for free manipulation

Epic astounds with new tech demo
Unreal Engine 3 video strives to set the standard for future hardware platforms

Spoon cloud gaming launched
Spoon Cloud Gaming offers over 200 titles ‘install-free’

APB Reloaded closed beta launches
Reloaded inches closer to troubled game relaunch with test build release

Vicious Engine 2 supports NGP
Vicious Cycle engine joins the ranks of Sony handheld-supporting tech

Minecraft follow-up announced
New Mojang game Scrolls to hit private alpha in 2011

Top job shuffle at EA Partners
David DeMartini to adopt new commercial role; EA Games exec Brian Neider to replace him

Unity PSN title unveiled
First Sony platform game developed with Unity receives GDC reveal

Havok software announced for Android devs
Sony Ericsson deal to see software firm product line available to smartphone studios

Idea Fabrik reveals games dev platform
HeroEngine bundled with games dev services in Idea System package

SN System debuts NGP dev environment
SCE tech outfit’s toolkit to optimise workflow and iteration for studios developing for Next Generation Portable

GDC11: Unity Android goes on sale
New game engine add-on to support Xperia Play and Tegra tablets, and enable porting of iOS titles

Sony building dev-friendly Home update
New package allows for real-time multiplayer, enhanced physics, more tools

UE3 DX11 capabilities unveiled
DirectX 11 support in the Unreal Engine 3 to be shown at California conference

Euro digital market to hit 3.3bn by 2015?
Analysts to offer detailed roadmap for rise in downloadable games and content at GDC

Google charms attendees with free laptops
Google conference sessions end in surprise hardware giveaway

Autodesk’s secret ‘Project Skyline’
Tool company goes public with ‘work in progress’ animation pipeline solution

‘Mobile is a huge opportunity’ says Autodesk
Tool and middleware firm moves to embrace mobile and tablet platforms

Three Autodesk releases announced
Middleware giant to update major software products over 2011

Autodesk lifts lid on 2012 line-up
Tech giant’s updates to 3ds Max, Maya, and other tools to go on sale April 2011

Microsoft XNA dev contest opens
Dream.Build.Play 2011 offering XBLA publishing contract

SOE undergrad scholarship launched
G.I.R.L. fund to aid one lucky student on their way into games development

Angry Birds ‘nears 100 million downloads’
Mobile ‘at the centre of gravity for entire industry’; Apple hailed as ‘the game changer’

Rovio confirms Angry Birds movie
Studio executive Peter Vesterbacka hints at Summer reveal

Scaleform GFx 4.0 detailed
New solution update enhances functionality for creating UI on high end mobile platforms; alpha build available

Steam to support ‘TV interaction’
More Steam in more places as Valve’s ‘big picture’ mode lets players enjoy games on television screens

PC Gaming Alliance annual report published
Preliminary segment of third annual Horizons research report released

Eden Games’ Luxology deal revealed
Modo software used on Test Drive Unlimited 2

Gameloft signs four-game UE3 deal
Epic Games’ engine to run multiple titles from French studio

Gaikai goes live
Limited cloud gaming trials ready in time for San Francisco show