GDC Blogging, Blackberry Style

Perhaps the biggest thing announced this week that we didn't already know is that Gears of War 2 will hit in November of this year. Epic wouldn't let me get any pictures or video and instead juat directed me to tell everyone to check out the teaser trailer that can be found off their web site. Personally, I wasn't impressed. But then I'd like to see more than something that looks like it was designed for a Virtual Boy (it's all red on black). 

I saw a bunch of reports that Street Fighter 4 was playable here, but try as I might I couldn't find it. Its been a long week and it was probably right under my nose the whole time, but there that is. By the way, Anand will beat all of you at Street Fighter 2. Sorry, that's just how it is. 

Insomniac (the guys who do Ratchet and Clank) have announced that they will be giving away a bunch of basic tools and libraries, along with source code. While they are known as a Sony developer, there tools will be cross platform with the goal of helping game designers and engine developers skip some of the steps that always need to be repeated for every project. By allowing all devs access to the source, we could see some first class gaming libraries come out of this for the benefit of all game developers, whether they are slaves to the biggest corporate machine out there or are a broke independent developer who needs every break possible. This will also give hobbyists access to solid technology that could really help pull more passionate and talented people into game development. 

Peter Molyneaux lead a session on the three key things behind Fable 2 that will make it a success. He says he's learned from the past and only discussed things that would actually make it into the game. But time will tell on that one. It was an excellent talk, and I'll write more about it when I've got access to a computer to do it on. The three points are Drama, Combat and Co-op. But it's how they acheive their objectives that sounds really compelling. It seems like this version of Fable won't be just a simple sequel, but that it will truly try to draw people in and challenge them as a gamer and as a person. At first blush, I am a little worried about the co-op system as it seems more like something out of animal crossing than real co-op. But we'll see how it works out. 

My thumbs are cramping for now, but I'll get more up as soon as I can.