Game Developer’s Conference Highlights

Even though Game Developer’s Conference should by name be about developers coming together and networking and talking about how to make better games, the big names all bring tons of new info and use their keynotes to stump their product. Sony’s Phil Harrison actually showed Killzone on PS3 last night in playable form but touted it as an exercise in their new game engine and developer tools. Whatever, Phil. You wanted to show Killzone to someone.

Sony came out swinging after almost a year of bad press following their E3 announcement of the PS3’s pricepoint. The bombshell is Playstation Home (trailer) is a service thats part Xbox Achievements, part Mii, and part Second Life. Its almost… too much. It lack’s Mii’s simple charm, and 360’s slick menu system in favor of stocking an apartment full of trophies earned in game and having an avatar you can clothe and send around the virtual world. I have a feeling this sounds cooler than it will be, but at least it sounds cool.

Another feather in Sony’s cap is LittleBigPlanet. Its a platformer. A platformer! Its community based, so you can make and share your own levels. Just Look, we’ll talk about it later. I’ll just say this is a game I’d buy a PS3 for.

Nintendo has good news and bad news. Bad News: This summer has no Mario Galaxy or Metroid Prime 3. No wonder Reggie’s driver looks mad. Good news? At least they have SOME games coming out. You want any of these?

Wii
April 9- Super Paper Mario Nintendo
April- Prince of Persia Rival Swords Ubisoft
April- Bust-A-Move Bash Majesco
April- Bioncle Heroes Eidos
May 15- Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Midway
May 29- Mario Party 8 Nintendo
May- Tamagotchi Party On Namco Bandai
May- Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean at World’s End Disney Interactive
May- Escape from Bug Island Eidos
May- Spider-Man The Movie 3 Activision
June 11- Big Brain Academy Nintendo
June 25- Pokemon Battle Revolution Nintendo
June- Cosmic Family Ubisoft
Spring- Heatseeker Codemasters
Q2- Legend of the Dragon American Game Factory
Summer- Shrek the Third Activision
Summer- Transformers the Game Activision

Nintendo DS
April 22- Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl Nintendo
May- Pirates of the Caribbean 3 Buena Vista
May- Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu Atari
May- Pony Friends Eidos
May- Diner Dash Eidos
May- Touch the Dead Eidos
June 4- Nintendo DS browser Nintendo
June 4- Planet Puzzle League Nintendo
June 11- Touchmaster DS Midway
June- Zendoku Eidos
Spring- Naruto Ninja Council 3 Tomy
Spring- Time Ace Konami
Spring- Death Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom Konami
Summer- Shrek the Third Activision
Summer- Transformers: Autobots Activision
Summer- Transformers: Decepticons Activision
Q2- Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon Natsume

Holy moly, Nintendo, is that all you’ve got? Super Paper Mario is a must buy on Wii, but theres no other big game on that list.. oh wait… Planet Puzzle League? Thats Tetris Attack online! Hell yes!

Microsoft had their “Bloggers Breakfast” where folk from Kotaku, Destructoid, and other sites that can afford to send a staff member to GDC can pick apart Microsoft Game Studios’ Shane Kim before he’s had his morning meal. The also showed off some more Forza 2 stuff, but not a lot of news for the 360… yet. They are in the middle of an “XNA challenge” where some Indie Developers are slapping together Live Arcade titles in only 4 days. Joystiq has full coverage. Wonder if any of these titles will actually get to consumers?