Not that I've ever been (the tyrannies of time AND distance conspiring against me...that and I'm not a games developer), but GDC has always sounded like a hoot. Kind of like E3 unplugged. All the feel-good stuff witout the nauseating overkill of E3. But with E3 now (largely) out of the picture, and more and more eyes turning towards GDC as a source of major industry announcements, what will become of it? Develope Patricia Pizer fears kegs and half-naked chicks:

It's gotten so big. It used to feel more like a community of my peers, and now it feels more like a frat party.

Al-right. Bet that Pete Molyneux knows how to party.

While some, like Pizer, are a little concerned about GDC's growing prominence on the gaming calendar (at least for us as innocent bystanders), Conference Director Jamil Moledina prefers to stay focused:

The main lesson from (the transition of E3) is that we have to stick to what we do best: providing learning and inspiration to independent developers.

There you go. Bring the journalists and the announcements and the attention all you want, so long as game developers still have one big, cuddly place they can hook up, swap stories and get some business done, and everyone leaves happy. Luke Plunkett

Game Developers Conference expands—but too far? [Cnet]