Throughout the event, panelists Joel DeYoung of Hothead Games, Jennifer Mercurio of the Entertainment Consumers Association, James Portnow of Divide By Zero Games and moderator/journalist Aaron Ruby tried to define what "gamer" really means. There were some arguments made that we don't need that term anymore, or at least that it no longer means 1) fat, 2) unwashed or 3) male. But ultimately nobody could quite put their finger on what made every single person in that room different from every single person over at the Bumbershoot festival.

Then, a man who'd been waiting in line for nearly half an hour for a turn at the microphone put it something like this: "[I define] ‘Gamer' as someone dedicated to the perfection of fun. You can't do that in 10 [minute intervals]."

There was an audible hiss from the crowd and the panelists shifted uneasily. Was this guy saying casual gamers didn't count as gamers, or just classifying all short gaming experiences as casual games?

Either way, it pissed a few people off. My QA tester friend who'd been sitting next to me put down her DS and loudly said, "Have you ever heard of The Sims?"

I'm pretty sure most of the women in the crowd were annoyed, plus a few of the panelists. I imagine especially so DeYoung who'd made a point about the need for episodic gaming experiences that family-minded gamers could work into their busy everyday lives.

The statement was wrong-headed, though, not just because it alienated all of casual gamers, but because it implies that short games are somehow not really games.

Alright, fine, people who play Bejewled exclusively probably aren't "gamer" enough to comment intelligently on Mass Effect 2. However, it's not fair to say that Plants vs. Zombies doesn't contribute in some way to the perfection of the real time strategy genre, or that the storytelling in Portal didn't have an impact on the way longer games construct their narratives.

Come to think of it, lots of what we call "core" games (that is, the kind aimed specifically at "gamers" and not at anyone else) are short or episodic experiences. Games like Ico, Uncharted, Rez, Shadow Complex and even Batman: Arkham Asylum were all on the short-ish side at or around 10 hours each – and yet all contribute in some way to the "perfection of fun" somehow, don't they?

Ruby responded to the question right away with, "Those are fighting words." Sadly, though, there wasn't enough time left in the panel for a discussion to kick off.

So, Kotaku, I leave it to you to weigh in on the casual versus core debate with respect to the term gamer. Is one flavor of gamer somehow less gamer than the other? Does length have anything to do with it, or is that a penis joke waiting to happen?

While we won't call it an official announcement - we've long known that Mass Effect was only part one of a three-part series - we might be getting our first glimpse at the second chapter at the Game Developers Conference in March. In a 60 minute lecture titled "The Iterative Level Design Process of Bioware's Mass Effect 2", Bioware project manager Corey Andruko and lead technical designer Dusty Everman will discuss lessons learned from crafting the first game, and how they've been applied to level design in the sequel. They'll talk about the team's new level creation process, which strives to maximize iteration while minimizing reworking and cost. It sounds amazingly exciting. So exciting that I nearly fell asleep writing that last bit.

Game developers eat this sort of stuff up though, and since it is the Game Developers Conference, I'm sure it will go over splendidly. We're just hoping that the panel comes with some new information on the follow up to the original game, and that we don't snore too loudly.

The Iterative Level Design Process of Bioware's MASS EFFECT 2 [Game Developers Conference 2009 - Thanks Danny!]

Turns out it wasn't actually an audition as the finalists had already been chosen and were going to be appearing on a panel that very afternoon. The girls had been put through their paces all weekend, competing in various game competitions culminating in the aforementioned panel. Here, the finalists were grilled with questions from the audience so that everyone could get to know a little bit more about them. Once it was over, audience members were allowed to vote for their favorite, but the stringent process doesn't end there, oh no. Now the current Dolls must make some hard decisions about who amongst these lovely ladies will be admitted into their super glamorous gaming sorority. I'm on the edge of my seat in anticipation of the announced winner as I'm sure you must be too! Who will it be? Only time will tell...

Frag Doll Finalists [Frag Dolls]

Here's the description:

Blogphotopodcasting: New Media in the Game Industry
Join pioneers in the new media industry as they discuss how they're blazing the trail for mainstream news and how the mediums of the past are shaking in their boots. Panelists include Brian Crecente (Editor, Kotaku), Ashley Jenkins (Fragdolls.com), MC Wilson (Broadcast Gamer) and Julianne Greer (Editor, The Escapist).

If you're heading to PAX come by and help fill a seat or two. The panel is Sunday, Aug. 27 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

This is going to be my first PAX and I'm psyched. And yes, I'll be liveblogging the shit out of it. Hmmm, I wonder if I can liveblog my own panel? I could be snarky about myself. NICE! Brian Crecente