Miyamoto to Deliver GDC Keynote

January 22, 2007 7:31 AM

In his first Game Developers Conference keynote since 1999, famed Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto will be taking top billing at this year's event in San Francisco. Miyamoto, best known for his creation of Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, will deliver an address entitled "A Creative Vision," framing the context in the topic of not only game design but technological research and development.

Unusually, the upcoming GDC roster lists quite a few Japanese developers, a rarity for the generally Western-dominated conference. Names such as Mario and Zelda composer Koji Kondo, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess director Eiji Aonuma, Killer7 designer and Grasshopper CEO Goichi Suda, Final Fantasy XII programmer and Square Enix tech GM Taku Murata, Elite Beat Agents designer and iNiS dev VP Keiichi Yano, and Square Enix chief strategist Ichiro Otobe are among the Japanese industry professionals that will be delivering lectures and presentations over the course of the week.

In 2004 and 2005, Nintendo president and former HAL Laboratories programmer Satoru Iwata delivered keynote addresses at the Game Developers Conference.

Game Developers Conference takes place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from March 5-9, 2007. Miyamoto's keynote is scheduled at 10:30am in Moscone South Hall on Thursday, March 8.

Chris Remo

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5150Joker

 reply
January 22, 2007 7:48 AM

Can you go to the GDC if you're not part of the press? I'd love to go to this thing.
- Chris Remo
  
   reply
  January 22, 2007 8:00 AM
  
  You certainly don't have to be press (it's not a press event, it's an industry trade event), but it can get expensive depending on what kind of pass you buy. http://www.gdconf.com/
  - 5150Joker
    
     reply
    January 22, 2007 8:06 AM
    
    Shit too expensive for me. I just wanted to see Miyamoto's speech...oh well.
    - timaste
      
       reply
      January 22, 2007 8:47 AM
      
      Stuff like the Keynote almost always makes it way online pretty quick. If you make it, come by our booth, GarageGames (GG). :)
      - gothaggis
        
         reply
        January 22, 2007 10:26 AM
        
        i'm going to GDC this year. I am totally going to stalk you Tim until you give me Legions beta.
  - c_man_tmt
    
     reply
    January 22, 2007 8:24 AM
    
    holy crap that is expensive. The cheapest one is $1000.
    - zehh
      
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      January 22, 2007 8:44 AM
      
      Maybe that's why it's for developers only. Thankfully.
      
      GDC themselves and other sites usually make the keynotes available online, plus writeups, so it shouldn't be a problem getting it later. But they'll be aimed at developers, not players.
- aasyranth
  
   reply
  January 22, 2007 8:34 AM
  
  I'll have to catch the video. $1000+ airfare and lodging will be too brutal for me.
- brushbaron
  
   reply
  January 22, 2007 9:38 AM
  
  If anyone wants to go to GDC as a whole, there might be volunteer opportunities. Who knows, you might help Will Wright find classroom 101B. I think volunteers can attend for free, but you'll be told where to go and when, I think.
  - zehh
    
     reply
    January 22, 2007 10:40 AM
    
    IIRC, volunteers can attend for free whatever they want, but not during the time you're working. This means there will be time you'll only be working, and time you'll be free to see whatever you want to see.
    
    Also, volunteers go through a lengthy selection process, and from what I remember, this happens a long time before GDC. Meaning they're probably not taking volunteers for 2007 anymore.
    
    Weird enough, the volunteer page says today is the last day for *receiving* the confirmation of your selection, so who knows what gives.
    
    http://www.gdconf.com/register/caregistration.php
    - Sturm08
      
       reply
      January 22, 2007 1:10 PM
      
      ^^ Truth. My co-workers all go, because they volunteer. I keep meaning to go, but I forget until it's too late...