Jake from Grey Alien Games tweeted the question “Total GDC Cost was $1500. What was yours? (IGS Ticket, Flight, Accommodation, Food/Travel/Parties).”
Mine was roughly $100, which is probably about the same as I would have spent if the Game Developer Conference didn’t happen. Luckily, the conference is about a 25 minute walk from my apartment and my friend let me borrow a GDC pass so I could check out the expo and go to a few sessions. Parties usually had free booze and some snacks and I was close enough to my apartment so I could eat at home most of the time. All in all it was a cheap conference for me.
One might imagine after only spending $100 that GDC wasn’t very eventful or worthwhile, but it was. I met a ton of indie developers, showed off my game to some press, partied every single night, and saw some people I haven’t seen since PAX East last year. Note: It was also way less sweaty and smelled better than PAX East.
As far as press goes, I met and showed off WarGames to Touch Arcade. The article ran Friday afternoon so I’m guessing not too many people saw it, but I’ll happily take the coverage.
The Sunday before GDC IGN hosted an indie games showcase where a bunch of indies set up shop and mingled with press. Some cool dudes from Destructoid stopped by and played the game. If you don’t follow Destructoid’s Hamza (AKA @CTZ) on twitter you should remedy that. Several people from Kotaku were there but they seemed to mostly huddle in the corner and talk to themselves. As they were leaving I shoved my game in Stephen Totilo’s face and made him play it. Who knows if it will result in anything, but I’m glad I did it though because every shot at getting coverage is worth it.
Serious Sam: Kamikaze Attack! was also featured in a video in Sony’s mobile booth.
Overall it was a great week. Every time I go to a conference and get to show off my game it makes me feel super good about what I’m doing. I’m going to make a good effort to attend more game conferences in the future since they’re usually a great way to network, get bidness done, and they’re just plain fun.