PPR at GDC 16!

ncoming; we’ve got a late podcast from PPR, and for that; we sincerely apologize, but just know that we’re still here, we’re still kicking, and that’s never going to stop.

So GDC, George went there, and he played a TON of stuff; mostly shit that transported him to immersive worlds through the use of various gaudy headwear tech options that were strapped to his dumb dome. Stuff like Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR, HTC Vive, Idealswift, and more in this special GDC recap.

Tons of other game talk too, especially Nintendo, and the debut of their app, Miitomo, some Batman V Superman talk, and all those shitty NX leaks that we all had fun with dissecting. What are y’all waiting for? Give it a listen!

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

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GDC 16: Best of IGF Pavilion

he 18^th annual IGF has now come and gone, and with all the buzz about VR, and new networking, it’s comforting to know that the IGF Pavilion is still getting plenty of love from the attendees that’re passing through. Some of the titles being showcased are ones we’ve all become familiar with, and then there are the ones that were out of left field; the ones that proved that VR wasn’t taking over the future of video games, and that there was plenty of steam left within the creative bank of design towards games.

Here are some of my favorite experiences with my time at the IGF Pavilion.

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GDC 16: Trying out the final Oculus Rift and Touch before launch!

o, even as we approach the official release of the Oculus, we can’t deny the sticker shock of its price and hardware requirements that we’ve all been talking about since the last holiday—it’s still kind of a big deal.

However that may be though, there’s no denying the allure and technical performance of the finalized set in action. As I made my way towards the Oculus exhibit at GDC 16, I went with the baited hopes that the experience would be able to convince me that this peripheral was going to be worth everything that its eventual price of admission will make it out to be.

I can be honest, I still haven’t arrived to a conclusion about that, but I can tell you this—The Oculus Rift and Touch is pretty fucking rad, and definitely better than any previous iteration of the tech that I’ve seen before.

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GDC 16: Getting face time with the PlayStation Morpheus

et’s face it folks, the hip new trend to hit video games this generation is most definitely VR; the future of games is starting to sound like it’s not all that promising unless you’re doing it with some techno ski mask strapped to your face.

Between issues like the stability of the hardware’s performance to the very accessibility of admission to it, VR is saddled with a quite a hurdle to overcome if it has any hopes of being successful in the public eye.

It would appear that Sony has taken these obstacles into account however, and has adapted their Project Morpheus accordingly in order to best appeal to the sensibilities of the average game consumer.

I finally got the opportunity at this GDC to sit down at the Sony booth and put this thing on my face, and I have to admit, this new future of VR is looking bright for Sony if they keep up what they’re doing with the Morpheus.

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GDC 16: The best of the Indie Mega Booth

pon writing this very intro to my coverage of this year’s piece to the Indie Mega Booth, I’ve realized that this is my eighth time covering this spectacle. While this may not seem like much in hind sight, it’s incredibly fascinating to me that this exhibit continually manages to not only get bigger with the subsequent event it visits, but by each and every venue that it’s hosted at as well.

It never ceases to amaze me just what I’ll find at the Indie Mega Booth either, I’m always reassured with this sense self-fulfilling prophecy of relief within the industry that I’ll come away with these new fresh. And innovative experiences that’ll be sure to impress me.

Here are some of the games that gave me that sort of feeling at the IMB.

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GDC 16: Mixing it up at the 5th Annual MIX

s GDC celebrates its 30^th anniversary, there’s another event that’s hit its 5^th year of life with the conference and beyond—the Media Indie Exchange, or as we’ve come to affectionately refer to it, The MIX.

A host of developers and media hover around the cavalcade of new indie games to get featured throughout the offices of IGN, all buzzy and tingly from the adult concessions of the hour. It’s a great event to check out some of the latest offerings from the indie dev community, and like any event; I took the opportunity to walk through the aisles to play everything I could.

Here are some of the games that really caught my attention; I’m ready to hype y’all through some cool shit.

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GDC 16: Celebrating the teamwork of Keep Talking & Nobody Explodes

n spite of all the hype-train madness that VR has brought upon the gaming scene, the potential there is genuinely exciting, and nothing proves that more than the indie title Keep Talking & Nobody Explodes. One of the lead members of the development team, Ben Kane, of Steel Crate Games, took to the stage to discuss the approach they took with the game, and why the asymmetrical cooperation elements of it transcend the concept of simply playing a game itself.

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GDC 16: Examining the importance of Game Balance

he invisible metrics that operate behind the scenes of a game are arguably the most important aspects behind its design, because let’s face it; developers can have the coolest idea for a title on paper, but the magic won’t happen until it’s properly coded with all the information it needs to successfully work.

This is a topic of design that Game Design Professor Ian Schreiber cites to be criminally overlooked, and has taken it upon himself to make GDC 16 the ideal platform to share his views, and their significance in the ever-changing landscape of video games.

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