So last year, I was an IGF Mobile finalist. This little game of mine stood alongside iPhone favorites like Edge and Fieldrunners, vying for the “Best Mobile Game” award. And if I had won, … well, I have no idea. Even just being a finalist has been great for me, so I’d image it would have been MORE great. 😉

That was 2009, and this is 2010.

This year started out as my “low key” and “quiet” GDC. I booked my flight and hotel in early January; I had a simple schedule with an open couple days where I’d meet up and hang out with fellow developers. It was to be, simple.

Then I won a car.

Now, this is something I’ve just recently learned. In our business, when you win a car, you don’t just “win a car”. In fact, the car is just the first hint that something awesome is happening.

Lets take a look at Intel’s GDC Agenda website.

http://www.intel.com/software/gdc/

Some cool stuff. 6 sponsored talks covering topics ranging from Netbooks to multi-core. Nice.

Oh hey, so what do we find if we keep scrolling?

Mike Kasprzak Live @ the Intel Booth, GDC 2010! Wait… What!?!

This is just 1 of 3 video interviews I have penned in for the conference. This one (if I’ve read correctly) should be streaming Live from the conference center, and eventually archived on Intel’s Visual Adrenaline TV website.

Whoa.

– – –

Also going on, we’re doing our first Ludum Dare meetup at the conference. Phil and I have been half talking about this for the past several months, and now it’s official.

http://www.ludumdare.com/ludum-dare-gdc-event/

Wednesday after day 2 of the conference (Independent Games Summit, etc), we’ll make our way down the road to the Metreon. Because we (I) haven’t organized something like this before, I wanted to be sure we were at a place easy to find outside the conference center. It seems we also have several Ludum Dare regulars in the bay area, but not everyone is attending GDC. So a place like the Metreon works out well, and we can be even more inclusive.

I have no idea what the meet will turn in to, but I’m definitely looking forward to it.

– – –

Phil and I regularly throw the idea back and forth that conferences like GDC are important, valuable, and incredibly useful for developers. The question for us has been how to convey that to, say, the Ludum Dare community? You don’t need to do many; I myself only pen in GDC proper. But the way things are going, I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up elsewhere this year or next.

There’s like a weird momentum that builds from compos and conferences. I actually thought the Smiles story was over 2 months after it’s release. Then the IGF Mobile happened, things rocked for a few months, and eventually cooled down. Then there was … well, I’m not talking about that yet (tease tease!). That was followed by me entering some contests with Smiles late last year, which in turn have made 2010 my biggest year yet, and that was just January! The momentum is still building.

And as far as I’m concerned, I’m just going to jump head-first in to this, and see what happens. So far it’s all been good and definitely worth it.

See you at the show.