<
https://www.polygon.com/gdc-2026-game-developers-conference-what-is-it-like-ai-talks/>
"Growing up in the aughts in San Francisco, I always had the distinct sense
that the party was over. Whatever flame burned in defiance of the AIDS crisis
was marked on Google Maps as a popular tourist destination. Gentrification had
already won and was busy cramming a dozen immigrants into a single apartment. A
new fight for the soul of the city was underway, but most of us fortunate
enough to have a computer class were too young and too busy playing
Mario
Teaches Typing to understand what was happening.
Now, as an adult returning to San Francisco to attend the Game Developers
Conference this year, it seems that the party isn’t over at all. It’s just
walled off, filled with trendy vending trucks, and plastered with
advertisements for products exclusively aimed at CEOs. Anyone is welcome. All
you need is a few thousand dollars, a strong ability to compartmentalize, and a
QR code.
The yearly event, which spans a week and hosts countless talks about the art
and craft of making video games, is one I’ve attended many times. The Moscone
Center, where the convention is held, is a complex that spiritually falls
somewhere between airport and secret lair in a sci-fi movie.
As I made my way to the hotel after landing, I looked in awe at the streets of
San Francisco. I had just arrived from Minnesota, where the warming winter
weather had just revealed a dead squirrel that had been decomposing in my front
yard for who knows how long. I don’t know what’s in the cement in San
Francisco, but the streets around Moscone literally glimmer."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
