Game Daily: The Definitive voice of games

Sometimes good news can lead to a little bad news. Microsoft's expansion of the Xbox Live Arcade game sizes from 50 MB to 150 MB meant that The Behemoth could do even more with their forthcoming game Castle Crashers...so the company could very well be working on the game into early 2008.

With Game Developers Conference, you really have to take pictures to capture the essence of what was going on. Sure, words can explain a lot, but pictures can tell a story as well. So, as part of my concluding coverage on the event, I've decided to share with you a few photos talking about my favorite moments from the event. (Note: not all these pictures will be liked. I expect hate mail from John Benyamine any minute now.)

Microsoft and Nintendo offer reactions to Sony's recently announced free social networking/avatar experience called Home. With reactions like "This is an example of Sony's 'Mii-too' approach" and "not a very game-centric approach" illustrating early competitive venom, it will be interesting to see how gamers react when the game arrives later on PlayStation 3.

GDC: Reaction From Nintendo/Microsoft on PS3's Home

GDC: PlayStation Home Video (with commentary)

Many games made a special appearance at GDC this year, but these were the ones that you, GameDaily readers, wanted to know the most about. Which games were the 10 most popular ... take a look at the Big Games from GDC photo gallery and find out if your top game made the list.

View the Big Games from the 2007 Game Developer's Conference photo gallery.

So this afternoon, in the rush between last day proceedings at the GDC and the attempt to catch a well-timed BART train to catch my flight, I was able to attend the Light and Darkness: 2-D and 3-D Gaming Session, led by famed Konami producer Koji "IGA" Igarashi. While he explained how 3-D appealed to the general public, he explained how developing a 2-D game would be for the better... and why the medium still has hope yet.

Some small but breaking news to report this morning, which should bode well for Nintendo fans who think that the company's release slate for summer is a little light.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass looks like it'll be ready to show up on shelves this June. We're still prying at the company's reps to get an official date, but we're guessing mid-June, just in time to beat the summertime blues.

Look for more coverage on the game shortly. Triforce for the win!

After suffering from a big case of foot-in-mouth-disease, Spore developer Chris Heckler humbly detracted his "Wii is a piece of shit" statement from his rant the other day. He has gone on record to say that he was just trying to be "thought provoking" and "fun," but somehow went a little overboard.

In his detraction speech he also qualifies his comments by saying, "When I'm on stage, I'm me. I'm talking talk from me. From me. I'm not representing EA or Maxis. I want to make two things perfectly clear."

He then went on to say that he applauds Nintendo for the innovation they've done with Wii and that, yes, he knows the company's committed to great games. Don't even want to know what kind of reaming Will Wright or the folks over a EA gave him over his mini tirade the other day. Two demerits, sir! We'll see if his CYA (cover your azz) statements will soothe the powers that be.

Get the full story from GWN.com

Indeed, GameDaily has a presence at the Game Developers Conference. Not at the actual event, mind you, but tucked away at a bar a stone's throw from the Moscone Center, where we can watch in the distance and watch the people scurry about in a pure develoment-laden frenzy. But what the hey, we felt like showing off our business space in action and letting you know what it was all about.

So, yesterday, in the hustle and bustle of the Game Developers Conference, the folks at Gamecock (formerly Gathering of Developers) whisked us away to a hotel in the heart of San Francisco to let us try out Fury, their forthcoming PC effort where people fight it out in skirmishes in true medieval fashion. The game still has some quirks to work out, but holds a great deal of potential.