I don't even think there's much to debate. E3 seems relatively useless to me, from an educational perspective, while GDC, while it seems to tending more and more towards E3-land, offers many useful seminars and the like. While I guess there is some useful stuff that happens at E3, from an 'industry' perspective, but I would def. attend GDC over E3 any day of the week.

I haven't been to GDC and I'm chomping at the bit to go someday... Unfortunately, they don't want students. I mean, you figure an educational event would want people who are currently seeking an education in said industry. But I guess what matters more these days is pushing middleware and other development tools on people in industry than to educate people and discuss issues and new concepts.

As for E3, it's actually very educational if you're interested in the business of games. It's very easy to rub elbows with well known (and not so well known) developers, executives, and other people involved with the industry. The downside? You get to see just how male-dominated the industry is. You also get to see just how disappointing and boring the next year's games are going to be. Not to mention the noise is deafening. But still, I can't say that E3 isn't useful or educational. It's very educational if you know where to look.

I would agree that this issue is almost a no brainer. I'm not arguing it's obligatory of EA to send students to GDC, but seeing how valuable it was last year makes me really scratch my head as to why most students have to resort to joining IGDA and applying for conference scholarships. It seems like it would be money really well spent to educate students about the theory, processes and industry of game making.

Could it be that EA fears the independent community of GDC? Do they not want us to see life outside the corporate climate? Again, I'm more asking questions to figure out the reasoning behind this executive decision, rather than making too many judgements at this point.

Well, the GDC also pulled out from offering Student Tickets. So it doesn't seem like they're particularly interested in academia's presence there, either.

The GDC rocks, E3 is all glam, no gut. Last year was not only extremely educational but also a great bonding experience for the community.

But seriously I hope no one "resorted" to anything the IGDA rules and it's pretty lame to join just for a scholarship.

I believe if there is any cash put towards either it should be the GDC, but something tells me this process isn't too democratic.

The scholarship isn't a real scholarship per se. It's a free Giga Pass. That's all. Nothing more nothing less. And I'm not terribly thrilled with IGDA's criteria for choosing such scholarships. It's pretty corporate even in a group that touts itself as "for the game development community".

Just a free Giga Pass? You realize those things cost $1750, right? I'd say that's a pretty awesome scholarship.

As winner of that scholarship, I have to say it's a Classic pass, with allot more; and I am greatful! The IGDA has a series of great events planned to help mentor the scholarship winners. In hopes of helping us make the most out of the experience, we not only get an industry mentor for the conference, we also get to spend a day at a small developer in the Bay prior to the GDC.

Gosh Josh why all the GDC/IGDA angst? GDC rules and the IGDA is here to help.

I've only been to E3 so far, not sure what all this GDC hype is all about. So i guess I'll just defend E3 then. GDC is way too expensive so they must not want students to be there in the first place. E3 is easy to get into, they give out mad free stuff, they have cool afterparties, and you get to play Fatal1ty one on one. I'm sure GDC is more "educational" and a "better chance to network", but that's no reason to knock E3. Don't even get me started on the $1750 price tag for that Jigga Pass... Now that's just silly. If GDC wants to keep only the elite folks, then I would prefer serious background checks (to ensure their link to game dev) rather than force attendees to pay ridiculous prices.

The fact that GDC is more educational and a better chance to network are precisely reasons to knock E3! We are here primarily to be educated after all.

The GDC expo is listed as $150 before Feb 10th., and the giga pass is only $1750 on or after Feb 10th (not that I'm defending that price).

It's frustrating to hear such loud arguments from people who haven't been to GDC. From the perspective of having experienced both conferences with a basic floor pass (and seeing a couple speakers) the GDC discussions and the engaging community of people who are passionate about developing new and interesting games is very valuable. At GDC I listened to a talk about how to make a gamer feel love and other intense emotions by some of the best game designers there are, as well as playing and talking to the developers of games like Facade, and talking to Eyetoy engineers, on top of a host of other valuable experiences. At E3, I could have waited in a massive line to see the Nintendo DS, I played some pre-release games, and nearly got a seizure from the sensory overload, and an upset stomach from the masses of boys staring at breasts like animals.

I'm not dissing GDC outright. I'm just unhappy with their attempt at excluding most game development students. I'm sure it is a great place to learn stuff. As for E3, I'll say it again. It's a great place to learn about things IF you know where to look and who to talk with. I've learned many interesting things about the companies there, the industry, and the games that were on display (from the developers themselves, not just QA guys and marketing).

Anyhow, we'll see about GDC as I'm going this year. If you're going too, I'll see you there.

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