If there's one person who can accurately predict the future of the videogame industry, it's Don Daglow. He's been designing games since the days when computers filled an entire room. Since then, he's done work for Intellivision, EA, and the recently hibernating Stormfront Studios. Despite all his years of experience, Daglow was quick to mention what a fool's errand it is to predict the future in an industry where advancing technology constantly takes us by surprise. Despite this, he did his best to sum up the most important trends from the past few years so that developers can best stay aware of where things area headed, if not predict the next two decades with deadly accuracy. Here are the ten key points Daglow laid out:

1. In order to understand where a tree is going to grow, you need to be able to see its roots. With the gaming industry, those roots are with stories, sports, and board games. Daglow mentioned that the sophisticated stories of today's games aren't too much unlike the sports games of old, where every story (game) has a hero (the star of your team) fighting against the villain (the star of the other team).

2. Technology will always take us by surprise. To illustrate this point, Daglow showed a few screenshots from baseball games over the past three decades. In the 80s, it looked like someone "spilled something on the screen." In the 90s, you could finally see the form of the players. But now, the shadows, lighting, and surface textures are closer to real life than anyone back then could have imagined.

3. Today's developers should take pride in what they do. Great artists, Daglow said, are almost never appreciated in their own time. Just because people don't "get" games today doesn't mean you should put all you have into making them. A few decades down the line, games that are overlooked today by the public at large will be remembered fondly as the innovations they weren't considered at the time.

4. Emotions tend to distort history. What seems to be important today will often seem embarrassing down the line, and just like with the previous point, we often don't realize how a game will be perceived in the future.

5. Game interfaces are shaped by the culture around them. It's hard to say what games will look like in the future because such a big part of them (the interface) relies upon the changes in culture and people's ability to perceive and understand various imagery and functions. He used the example of how elevators used to have operators, but people learned to operate them manually, which then led to people's ability to operate elaborate multi-button input devices.

6. We the gaming public control the future. It's not the developers, publishers, critics or investors. The players determine what sinks or swims, and trying to read into the minds of millions of people is a tough job.

7. The rise of social gaming. Suddenly, games like Guitar Hero and most everything on the Wii has created a trend of games as a social venture.

8. The console wars will continue to wage on. Game companies are publicly traded, and as such they're always feeling the pressure from Wall Street to grow and expand their empire. This, in short, means they'll always be at odds with each other, never setting into a comfortable niche. Maybe with the exception of Nintendo. And on a related point…

9. The lifespan of consoles will grow. Systems have become more expensive to produce, so in order to make more profit, they need to be sold for a longer period of time. One thing that helps tremendously is that the trio of competitors now have been in place for eight year's time. At no point in the history of games have we seen the same companies engaged in a fight for so long. We don't need to worry about a rogue company coming in and launching a console early, forcing the big boys to match the pace.

10. The gap between core and casual gamers will shrink. For this we can thank digital distribution, which helps publishers reach out to both kinds of audiences. It helps narrow the gap between big budget retail games and free online games into games with a medium price tag whose size helps reduce complicated gameplay.

As you can tell, Daglow's "predictions of the future" were less predictions than they were ruminations on the history of the industry and a few important signs for where it may be headed. Maybe he didn't go out on a limb and describe what type of controller the PlayStation 7 will use, but it was a in interesting lesson in placing things in context.

You can listen to Daglow's entire panel right here.

Earlier today, in one of the smaller rooms being used for GCDC sessions, Alex Laurant gave a presentation titled Media Migration: The Transition from Film to Games. Honestly, I went in there expecting a discussion on the pros and cons of developing movie-licensed games, but what Laurant really wanted to talk about was how it's possible to take skills from one industry and apply them to the other, amongst other things.

Laurant currently works as an art director at LucasArts, where he has no doubt had a hand in the development of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Laurant spent a good deal of time working in movies for Industrial Light & Magic before moving to LucasArts via a stint at EA, though, and early in his presentation attendees had an opportunity to check out a mixture of work-in-progress and final cuts from movies like The Day After Tomorrow, Minority Report, Saving Private Ryan, and Minority Report.

One of the first points that Laurant made was simply that "games are not movies" and that anyone working in either medium needs to respect the differences. To illustrate this point, a slide depicting the linear storyline of a movie was shown, and then contrasted with a far more complex diagram showing a branching storyline that could have been taken from any number of games in recent memory. "Games are more complex than movies", stated Laurant, who went on to say that that's true regardless of whether you're a consumer or a developer.

It's clear that, in his time, Laurant has attempted to apply his movie-making expertise to game development with varying degrees of success. While at EA, for example, he worked on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which was intended to replicate the experience of watching the movie quite closely. The game was far from perfect for a number of reasons, though, one of which was the camera, which according to Laurant was especially disappointing in co-op games where it was forced to pull back in order to keep multiple players in view simultaneously.

Cameras, it seems, can be one of the most dangerous pitfalls for a game designer with a background in movies. Techniques that work well in movies, such as "organic camera tracking" that mimicks the less-than-perfect movements of a cameraman as he pans to follow a fast-moving character, for example, don't always work well in games. After citing another example or two, Laurant wrapped up that part of his presentation with two statements that, if taken to heart by developers the world over, could conceivably (at least in my mind) make problematic cameras a thing of the past.

Statement 1: "Watch what you're doing, look where you're going."

Statement 2: "Don't disorient the player."

It sounds incredibly simple, but you know as well as I do that plenty of games still get this stuff wrong.

On a similar note, Laurant touched on a pet peeve of mine; invisible walls that impede your progress. He didn't waste much time on the subject, but every developer in the room was left in doubt that they should "use only visible barriers in environments". Again, it sounds obvious.

Before wrapping up the session with a showing of a Force Unleashed trailer, Laurant explained that while game makers can definitely still learn from their counterparts in the movie industry, they need to be selective about the ideas and conventions that they import. He also encouraged game developers to work with experts in other fields when necessary, whether it be an architect, a psychologist, a dancer, or a skydiver. Developers can't be expected to be experts at everything after all.

And then I headed to the press room which, seemingly, is a smoke-free zone for the first time. Result.

It's a bit ironic that today's Leipzig keynote focused on Gears of War 2, which likely won't be released in Germany due to the country's laws regarding in-game violence. Still, any chance to check out Gears 2 is welcomed, even by people who might not get a chance to play the game.

Forget Cliff Bleszinski's "bigger, better, more badass"; the alliterative trio of adjectives he used to describe the upcoming Gears of War 2. If you ask Epic Games' president Mike Capps, those three words would be "new, better, more." Capps gave a standing-room-only presentation on the development of the sequel to one of the biggest games of 2006, focusing on the aspects that the team at Epic looked to improved with heading back to war with the Locust horde. He also delighted the crowd with a play-through of the same demo the company was showing off back at E3 in July.

Capps defines GOW 2 as the first "true" sequel the company has created, and said that creating sequels brings with it a unique set of challenges, one of those being the heightened expectations of the fanbase. When a new game is released, Capps said, it's expected to be bigger, longer, with more features packed inside. While Capps said he expects Gears 2 to be longer than the original, the development plan for has been focus on "fun-per-minute."

As a result, Capps and the Epic team developed the "new, better, more" plan, a comprehensive method of breaking down the first game in the series, figuring out what worked and what didn't, then choosing the most essential elements and focusing on them for the sequel. Part of the focus of this approach is to spend time improving not just the areas that were strong in the original game (such as the cover system) but on the areas that were relatively weak. Capps pointed to the story line of the original game as an example. While the four Delta Squad members felt like fleshed out characters practically from the start, Capps admits that the first Gears was a bit thin on the plot. That should change with Gears 2, Capps said, because the team felt more comfortable in telling the story, now that the player has had a chance to immerse himself in the world of Sera.

There seemed to be a myriad of examples from Capps of improvements that resulted from the "new, better, more" approach. From a technology standpoint, there will be a new crowd systems, destructible environments, improved cover methods (as well as destructible cover), and better graphics. In multiplayer, you'll find AI bot support, new MP game types including the CTF-inspired "Stranded" and "Horde," which will pit you and your buddies against wave after wave of oncoming bad guys. Speakikng of co-op play, Capps said this area was a huge focus for Epic as well; the result will be better drop-in/drop-out play as well as more chances to drive vehicles together. And by "vehicles" I mean monster trucks with tanks on top of them. So, yeah, in addition to paying attention to Capps' "new, better, more" mantra, it seems like the team still had room for some "badass" as well.

Gears of War 2 is still on track for a November release.

While I'm an avowed (former) Lego junkie, I had forgotten that a fully dedicated Lego game was still in development. Announced in 2007, the MMOG Lego Universe promises to differ from the licensed Lego games such as Lego Star Wars and Lego Batman; instead, it's more of a return to Lego's roots, allowing players to build and create collaboratively. Henrik Lorenson, VP of business development, headed a panel today on how the company has been enhancing the Lego brand over the years, and Lego Universe looks to be the next step in that process.

While the session was mostly light on actual gameplay details, Lorenson did say the focus of the game would be the same that the company has held on to with its physical toys--gaming, socializing, and building. And unlike the licensed Lego games (where, beyond the visuals, the actual Lego affiliation is not always that apparent), Lego Universe will be all about doing the kinds of things you did as a kid with Legos, only this time in a virtual space.

(Read on for more)

During his presentation, Lorenson mentioned three of the pillars he expects Lego Universe players to take part in. First will be having a fun play experience with the basic tool sets that will be found in the game. Second, players will be ablee to build and play their own mini-games using virtual Lego bricks. Finally--and the ultimate goal--will be in players creating entire worlds within the game, all built with the familiar Lego bricks. Lorenson showed a brief video from a recent fan convention in Denver--where dedicated Lego professionals and fans came together to try out the tools in the game to see how it will work when the game is released.

Beyond a few pages of concept art (and some vague shots of gameplay during the video), not much was shown of Lego Universe. However, according to Lorensen, the company (along with developer NetDevil Studios), the game is due for release at the end of 2009. While he wasn't willing to discuss the economy of Lego Universe, Lorensen did say the company was exploring a subscription model for the game, which was sort of surprising to me. Back in the day, I used to have to beg my parents to buy some additional Legos so I could finish my masterpiece (a dragon shaped like the Millennium Falcon).

Not sure if I'll be a dabbler or a regular subscriber in Lego Universe, but I'm curious to see how it comes along.

Okay, I'll admit the title of this blog entry is slightly misleading. Thanks to EA's multiple-embargo situation coming out of last night's unveiling of their latest action-racing game, Need for Speed Undercover, there's only so much I can tell you about the game right now. That said, I've got something better than heavily embargoed information; I've got pictures of actress Maggie Q, who will be starring in the game as no doubt tough-as-nails federal agent Chase Linh:

In the game, you'll play an undercover cop who's looking to take down a crime syndicate (BY RACING!) and Miss Q's Linh looks to act as your guide through the world of Undercover. From the brief look at the game's story last night, the team at Black Box look to be relishing in the campy cinematic stylethat the last few games in the series (NFS Pro Street excepted) became famous for. I'm a little disappointed that Most Wanted's Razor Callahan or NFS Carbon's Darius won't be making cameos. The only thing that will make me feel better? This:

Look for actual, you know, relevant information on NFS: Undercover next week. Oh and:

Electronic Arts had their studio showcase today where we got to see what they had lined up for the upcoming year. We recenty did a hands-on preview for MySims Kingdom for the Wii, but we had a chance to check out some new islands. MySims for the PC seems to be coming along nicely, the original preview can be viewed here.

MySims Kingdom (Wii):

We got a tour of some of the new islands that have opened up in MySims Kingdom, including Rocket Reef, Unchartered Isle and Forest of the Elves. Rocket Reef is the home of Dr. F which you may recognize in the last MySims, he seems to have gotten himself into a bit of trouble, so as the kingdom's wandolier, it's up to you to put together his rocket and other robots that he accidentally dismantled. Rocket Reef has a very different feel when you compare them to the other locations. The other islands are generally bright, colorful and lush, but Rocket Reef looks like you've wandered into another planet. Unchartered Isle was amusing because we met the adorable caveman Gonk, who needs help saving his lady friend, Bobaboo. Vincent, a sinister looking man who wanted to trap a bizarre little green creature ended up trapping both the creature and Bobaboo by accident. Riiight. Through socializing we were able to get Vincent out of the way and work toward saving Gonk's feisty friend. Forest of the elves is a beautiful animal sanctuary that used to be filled with animals until a man named Leaf decided to take down the unicorn temple so that he could put in a hot tub. By doing this, the whole island is thrown off balance so you'll find demon toads that need to be lured back to their pond. There are a variety of tasks to bring all these little critters back, but apparently the unicorns will only come back if they have a rock concert. You help Leaf put together an elaborate rock concert and you'll finally be able to bring those unicorns home. All is now right in the world.

These were just a few of the islands in MySims Kingdom. There are many more to explore and uncover. We were told that there is over 20 hours of gameplay depending on how much time you take building or doing tasks. MySims Kingdom seems to be coming along nicely, with plenty of cutesy goodness that will lure in players of all ages.

MySims PC:

The MySims franchise has now sold over 3.5 million units and will head to the PC in an updated version. Not much has changed from the main game but they have added an online component where you can chat and play with your friends. Up to eight players can get together in a garden to build, trade items and play a rousing game of tag. There are two versions of tag, one is classic tag and the other is zombie tag. In zombie tag the person who is "it" has a storm cloud over his or her head and he or she has to tag as many people as possible until there is only one person left. There is a 90 second time limit and you have a small map at the bottom right corner or your screen to track the other players. It's a fun break between building furniture and it allows people to socialize and mess around with emotes.

There are six new NPCs to meet on the PC version and you can also send files of your creations to other friends via e-mail. This is to encourage people to go online and share their creations, which is the foundation of the Sims community. Visually the game looks fantastic and it doesn't require a heavy duty PC to run either.

Both games are expected to release this fall.

By Hirohiko Niizumi, GameSpot Japan

Kingdom Hearts Coded (Mobile)
The trailer for Kingdom Hearts Coded for mobile phones starts off with Jiminy Cricket flipping through the journal that he's written during his adventures with Sora. For some reason, all his entries have gone blank except for two pages with short lines. One simply says "Thank Namine", and the other says "We must return them from their torment". Puzzled, Jimmy runs to consult the King (Mickey Mouse), who decides to search for answers by digitizing Jiminy's journal.

The player takes the role of a Sora that was born inside the digitized world of Jiminy's journal. Similarly to last year's trailer at Tokyo Game Show, we were shown screens that looked like the original Kingdom Hearts game. We also got to see some new gameplay including a side-scrolling action game a bit like mario, where Sora needed to jump from one platform to another and attack enemies while proceeding right. Another scene required the player to input directions, kind of like in a music game.

After the in-game scenes, the trailer turns back to Jimmy Cricket and the King, who are looking back at the journal and notice that there's a new entry that says "Their torment has been lessened". The trailer ends with an announcement that the game will be available in winter 2008.

Kingdom Hearts Mobile (Mobile)
Square Enix also showed off a trailer for "Kingdom Hearts Mobile", which is apparently an online community for mobile phone users in Japan. Slated for fall, this new online mobile service features cute Flash-animation style graphics and lets you dress up your avatar like Kingdom Hearts characters. Aside from Sora and Riku, we spotted an odd-looking Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, so apparently you can dress up as Disney characters as well. Details on the service wasn't unveiled in the minute-long trailer, but we saw that you can play a number of games including a card battle game featuring Final Fantasy and Disney characters, and an action game where you float through trees on a balloon with Winnie the Pooh to collect items. There's also some kind of a co-op mode where you can play together with friends and earn rare goods for your avatar.

PARIS--Unsurprisingly, there's lots to do here at the 2008 Blizzard Invitational. When attendees aren't checking out playable builds of Starcraft II or World of WarCraft: Wrath of the Lich King, they're busy dressing up, participating in dance contests, checking out the tournaments, or spending money in the Blizzard Shop. If, after all that, you're still craving more Blizzard saturation, you can always attend a session or two dedicated to specific Blizzard games. All weekend, we've seen seminars on Starcraft II, Lich King, and, of course, the just-announced Diablo III. Yesterday, Blizzard held a gameplay panel, details of which can be found in our latest first-look preview of the game.

This morning, I attended a panel dedicated to the story and art style of Diablo III. The session, hosted by Blizzard's Leonard Boyarsky and Brian Morrisoe, was an interesting look at the world building that has gone into the Diablo III version of the world of Sanctuary. While Boyarsky and Morrisoe were still tight-lipped about much of the game's story, there was still plenty to take away from the session.

Boyarsky started off the session with a discussion of the backstory in Diablo III, specifically with reference to some of the worlds that make up Sanctuary. Some of them, like the trade city of Caldeum, you'll see and explore in the game. Others, like Skovos (home to the Rogues from the first Diablo and the Amazons from the sequel) will only appear in the game as a method of enriching the game world. As Boyarsky put it, real civilizations don't just spring up overnight but are, rather, built over many centuries; the goal with Diablo III is to build that kind of deep sense of history into all of the cultures you encounter in the world, no matter how brief the contact.

In terms of story, Boyarsky said that Diablo III will pick up 20 years after the end of the events in the Diablo II expansion, Lord of Destruction. Deckard Cain, the storyteller and quest giver in the previous games, returns in Diablo III and, at the beginning of the game, is convinced that the forces of Hell are intent on invading Sanctuary. Cain is desperate to find a way to stop this invasion and, it seems, will work with your character to that end as the game begins. Worse yet, the general population of the various cities of Sanctuary--traumatized by the events of the previous games--has begun to put those evil events behind it; many believe that the demons that previously appeared in its cities were just myth.

Beyond that, we don't know much about the story in Diablo III. Morrisoe threw out a few more nuggets of info, just to tease attendees with where the game might be heading. For example, he mentioned Tyrael, the archangel you meet in Diablo II. Tyrael helps mankind (again the will of Heaven) during the events of the previous game, eventually destroying the Worldstone to allegedly prevent an invasion from Hell's minions. So, for Diablo III, the question becomes: What has happened to Tyrael? Has he been punished for his actions? What is his role in the events of this game?

Speaking about the game's art style, Morrisoe said that, despite Diablo III's new 3D engine, the decision to keep the game's camera in a fixed isometric position was a deliberate one; one that he feels will help make Diablo III a better more authentic experience. He also went into lots of detail about the bold silhouettes that make up the architecture and character design in the series and help give the game its epic feel. The goal, it seems, is to create heroic characters with making them appear cartoony, behaving in a world that acts realistically (thanks to the addition of destructible environments to the gameplay) while maintaining a fantasy feel.

Perhaps one of the most obvious questions to ask about the story in Diablo III is one that was asked by an audience member just as the Q&A portion of the panel began: How does Blizzard justify another Diablo game when, by the end of the previous game, the player had killed Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal? Boyarsky referred to it as a "very complex chain of events" but wouldn't divulge much more than that--except that it will be "very entertaining". Later, when asked about specific new enemies that the character would encounter, Boyarsky dropped the tantalizing hint that there are seven lords of Hell in the Diablo universe... Assuming the player has killed three already in the previous game, could we meet the final four in Diablo III? Time will tell...