I'm not like most game enthusiasts out there. When I attend a conference, I don't race to be first online with information or exclusive interviews. Why? Because I don't care to read them, so why would I write them? Instead, I like to get home, cool down and reflect back on the event with a level head.

Boy am I glad I did this same thing with GDC 2009. Read on for some good and bad impressions.

CRYTEK THINKS YOU'RE STUPID
It's true. While Crytek stood and demoed the "new" CryEngine 3, I couldn't help but look at the people around me. They all had this look of glee on their faces...like they were witnessing something really awesome... The way they looked reminded me of the way I felt in Junior High, when I saw two girls kiss for the first time in real life. But CryEngine 3 didn't have the same effect. Let me sum this up for you: It's not CryEngine 2. I don't care what they say. The textures aren't as crisp, the lighting not as realistic, and the shadows were almost laughable. The only thing remotely the same is the crumby frame rate. Why would Crytek even show this to us? Why would they say, "Hey, it's just like CryEngine 2 but better!"? Why would they make me so dah-gone mad? Well, it's the Game Developers' Conference. They put CryEngine on consoles to make money...period. But mark my words: CE3 will not make games better on consoles. Sorry...it's true. The fact that Crytek would even suggest such a thing means that they think we're all stupid.

PROTOTYPE WILL BOMB...BIG TIME
Remember when we all got to see some really cool features of Assassin's Creed prior to its release? We saw the amazing technology of the open world, the top notch graphics, the incredible acrobatics... But Ubisoft failed to show us the intriguing gameplay. Remember? They may say they didn't want to hand out spoilers, but the truth is that the gameplay for Assassin's Creed was monotonous, tiresome and [insert custom synonym for "crap" here]. Well, meet Assassin's Creed's ugly step child. Mark my words: You'll get one or two good hours out of Prototype before growing sick of it. You may finish it, just to say you finished it, but you'll be trading this piece of hose in for something else real quick. If you were worried about Prototype competing with InFamous, don't. InFamous will do a little better, but not much. Pretend that these two titles are passengers on the Titanic. Prototype would be third class, and InFamous would be second class. They'll both die, but InFamous will hold out just long enough to watch Prototype sink into the icy abyss.

ONLIVE IS THE REAL DEAL
Now, here's something I like. OnLive may not last, but the concept will. Why? What if your Microsoft Live subscription came with OnLive's capabilities? What if you never had to buy a game disk again? What if all of your game purchases were stored on Microsoft's servers and on your own memory card, allowing you to trade the games in at places like Game Stop? Would you buy a $200 console, pay a $50/year subscription and still pay $60 for your game of choice if it meant that the graphics and game play had almost no limit to their potential? Of course you would. Why? Because you pay for it already (except for the crazy graphics part). The only thing holding back this type of service is broadband connectivity. The folks at OnLive didn't just demo a new idea. They demoed the type of service that both Sony and Microsoft are envisioning for the console generation two spaces beyond this one. Mark my words: Remote gaming will be in full effect by 2020.

STEALTH ACTION NEEDS MORE CAPES
I've watched Batman: Arkham Asylum out of the corner of my eye for some time now. I think we all have been wary of expecting anything spectacular from a superhero game...you know...since they all suck. But when I got to see the Silent Assassin video at GDC, my eyebrows perked up. Why? Because stealth action games can be good. Make a stealth action game with the greatest stealth superhero of all time, and you're a winner. It's been a long time since we've seen a superhero game that looked like it might satisfy. Mark my words: Batman will make Wolverine cry this year.

And that about sums up GDC. I'm sure you've heard about all of these things by now, but that's really all that caught my attention. I got to talk to a guy from Naughty Dog about Uncharted 2, but I'm sworn to secrecy on that stuff until after E3--and since this is my first contact at Naughty Dog, I have to oblige. Otherwise, GDC was full of a bunch of technical junk I didn't really have the interest to follow.

Were you at GDC? Leave a comment!

In journalism, sources are respected and revered. Without them, no information would ever leak about anything. Ninety-nine percent of the time, this leaked information comes from low-level employees of the company being ratted out. Once a journalist finds a source that will take the risk of being fired in order to keep people informed, it is in that journalist's best interest to protect the identity of that source. Why? Because if we reveal the source and they get fired, it will only be that much harder for us to find another source--especially once someone has been made an example of what happens when you're a snitch.

I've been a part of the gaming industry for years. I have contacts in nearly every company that has been heard of in games. I will not EVER reveal my sources, no matter how many people complain about me never listing the source. They trust me, and I trust their information.

So, when I write a story, just stay tuned. You'll soon see that I have information few of you thought was legit. Do you need an example?

About a month or so ago, I posted the world's first Killzone 2 review. Remember it? Run a search on Google. You'll find hundreds of message boards and forums discussing the review. They all claimed that I had posted a phony review, but the truth is that I base all of my reviews on builds that I can get my hands on. (This is why I sometimes update my review later.) One thing people across the world criticized was that I slammed KZ2 during my first review because the controls felt slow and sluggish. What is a number one complaint of Killzone 2 today? Exactly.

The other thing I criticized in my first review was the menus and loading screens. Everyone thought that it was so stupid to do such a thing. But those menus weren't finished. In my updated review, I praised them. Why? If you haven't noticed, the loading screens for KZ2 are like interactive holograms. I'd never seen this done before, and it was really cool.

People also called bluff on when I mentioned an install. But the install was only needed for that early build. It was removed for my second review.

Now, that may not prove much, but you can see that my KZ2 review worked out to be completely legitimate in the end. I'll never claim to ever review final builds of games because I don't get them any earlier than any of you. But I'll always be fair and honest about what's in the versions I do review. And I'll always update my reviews and articles when--and if--new information comes available.

So, if you feel like you need the name of a source to believe I'm accurate, then don't waste your time visiting my site, because you'll never get one. (I guess I could make a name up...would that be more believable?) But if you're willing to look at my track record for accuracy and treat my information as a reliable rumor, then you'll find CGReviews.com a strong source of information.

And that's the end of my rant. Comment away.

CGReviews is now hiring an additional journalist. To apply, simply email a sample of your work to the site admin.

One of the most common complaints I've heard over the course of my article writing career is, "That site only has one review!"

Well, I've decided to change that. Now, I'll write all sorts of crap and archive it so that you all can be happy. I was trying to figure out a way to do this (because they don't pay much for just being cool--no matter what Kanye says), when I ran across this blogging craze.

So, I made up a new design, installed the software, and now I'm rocking and rolling.

Stay tuned!