The 2014 Game Developers Conference (like most years) had some pretty amazing speakers. Unfortunately, the pass you need to actually go to their sessions is ridiculously expensive. So, as usual, I spent most of my time on the expo floor. And, as usual, it was filled with booths advertising different software and hardware for use in game development. VR headsets, and things you can do with them, were an up and coming theme this year, with both the Oculus and Sony's Morpeous on display (neither of which I ended up trying, do to extremely long lines). One cool spin off product I saw is the Omni, it combines with the Oculus, giving you a rig, shoes, and gun, to turn any PC FPS into a more full on VR experience. The newest version of game engines like Unreal, CryEngine, and Gamebryo were also a big focus. On a side note, I was pleased to see that my textbook (Interactive Storytelling for Video Games), which my publisher had at its booth, sold out before the end of the show.
Other show highlights included the annual award show, which was fun though I disagreed with a number of the picks, a display from The Video Game History Museum, and a game trivia game show (I won a t-shirt). I even got to meet a bunch of Japanese developers (no one too famous) at the IGDA Japan party. All in all, it was a good conference. I learned a lot, made some good contacts, and got leads on a few promising new books and software programs. Some year though, I really need to get enough money together for an All Access pass.

I visited the majority of San Francisco's major attractions on my previous trips, but there was on I'd never gotten to, Alcatraz. For anyone who isn't familiar with the name, Alcatraz was once the country's most secure prison, the place where problem prisoners were sent. Set on a small island in the San Francisco Bay, it was thought to be inescapable. Actually, there was one person who managed to get off the island and swim to the mainland, only to be immediately arrested before he could get anywhere. And there was one more famous escape attempt where three people tunneled out of their cells and escaped on a makeshift raft. Though it's never been determined whether they successfully escaped or drowned in the attempt.
But anyway, Alcatraz has been much more than a prison. It started as an army fort, was converted into a military prison during the Civil War, and turned into a federal prison after that. It was shut down in 1963, only to be taken over by a group of American Indians in the 70's who wanted to make a point about land rights. They were eventually evicted, and the island was cleaned up and turned into a national park.
History lesson aside, it's a very popular tourist destination. Useful tip for anyone who may want to visit, tickets tend to sell out at least several days in advance so it's best to plan ahead and purchase them online a while before your visit. I started out walking to the pier to catch the ferry to Alcatraz (it is an island, after all). From the dock, it's a bit of a walk to the top of the hill where the cellblock is. There are a lot of other buildings along the way. During its more active periods, Alcatraz was practically a small town, housing a number of employees and their families. Some of them are fairly intact, but quite a lot of them have fallen into ruin (aided by some fires during that Indian occupation). I've got to say though, these are some of the nicest and most artistic ruined buildings I've ever seen (outside of ruined castles, which are a different matter entirely).
The cell block itself features a self guided audio tour, which did a good job of explain how the prison worked while guiding me to all the highlights. There were also fairly frequent presentations on how the cell doors could be opened and closed from a single location with a rather clever system. There were other special presentations throughout the day. I caught an interesting one about Al Capone while I was there (Did you know he was the one we have to thank for expiration dates on milk?).
There prison itself was interesting but the real high point of the trip, and something I really didn't expect, were the gardens. They were apparently started by the soldiers way back when and further expanded by the prisoners later on. Not only were the plants and flowers beautiful, but the island features a lot of amazing views of San Francisco as well and is also home to a large number of birds. My favorite was the snowy egret, mainly because its cries are pretty hilarious (ignore the more ordinary seagull cries in the background of that video, the egret cries are the ones that sound like some baby burbling by the microphone).
Once I'd seen all there was to see on Alcatraz, I caught a ferry back to the pier and walked around a bit (watched the sea lions, stopped by the old arcade, tried out a mirror maze, etc.). I eventually ended up on Telegraph Hill, a rather high end residential part of the city. More interestingly, there's a colony of cherry-headed conure (a small parrot type bird native to South America) living there. Apparently they started out as escaped/released pets that took to the area and established a colony. They're pretty, very loud, and fun to watch. They also don't seem to like sharing their perches.
After that, it was time to get ready for my overnight flight back to Orlando (which got delayed quite a bit and was very bumpy). That aside, it was a really fun day and I highly recommend Alcatraz for anyone looking to do some touring in San Francisco.