It was like a congregation of thousands of video games enthusiasts at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California, where the Game Developers Conference (GDC) opened on Monday.

According to the GDC09 organizers, the event, which has attracted thousands of video games enthusiasts, will continue to attract more innovations, despite the staggering economy. However, Meggan Scavio, the event director, stated that "the number of attendees for one of the video game industry's biggest events will be down compared to last year's showing of 18,000 people". She said, "It's kind of like let's celebrate, but do it quietly."

In a statement, Meggan Scavio said, "This GDC especially serves as a bar of measure and beacon for the games industry for 2009. The strength and spirit of the industry is reflected here in these five days where the community gathers together to continue to network and learn from one another and to directly challenge current global economic conditions by finding and creating new opportunities."

The GDC09 will feature more than 500 lectures, an Expo and Career Pavilion, the Game Career Seminar, the 11th Annual Independent Games Festival (IGF), the 9th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards, and Game Connection America.

The keynote speech from Nintendo President Satoru Iwata is going to be one of the major attractions of the GDC09. The Nintendo President will give his speech at 9 a. m., PDT, on Wednesday on "Discovering New Development Opportunities". It is speculated that Nintendo may make a major announcement at the event, like Microsoft when it unveiled Gears of War 2 last year.

Hideo Kojima, Corporate Officer, Executive Producer and Director of Kojima Productions, will speak at 10:30 a. m. PDT, on Thursday, on "Solid Game Design: Making the 'Impossible' Possible," focusing on overcoming various development obstacles with creative game design, using the driving game design philosophies behind the Metal Gear series as reference. Game Hunter Mike Snider will be in San Francisco all week.

Organized annually, the GDC is the event that allows the video game industry pros to learn and discuss the latest trends and network with fellow developers. It is the event where the best video games from the previous year are honored. GDC is owned by Think Services, which along with Everything Channel, operator of Channelweb. com, is owned by United Business Media.