Despite Air Canada's best efforts to the contrary, I have survived another edition of the Game Developers Conference.

This year's GDC was held March 8-12 at the San Jose convention center, and was by far the biggest of the innumerable (two) editions of the show my poor starving freelancer self was able to attend.  As usual, several trends emerged from the talks and the expo floor, some of which came up again and again, in lectures by people from every corner of the industry, to an almost surreal effect.  While it is far too soon to make intelligent guesses as to which of these trends will revolutionize the way we work and play, and which will turn into next year's vaporware buzzwords, I have never been one to refrain from reckless prognostication, so I'll jump into the fray and tell you what I think are, in no particular order, the 5 most important concepts discussed in San Jose.

At best, this article will establish my reputation as a visionary and bring in heaps of praise and lucrative consulting contracts for years and years to come.  In all likelihood, it will give you plenty of reasons to seek me out at next year's show, so you can stand beside me and look smart in comparison.

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