That’s my kind of conference!

Usually business conferences are a bit dull. Lots of men and women in suits, lots of long meetings. But the Game Developers Conference is an industry event for the clever guys and girls who make games, and their idea of a meeting is getting up on stage and making huge announcements!

And you don’t get much bigger than Gears of War 2. I loved every minute of the first game but I was definitely hungry for more once I’d despatched General Raam. Cliffy B, the guy behind the game at developer Epic reckons that the first game was just the appetiser. Bring it on Cliffy! You can read more about Gears of War 2 and see the stunning first trailer here.

But that wasn’t the only big hit at GDC. Tomonobu Itagaki from Team Ninja showed off Ninja Gaiden 2, which seems to look slicker every time we see it. And with the new Ninja Cinema feature we’ll be able to capture all the slickness and show it to our mates. Making your own ninja flicks – how cool is that?

Then there’s Fable 2, the sequel to the legendary Xbox game. Fable’s creator Peter Molyneux confirmed that the finished game will have a new co-op mode, and also talked about some cool Xbox LIVE Arcade games that will let you earn money for your character in game. Totally innovative, totally cool.

Finally, I’m loving the idea of playing games created by the XNA community on my Xbox 360. I can’t wait to see what kind of classics come out of this amazing initiative and I really hope it’s not long before we see the first game that comes from XNA and hits the top of the charts!

What a great week – if only all business conferences were this much fun!

Graeme Boyd, Xbox.com Community Manager, Gamertag: AceyBongos