As industry figures and journalists continue flocking to San Francisco, this year's Game Developers Conference began with a series of talks about independent gaming. Subjects ranged from ninjas to dinosaurs to nuclear holocaust, but my reaction was always the same: "This is awesome."

Contained within our summary of the inaugural day of GDC 08: What makes N such a unique platformer, Defcon developer Introversion on the importance of brands, the astounding popularity of Facebook applets, bean bag chairs, metal business cards of death, and one special surprise.

Ninjas (and Circles)

There is little dispute that, in the platforming genre, Metanet Software's freeware ninja title N is a bit different. And care of co-creator Raigan Burns, we finally know why: circles.

Whereas most 2D platformers were, and still are, built around rectangular tiles, N uses a circular bounding box to define its character's interactions with the in-game world. This translates to much smoother motion, a larger emphasis on physics, and opened the door for some truly odd level designs.

Another benefit was that user-created levels could be created with much less hassle, as users did not have to abiding by strict, technical considerations.

"I think that was a huge barrier we solved accidentally," said Burns, who lamented his ability to ever create a Doom mod that would compile properly.

On top of calling for more physics and graphical experimentation in games--"More physics games and weird ones, please," he begged--Burns made note of this Wednesday's release of N+ on Xbox Live Arcade.

"Whoo, it's out Wednesday," he celebrated. "Buy it!"

Dinosaurs

Much like our initial meeting out at IndieGamesCon 07, today's chance encounter with PixelJAM artist Richard Grilloti was a serendipitous affair. And, as it turns out, the man has been quite busy.

He's currently knee-deep in polishing the hell out of Dino Run, with visions of bonus areas and mini-games dancing in his head. He was adamant that the freeware Flash dino jogger will arrive in late March, complete with multiplayer.

Grillotti's also written a set of tutorials on pixel art, which are available over at GameDev.net. The next PixelJAM product is still undecided, he told me, but will probably be the long-awaited sequel to the freeware arcade shooter Gamma Bros. or a gardening game starring Li'l Buddy, the green dude that appears in the Ratmaze series.

Speaking of dinosaurs and chance encounters, I also ran into Matthew Wegner of Flashbang Studios, the company behind Off-Road Velociraptor Safari and the upcoming Jetpack Brontosaurus. We didn't get to chat for long, but expect a more detailed interview with him in the near future.

Introversion: Build a Brand; Make the Press Smile

I'd like to say that Introversion's presentation--entitled "Spreading Your Message as an Indie Developer"--ended the same way it started, with smiles all around, but that would be a lie. They only threw foam Darwinia figures into the crowd at the beginning.

The message, as delivered by Introversion marketing head Vicky Arundel, was clear: There is no way independent developers can directly compete against the giant publishers. Instead, figure out your core strengths, build a brand around them, and run like hell.

She stressed heavy community involvement and an open relationship with the public as a means of leveraging against larger, faceless corporations, citing examples from the company's efforts with Uplink, Defcon, and Darwinia.

"Community spreads word for free," she explained. "[It's] self-propagating, like a virus, [and is] something you can definitely utilize." For example, after Introversion prompted its community to vote for Uplink in a PC Gamer UK poll, the game wound up being listed in the magazine as its readers' ninth best PC game of all time.

As for the press, she noted Introversion's attempts to "try and make their days a little more fun" through humor or nifty swag, an effort I admit is much appreciated. "It's not about trying to influence game score at the end of the day, it's trying to differentiate yourself," she said.

"At the end of the day, as an independent, you're trying to make sure you're there five years down the road," she concluded.

Me? I'm just glad the Introversion chose to hand out, not throw, their business cards at the end. These things. They'd probably make a deadly ninja star. I'm not even joking, just look at this picture.

Turn the page for more from day one of Game Developers Conference 2008, including word on the stunning popularity of Facebook applets, bean bag chairs, and the surprise appearance of something most remember fondly from childhood.