Admittedly there's not a lot in the way of new sports games being shown at this week's GDC, which isn't surprising, since this year's crop of baseball titles aren't necessarily the ideal platforms for showing off mega-powerful video cards and physics processor units. Still, there have been a few highlights, including this morning's Nintendo keynote which saw company president Satoru Iwata showing off the eight-person multiplayer capabilities of Mario Kart DS. It would have been cooler if they'd given each audience member who participated in the on-stage demo a free DS (in much the same way Microsoft was doling out the HDTVs yesterday), but it was cool nonetheless.

　　Tucked away from the main expo floor was a number of independently designed games that were also displayed at the show. Along with your RTS and sci-fi themed games, I came across an interesting little sports title called Soccer Ref, which is the result of a class project from students at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The game takes on the sport of soccer from an interesting point-of-view--that of the referee in charge of calling the match. As the game plays out on the field, you're responsible for keeping up with the action, calling goals when they occur, awarding throw-ins and corner kicks, and dishing out the yellow and red cards as you see fit. While you might think that would get old quick, the real fun comes when the Mafia gets involved.

　　Yes, that's right, I said the Mafia, who has a vested interest in the outcome of some of the matches you oversee. As ref, you might be subject to these nefarious forces who will pressure you to make calls in favor of one team and against the other. For instance, in one game we played, we were asked by certain "heavies" to ensure that their team of construction workers won over their competitors (a team of sad-faced clowns, naturally) by at least a score of 3-1. Failure to assist them in this mission--by calling the game with a heavy construction worker bias--meant you might be roughed up, or worse, killed. To add even more complexity, too many blatantly bad calls during a game would rile up the fans in the stands to hooligan-like behavior of their own. If things get ugly, you can defend yourself (or attack players and audience members without provocation), which is another funny touch. It all ends up being a distinctly humorous take on the more unseemly side of international football, wrapped up in a charmingly cartoonish package.

　　Certainly Soccer Ref is a long way off from being a polished, or even a finished, product. The game's graphics were primitive, the interface was a bit clunky, and the AI had problems simply making upfield passes on the pitch. Yet in its desire to approach sports gaming from a new angle, Soccer Ref brings an inventive sense of playfulness to a genre not always known for its originality. It's this kind of creating thinking that defines the GDC to me. E3 may be all about the product and flash, glitz and games; the real work of building the future of the industry, however, gets done at shows like this.