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There will not be any chainsaw guns at this year's Game Developers Conference, the giant gathering of game creators in San Francisco that will occupy most of next week.

After years of increased spectacle that turned GDC into a prelude to E3 -- and saw "Gears of War 2" announced during a keynote by one chainsaw-gun-wielding Cliff Bleszinski -- Game Developers Conference is going back to basics.

"It got a little out of control with announcements and things of that nature," GDC event director Meggan Scavio told MTV Multiplayer in a phone interview on Friday. "What GDC is best at is showing what technology and innovation is going to be in a few years. It's an early peek at what gaming is going to be like two or three years from now."

"It's an early peek at what gaming is going to be like two or three years from now."

GDC has been an event rich with insider panels that detail the challenges and opportunities of making better artificial intelligence, improving graphics, managing a development team and other inside topics. But it has also been a fun and important conference for gamers and gamer press, partially because of the aspects that have been somewhat un-GDC.

A few years ago, GDC was the event where "Spore" was announced during a keynote delivered by Will Wright widely considered to be the most inspiring presentation at the show. In 2006, Nintendo gave out free copies of "Brain Age" to every attendee of its keynote. In 2007 GDC was the place where Sony unveiled "LittleBigPlanet. Last year there were panels, like the one presenting upcoming "GTA"-esque massively multiplayer game "APB" that seemed to be entirely product pitch and little to do with furthering the cause of game development.

This year, there should be fewer announcements. "Metal Gear" mastermind Hideo Kojima will deliver a keynote not to unveil his very own "Spore" but to reflect on the process of making "Metal Gear" games. "His keynote will be a look back," Scavio said. "It is not there to be a big announcement or anything. Keynotes are not there for game announcements. That's what press conferences are for. I'm excited about having a developer on stage at the level he is [talking about] 'How did he get there? ' 'What did he do?'"

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who is also giving a keynote, is also not arriving to present an E3-style product showcase, though he'll be part of a Nintendo push at GDC to present developers with information and inspiration regarding development for the DSi, the download-friendly, camera-enabled DS arriving in the U.S. on April 5.

"Keynotes are not there for game announcements. That's what press conferences are for."

There will be plenty of interest at the show for gamers anyway. The MTV Multiplayer team has marked more than 70 speeches, press demos and other events slated for next week's GDC and related conferences likely to include material of interest to the non-gamemakers out there. There will be roundtables that put the creators of "Shadow of the Colossus" and "Fallout 3" on the same panel to a presentation from the never-dull Peter Molyneux. Technical-sounding panels that include titles like "God of War III" and "Mass Effect 2" in them seem worth a visit. And Scavio highlights some instant classics of her own: a trio of developers behind "Portal," "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and "Habbo Hotel" pitching games related to their first sexual experiences, post-mortems on major games (including "Gears of War 2") and the annual Game Developers Choice and Independent Games Festival twin awards shows.

While game companies continue to schedule press demos for upcoming games around GDC, the platform holders are likely to reveal less than they have in the past. Microsoft, which had previously surrounded the event with satellite showcases for upcoming Xbox 360 titles, is showing no new games to the press during the GDC week. (Last year, the company booked demos and interviews for "Fable 2," "Ninja Gaiden 2," and "Too Human.") Sony will return with a "blogger's lounge," an off-site venue that has playable games. Nintendo, which, oddly, made GDC 2007 the first venue where "Super Paper Mario" was playable, has not announced plans for any game showcases at this year's event.

Last year's GDC attracted 18,000 attendees, all from within the game development industry or press. The recession has hit and Scavio is expecting attendance "won't be what it was." Travel and training budgets have been cut by publishers, she said. But she still sees a healthy amount of registrations for the show, has been noticing more group registrations and been privy to more notices about people sharing hotel rooms and finding other ways to still squeeze the event into their schedule and budget. It's the one time of the year for most game developers to hang out with their peers from around the world, she argued. That makes it invaluable.

GDC 2009 may be less of a circus and a showcase than in years' past, but it's sounding like it will still be a rich show. Just check your chainsaw gun at the door.