Here's an interesting sign-of-the-times: The iPhone has its own, separate summit at this year's Game Developers Conference. Previously, talks devoted to Apple's phone/gaming platform were mixed in with the rest of the mobile gaming rabble, but this year, 16 panels and discussions are being held in an iPhone-specific summit. Sample panels include:  "How to keep your game on top of the charts;" "Fastest path from concept to Top Paid;" and "A big dash of success: how to capture the female iPhone gamer"

Look for the iPad to dominate iPhone game developers' thoughts and conversations at this year's GDC. The Apple tablet is compatible with iPhone, but you gotta wonder how many iPhone games will work well in the new format, and whether developing specific games for a device with a much-smaller install base than the iPhone will make sense for developers.

The other not-so-new trend: Social gaming (Farmville, Mafia Wars, etc.) is very heavy at GDC this year because, let's face it, it's in terms of cost to benefit ratio, a successful "casual" game can't be beaten by anything.  As a console gamer who doesn't own an iPhone and has never played Farmville, I'm trying not to be too sad, but I'm getting used to the idea of not being catered to exclusively, know what I mean.

What about you? Are you an iPhone user? Do you play Mafia Wars or some other Facebook or Twitter game?