GDC News and Information Blog

Organizers of this September's Independent Games Summit at GDC Austin have announced first speakers, with the indies behind titles like Bit.Trip Beat, Age Of Booty, Fantastic Contraption, and DeathSpank speaking on a multitude of notable topics.

Initial information about the September 15th-16th Summit, a separate part of the wider, 'connected game'-focused Austin-based event, is available on the GDC Austin website. Other Summits taking place at GDC Austin this year include a brand-new iPhone Games Summit and the notable, long-running Writing and Audio Summits..

Details on the Independent Games Summit at GDC Austin include specifics on the first five lectures and panels for the first-ever Austin edition of the popular main GDC event, and the highlights include:

- In 'The Bit.Trip Series: Holistic Indie Console Game Design', Gaijin Games' Alex Neuse will speak on "how the small team created the retro-infused [game] series, giving tips on standing out on WiiWare and how to intelligently mine classic gaming for a unique look."

- Speaking in 'Business Managing Your Indie Developer Through The Downturn', Jennifer Bullard of local Texas independent developer Certain Affinity, which has done contract work for big AAA console titles (Left 4 Dead, Call Of Duty: World At War) and developed significant original IP (downloadable title Age Of Booty) will discuss running your indie as a business, and how a small company intelligently juggles work for hire and original IP.

- In a lecture called 'Postmortem: The Design & Business Behind Fantastic Contraption', Colin Northway will explain how the Flash-based physics sandbox webgame -- which has been played by millions of people, and brought in six-figure profits for its single developer -- was designed, monetized and marketed itself, based on an initially free title with paid upgrades.

- Wolfire COO John Graham (co-creator of the upcoming Overgrowth) will discuss 'Effective Marketing For Indie Game Developers', explaining how you use your own website, social networking channels, independent editorial content, and even pre-release versions of your tools to build a robust community around your game before it even ships.

- Finally, in 'The Indie Business Rant', notables including Hothead's Joel DeYoung (DeathSpank, Penny Arcade Adventures), Klei's Jamie Cheng (Shank), and IGS advisory board members Matthew Wegner (Blurst.com, Crane Wars) and Adam Saltsman (Fathom) will "each give short 5-10 minute presentations on aspects of indie business that irk, disgust, or nauseate them, hopefully also including some panaceas for the indie business pain that sickens them."

More information on 2009's Independent Games Summit at Austin GDC, including registration details and other specifics, is available at the official IGS @ Austin GDC website.

Posted by Staff at 07:22 AM | Permalink

GDC organizer Think Services announced that Klaas Kersting, CEO of German browser game pioneer Gameforge, will keynote the business track at the 2009 Game Developers Conference Europe.

Gameforge is best known for free browser-based RPG Ikariam, and at GDC Europe, he'll give a talk entitled "Changes in the Games Industry - Free-to-play vs. Payment Models," where he'll share his thoughts on the success of the revolutionary free-to-play model Gameforge uses.

In his keynote, Kersting also present the history of Gameforge, the advantages of different payment models, and the differences between Europe and Asia in terms of attitudes toward gaming and cultural backgrounds.

Kersting and Alexander Rosner founded Gameforge in 2003. In addition to Ikariam, the company's responsible for OGame and Metin2 have attracted more than 75 million gamers worldwide.

"Gameforge develops pioneering and groundbreaking technologies in the browser-based game sector, which is driving the whole industry," said event director Frank Sliwka. "GDC Europe is focused on delivering content that appeals to a global audience, while presenting content that represents and showcases the European development community."

Posted by Staff at 04:25 PM | Permalink

[In his first update, Game Developers Conference Europe event director Frank Sliwka welcomes you to his regularly updated comments about the August 17-19 event taking place in Cologne, Germany.]

Today, I would like to start my blog and welcome all of you to my posts about GDC Europe. During the next few weeks, I would like to give you all some impressions about GDC Europe as well as the host city of Cologne.

Since the Think Services Game Group Germany office is located in Berlin, our team travels quite a bit to this beautiful city.

Oftentimes, I have flights from Berlin to Cologne and I can honestly say that the connection from the city of Cologne and the airport is really nice. By train, you can arrive to the convention center in just 12 minutes and with a cab it will take you about 20 minutes (if there are no traffic jams).

Please look out for my future posts where you’ll get an insider’s look on Cologne and our amazing event about to take place in August.

Sincerely,
Frank

[Frank and his colleagues will be posting regular news updates from behind the scenes of GDC Europe, including content reveals and other helpful information. You can subscribe individually to the GDC News blog via its RSS feed.]

Posted by Frank Sliwka at 11:01 AM | Permalink

After debuting initial free-to-play online game lectures from Sony Online (Free Realms), Gaia Online and Rebel Monkey (CampFu), September's GDC Austin 2009 event has revealed subscription MMO-specific talks spanning Star Wars: The Old Republic, DC Universe Online, EVE Online, and more.

The first set of lectures announced for GDC Austin span the gamut of 'connected games', from traditional high-profile subscription MMOs through free-to-play online games, social network games, and even online components to console games.

The event, to be held September 15th-18th, 2009 at the Austin Convention Center in Texas, now includes six online-centric 'tracks' for the Main Conference, which takes place Wednesday 16th to Friday 18th.

These tracks, which span design, business & marketing, social networking & community, services, programming and production, have a number of lectures focused on the core, AAA subscription-MMO space. Initial highlights from these include:

- BioWare Austin's 'Come and See the Elephant - Challenges Encountered Growing an MMO' will talk about strategies "pertaining to process and technology" that the much-vaunted firm's technical director Bill Dalton utilized in helping to make the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic.

- In 'Why We Need Heroes And Villains In Games', some of the key creators of the upcoming DC Universe Online MMO, including SOE Austin's Chris Cao and Jens Andersen, alongside noted comic book artist and game contributor Jim Lee and DC Comics writer Marv Wolfman, discuss "why... tension between good and evil is so critical -- not only for telling a good story, but for making a video game."

- CCP Games' Petur Johannes Oskarsson is presenting a lecture called 'EVE Online's Player Elected Council Case Study', explaining that the space trading and combat MMO "uses a democratically elected council of 9 community members to get a feel for what the whole wants, where they want EVE to go in the future and how we, players and developers, can get there together." The study will analyze the Council's failures and successes for the past, present and future.

- In 'MMOs to Consoles – Challenges, Opportunities and Emerging Trends', Turbine VP Craig Alexander will talk about the Lord Of The Rings Online creator's view on the console market for major MMOs, with market analysis, commenting that "given the processing power and connectivity of console game systems, the opportunity to transition massively multiplayer online games to the console platform is enormous."

Further announcements and details on lectures for this September's GDC Austin, as well as multiple keynote addresses, will be debuting over the next few weeks.

In addition, GDC Austin will also include its long-running Game Audio and Game Writer Summits, alongside an iteration of the breakout successful Independent Games Summit and the newly introduced iPhone Game Summit, all debuting on September 15-16, 2009 at the same venue.

Full listings of announced lectures, registration information, and other specifics are now available at the official GDC Austin website.

Posted by Staff at 09:45 AM | Permalink

[In her latest Bosslady Blog update, Game Developers Conference China event director Meggan Scavio discusses some of the recent news pertaining to GDC China 2009.]

Yesterday, the Ministry of Culture (MOC) formally issued a notification to regulate animation, comics and game tradeshows/conferences. As of today, the Game Developers Conference China (GDC China), to be held October 11-13 2009 in Shanghai, is the only game development conference approved by the Ministry of Culture.

We've been working closely with the MOC over the last 9 months towards what we both see as a long-term partnership. The GDC China team, along with UBM CEO, David Levin, met in person with the Minister just last week. The MOC minister expressed excitement over a mutually beneficial future between China and the Game Developers Conference (GDC). In addition, the launch of the first ever Independent Games Festival (IGF) in China mirrors a mission of the MOC--to showcase the talent and craft of the Chinese game development community. The MOC recognize our commitment to the local developers and share our desire to create an environment in which studios participate in a voluntary and meaningful manner.

Read the Official Press Release on the Minisistry of Culture's new Policy as well as GDC China's Official Endorsement

GDC China has a few more unannounced surprises so keep a lookout here for updates!

Continue reading "October's GDC China is the Only Game Development Conference Approved by MOC" »

Posted by Staff at 10:45 AM | Permalink

Matias Myllyrinne, managing director of Remedy Entertainment, original creators of the acclaimed Max Payne series and the upcoming Alan Wake, has been announced as the second keynote for GDC Europe 2009.

In his keynote address entitled, "From Max Payne to Alan Wake: Creating Intellectual Properties the Remedy Way," Myllyrinne will share the key principles that have guided the company over the years in developing its games.

He will touch on the company's explicit goal to remain small, independent, and passionate about creating new IP, and will try to answer a very important question: how can boutique European studios create large games, compete and succeed in a quickly changing and ever-growing games industry?

As one of the key figures behind the company's success, Myllyrinne is responsible for handling Remedy's business affairs. Since joining the company in 1999, he has helped build Remedy into one of the region's leading independent game developers.

He's also heavily involved with Remedy's upcoming Alan Wake, due to debut exclusively on Xbox 360 in Spring 2010. It follows the writer Alan Wake as he battles dark forces against him and unravels the mystery behind his fiancee's disappearance.

The keynote announcement follows the earlier announcement of a keynote from CCP head Hilmar Petursson, who will be unveiling the studio's next project during his speech on CCP's growth.

In addition, other confirmed speakers for the August event include Flower's Kellee Santiago, who is joining Swords And Soldiers' Joost van Dongen, Zootfly's Bostjan Troha and Black Rock's Eduardo Jimenez at the three-day conference.

"Remedy revolutionized the action genre with Max Payne in 2001," said Frank Sliwka, Vice President European Business Development of Think Services Game Group. "Their keynote exemplifies a success story of high quality games produced in Europe and enjoyed worldwide. We are honored to welcome Myllyrinne to the stage."

GDC Europe will take place August 17-19 this year in Cologne alongside the inaugural GamesCom trade/consumer game event, and more information is available via the official GDC Europe website.

Posted by Staff at 07:12 AM | Permalink

Announcing its initial set of lectures, the online game-focused GDC Austin 2009 event has revealed free-to-play centric lectures from Sony Online (Free Realms), Gaia Online and Rebel Monkey (CampFu) for the September conference.

The first set of lectures announced for GDC Austin span the gamut of 'connected games', from traditional high-profile subscription MMOs through free-to-play online games, social network games, and even online components to console games.

The event, to be held September 15th-18th, 2009 at the Austin Convention Center in Texas, now includes six online-centric 'tracks' for the Main Conference, which takes place Wednesday 16th to Friday 18th.

These tracks, which span design, business & marketing, social networking & community, services, programming and production, have some lectures specially focused on free-to-play, microtransaction-powered games. Initial highlights from these include:

- Craig Sherman, CEO of popular micro-transaction powered site/game Gaia Online, will be discussing this model, in which "consumers play web-based, platform agnostic games for free, while developers attain revenue through microtransactions", with examples from his own company.

- Sony Online's Rosie Rappaport and Sebastian Strzalkowski are discussing the importance of a unified art style for the hit SOE free-to-play title Free Realms, which has already racked up 3 million registered users, noting the importance of a "distinct [art] style that players will associate with the title even when viewed outside the game world."

- Former Disney and current Hangout Industries exec Mike Goslin will take examples from products that he's worked on such as Pixie Hollow, Pirates Of The Caribbean and Toontown Online to detail and describe "10 techniques for engaging teens, drawn from the state of the art of social gaming."

- Rebel Monkey CTO Jeffrey Kesselman will be discussing how the CampFu free-to-play game developer "combined open source technologies to build an industrial strength platform for unified multi-player casual game-play and social web experiences", in a talk called 'The Monkey Wrench: Design and Architecture of an Online Environment'.

Further announcements and details on 'core' subscription MMO-centric lectures for this September's GDC Austin, as well as multiple keynote addresses, will be debuting over the next few weeks.

In addition, GDC Austin will also include its long-running Game Audio and Game Writer Summits, alongside an iteration of the breakout successful Independent Games Summit and the newly introduced iPhone Game Summit, all debuting on September 15-16, 2009 at the same venue.

Full listings of announced lectures, registration information, and other specifics are now available at the official GDC Austin website

Posted by Staff at 08:45 AM | Permalink

Hilmar Petursson, chief exec at EVE Online developer CCP, will be keynoting the upcoming Game Developers Conference Europe this August in Cologne, Germany, where he'll unveil the studio's next project.

The exec, who has been with Reykjavik, Iceland-based CCP since 2000, will deliver the keynote "CCP: Winning the War," a presentation centered on his company's growth.

The studio began in relative obscurity, but now lays claim to the space-faring MMORPG EVE Online, which surpassed 300,000 subscribers in May.

At GDC Europe, Petursson will exclusively reveal CCP's latest project, currently in pre-production.

"GDC Europe is gearing up to be one of the industry's most essential events. I am honored to have this opportunity to share some of the valuable lessons CCP has learned with such a prestigious audience," Petursson said.

According to the firm, CCP plans on an "extensive global expansion" as online gaming continues to proliferate in the market.

GDC Europe will take place August 17-19 this year in Cologne alongside the inaugural GamesCom trade/consumer game event, and more information is available via the official GDC Europe website.

Posted by Staff at 06:35 AM | Permalink

The Game Developers Conference Europe has teamed up with the European Games Developer Federation, Europe's trade body of game developers, in an effort to better address trends and political issues facing European game developers today.

Alongside more than 80 sessions, the results of this new cooperation will be seen at Europe's premier developer event, taking place August 17-19 at the Cologne Congress East Center in Cologne, Germany.

EGDF members will receive additional benefits through this alliance, which includes a 100 Euro discount on conference passes to GDC Europe.

"It is with great pleasure that I welcome the EGDF as a key partner for GDC Europe," said Frank Sliwka, VP of European Business Development of Think Services Game Group and Event Director, GDC Europe.

He called the "long term" partnership "a great opportunity to unite European game developers and is a reflection on our commitment to serve the interests of the European game development community and ensure their voices are heard."

"The EGDF's goals to further advance the European games development sector to be more globally competitive and recognized culturally fit perfectly with GDC Europe's objectives," added Dr. Malte Behrmann, General Secretary of EGDF.

GDC Europe, for which more information can be found on its official website, will be held in conjunction with the European consumer gaming event, gamescom.

Posted by Staff at 06:36 AM | Permalink

Organizers of this September's GDC Austin have announced its new iPhone Summit, following a similar revelation regarding the Indie Games Summit.

Initial information about the September 15th-16th iPhone Games Summit is available on the GDC Austin website, with organizers noting that the first day will discuss "the business, marketing, and key design tenets behind successful iPhone game development", before the second day "provides overviews and deep dives into technical aspects of developing on iPhone."

The Advisory Board for the Summit, which will be announcing its first speakers in the next few weeks, include local Austin-area iPhone developer Brian Greenstone, founder and president of Enigmo creator Pangea Software, as well as Snappy Touch's Noel Llopis, a Game Developer magazine columnist and creator of notable iPhone app Flower Garden.

Posted by Staff at 04:07 PM | Permalink

GDC Europe 2009 has announced initial speakers for its August event in Cologne, Germany, with Flower's Kellee Santiago joining Swords And Soldiers' Joost van Dongen and Zootfly's Bostjan Troha at the international event.

The event will be held in conjunction with the massive European GamesCom industry event for consumers, publishers, and trade professionals, and will take place August 17-19 at the Cologne Congress East Center in Germany.

While just a small percentage of the lectures and roundtables have been announced, a first set of speakers is now available on the GDC Europe website. These span the gamut of content from technical through design and business talks, and some of the highlights thus far include:

- 'Flower - Design Postmortem' by ThatGameCompany's Kellee Santiago, in which the company co-founder discusses the hit PlayStation Network title, and "will walk through the team's design process and playable prototypes that led to the final product."

- 'Surviving Project Cancellation in the Economic Downturn' by Zootfly's Bostjan Troha, which sees the Eastern European company, perhaps best known for its Ghostbusters game prototype, discussing "hard-learned lessons from a near-fatal cancellation of a three-platform $5-million project" by a failing publisher, with "recommendations and strategies" on recovering.

- 'Advanced Racing Game AI in PURE', by Black Rock's Eduardo Jimenez, discussing the critically acclaimed, Disney-published ATV title and "what we did to try to have the player challenged and surrounded at all times, while avoiding the unfair sensation that rubber band methods leave the player with."

- 'Compressing Loads of Content Into Only 20MB: A Case Study Of Swords & Soldiers for WiiWare' by Ronimo's Joost van Dongen, in which the Dutch developer, compromised of original De Blob co-creators, discusses "techniques and approaches for making large amounts of textures, animations, sounds, music, XML and text fit into a small file size."

Overall, GDC Europe will host more than 80 sessions addressing the needs and opportunities for developers and business professionals throughout Europe. More information on the August 17-19 show is available at its official website.

Posted by Staff at 04:35 PM | Permalink

Game Developers Conference organizers Think Services and Reboot Communications have announced that the first ever GDC Canada saw more than 800 attendees at the event last week in Vancouver.

This represents a doubling in attendance over last year's Reboot-run Vancounver International Game Summit (VIGS), say the organizers.

The two-day event was focused on offering education, networking opportunities to the Canadian development community -- and on the heels of its success, the event is set to return to the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Center May 6-7, 2010.

GDC Canada featured over 40 lectures, panels and sessions focused on cross-disciplinary collaboration in production cycles, with the aim of offering developers opportunities to share best practices. GDC Canada also featured an expo, networking receptions and the Game Career Seminar, in addition to Future Play 2009.

"With perspectives from Don Mattrick of Microsoft and the BioWare doctors, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, GDC Canada was an opportunity for Canadian developers to assess where the industry has been and where it is going," said Izora de Lillard, event director.

"This event's focus on collaborative learning and career programs were met with tremendous support from the Canadian developer community and really demonstrated its passion, commitment and resilience that will continue to move the industry forward."

Interested parties can find complete information on GDC Canada as well as other Game Developers Conferences -- including GDC Europe, GDC Austin, GDC China, and GDC 2010 at the event series' official news weblog.

Posted by Staff at 12:09 PM | Permalink

Organizers of this September's GDC Austin have announced a call for submissions for the first-ever Independent Games Summit there, also revealing the Advisory Board and topics to be discussed at the two-day Summit.

Initial information about the September 15th-16th Summit is available on the GDC Austin website, with organizers noting that the Indie Games Summit will include "discussions surrounding business models and methods, promotion and marketing, deep game design techniques and inspirational case studies."

The Advisory Board for the Summit, which will be announcing its first speakers in the next few weeks, include local Austin-area independent developers Adam Saltsman (Paper Moon, Cave Story WiiWare contributor) and Brandon Boyer (editor of indie-friendly BoingBoing-affiliated game site Offworld.com).

In addition, the three main Advisory Board members of GDC San Francisco's yearly Independent Games Summit, Flashbang Studios' Matthew Wegner and Steve Swink (Minotaur China Shop) and IGF Chairman Simon Carless, are also helping to oversee the event.

The San Francisco version of the IGS -- held alongside the Independent Games Festival -- has hosted some of the most notable names in indie gaming over the previous years, from World Of Goo's Ron Carmel and Kyle Gabler through Flower's Jenova Chen, Braid's Jonathan Blow, and many more.

As the GDC Austin Indie Games Summit call for submissions page explains, organizers are looking for the following topics, spanning both smaller one and two-person indies and somewhat larger independent console and PC game developers:

- Indie Business: "How to make money, manage teams, and run a company without going insane."
- Promotion & Marketing: "How to get noticed when the "Marketing Department" = you."
- Design and Philosophy: "Deep dive into design techniques, for example: constraints, rapid prototyping, tools."
- Case Studies and Postmortems: "Inspirational talks that demonstrate what worked, what didn’t, what surprised you and made you wiser."

The submission deadline for presentation abstracts for the 2009 Indie Games Summit at Austin GDC is June 3rd at midnight PST, and more information is available on the official GDC Austin IGS website.

Posted by Staff at 12:27 PM | Permalink

May 12th-13th saw the just concluded, successful first annual Game Developers Conference Canada, held at the new Vancouver Convention Center by Think Services in conjunction with Reboot Communications.

There was a general focus on higher-budget games for the first GDC Canada -- reflecting the output of many Vancouver-area developers like EA Canada, Relic Entertainment, Next Level Games, and Radical Entertainment, all of whom had representatives at the show.

2009 GDC Canada's relatively small size gave it an intimate feel, although the keynotes by Don Mattrick of Microsoft and Drs. Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka of BioWare saw fully-packed rooms.

Think Services-owned editorial site Gamasutra had extensive session coverage from the two days of GDC Canada, including both keynote addresses - here's the highlights:

Microsoft's Mattrick Talks Distinctive Days, Pioneer Spirit
"In the first of GDC Canada's two keynotes, former Electronic Arts and current Microsoft executive Don Mattrick spoke with Victor Lucas about his history in the games industry, from Distinctive Software to Xbox. There was particular relevance to the assembled crowd -- after all, Mattrick can arguably credited with having sown the seeds for the now-thriving Vancouver-area game development scene."

BioWare Bosses Talk The Future Of Storytelling
"BioWare co-founders and medical doctors Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk never have any shortage of things to say about interactive narrative, and that held true in the second GDC Canada keynote. The good doctors conveyed their studio's mentality towards game storytelling, from different player character perspectives to internal versus external narrative, to character archetypes."

Continue reading "GDC Canada 2009: The Event Round-Up" »

Posted by Staff at 09:08 AM | Permalink

GDC Austin organizers have announced an expanded Advisory Board for the 'connected gaming'-centric September event, adding Nexon, SOE and EA/Mythic notables to the filled-out board.

The event, to be held September 15th-18th, 2009 at the Austin Convention Center in Texas, has added advisory board members including Nexon's Min Kim (MapleStory), EA/Mythic's Eugene Evans (Warhammer Online), Sony Online Entertainment's John Blakely (DC Universe Online), and Hangout Industries and former Disney exec Mike Goslin (Pirates Of The Caribbean Online), as well as Schell Games' Sheri Graner Ray.

They join existing board members such as BioWare Austin's Rich Vogel and Gordon Walton (Star Wars: The Old Republic), Metaplace's Raph Koster and Zenimax Online Studios' Matt Firor.

“The online gaming space continues to change and expand. GDC Austin addresses the latest trends and challenges in connected gaming,” commented event director Izora de Lillard in relation to the appointments and the main portion of GDC Austin, which will take place Wed-Fri, September 16th-18th.

In addition, GDC Austin will feature both existing and new 2-day Summits. Firstly, the Game Audio and Game Writer Summits will continue their long-running association with Austin.

It's also been revealed for the first time that two new Summits - an iteration of the breakout successful Independent Games Summit and the newly introduced iPhone Game Summit, will also debut on September 15-16, 2009.

Online registration for GDC Austin opens in early June, and for more information on GDC Austin and the advisory board, interested parties can visit the official GDC Austin website.

Posted by Staff at 08:47 AM | Permalink

Game Developers Conference organizers have made free streaming video of two major GDC 2009 events, the Game Design Challenge and the inaugural Indie Game Maker Rant, available as part of the newly launched myGDC Vault service.

The myGDC Vault website allows GDC 2009 All-Access Pass holders to view hundreds of specially video-recorded sessions from this year's Game Developers Conference, with synchronized slides and easy one-click viewing.

In addition, organizers will be making select GDC lectures available for free to the general public, and the first set of GDC 2009 lectures are now available. These include the following talks:

- Game Design Challenge: My First Time
The popular Design Challenge series has spanned everything from an “inter-species game” to 2006's 'Nobel Peace Prize' challenge, won by Will Wright.

This year's Challenge saw Infocom veteran Steve Meretzky, Habbo lead designer Sulka Haro and last-minute substitutes Heather Kelley (Thief: Deadly Shadows) and Erin Robinson (Spooks) entertainingly twinning 'sex and autobiography' in their entertaining, warring game concepts for the theme 'My First Time'.

Continue reading "GDC Vault Adds Game Design Challenge, Indie Game Maker Rant" »

Posted by Staff at 04:33 PM | Permalink

The second GDC China has opened up its call for submissions for panels, lectures, and tutorials, which remains open through May 22, 2009.

As previously announced, GDC China 2009 marks Think Services' return to the Chinese mainland; the event has the official sanction of Ministry of Culture of China.

The show itself will take place at the Shanghai International Convention Center from October 11 - 13, 2009. Its event director is Meggan Scavio, who serves the same role she does for the U.S.-based GDC, which took place last month in San Francisco.

Continue reading "2009 Game Developers Conference China Opens Call For Submissions" »

Posted by Staff at 10:24 AM | Permalink

For this year's recently concluded Game Developers Conference, Think Services' alt.gaming weblog, GameSetWatch, decided to try a little journalistic/interactive experiment.

They recruited Canadian author and game creator Jim Munroe, whom, as his Wikipedia page explains, is a former editor at Adbusters Magazine and a HarperCollins-published author ('Flyboy Action Figure Comes With Gasmask').

In the game field, he founded the Artsy Game Incubator project, and his poignant illustrated text adventure, 'Everybody Dies', took third place at IFComp last year and picked up a number of other media honors.

Continue reading "GameSetWatch, Jim Munroe Create 'GDC The Game'" »

Posted by Staff at 03:22 PM | Permalink

The organizers of Game Developers Conference Austin have started accepting submissions for the upcoming four-day trade show, to be held this September.

Proposals to present lectures, roundtables and full-day tutorials will be accepted for review by the GDC Austin advisory boards through Friday, May 8th.

Presented by Think Services, organizers of the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, GDC Austin is a four-day event taking place at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas from September 15 to 18, 2009.

GDC Austin focuses on connected games including online games, virtual worlds, and social networking. Submissions should address the most pressing development challenges for connected games related to business and marketing, design, social networking and community, services, production, and programming.

GDC Austin has also opened the call for submissions for the Game Audio Summit and for the Game Writers Summit. The Game Audio Summit is designed to elevate game audio development education, strengthen the community, and foster professional growth of the individual. The Game Writers Summit is dedicated to the art and craft of game writing, game narrative and interactive storytelling.

Said event director Izora de Lillard in a statement, "Now in its seventh year, GDC Austin will continue to serve the global online development communities through education and networking. Having developed an international reputation over these seven years for being the focal point of key learnings in the online games space, we are thrilled to return to Austin in September with expanded content focused on innovative designs and business models within connected games."

More information about the submissions guidelines, conference topics, and advisory board can be found at the show's official site.

Posted by Staff at 11:59 AM | Permalink

Video game-oriented television network G4 will exclusively broadcast Game Developers Choice Awards highlights on U.S. television tonight at 6:30 and 8:00 PM ET.

The awards originally took place Wednesday, March 25 during Game Developers Conference 2009 in San Francisco.

G4's program X-Play, featuring host Adam Sessler -- and billed as "the most watched video game series on television" -- will air a half-hour highlights show of the proceedings beginning this evening.

The Game Developers Choice Awards, which G4 also showed highlights from in 2008, will repeat its TV airing on this special X-Play episode on Monday, April 13 at 1:00 PM ET, and on Thursday, April 16, 2009 at 8.00pm ET.

The awards production features Double Fine Productions founder and veteran game designer Tim Schafer (Grim Fandango, Psychonauts) presiding over the evening once again - he previously hosted the 2007 Choice Awards.

More information on scheduling for upcoming episodes of the show is available at G4's TV schedule page.

[UPDATE: All times for the show are ET only, not ET/PT - in addition, G4's video page has footage from the episode now available.]

Posted by Staff at 10:50 AM | Permalink

The founding doctors of BioWare have been confirmed to deliver a keynote speech at the first Game Developers Conference Canada in Vancouver this may.

Dr. Gregory P. Zeschuk, BMSc, MD, MBA, Vice President, Entertainment and Miscellaneous, BioWare and Vice President, Electronic Arts, and Dr. Raymond A. Muzyka, BMSc, MD, CCFP, MBA, General Manager and CEO, BioWare and General Manager and Vice President, Electronic Arts, have titled their address "Emotionally Engaging Narrative: Gaming's New Frontier."

The talk will take place on the second day of GDC Canada, which runs May 12-13, 2009.

Edmonton, Canada-headquartered BioWare is known for its story-centered games; currently, it is known to be developing the single-player RPGs Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2, and the MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Continue reading "BioWare's Doctor Duo To Deliver GDC Canada Keynote" »

Posted by Staff at 02:43 PM | Permalink

GDC Europe has appointed its advisory board, selecting industry execs, tech experts and consultants to ensure the event meets the needs of the European audience.

IGDA chair Bob Bates, a 23-year industry veteran, joins the board, and in addition to Stormfront Studios vet Don Daglow, Streamline Studio founder Alexander Fernandez is also participating.

The advisory board will also include consultant and former German trade group leader Tom Putzki, and Harald Riegler, CEO of Austrian studio Sproing, as well as marketing and strategy veteran Sean Kauppinen, founder and CEO of the International Digital Entertainment Agency.

Strategic Alternatives principal Bob Wallace has also joined the board, which is led by Frank Sliwka, conference director and VP of business development at organizer Think Services (also parent of Gamasutra).

"The members of the board are all contributors who will work diligently to champion GDC Europe and guide the program so that we can elevate the level of discussion at the conference and ensure value for our attendees," says event director Sliwka.

GDC Europe takes place August 17-19 at the Cologne Congress East Center in Cologne, Germany, and will host more than 80 sessions addressing the needs and opportunities for developers and business professionals throughout Europe today. It's held in conjunction with European consumer and trade event Gamescom.

Interested parties can find further details about GDC Europe at the event's official website.

Posted by Staff at 03:21 PM | Permalink

The 2009 Game Developers Conference Canada, taking place from May 12th-13th in Vancouver, BC, has added a number of sessions featuring high-profile speakers from Electronic Arts, plus notable game writers Susan O'Connor and Marianne Krawczyk.

EA technical art director Richard Burgess-Dawson will present "Shooting in San Vanelona: the Visuals of EA's Skate," a talk for artists and visual engineers the paradigms, methods, challenges and tricks behind the visuals of EA's acclaimed skating title. Burgess-Dawson will explain how lighting, surfacing, geometry, post FX, shadows, streaming and particles contribute to the cohesion of the nine square-kilometer world.

Continue reading "GDC Canada Adds Skate, God Of War Writer Lectures" »

Posted by Staff at 07:29 AM | Permalink

Registration for the 2009 Game Developers Conference Europe is now open, organizers announced today.

The event takes place August 17 to 19 in Cologne, Germany. Registrations will be accepted until the second day of the conference, August 18. Discounts will be applied to those who sign up by July 29, said show caretaker Think Services.

A sister event to Game Developers Conference 2009, which took place last week in San Francisco, the 2009 Game Developers Conference Europe will be held in conjunction with the Cologne-based game trade show Gamescom.

GDC Europe, whose official website is now open, consists of more than 80 lectures, panels, and keynotes focusing on game design, programming, production, and business.

Said event director Frank Sliwka, "GDC Europe will be the definitive European developer event this year. We are combining the unique strengths, history, and reach of the GDC to Europe and creating an event truly focused in serving developers in Europe and worldwide."

Posted by Staff at 07:31 AM | Permalink

The 2009 Game Developers Conference, held last week at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, saw attendance of more than 17,000.

That figure was released by conference organizer Think Services, which pointed to the results as indicative of the overall industry's fundamental strength.

"The success of this past week in San Francisco proves the resilience of the games industry," said event director Meggan Scavio. "It is a testament to the spirit of our more than 20 year old conference and community, and evidence of video games' continued evolution into a mainstream form of entertainment, that the various constituents of the industry were able come together at GDC as they did [last] year."

Continue reading "GDC 2009 Attendance Exceeds 17,000, Dates For 2010 Confirmed" »

Posted by Staff at 07:33 AM | Permalink

Bethesda Softworks' epic post-apocalyptic open-world adventure, Fallout 3, received the Game of the Year Award at the 9th annual Game Developers Choice Awards, presented at a ceremony this evening the 2009 Game Developers Conference. Bethesda also received the Best Writing award for the game.

Media Molecule's imaginative user creation-centric platform game LittleBigPlanet, which was first unveiled at GDC 2007, was the recipient of the most awards of the evening, taking four awards for Best Game Design, Best Technology, Best Debut Game and Innovation Award.

Other winners at the Tim Schafer-hosted event included Ubisoft's hauntingly beautiful update of the Prince of Persia franchise, which won the prize for Best Visual Arts, and Ready at Dawn's portable action-adventure, God of War: Chains of Olympus, winner of the Best Handheld Game award. EA Redwood Shores' shocking horror title, Dead Space, won the prize for Best Audio award.

Continue reading "Fallout 3, LittleBigPlanet Reign Supreme At Choice Awards" »

Posted by Staff at 07:48 AM | Permalink

Erik Svedang's Blueberry Garden, a charming exploration game set in an ever-changing ecosystem, received top honors - the $30,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize for Best Independent Game - at the 2009 Independent Games Festival Awards.

The winners were announced this evening at the eleventh Annual IGF Awards ceremony, hosted by the Game Developers Conference at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.

The IGF awards are often referred to as the Sundance Festival of the video game industry, and offer both global exposure and over $50,000 in cash prizes to each year's winners.

Previous breakout IGF award-winners include titles such as Braid, Audiosurf, Castle Crashers, and World Of Goo, and this year's awards saw 226 Main Competition entries from all over the world - and over 450 entries in total.

Continue reading "11th Independent Games Festival Awards Topped By Blueberry Garden" »

Posted by Staff at 12:47 AM | Permalink

Gaming-oriented television network G4 will exclusively broadcast the 9th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards on U.S. television, G4 and conference organizer Think Services announced today.

The awards take place Wednesday, March 25 during Game Developers Conference 2009 in San Francisco. G4's program X-Play, featuring host Adam Sessler -- billed as "the most watched video game series on television" -- will air the proceedings on Friday, April 10 at 6:30 PM.

As recently revealed by Think Services, this year Double Fine Productions founder and veteran game designer Tim Schafer (Grim Fandango, Psychonauts) will once again preside over the evening. Schafer previously hosted the 2007 Choice Awards.

Continue reading "G4 To Broadcast 2009 Game Developers Choice Awards" »

Posted by Staff at 07:44 AM | Permalink

Organizers of this month's Game Developers Conference have revealed notable, late-breaking new talks from Capcom' Yoshinori Ono on Street Fighter IV, MIT's David Merrill on new forms of interaction, and a panel of journalists-turned-developers on crossing over to another side of the industry.

Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono will present a talk called "IV Style: Returning to the Roots of a Fighting Game Classic," discussing how the Capcom team approached the design and development process of the anticipating fighting game -- and promising "a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse into the inner workings of Japanese development."

Continue reading "GDC 2009 Additions Include Ono, Journo-To-Designer Panel, Interaction Innovations" »

Posted by Staff at 11:44 AM | Permalink

Game Developers Conference organizer Think Services (also parent of Gamasutra) has established a new office in Germany to handle GDC Europe.

Think Services Game Group European business development VP Frank Sliwka will head the new office, and serve as conference director for GDC Europe and the International eSports Conference.

Together with Carsten Kohlenbeck, who also worked with Frank Sliwka at Global Games Media, the Think Services Game Group Germany will work with a team of international industry experts from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Berlin, and Cologne to drive business growth.

One of the major partners of the Think Services Game Group Germany includes GamesCom organizers Koelnmesse, the trade fair business based in Cologne, since this year's GDC Europe will be held alongside August's major European consumer and trade video game show GamesCom.

"This new opportunity is both exciting and challenging", said Sliwka. "With this great team, I am confident that our upcoming projects such as GDC Europe will be a great success. We are enthusiastic to expand the Think Services Game Group brand and services to Europe".

GDC Europe will take place from August 17-19, 2009 at the Cologne Congress East Center in Cologne, Germany, and expects 1,500 attendees from 48 countries. Interested parties can find more information at GDC Europe's official site.

Posted by Staff at 07:54 AM | Permalink