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What's Next? Intel's Pallister on the future of processing power

[In advance of November's GDC Next, GDC's Director of Online Community Patrick Miller reached out to many games industry luminaries to see where they think the future of video games is headed. This interview is the latest installment of a multi-part series that will run up until shortly before the 'future of games' conference, which takes place in Los Angeles, CA from November 5-7, co-located with the App Developers Conference.]
As the director of content strategy for Intel's visual computing group, part of Kim Pallister's job is forecasting tech progress and emerging trends games and graphics -- in other words, predicting the future. Read on to find out where he thinks hardware will go in the next ten years (and where he thinks it isn't hardware that's holding us back).

Find out more about Square Enix's Collective publishing platform at GDC Next!

Today, Square Enix announced Collective, a new curated game pitching-and-publishing platform developed in partnership with IndieGoGo that enables independent game devs to connect with Square Enix and the broader community for feedback, crowdfunding, even access to older Eidos IP. If you want to know more about Collective, you can hear more about it yourself at a special GDC Next session called "The Story Behind Square Enix Collective".
In this session, Square Enix head of community Phil Elliott will offer more details about the Collective publishing platform, including details on launch plans, submission parameters, platforms, and information on which Square Enix IP will be available for pitches. The session will also include a question-and-answer period, and Square Enix is soliciting further questions and feedback via email at [email protected].

Sony's Boyes to speak about free-to-play on the PS4 at GDC Next

'Future of games' conference GDC Next has added more exciting talks to its inaugural lineup for the Next Generation Game Platforms Track: Sony Computer Entertainment America's Adam Boyes on new business models and the PS4's "Easy-to-Play" model, and Mind Pirate on its next-gen mobile Callisto platform and wearable tech.
GDC Next is the spiritual successor to GDC Online, and will take place alongside the App Developers Conference on November 5th-7th, 2013 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
This new event aims to highlight the future of video game development, with session tracks organized around 'Next Generation Game Platforms', 'Free To Play & New Business Models', and 'Smartphone & Tablet Games', as well as cloud and indie game tracks.
How will games built around free-to-play, episodic distribution, or other new business models work on the PlayStation 4? SCEA VP of publisher and developer relations Adam Boyes will share how Sony envisions new business models fitting into the PS4's "Easy-to-Play" philosophy in a talk called 'The Easy-to-Play Model: Developer Friendly, Gamer Approved'.
Boyes will discuss the evolution of F2P on game consoles, the engagement and spending habits of F2P consumers, case studies on how developers have built successful F2P intellectual properties on the PlayStation, and ways F2P will evolve in the future on the PlayStation 4.

Reminder: IGF 2014 Main Competition deadline is in two weeks

Don't forget: The Main Competition submission deadline for the 2014 Independent Games Festival is in two weeks!
The Independent Games Festival is the signature competition for indie games, to be held for a 16th year during GDC 2014 in San Francisco next March. This directly follows a record-breaking year which saw nearly 900 entries for the 2013 event, including top prizewinners like FTL: Faster Than Light, Cart Life, and Kentucky Route Zero.
The deadlines for the Main and Student Showcase categories are October 19th and October 31st, 2013, respectively, with finalists announced in January 2014. Finalists' games will be playable at the IGF Pavilion on the Game Developers Conference 2014 Expo Floor, and will compete for nearly $60,000 in prizes.
The Independent Games Festival is the longest-running and highest profile independent video game festival, summit and showcase. It has served as a springboard for several games that have gone on to become critical and cultural hits. Previous IGF prize winners from the past 16 years include Spelunky, Fez, Minecraft, Limbo, World of Goo, Braid, Castle Crashers, Everyday Shooter and many more of the game industry's breakthrough independent titles.

GDC Next 10 adds Project Eternity, CounterSpy talks

'Future of games' conference GDC Next organizers have announced the latest two titles to be included in the 'GDC Next 10' special session series of innovative, yet-to-debut games: Obsidian Entertainment's retro-revival RPG Project Eternity, and Dynamighty's procedurally-generated stealth game CounterSpy.
As part of the November LA-based 'future of games' conference's cutting-edge content, representatives of each game will be invited to give a world-exclusive talk about the concept, inspiration, and design behind the title.
Every GDC Next 10 game has been picked by GDC organizers as a game to watch for the future; one that is doing something decidedly different in today''s increasingly crowded game market.
This week's first addition to the Next 10 is Obsidian Entertainment's Project Eternity [trailer], an original PC game that aims to revive the 2D isometric design and hand-drawn aesthetic established by classic party-based role-playing games Planescape: Torment, Baldur's Gate, and Icewind Dale. Project Eternity initially made waves as one of last year's crowdfunding hits, pulling in over $4 million to break the Kickstarter record for games at the time.
However, bringing back the 2D isometric RPG isn't all magic missiles and lightning bolts. Project Eternity director Josh Sawyer (Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights 2) will elaborate upon the challenges involved in balancing contemporary development and design practices with classic RPG fans' expectations in a talk titled 'Gathering Your Party withProject Eternity'. Attendees will learn how 13440 x 7560 renders sound cool until you see how big they are on disk; how classic challenge is good, as long as you avoid classic obfuscation; and how a few words with a loose illustration can be a scene's greatest illustrator.

Augment your reality at GDC Next!

Augmented Reality (AR) is maturing into more than just a neat tech demo; stop by GDC Next in Los Angeles (from November 5-7) to learn more about how to work with AR in games in the sessions and on the show floor.
In a talk from the 'Future of Gaming' track titled 'Beyond the Box: Opportunities in Augmented Reality,' Experience Mars developer and Advanced Interactions founder Brian Cody will speak about the history of AR, his experience working with Vuforia, Qualcomm's Augmented Reality SDK, and how it integrates with Unity 3D, and AR's potential for future games.
Meanwhile, AR hardware startup Technical Illusions, led by ex-Valve devs Jeri Ellsworth and Rick Johnson, will be on the GDC Next show floor on special invitation from GDC organizers to demonstrate CastAR, their work-in-progress AR headset. Watch the "Let the Wookiee Win" video below to see a demo of a familiar-looking game using the CastAR that was built in Unity 3D.

What's Next? Robert Zubek on the evolution of social games

[In advance of November's GDC Next, GDC's Director of Online Community Patrick Miller reached out to many games industry luminaries to see where they think the future of video games is headed. This interview is the latest installment of a multi-part series that will run up until shortly before the 'future of games' conference, which takes place in Los Angeles, CA from November 5-7, co-located with the App Developers Conference.]
Between his work at Zynga engineering CityVille and FarmVille 2, and his current work as founder of indie mobile sim studio SomaSim Games, it's safe to say that Robert Zubek has a good handle on what's coming up next on the tech side of the games industry. I spoke to him about how social games will change and evolve in the next era of social networks -- and why Minecraft really might just be emblematic of the most important emerging trends in games.

Star Citizen crowdfunding, Kongregate analytics talks added to GDC Next

'Future of games' conference GDC Next organizers have added more exciting talks to its inaugural lineup for the Business & Marketing Discipline: Chris Roberts on the community-building lessons he learned while crowdfunding Star Citizen for $20 million, and Kongregate COO Emily Greer on analytics best (and worst) practices.
GDC Next is the spiritual successor to GDC Online, and will take place alongside the App Developers Conference on November 5th-7th, 2013 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
This new event aims to highlight the future of video game development, with session tracks organized around 'Next Generation Game Platforms', 'Free To Play & New Business Models', and 'Smartphone & Tablet Games', as well as cloud and indie game tracks.
Cloud Imperium Games CCO and Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts (pictured) -- who spoke to Gamasutra about his crowdfunding success -- will present a talk called 'Star Citizen: Going Beyond Crowdfunding'.
In this talk, Roberts will explain his approach to cultivating and continuously engaging Star Citizen's supporter community -- and how that approach enabled them to raise more money than any other crowdfunded game and build a head start on the large player base needed to support its massive virtual universe.

GDC Taipei Summit 2013 announced for Dec 5-6, call for talks open

The call for submissions to present talks for the GDC Taipei Summit 2013 is open from now until October 8.
GDC Taipei Summit 2013, now in its second year, is organized by Gamasutra parent UBM Tech in association with UBM Asia, also co-creators of the recent GDC China event.
The event will be held at the Taipei International Convention Center on December 5-6, 2013, and continues to be the premier professional conference for the creators of games and interactive entertainment in Taiwan.
Submissions are welcomed on a wide range of topics:

GDC 2014 opens call for Summit talks through Oct 23

The call for submissions to present lectures and panels for the specialized Summits that kick off the 2014 Game Developers Conference is now open through Wednesday, October 23. Beginning on the first two days of the conference, the GDC Summits cover topics in emerging sectors of the game development industry, with a focus on broadening the scope of games to incorporate new audiences, new platforms, and new gameplay ideas.
Organized by the UBM Tech Game Network, GDC 2014 will take place March 17-21 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California.
The summits feature lectures, panels, and postmortems, with an acclaimed roster of speakers covering content within specific sectors of the gaming industry to share their expertise with developers aiming to master their crafts.

The Odd Gentlemen, Neil Gaiman's Wayward Manor added to 'GDC Next 10' talks

GDC Next 2013 organizers have announced that The Odd Gentlemen and Neil Gaiman's ghostly game collaboration Wayward Manor is the newest inductee of the 'GDC Next 10' session series.
As part of the November LA-based 'future of games' conference's cutting-edge content, representatives from each game's creator will be invited to give a world-exclusive talk about the conception, inspiration, and design behind the title.
Every 'GDC Next 10' game has been picked by GDC's organizers as a game to watch for the future, and a title that is doing something decidedly different in today's increasingly crowded game market.
This week's inductee to the Next 10 is Wayward Manor [trailer], a serial game collaboration between comics writer and screenwriter Neil Gaiman (Coraline, The Sandman, Stardust) and developer The Odd Gentlemen (P.B. Winterbottom, Flea Symphony).

What's Next? Chris Crawford says storytelling is our greatest challenge

[In advance of November's GDC Next, GDC's Director of Online Community Patrick Miller reached out to many games industry luminaries to see where they think the future of video games is headed. This interview is the latest installment of a multi-part series that will run up until shortly before the 'future of games' conference, which takes place in Los Angeles, CA from November 5-7, co-located with the App Developers Conference.]
I can't continue this series of GDC Next interviews without including Chris Crawford. Not only was he the original founder of the Game Developers Conference (then called the Computer Game Developers Conference; it started in his living room), but he has been concerned with the future of games - specifically the medium's potential for interactive storytelling -- for a long time. Read on to find out what keeps Crawford going in the quest for a truly emotionally engaging game.

What's Next? Ultima Online vet Starr Long bets on user-generated content

[In advance of November's GDC Next, GDC's Director of Online Community Patrick Miller reached out to many games industry luminaries to see where they think the future of video games is headed. This interview is the latest installment of a multi-part series that will run up until shortly before the 'future of games' conference, which takes place in Los Angeles, CA from November 5-7, co-located with the App Developers Conference.]
NCsoft and Origin veteran Starr Long is probably best known for his work on Ultima Online, but that isn't the only forward-looking credit you'll see on his resume. Long is giving a talk at GDC Next on Nine Trends for the Next Decade of Video Games" -- read on to find out what didn't make the cut, and why he thinks user-generated content (UGC) is a big part of our future.

GDC Next adds Cryptic on avoiding pay-to-win MMOs, Animoca talks

As early-rate pricing ends today, 'future of games' conference GDC Next organizers have added more exciting talks to its lineup, including Animoca's Henry Oh on choosing your next game platform, and D&D: Neverwinter developer Cryptic Studios on avoiding pay-to-win in F2P MMOs.
GDC Next is the spiritual successor to GDC Online, and will take place alongside the App Developers Conference on November 5th-7th, 2013 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
This new event aims to highlight the future of video game development, with session tracks organized around 'Next Generation Game Platforms', 'Free To Play & New Business Models', and 'Smartphone & Tablet Games', as well as cloud and indie game tracks.
Developers wanting to design an engaging and fair free-to-play MMO experience without offputting monetization traps should check out 'How to Avoid Pay-to-Win with F2P,' from Cryptic Studios CEO Jack Emmert. He will share how Cryptic weighed business needs against game balance while keeping players happy in its current MMOs, including Star Trek Online and Dungeons & Dragons: Neverwinter (pictured).

ADC survey finds piracy, discoverability to be key issues facing app creators

Piracy and discoverability are the top issues facing app developers today, according to new research conducted by the organizers of GDC Next sister event the App Developers Conference.
In order to paint a picture of the app development landscape as it stands right before ADC, more than 250 app creators were surveyed on topics ranging from targeted platforms and app stores to app verticals, monetization methods and more. The full text of the survey results is available for free.
Organized by UBM Tech (also owners of Gamasutra), creators and producers of the largest and longest-running professionals-only game industry conference, the Game Developers Conference, ADC will take place November 5th-7th at the Los Angeles Convention Center and will be co-located with another inaugural event, the future-facing GDC Next.
26% of surveyed devs had their apps pirated; of those with IAP, same percentage saw them hacked

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