CMP Game Group's Independent Games Summit Announces Game Veteran and Indie Gaming Legend, Jeff Minter, as Keynote SpeakerFirst Annual Summit Dedicated to Independent Games to Take Place at GDC With Sessions on Development, Marketing, Distribution and Standout Contributions to the FieldPRNewswire SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Jeff Minter, a 25-year game veteran and indie gaming legend, will keynote the first annual Independent Games Summit (IGS) hosted by the CMP Game Group March 5-6 as part of the 2007 Game Developers Conference at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center. In his keynote, indie veteran and Llamasoft founder Minter (Tempest 2000, Attack Of The Mutant Camels) will discuss his personal history in the business, his design philosophy, and his current projects, including Space Giraffe for Xbox 360 Live Arcade, in an extremely rare North American appearance for the elusive programmer. The IGS is a two-day event dedicated to the art and science of development practices, distribution strategies, and innovative ideas in the independent gaming community, and includes lectures from major indie figures from Three Rings, Reflexive Entertainment, Telltale Games, The Behemoth, Introversion, Valve, ThatGameCompany, NinjaBee, Gamelab, and many more. As a sneak peek, below are some more of the most highly anticipated IGS sessions: * Innovation in Indie Games, an exploration of creativity by the developers of the Experimental Gameplay Project at CMU, IGF-winning Braid and Everyday Shooter, among others. * Fostering an Experimental Student Project: How Cloud Got Made, a look back at lessons learned on the production process and finding the balance between professional game development and student resources, from the creators of PS3 game fl0w. * Postmortem: Gastronaut Studios' Small Arms, an experiential study of the frenetic Xbox Live Arcade multiplayer shooter and insight into indie games on consoles "Once we decided to move forward on the Summit, Jeff Minter was a natural choice for the keynote," said Simon Carless, Independent Games Festival (IGF) Chairman. "We're delighted to welcome both him and a plethora of indie stars to the inaugural Independent Games Summit." When asked about the IGS's relationship to the GDC and the gaming world as a whole, Jamil Moledina, Executive Director, GDC, said: "Independent games, like casual and online games, have become an essential element of mainstream game development. For the past eight years, the Independent Games Festival has been, like the indie film movement, a source of true daring and a jumping board for reinvigorating large-scale commercial development. Now with the growing importance of digital distribution of indie and casual games on consoles, it is imperative for us to build on the IGF experience and incubate an independent games focus at GDC." Top-level sessions ranging across such broad subject matter as content development, student contributions and accessibility are open to all registrants. There are two new conference passes designed specifically for the IGS. The IGS Classic Pass ($995 before early registration Jan. 31, 2007; $1,550 thereafter) grants access to the two-day summit, the GDC lectures, panels, roundtables and keynotes, and the IGS Expo Pass ($275/$295) opens the doors to the summit sessions, the expo, five intro-level sessions and GDC networking events. More than 12,500 game industry professionals will convene during GDC, the world's largest games industry-only event dedicated to the advancement of resources, tools and technologies used to create interactive entertainment. The GDC features more than 300 lectures, panels, tutorials and round-table discussions on a comprehensive selection of game development topics taught by leading industry experts. For more information, or to register for the Independent Game Summit or Game Developers Conference, please visit http://www.gdconf.com/. Press registration is also currently open. About the CMP Game Group (http://www.cmpgame.com/) A core provider of essential information to the professional game industry, the CMP Game Group offers market-defining content, and drives community through the Game Developers Conference, Game Developer magazine, the Webby Award-winning Gamasutra.com, the Serious Games Summit D.C., GDC Mobile, GDC Europe, the Independent Games Festival, the Game Developers Choice Awards, GDC London, the London Games Summit, GDCTV, GDCRadio, and the GDC Focus On event series. For more information, please visit http://www.cmpgame.com/. About CMP Technology (http://www.cmp.com/) CMP Technology is a marketing solutions company serving the technology industry. Through its market-leading portfolio of trusted information brands, CMP has earned the confidence of more technology professionals than any other media company. As a result, CMP is the premier provider of access, insight and actionable programs designed to connect sellers and buyers in ways that yield superior return on investment. CMP Technology is a subsidiary of United Business Media (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/), a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion. SOURCE: CMP Technology CONTACT: Sibel Sunar, sibel@fortyseven.com, or Brian Rubin, Web site: http://www.gdconf.com/ Web site: http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/ Web site: http://www.cmpgame.com/ Web site: http://www.cmp.com/ |