Game Developers Conference Opens the 25th Edition of the World's Largest Professionals-Only Game Industry Event

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Game Developers Conference® 2011(GDC 2011), the world's largest and longest running event serving professionals dedicated to the art and science of making games, kicks off today at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.  GDC 2011, which runs through Friday, March 4, offers worldwide game development professionals a quintessential forum to network, share information and insights, and uncover new opportunities as they look towards the future of digital entertainment.  In its 25th edition, GDC 2011 serves as a testament to how far the industry has come – its past successes, tribulations, as well as its bright future.

GDC 2011 consists of five days of sessions and activities, comprised of a variety of lectures, panels, tutorials, roundtable discussions, award ceremonies, the most comprehensive expo floor of its kind with a career pavilion and business center, and a host of networking events. A full lineup of summits focusing on emerging trends and increasingly prominent aspects of the games industry will open up the conference on Monday, February 28 and Tuesday, March 1.  These include dedicated summits on Independent Games, Social & Online Games, Smartphone Games, Game Localization, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Education, as well as Serious Games content tracks focusing on gamification and health.

Keynoting for the 25th iteration of GDC, Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo, will present Wednesday, March 2 at 9 a.m. PST in the Moscone Convention Center's North Hall.  In his keynote, entitled "Video Games Turn 25: A Historical Perspective and Vision for the Future, "Mr. Iwata will discuss how video gaming has evolved, and his views on where the industry goes from here. As a leading player during the last 25 years of the modern video gaming era, Nintendo has a unique perspective on what makes gamers grin, what defines the term 'gamer' and what is essential to ensuring industry growth.

Celebrations for the 25th GDC also include an all-star line-up of game developers—from  John Romero (Doom) to Will Wright (Raid On Bungeling Bay) to Toru Iwatani (Pac-Man) and many more—presenting a series of special one-off hour long postmortems on the making of some of the most seminal video games of all time.

"Now in its 25th edition, we are proud to continue to serve and celebrate game developers by providing this forum to examine both the past and present as well as the trends, growth and diversity of the games industry," says Meggan Scavio, event director of the GDC. "At GDC the entire game development community comes together to express ideas, share inspirations, and drive innovation towards a more diverse and successful industry.  By providing strategic content such as dedicated summits in areas such as online and social gaming, and developing ideas like gamification, the GDC continues to be the world's central forum for existing and emerging game developers."

The conference features more than 450 lectures, panels, tutorials and roundtable discussions on a comprehensive selection of game development topics taught by leading industry experts. The week-long event also features an Expo and Career Pavilion, Business Center, the Game Career Seminar, the 13th annual Independent Games Festival (IGF), the 11th annual Game Developers Choice Awards, and more.

For more information about GDC 2011, as well as the comprehensive GDC schedule builder, please visit www.gdconf.com.

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