Austin Game Developers Conference 2008 OpensGame Industry Professionals Gather to take a Glimpse into the Future of the Evolving Landscape of Game DevelopmentPRNewswire AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The Austin Game Developers Conference (Austin GDC) returns to the Austin Convention Center for three days of learning, networking, and inspiration with sessions focused on connected games, game audio, writing for games, and virtual worlds. This year's theme, "Evolve to Win," speaks to the expanded, progressive content including over 150 lectures, panels, keynotes, and roundtable discussions aimed with arming game developers the skills to succeed within their craft and businesses to gain new insight on the changing digital entertainment space. Austin GDC presents perspectives from over 200 industry leading speakers as well as a sold out expo floor with more than 130 exhibitors and sponsors. The conference is led each day by top visionary keynotes pushing the boundaries of game development including:
-- Monday keynote: Lane Merrifield, Executive Vice President, Walt
Disney Internet Group, Co-Founder and General Manager, Club Penguin
Keynote address: At Their Service: Making a Difference by Putting
Players First
-- Tuesday keynote: Bruce Sterling, American Science Fiction Author &
Futurist
Keynote address: Computer Entertainment 35 Years from Today
-- Wednesday keynote: Audio Manager, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
R&D
Keynote address: That It? Next Gen Audio
"The 2008 Austin GDC marks a very current and important direction in connected games," says Izora Garcia de Lillard, Austin GDC Conference Director. "In the past few years we've seen so many emerging opportunities within the online space for both developers and business folks to take advantage. From the changing landscape of virtual worlds and games, to in-your-garage start-up MMOs, to next gen audio tools, to different techniques of game story-telling, the Austin GDC creates a community for all developers new or seasoned to learn, network, and inspire each other to get to that next level in their craft ... or should I say Evolve to Win in the game industry." New to this year's conference is the Worlds in Motion Summit and the Independent Games Festival (IGF) Showcase. Keeping true to the future-focused spirit of Austin GDC, the Worlds in Motion Summit will cover the intersection of games, business, and entertainment in online spaces and virtual worlds with a keynote address from Mel Guymon, Product Manager for Lively by Google, addressing "Google's first Real Talk on Lively Since its debut." The IGF Showcase will debut titles from local developers representing exciting, new and creative gameplay and graphical ideas within this space The conference also marks the return of the Game Career Seminar geared for students, graduates, and aspiring developers interested in careers in the game industry. Austin GDC 2009 will return to the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. The industry-leading event will take place September 14-18, 2009. For a complete list of GDC 2008 event information, please visit http://www.austingdc.net/ and http://www.gdconf.com/. About Think Services Think Services connects specialized communities worldwide using innovative media, educational events, consulting, training and certification. Providing comprehensive opportunities for people to learn from, network with, and inspire each other, Think Services builds strong brands and works within communities to foster a unique affinity with its products and services. The division's flagship products include the Game Developers Conference, the Webby Award-winning Gamasutra.com, Game Developer magazine, the International Customer Management Institute, HDI (formerly the Help Desk Institute), and Dr. Dobb's Journal. Think Services 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 $2.5 billion. To learn more, visit http://www.think-services.com/. About United Business Media Limited United Business Media Limited is a leading global business media company. We inform markets and bring the world's buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print, and with the information they need to do business successfully. We focus on serving professional commercial communities, from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewellery traders, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. Our 6,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organised into specialist teams that serve these communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more information, go to http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/. Contact: Craig Sinel / Sibel Sunar fortyseven communications 323.658.1200 craig@fortyseven.com / sibel@fortyseven.com Ben Veechai / Ahmad White Think Services Game Group 415.947.6280 / 415.947.6207 bveechai@think-services.com / awhite@think-services.com SOURCE: Think Services CONTACT: Craig Sinel, craig@fortyseven.com, or Sibel Sunar, Web site: http://www.austingdc.net/ |