Game Connect: Asia Pacific 2010
Speaker line-up announced for next month's conference.
MELBOURNE - 21 September 2010 The Game Connect Asia Pacific conference today announced its international keynote speakers:
* Greg Short, President and Chief Executive Officer of Electronic Entertainment Design
and Research (EEDAR)
* Nathan Martz, Project Lead at Double Fine Productions
* David Edery, CEO of Fuzbi, founder of independent development studio, Spry Fox, board director on the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), and research affiliate of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program
“The theme of Game Connect Asia Pacific 2010 is The Player Experience”, said Tony Lawrence, President of the GDAA and General Manager 2K Marin-Canberra, “and we’re fortunate to secure such highly respected and knowledgeable speakers who will share their views on the changing needs of today’s gamers and industry.”
“The games industry moves rapidly, and in the past few years we’ve seen strong shifts from being a primarily technology industry to an entertainment one. We’ve gone from niche recreation to mainstream and family driven entertainment, and development budgets that range from the tens of thousands to the tens of millions of dollars. At this year’s conference, we want to bring together a wide range of creative and business voices to encourage people to step outside their own comfort zones and build positively towards the future,” he added.
‘THE 50 BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS’ - GREG SHORT
Video games now eclipse Hollywood as the largest entertainment business in the world. From retail to digital, traditional to social - video games are now part of mainstream life. Combining unique data prepared exclusively for GCAP 2010, with personal accounts and case studies from his experiences over the last 15 years, Mr Short's presentation will provide a detailed examination of the forces that have shaped this exciting business, the impact of the financial downturn and what can be expected in the next ten years. This is a not-to-be-missed session for anyone in the creative industries looking to make informed and actionable decisions on their future in the games industry.
‘THE CULTURE, CREATIVITY AND AWESOME OF DOUBLE FINE’ - NATHAN MARTZ
Founded in 2000, at the height of the US dot-com boom, Double Fine Productions had aspirations of building high quality, original, character-driven video games. Nine years later and two very big, ambitious, and original games later - Psychonauts and Brutal Legend - that aspiration was achieved. But how does an ambitious and creative studio faced with the changing landscape of digital distribution and a proliferation of new platforms with new business models continue to achieve its goals when skyrocketing development costs, publisher consolidation and an increasingly fragmented user base makes reaching large audiences with original entertainment increasingly difficult? Mr. Martz will share the experiences of Double Fine Productions and how the company took advantage of opportunities and avoided obstacles.
‘HOW TO PLACE YOUR BETS’ - DAVID EDERY
Where should independent developers invest their limited time and resources when new games platforms are rapidly multiplying and competition is multiplying even faster? David Edery will provide answers to these questions and provide timely advice to independent developers.
About Game Connect Asia Pacific (GCAP): GCAP is Australia’s premier game development conference, focusing specifically on skills development, addressing industry trends and international business matching, and is owned and organised by the Game Developers’ Association of Australia (GDAA). The GDAA is a notfor-profit industry representative organisation.
Game Connect Asia Pacific 2010 will be held on Thursday 14 October and Friday 15 October 2010 at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, on Australia's Gold Coast. Website:
http://www.gcap.com.au/welcome
For interviews and further information contact: Antony Reed, CEO, on 03 9008 5978 or 0414 934 035
Game Connect Asia Pacific 2010 acknowledges its following sponsors:
Epic Games, Queensland Government, Halfbrick Studios, Storm FX, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Samsung, Big Ant Studios, iZdot.com and FMOD