Keynote

Fostering Cultural Diversity in Game Development

SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS acquired EIDOS as a wholly owned subsidiary on April 22, 2009 in a step to further achieve its corporate philosophy : To spread happiness across the globe by providing unforgettable experiences. The Group is currently building a new, group-wide game development environment in an effort to make full use of the unique individual characteristics of its three core brands - SQUARE ENIX, TAITO and EIDOS; moving beyond differences in style and background while strengthening creativity and innovation. In his speech, Mr. Wada will share the steps the Group has taken, providing to those involved with the global video game industry a vision of future game development.

SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS acquired EIDOS as a wholly owned subsidiary on April 22, 2009 in a step to further achieve its corporate philosophy : To spread happiness across the globe by providing unforgettable experiences. The Group is currently building a new, group-wide game development environment in an effort to make full use of the unique individual characteristics of its three core brands - SQUARE ENIX, TAITO and EIDOS; moving beyond differences in style and background while strengthening creativity and innovation. In his speech, Mr. Wada will share the steps the Group has taken, providing to those involved with the global video game industry a vision of future game development.

Biography Yoichi Wada, president and CEO of SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS, heads the SQUARE ENIX Group, known for providing quality entertainment experiences via its three core brands, SQUARE ENIX, TAITO and EIDOS. To maintain the position as a frontrunner in the global media and entertainment industry, Mr. Wada has made it his mission to continue strengthening the SQUARE ENIX Group’s commitment to its corporate philosophy: To spread happiness across the globe by providing unforgettable experiences. Mr. Wada has been chairman of the COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT SUPPLIER'S ASSOCIATION (CESA), the only video game industry organization in Japan, since May 2006.

Business

Why you can make the greatest game and it won't even matter – The importance of marketing

It is a common myth that review scores are the most critical feature to driving game sales. Unfortunately, because of the lack of data, this myth lives on today; however, with data provided by EEDAR and Nielsen Monitor Plus, we tackle this myth and show that in fact marketing, its budget size and quality, correlate more to game sales than any other single game feature. Additionally, Divnich will present case studies that details the role marketing plays in driving game sales. These studies include: Guitar Hero vs. Rock Band, BioShock vs. Dead Space, EA Active vs. My Fitness Coach, why Assassin’s Creed was a blockbuster, and why Boom Blox failed to meet expectations. It is common for developers to leave the marketing of their products to outside consultants and to their corporate marketing departments. However, this presentation will reinforce the need for developers to be involved in the marketing process as you the developer understand your target market better than any outside consultant or corporate executive.

It is a common myth that review scores are the most critical feature to driving game sales. Unfortunately, because of the lack of data, this myth lives on today; however, with data provided by EEDAR and Nielsen Monitor Plus, we tackle this myth and show that in fact marketing, its budget size and quality, correlate more to game sales than any other single game feature. Additionally, Divnich will present case studies that details the role marketing plays in driving game sales. These studies include: Guitar Hero vs. Rock Band, BioShock vs. Dead Space, EA Active vs. My Fitness Coach, why Assassin’s Creed was a blockbuster, and why Boom Blox failed to meet expectations. It is common for developers to leave the marketing of their products to outside consultants and to their corporate marketing departments. However, this presentation will reinforce the need for developers to be involved in the marketing process as you the developer understand your target market better than any outside consultant or corporate executive.

Biography As the Director of Analyst Services, Jesse Divnich is responsible for the development and execution of new products and services for the financial sector. Prior to joining EEDAR in 2007, Jesse operated as an independent industry consultant and analyst for numerous private firms and institutions with strong financial interests in the interactive entertainment sector. In addition to contributing to the development of new product lines for EEDAR in the areas of due diligence, risk management and analysis of industry trends, Jesse makes regular appearances in media articles where he provides analysis on current and emerging industry trends.

Art

Machinarium - hand-made robots

Czech independent studio Amanita Design is known for the distictive art style of their games - natural collages in Samorost and Samorost2 or hand-drawn 2d art in recent Machinarium. In this talk the studio founder and project leader Jakub Dvorsky will show how their last game was build from initial concept artworks to final product. He will also explain the importance of very tight collaboration of designer, artist, animator, musician and other team members to achieve the desired hand-made feeling and atmosphere.

Czech independent studio Amanita Design is known for the distictive art style of their games - natural collages in Samorost and Samorost2 or hand-drawn 2d art in recent Machinarium. In this talk the studio founder and project leader Jakub Dvorsky will show how their last game was build from initial concept artworks to final product. He will also explain the importance of very tight collaboration of designer, artist, animator, musician and other team members to achieve the desired hand-made feeling and atmosphere.

Biography In 2003 Jakub Dvorsky successfully finished Academy of Arts in Prague with a free online flash adventure game called Samorost as his thesis project. At the same year he founded Amanita Design studio which created several small flash games, worked on music videos, production design for animated films and now is finishing their first full-length independent game Machinarium.

Production

Designing Assassin’s Creed®2

Working under a very aggressive schedule, Assassin’s Creed®2 development team had the objective to create a ‘monster’ game, sequel to the first opus, Assassin’s Creed®.  With more than 300 developers on the project, the team had to deal with the numerous challenges of such a production all the while keeping the game development on track! Patrick Plourde - Lead Game Designer on Assassin’s Creed®2, will go over the technical approach the Design team took during the production of the game: -Keeping the design focused on the right things -Building a game around a strong documentation structure -Validating the results with players In identifying the core experiences of the game, as well as having a solid design structure, the designers can influence risk management and ensure the game’s success!

Working under a very aggressive schedule, Assassin’s Creed®2 development team had the objective to create a ‘monster’ game, sequel to the first opus, Assassin’s Creed®.  With more than 300 developers on the project, the team had to deal with the numerous challenges of such a production all the while keeping the game development on track! Patrick Plourde - Lead Game Designer on Assassin’s Creed®2, will go over the technical approach the Design team took during the production of the game: -Keeping the design focused on the right things -Building a game around a strong documentation structure -Validating the results with players In identifying the core experiences of the game, as well as having a solid design structure, the designers can influence risk management and ensure the game’s success!

Biography Patrick Plourde joined Ubisoft in 2003 as a 3D Artist and quickly shifted toward design, shipping Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Lockdown® as a Level Designer. He then worked on other major productions such as Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas® and Assassin’s Creed ® as a Game Designer and on Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas®2 as a Lead Game Designer. Patrick is now Lead Game Designer on Assassin’s Creed®2, working on the AI, fighting system, navigation, user interface, missions…. and much more! Game Credits: Assassin’s Creed®2 - Lead Game Designer (2009); Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas®2 - Lead Game Designer (2008); Assassin’s Creed® - Game Designer (2007); Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas® - Game Designer (2006); Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Lockdown® - Level Designer (2005)

Design

Digital distribution will change your game

If we use the app-store (Apple digital distribution system on I-phone) as a reference of what the future holds, the future of console gaming will look drastically different from what it is today. In the month of August none of the top publishers had a game in the top 20, the closest is EA with Tetris at position 28 . All top 10 positions are held by indie developers; do big companies have something to learn from Indi developers in online distribution? Would gamers want more of the same AAA cookie cutter mechanics with nice graphics? Or would this distribution channel create an appetite for innovative mechanics and experiences?

If we use the app-store (Apple digital distribution system on I-phone) as a reference of what the future holds, the future of console gaming will look drastically different from what it is today. In the month of August none of the top publishers had a game in the top 20, the closest is EA with Tetris at position 28 . All top 10 positions are held by indie developers; do big companies have something to learn from Indi developers in online distribution? Would gamers want more of the same AAA cookie cutter mechanics with nice graphics? Or would this distribution channel create an appetite for innovative mechanics and experiences?

Biography Vander Caballero is a Creative Director at  EA Montreal, his main focus has been to introduce innovation by changing the game design process. He has created the concept team, a specialized prototyping team that develops new IPs and collaborates in the preproduction of franchises like Spore Hero, and NFS Nitro. His major achievements have been the creation of the Army of Two and Boogie franchises. Vander studied Industrial Design at the "Instituto Europeo de Design" in Italy. Upon his arrival in Montreal in 1998 he began to work in Virtual Reality & Architectural Visualization. In 1999, along with Daniel Langlois, he co-founded 4-Elements Studio.

Tech

Solving the Networked Physics Puzzle

Traditional networking techniques work well for simple linear motion, but start to break down when networking complex rigid-body physics simulations where objects can tumble, stack and interact with each other. This light-hearted and humorous tutorial takes a look at various options, techniques and pitfalls to watch out for when networking this sort of simulation, providing you with a tool-bag of new techniques and ideas you can use to network your physics based game.

Traditional networking techniques work well for simple linear motion, but start to break down when networking complex rigid-body physics simulations where objects can tumble, stack and interact with each other. This light-hearted and humorous tutorial takes a look at various options, techniques and pitfalls to watch out for when networking this sort of simulation, providing you with a tool-bag of new techniques and ideas you can use to network your physics based game.

Biography Glenn got his start at Irrational Games Australia working on the critally acclaimed "Freedom Force" before moving to Los Angeles to follow his dreams, ship a next-gen console title (Mercs 2) and find a beautiful American woman to marry (Chantel). Mission accomplished! By day, Glenn is dedicated to advancing the state of the art in game networking, at night he dreams of a future where multiplayer games have evolved beyond running around mostly static worlds and shooting other people in the face. Glenn is currently working on an unannounced project for Sony Santa Monica and in his spare time writes about game physics and networking on www.gafferongames.com

Sponsored seminars

The Virtual World of Music - The Launch of a Compelling Music-Themed World

This seminar will present the evolution of NDi Media`s music platform to its culmination in the development of a " Virtual World of Music " as a joint venture between National Geographic Games and NDi. Neil Smolar, President, NDi Media and Chris Mate, VP Interactive Entertainment, National Geographic Ventures will lead the presentation. Mr. Smolar is a long time musician and New Media Evangelist. Mr. Mate, with over 100 games in his softography, is a leading thinker in the monetizing of online and downloadable games. Among the topics are: - Creating the Joint Venture - User Experience - Monetization opportunities - Looking forward

This seminar will present the evolution of NDi Media`s music platform to its culmination in the development of a " Virtual World of Music " as a joint venture between National Geographic Games and NDi. Neil Smolar, President, NDi Media and Chris Mate, VP Interactive Entertainment, National Geographic Ventures will lead the presentation. Mr. Smolar is a long time musician and New Media Evangelist. Mr. Mate, with over 100 games in his softography, is a leading thinker in the monetizing of online and downloadable games. Among the topics are: - Creating the Joint Venture - User Experience - Monetization opportunities - Looking forward

Biography :Chris Mate As Vice President of Interactive Entertainment at National Geographic Games, Chris Mate directs all aspects of the development, marketing and distribution of entertainment products. Chris created and directs NG’s strategy and implementation of its Virtual World Initiatives and provides oversight and management for NG’s outbound game-centric licensing and Business Development strategies. He previously worked as VP of Business Development for PowerChallenge AB, Vice President of Interactive Publishing for Take 2 Interactive Software and Managing Director for Empire Interactive Inc., amongst others. Of over 100 titles, some of his video game credits include MTV Total Request Live Trivia (2001), Mall Tycoon (2002), Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic (2003), Ski Resort Extreme (2004), The Operational Art of War III (2006), and Herod's Lost Tomb (2008).

Biography :Neil Smolar With the founding NDi Media in 2001, Neil changed his professional focus from film and television to new media production. As executive producer of Arctic Mission, Wumpa’s World, Hans Hans the Biking Viking and Virtual World Music Neil has negotiated and closed licensing and production deals with Discovery, PBS, National Geographic, Nickelodeon, American Greetings, Corus Entertainment, CBC and France 5. He won a Gemini for Best Interactive Producer for Arctic Mission. Previous to NDi, Neil was a film and television composer specializing in feature films and mini-series. He wrote the music scores for 25 films and TV programs notably Varian’s War, Captive Heart, The Boys of St. Vincent, and won a Gemini Award for Best Original Score for the mini-series Dieppe.

Sponsored seminars

State of the Art Light Mapping

This session will cover modern light mapping techniques that will help you get the most realistic looking games with performance that scales to a wide range of different hardware and light setups. It will cover subjects such as characters in light mapped environments, texture atlasing, and different ways of storing light to get the best compromise between quality and performance for your specific needs.

This session will cover modern light mapping techniques that will help you get the most realistic looking games with performance that scales to a wide range of different hardware and light setups. It will cover subjects such as characters in light mapped environments, texture atlasing, and different ways of storing light to get the best compromise between quality and performance for your specific needs.

Biography David has been with Illuminate Labs since 2004. He has been involved in most parts of the development of Beast and Turtle and is currently in the process of starting up Illuminate Labs US business.

Sponsored seminars

Interactivity: Learning While Innovating

Commercial communication is a petri dish in which several interactivity concepts are developed, tested, or discarded. How does the communication industry use interactivity on a daily basis? How does it create a productive tool for its customers? Agencies offer some interesting lessons from the world of games. LE MONDE DE COSSETTE, the leading communication group in Canada, has an opinion on this subject and is ready to share it with you.

Commercial communication is a petri dish in which several interactivity concepts are developed, tested, or discarded. How does the communication industry use interactivity on a daily basis? How does it create a productive tool for its customers? Agencies offer some interesting lessons from the world of games. LE MONDE DE COSSETTE, the leading communication group in Canada, has an opinion on this subject and is ready to share it with you.

Biography Lionel’s creativeness is focused on business technologies and strategies, such as the creation of innovative Web concepts, portals and websites, and his leadership is based on success and innovation including management and motivation of his teams. Since 2002, Lionel has taught various subjects for the Master’s degree in electronic business at HEC: “Digital economy”, “Introduction to electronic commerce” and “Project management”). He also participates in various researches in usability, semantic web, business models for electronic commerce and Web strategy. He has been a sponsor and organizer of Intracom since 2003 and is a member of the board of directors of the API (Association for Intranet Professionals), the Quebec Computer Federation (FIQ), the HEC network, the GRESI network (HEC information system researchers) and is an active member of the board of directors of the association Je Passe Partout.

Business

Preaching to the Choir : Do we make games for ourselves?

In this lecture we are going to explore why as developers we are NOT always the audience for our games. The goal will be to understand why some games, and even consoles, break the mold and others don’t. Even more interesting is that the right idea, at the right time, can even create massive disruption in the games industry. Through this disruptive force developers can create a new category, or even start an interface revolution.

In this lecture we are going to explore why as developers we are NOT always the audience for our games. The goal will be to understand why some games, and even consoles, break the mold and others don’t. Even more interesting is that the right idea, at the right time, can even create massive disruption in the games industry. Through this disruptive force developers can create a new category, or even start an interface revolution.

Biography Reid is a Game Industry Veteran of 11 years. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Wharton Business School. He is currently an Executive Producer at EA Montreal. Previous to EA he worked at Ubi Soft Montreal and was a Producer on the original Splinter Cell. At Ubi Soft he also worked on the Batman, and Myst franchises. Currently, at EA, he manages the Army of Two franchise. He has also worked on the Battlefield and Batman titles at EA. Prior to Ubi Soft he worked at both New Line Cinema and NBC Television.

Art

Games development with Microsoft Silverlight

Microsoft Silverlight is a completely new technology enabling business application development, video streaming and game development. A vector-based technology, it executes in a browser via a plugin supported by all the most recent browsers. This conference will help you to understand Silverlight’s architecture and obtain an insight into the game development opportunities offered by this platform. From a simple game such as Tetris to a Silverlight version of Quake, this conference will open your eyes to the full potential of the development of Internet games.

Microsoft Silverlight is a completely new technology enabling business application development, video streaming and game development. A vector-based technology, it executes in a browser via a plugin supported by all the most recent browsers. This conference will help you to understand Silverlight’s architecture and obtain an insight into the game development opportunities offered by this platform. From a simple game such as Tetris to a Silverlight version of Quake, this conference will open your eyes to the full potential of the development of Internet games.

Biography Andy Beaulieu is a professional software developer and trainer with over 15 years of experience building applications for Windows and the Web. Located in Syracuse, New York, he is well versed in many Microsoft technologies including Silverlight, ASP.NET, ADO.NET and WindowsForms. Andy has been awarded a Microsoft MVP Award for Silverlight, and is a member of the WPF and Silverlight Insiders group. He is also involved in the .NET community and is the Group Leader for the Central New York .NET Developers Group.

Design

How I dumped electricity and learned to love design.

Two years ago, after playing a run of games that both looked and played the same, digital game designer Brenda Brathwaite shut off her computer and consoles and began to consume dozens of non-digital games from all over the world. Soon, she returned to her native paper prototyping and eventually started work upon a series of six intentionally non-digital 'gallery games' each designed to explore a difficult topic. The result of this trek proved incredibly eye-opening and rewarding for her as a designer and culminated in the highest praise she had ever received for a game. In this lecture, Brathwaite shares with other designers what she learned from our brothers and sisters in that other medium when she cut the cord and learned to love design.

Two years ago, after playing a run of games that both looked and played the same, digital game designer Brenda Brathwaite shut off her computer and consoles and began to consume dozens of non-digital games from all over the world. Soon, she returned to her native paper prototyping and eventually started work upon a series of six intentionally non-digital 'gallery games' each designed to explore a difficult topic. The result of this trek proved incredibly eye-opening and rewarding for her as a designer and culminated in the highest praise she had ever received for a game. In this lecture, Brathwaite shares with other designers what she learned from our brothers and sisters in that other medium when she cut the cord and learned to love design.

Biography A 27-year veteran of the video game industry, Brenda Brathwaite is an award-winning game designer and has worked on 22 internationally known titles including titles in the Def Jam, Dungeons & Dragons, Jagged Alliance and Wizardry series. Brathwaite serves on the board of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), was the chair of the IGDA's Education SIG Ad hoc Committee and the co-founder and chair of the IGDA's Savannah chapter. She was named one of the top 20 most influential women in the game industry by Gamasutra.com in 2008 and of the 100 most influential women in the game industry by Next Generation magazine in 2007. Nerve magazine also called her one of the “the 50 artists, actors, authors, activists and icons who are making the world a more stimulating place”. Her current works lean toward non-digital, art and social media games. She is presently building a series of six “gallery games” for an installation titled The Mechanic is the Message.

Production

Dead Space: A Musical Post-Mordem

Dead Space’s music played an important role in establishing the tense atmosphere of the game. Composer Jason Graves will take you through the music production process, from conception and live recording to interactive implementation. He will highlight techniques that can be applied to any production, regardless of the game’s genre or musical style.

Dead Space’s music played an important role in establishing the tense atmosphere of the game. Composer Jason Graves will take you through the music production process, from conception and live recording to interactive implementation. He will highlight techniques that can be applied to any production, regardless of the game’s genre or musical style.

Biography Two-time British Academy Award-winning composer Jason Graves was given the rare opportunity to study under film composers Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, Christopher Young and orchestrator Will Schaefer while earning a degree from the University of Southern California's prestigious film scoring program. He has scored more than 150 commercials, television shows, movie trailers, and feature films, conducting orchestras at Capitol Records, Paramount Pictures, Skywalker Sound, Seattle and Salt Lake City. Since 2003, Jason has been bringing his Hollywood expertise and passion for music to more than 70 games through his immersive, cinematic, award-winning scores. Jason's music has been honored with two British Academy Awards (BAFTA) and received three Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Award (AIAS) nominations, winning "Outstanding Achievement in Audio" for DEAD SPACE. He has received seventeen G.A.N.G. nominations and four wins, including "Audio of the Year" for DEAD SPACE, "Best Original Theme" nominations for STAR TREK: LEGACY and BLAZING ANGELS 2, "Music of the Year" nominations for DEAD SPACE and KING ARTHUR and "Soundtrack of the Year" for THE HOBBIT.

Tech

Practical parallel programming - SPU Usage and advice from Killzone 2

In this talk we'll go into lessons learned about parallel programming during the development of Killzone 2. A lot of different techniques will be covered to give an idea about the type of code that Killzone 2 shipped with as well as more general lessons learned, advice and a vision of where parallel programming is going.

In this talk we'll go into lessons learned about parallel programming during the development of Killzone 2. A lot of different techniques will be covered to give an idea about the type of code that Killzone 2 shipped with as well as more general lessons learned, advice and a vision of where parallel programming is going.

Biography Michiel van der Leeuw is technical director at Guerrilla, a Sony WWS studio based in Amsterdam. His most recent project is KILLZONE 2 after working as game and tech code lead on KILLZONE 1, and tech lead on other Guerrilla projects. His 14 years of industry experience date back to doing engine code on JAZZ JACKRABBIT 2 for Epic MegaGames. In his current position he enjoys low- and high-level engineering, technology management and various aspects of game and technology development. He's a generalist with an affection for attempting to not epic fail to do the impossible.

Sponsored seminars

Integrating Character Physics and Animation Using Visual Authoring

As character physics in games moves beyond simple ragdolls, the interaction between animation and simulation becomes ever more complex. In this talk, we examine the various ways in which physics and animation can be combined, and both integrated into a single character animation network. As well as looking at the effects of ragdoll simulation, hard- and soft-keyframing and split-body techniques, we will focus on how character motion can be visually authored to avoid many common integration pitfalls. A live demonstration of integrating animation, IK, and physics simulation will be given, utilising NaturalMotion’s morpheme system to provide a concrete context for the discussion.

As character physics in games moves beyond simple ragdolls, the interaction between animation and simulation becomes ever more complex. In this talk, we examine the various ways in which physics and animation can be combined, and both integrated into a single character animation network. As well as looking at the effects of ragdoll simulation, hard- and soft-keyframing and split-body techniques, we will focus on how character motion can be visually authored to avoid many common integration pitfalls. A live demonstration of integrating animation, IK, and physics simulation will be given, utilising NaturalMotion’s morpheme system to provide a concrete context for the discussion.

Biography Simon Mack is the CTO of NaturalMotion. After completing his Masters in Engineering at Oxford University, Simon worked at MathEngine Plc developing the Karma physics engine before joining NaturalMotion in 2003.

Business

Collecting/Parsing Market Intelligence

Round table

Round table

Biography As the Director of Analyst Services, Jesse Divnich is responsible for the development and execution of new products and services for the financial sector. Prior to joining EEDAR in 2007, Jesse operated as an independent industry consultant and analyst for numerous private firms and institutions with strong financial interests in the interactive entertainment sector. In addition to contributing to the development of new product lines for EEDAR in the areas of due diligence, risk management and analysis of industry trends, Jesse makes regular appearances in media articles where he provides analysis on current and emerging industry trends.

Tech

Solving the Networked Physics Puzzle

Traditional networking techniques work well for simple linear motion, but start to break down when networking complex rigid-body physics simulations where objects can tumble, stack and interact with each other. This light-hearted and humorous tutorial takes a look at various options, techniques and pitfalls to watch out for when networking this sort of simulation, providing you with a tool-bag of new techniques and ideas you can use to network your physics based game.

Traditional networking techniques work well for simple linear motion, but start to break down when networking complex rigid-body physics simulations where objects can tumble, stack and interact with each other. This light-hearted and humorous tutorial takes a look at various options, techniques and pitfalls to watch out for when networking this sort of simulation, providing you with a tool-bag of new techniques and ideas you can use to network your physics based game.

Biography Glenn got his start at Irrational Games Australia working on the critally acclaimed "Freedom Force" before moving to Los Angeles to follow his dreams, ship a next-gen console title (Mercs 2) and find a beautiful American woman to marry (Chantel). Mission accomplished! By day, Glenn is dedicated to advancing the state of the art in game networking, at night he dreams of a future where multiplayer games have evolved beyond running around mostly static worlds and shooting other people in the face. Glenn is currently working on an unannounced project for Sony Santa Monica and in his spare time writes about game physics and networking on www.gafferongames.com

Keynote

Guy Culture

This talk will look into guy culture and the dangers of game designers not taking their own work seriously enough.

This talk will look into guy culture and the dangers of game designers not taking their own work seriously enough.

Biography Heather Chaplin is a professor of journalism at The New School and author of the acclaimed book, Smartbomb: The Quest for Art Entertainment and Big Bucks in the Videogame Revolution. She recently participated in a Ford Foundation grant looking at issues of the public interest in the next generation of the Internet focusing on digital literacy and journalism. She has been interviewed for and cited in publications such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine, Businessweek, and The Believer and has appeared on shows such as Talk of the Nation, and CBS Sunday Morning. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, GQ, Details, and Salon. She is a regular contributor on game culture for All Things Considered.

Business

MBA Lessons, Applied

Following rave reviews from the IGDA Leadership Forum and GDC '09, this is a repeat performance of David's lecture on the most interesting lessons he learned in business school (now a few years ago) and how those lessons can be applied to the video game industry.

Following rave reviews from the IGDA Leadership Forum and GDC '09, this is a repeat performance of David's lecture on the most interesting lessons he learned in business school (now a few years ago) and how those lessons can be applied to the video game industry.

Biography David Edery is Manager and Principal of Fuzbi, an independent consulting firm focused on the business and design of digitally-distributed games, and also a research affiliate of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program (CMS). Prior to this, David was the Worldwide Games Portfolio Manager for Microsofts Xbox Live Arcade service. David is also the co-author of Changing the Game: How Video Games are Transforming the Future of Business - a review of the ways that games are helping companies to connect with customers, to attract, train, and motivate employees, and to boost their productivity.

Art

Cinematics Sans Cutscenes

Cutscenes are a divisive subject amongst videogame developers. We rely on them as a relatively production-safe solution for imparting exposition and story progression, to give the player objective location information, and to reward achievement and successes like level completion. However, they cut more than just the camera. The flow, immersion, and most of all, interactivity uniquely enjoyed by the medium of videogames all take a hit for their (often unskippable) duration. In their defense however, attempts to forego their inclusion can result in a weaker visual presentation and take us further away from an emotional connection with characters and story. Additionally, a quick scan of screenshots previewing upcoming games illustrates our growing reluctance as an industry to present titles from the in-game perspective, where cameras are rightly skewed towards gameplay. This talk explores various techniques used by games over the years to create a cinematic look outside of the traditional reliance on cutscenes, with the pros and cons of each, finishing with suggestions on how these might be combined in the future to offer cinematic moments while keeping the player in the game. Takeaway: Techniques alternative to cutscenes for imparting interactive story and cinematic moments in games. Intended Audience: Game Designers, Writers, Animators and those involved in storytelling.

Cutscenes are a divisive subject amongst videogame developers. We rely on them as a relatively production-safe solution for imparting exposition and story progression, to give the player objective location information, and to reward achievement and successes like level completion. However, they cut more than just the camera. The flow, immersion, and most of all, interactivity uniquely enjoyed by the medium of videogames all take a hit for their (often unskippable) duration. In their defense however, attempts to forego their inclusion can result in a weaker visual presentation and take us further away from an emotional connection with characters and story. Additionally, a quick scan of screenshots previewing upcoming games illustrates our growing reluctance as an industry to present titles from the in-game perspective, where cameras are rightly skewed towards gameplay. This talk explores various techniques used by games over the years to create a cinematic look outside of the traditional reliance on cutscenes, with the pros and cons of each, finishing with suggestions on how these might be combined in the future to offer cinematic moments while keeping the player in the game. Takeaway: Techniques alternative to cutscenes for imparting interactive story and cinematic moments in games. Intended Audience: Game Designers, Writers, Animators and those involved in storytelling.

Biography Jonathan currently leads the BioWare Montreal animation team creating cutscenes and in-game story moments for Mass Effect 2, having previously served as Lead Animator on the original Mass Effect and Cinematic Animator on Jade Empire in Edmonton, even finding a year in between to moonlight as Lead Animator on Deus Ex 3 at Eidos Montreal. Learning his trade as Animator, Cinematic Animator and Lead Animator in his home country of Scotland on various character-heavy games, with 9 years industry experience he also holds a Batchelor of Design Degree in Animation.

Production

Building games driven by artists and small teams: are we (back) there

Some myths are still extremely solid in the young electronic entertainment industry: one of the most persistent myth is the fact that programmers MUST rule -or defacto rule the game creation. Another myth is that the bigger the team, the better the result. The financial crisis we're going through forces us to think differently. While programmers are obviously an important piece of the puzzle, this presentation will be about the reasons why industry professionals need to admit that artists (including game designers) could own THE major piece of the puzzle. Don't we all agree that games are a form of art? We will take a look at a panel of tools empowering the artists during this session, confirming that they can now take the lead on quite a few projects, especially those for the Wii or new IP creations.Don't we all agree that games are a form of art? We will also specifically examine game development team size to understand how smaller teams can actually get much more interesting results than large ones.

Some myths are still extremely solid in the young electronic entertainment industry: one of the most persistent myth is the fact that programmers MUST rule -or defacto rule the game creation. Another myth is that the bigger the team, the better the result. The financial crisis we're going through forces us to think differently. While programmers are obviously an important piece of the puzzle, this presentation will be about the reasons why industry professionals need to admit that artists (including game designers) could own THE major piece of the puzzle. Don't we all agree that games are a form of art? We will take a look at a panel of tools empowering the artists during this session, confirming that they can now take the lead on quite a few projects, especially those for the Wii or new IP creations.Don't we all agree that games are a form of art? We will also specifically examine game development team size to understand how smaller teams can actually get much more interesting results than large ones.

Biography Virgile is passionate about technology and video games since his childhood. After international business and finance studies in Paris and London (UK) and a marketing consulting job there, he has joined Virtools (acquired by Dassault Systemes in mid-2005) in 1999 in Paris (FRANCE) with a sales position, promoted to sales manager a couple of years later, and led the expansion of Virtools in North America by running the first subsidiary in Montreal between 2003 and 2006. Virgile has worked with most of the game development studios worldwide, including EA, Ubisoft, Sony, Disney, as well as very small and talented companies. Since mid-2006 he's now responsible for the Electronic Entertainment business unit for 3DVIA and based in Paris, France. Virgile has spoken at many international events over the last 10 years, whether game or 3D oriented.

Tech

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game - Stereoscopic integration in the game

Christian Desautels, 3D Programmer on James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game, will talk about the stereoscopic integration in the engine: -Manipulation of the cameras; - TV stereoscopic format; - 3D environment integration; -Optimizations.

Christian Desautels, 3D Programmer on James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game, will talk about the stereoscopic integration in the engine: -Manipulation of the cameras; - TV stereoscopic format; - 3D environment integration; -Optimizations.

Biography 11 years ago, Christian Desautels began an intense adventure by joining Ubisoft Montreal’s Studio from the very beginning! Christian first started as an AI Programmer and then shifted to Animation Programming, as a Project Lead, Technical Architect and 3D Programmer. He is currently working on James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game as a 3D Programmer, responsible for the stereoscopic integration. Games Credits: James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game - 3D Programmer (2009) Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six®Vegas - 3D Programmer (2007) Ubisoft Tech Group - CPI Technical Architect (2006) Open Season™ - 3D and animation Programmer, PS2/PS3 (2006) Walt Disney's The Jungle Book: Rhythm N'Groove - 3D and animation Programmer, PS2 (2003) Batman: Vengeance - 3D and animation Programmer, PS2 (2001) Playmobil Hype: The Time Quest - AI Programmer (1999)

Production

Defining Measurable Objectives

Round table

Round table

Biography Ken Yeeloy entered the video game industry in 2004. As a Producer at Next Level Games, Ken has coached and developed the high performance teams behind the Mario Strikers series and Punch-Out!!

Design

Designing for the Wii

This panel will be a discussion of the challenges and opportunities presented to game designers by Nintendo’s Wii platform.  Some of the questions we will attempt to address are:-1. Why do Nintendo games dominate the Wii games charts? 2. Has the Wii really reached a new (non gamer) audience? If so who are these people and what do they want? 3. Is the Wii a fad? 4. What can publishers and game designers do to succeed on the Wii? 5. Can mature games succeed on the Wii? 6. What new opportunities does Wii Motion + present? 7. What will happen to the Wii market next year when Microsoft’s Natal and Sony’s Wand Controller launch?

This panel will be a discussion of the challenges and opportunities presented to game designers by Nintendo’s Wii platform.  Some of the questions we will attempt to address are:-1. Why do Nintendo games dominate the Wii games charts? 2. Has the Wii really reached a new (non gamer) audience? If so who are these people and what do they want? 3. Is the Wii a fad? 4. What can publishers and game designers do to succeed on the Wii? 5. Can mature games succeed on the Wii? 6. What new opportunities does Wii Motion + present? 7. What will happen to the Wii market next year when Microsoft’s Natal and Sony’s Wand Controller launch?

Biography Sebastian wrote games from an early age on the ZX-81, Spectrum and then the Amiga. His first published work was Gunfighter, an Amiga Power Cover Disk in January 1995. He has been working professionally as a Video Game Programmer, Designer, Journalist and Producer since entering the industry aged 16. He is currently working at EA Montreal as Lead Designer on Need For Speed Nitro for Nintendo Wii.

Sponsored seminars

Eliminating the Localization Dread Effect

We all want to elevate standards in development and localization. This talk aims to help developers better prepare their games for localization. We will be covering the translation, integration, engineering and audio recording facets of production, as well as how to become a bridge between the people on the technological side of the process (programmers, artists) and the linguistic side (translators, voice actors, localization managers). This talk will provide techniques and advice on new standards and methods, while developing better localization management methods and tools suites like Monde Media’s “Omniverse” to face the growing challenges in localization.

We all want to elevate standards in development and localization. This talk aims to help developers better prepare their games for localization. We will be covering the translation, integration, engineering and audio recording facets of production, as well as how to become a bridge between the people on the technological side of the process (programmers, artists) and the linguistic side (translators, voice actors, localization managers). This talk will provide techniques and advice on new standards and methods, while developing better localization management methods and tools suites like Monde Media’s “Omniverse” to face the growing challenges in localization.

Biography Jean-Robert joined Ubisoft Montreal in 1997, he had helped localize more than 20 games in more than 18 languages, on 10 different platforms. He sought out a new challenge in 2004 and co-founded Montreal based Monde Media Solutions Inc. Thanks to the acquisition of Monde Media by Bug-Tracker Laboratories in 2009, Jean-Robert is now focusing on all the aspect of the localization: Workflow Management and Coordination, Project Analysis, Consulting and Training, Integration, Localized Audio Recordings and Localization Engineering.

Sponsored seminars

The Role of Middleware in Game Development: Today and Tomorrow

Join us for an executive panel discussion focused on Games Strategy and Middleware. During this session, you’ll hear from a panel of industry experts who will share their experience evaluating and implementing middleware solutions into their games pipeline. This panel discussion will be moderated by Marc Stevens.

Join us for an executive panel discussion focused on Games Strategy and Middleware. During this session, you’ll hear from a panel of industry experts who will share their experience evaluating and implementing middleware solutions into their games pipeline. This panel discussion will be moderated by Marc Stevens.

Biography :Marc Stevens Marc Stevens is vice president of Autodesk’s Games Technology Group. With over 20 years experience in the computer graphics industry, Stevens guides the strategy and product development of Autodesk’s games technologies and solutions. Prior to joining Autodesk, Stevens had been with Softimage since 1994. He most recently was a Vice President at Avid Technology Inc. and acted as the General Manager for the Softimage business, a role that he assumed in 2005. During his almost 15 years at Softimage, Stevens held numerous roles in the product development organization, including Senior Director of Engineering and Product Management. He also led the Softimage Special Projects team—a consulting group that works closely with clients to provide customized solutions for specific production challenges. In his earlier years with the company, Stevens acted as one of the principal architects of SOFTIMAGE®|XSI® software, and developed significant portions of SOFTIMAGE|3D - the first integrated creative environment for 3D artists.

Biography :Dave Fracchia Dave Fracchia joined Radical in 2007 as Vice President of Technology at Radical Entertainment, during which time Radical shipped Crash Mind Over Mutant and Prototype. The art of both projects was produced using Autodesk Maya, with Prototype also utilizing MotionBuilder. Prior to this, Dave served as Vice President of Technology at Mainframe Entertainment for 10 years, and Associate Professor at Simon Fraser University for 7 years.

Biography :Martin Walker Martin Walker, CTO at A2M, has been involved in commercial software development in Montreal from the mid 80’s. He has spent most of his career in the multimedia arena, working for companies like Matrox Electronics, Softimage and others. He has been a key player in building tools and environments for video productions including special effects and 3D computer graphics. His venture in the gaming industry at A2M has evolved into the creation of two generations of multiplatform game engines and the elaboration of an optimized production pipeline to unleash the creative power of artists, designers and programmers on over 60 titles.

Biography :Yanick Roy After over a dozen years in the software industry (on financial software, of all things…), Yanick Roy joined BioWare early on in the development cycle of the universally acclaimed Mass Effect. There, he led the production team on both this project and its highly anticipated sequel, Mass Effect 2. In early 2009, he managed the creation of a new BioWare studio in Montréal where he now is the Studio Director, actively working at growing a game development studio worthy of BioWare’s pedigree.

Design

Designing For Impact: Where the Talk Meets the Walk

As the medium of games matures and new experimentation and exploration of the medium flourish, many game designers, educators and activists of all stripes are turning to games to address key international issues such as poverty, global conflicts and climate change. Games such as Food Force from the UN's World Food Program and Darfur Is Dying are being played by literally millions of players. Yet what exactly are the end results? Is it enough to simply track numbers of plays or players and declare the game a success? Or is the emerging field finally ready to start looking more seriously at how to design for concrete impact in the real world? What if the game began with a petition, a march or a dollar amount needed and designed back from that real-world outcome? How do we build this new step into a design process already very well established? This panel of leading game developers and educators will discuss how a new paradigm of game design is needed to take this emerging field from Talk to Walk. Featuring Tracy Fullerton, Chair of EA Innovation Lab at USC, Mary Flanagan of Tiltfactor Lab, Alexander Eberts, Co-founder and VP Products, Akoha, and Suzanne Seggerman (moderator) President and Co-founder of Games for Change.

As the medium of games matures and new experimentation and exploration of the medium flourish, many game designers, educators and activists of all stripes are turning to games to address key international issues such as poverty, global conflicts and climate change. Games such as Food Force from the UN's World Food Program and Darfur Is Dying are being played by literally millions of players. Yet what exactly are the end results? Is it enough to simply track numbers of plays or players and declare the game a success? Or is the emerging field finally ready to start looking more seriously at how to design for concrete impact in the real world? What if the game began with a petition, a march or a dollar amount needed and designed back from that real-world outcome? How do we build this new step into a design process already very well established? This panel of leading game developers and educators will discuss how a new paradigm of game design is needed to take this emerging field from Talk to Walk. Featuring Tracy Fullerton, Chair of EA Innovation Lab at USC, Mary Flanagan of Tiltfactor Lab, Alexander Eberts, Co-founder and VP Products, Akoha, and Suzanne Seggerman (moderator) President and Co-founder of Games for Change.

Biography :Suzanne Seggerman Suzanne Seggerman (moderator) is President and Co-founder of Games for Change (G4C) the primary non-profit and international nexus for those interested in using digital games to address pressing contemporary issues - from global conflict to poverty, human rights to climate change. Called "the Sundance of video games" for "socially-conscious game makers", G4C has been working with a variety of high impact partners to foster and shape this new genre, including Microsoft, mTV, the United Nations and and a variety of NGOs and universities. Suzanne was a winner of the MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Award in 2008.  Before co-founding G4C, Suzanne was a Director at NYC-based new media think tank Web Lab, where she co-curated the show "Provocations", the first national exhibition featuring digital games about social-issues. Before her involvement with new media, she worked in documentary film, including on Ken Burns/Stephen Ives PBS series "The West" and as Co-producer of "Race For Life," a humanitarian aid and documentary film about Eastern Europe. Suzanne received a BA from Kenyon College and went to graduate school at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program.  Suzanne is a nationally-ranked Scrabble player.

Biography :Mary Flanagan Mary Flanagan (MFA 1994, PhD 2006) investigates everyday relationships in light of contemporary technologies, with a particular interest popular culture and computer games. Flanagan's artwork has been shown internationally at venues including the Laboral Art Center, Whitney, SIGGRAPH, Beall Center, Steirischer Herbst, Ars Electronica, Artist's Space, Guggenheim, Gigantic Art Space, and others. Her essays on digital culture have appeared in periodicals and books. Her books in English include reload: rethinking women + cyberculture (MIT 2002), re:SKIN (2007), and Critical Play (forthcoming 2009). She created the first internet adventure game for girls and also works as an activist designer in the laboratory she founded in 2005, Tiltfactor. Flanagan is a MacDowell Fellow and the PI or Co-PI on six National Science Foundation awards. She is the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor in Digital Humanities at Dartmouth College.

Biography :Tracy Fullerton Tracy Fullerton, M.F.A., is a game designer, educator and writer with fifteen years of professional experience. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Interactive Media Division of the USC School of Cinematic Arts where she serves as Director of the Electronic Arts Game Innovation Lab and holder of the Electronic Arts Endowed Chair in Interactive Entertainment. Tracy is the author of Game Design Workshop: Designing, Prototyping and Playtesting Games, a design textbook in use at game programs worldwide. Recent credits include game designer for The Night Journey, a unique game/art project with media artist Bill Viola, and faculty advisor for the award-winning student games Cloud, flOw, Darfur is Dying, and The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom.

Biography :Alex Eberts As one of the co-founder of Montreal-based Zero-Knowledge Systems, Alex Eberts served as the original product manager and VP Development from 1998 to 2001. Alex and his team won the coveted PC World ‘Most Promising Internet Newcomer of the Year award (2000)’ for their release of ZKS Freedom a personal privacy tool for Internet users. In 2001 Alex left Zero-Knowledge Systems to found Redwing Technology where he provided software design and development services to clients in the video-on-demand industry. In 2003 Alex joined Ubisoft as a video game producer where he led a team of sixty artists and engineers at Ubisoft developing an original Xbox 360 title. In August 2006 Alex co-founded Akoha Inc with his partner Austin Hill where they are developing the world's first social reality game where you earn points for playing real-world missions with your friends.

Business

Legal Do’s and Don’ts when Building and Operating Virtual World

In the last few years, virtual worlds have exploded in the videogame market. Bringing players together from all around the world in one large yet lively world creates many challenges. Usually focusing on the technical and economical issues created by the implementation of a virtual world, we often forget or avoid the legal issues raised in the creation, operation and destruction of a virtual world. For the purpose of the conference, we propose to provide legal tips on what to provide and what to avoid when building and operating a virtual world. The approach taken will revolve around current End User License Agreements (EULA) practices. Intellectual property and property law hurdles will also be examined in relation to the ownership of items, licenses, as well as in-game and out-of-game item trading. For the purpose of this question, we will examine two different approaches concerning virtual intellectual property through a case-study of two major virtual worlds: Second Life and World of Warcraft. Finally, we will comment some court decisions involving virtual worlds

In the last few years, virtual worlds have exploded in the videogame market. Bringing players together from all around the world in one large yet lively world creates many challenges. Usually focusing on the technical and economical issues created by the implementation of a virtual world, we often forget or avoid the legal issues raised in the creation, operation and destruction of a virtual world. For the purpose of the conference, we propose to provide legal tips on what to provide and what to avoid when building and operating a virtual world. The approach taken will revolve around current End User License Agreements (EULA) practices. Intellectual property and property law hurdles will also be examined in relation to the ownership of items, licenses, as well as in-game and out-of-game item trading. For the purpose of this question, we will examine two different approaches concerning virtual intellectual property through a case-study of two major virtual worlds: Second Life and World of Warcraft. Finally, we will comment some court decisions involving virtual worlds

Biography Stéphane Gilker, partner at Fasken Martineau, specializes in intellectual property, information technology and entertainment law. Stéphane Gilker also acted as expert-counsel for the Canadian federal government on matters related to the negotiation and national implementation of the intellectual property and telecommunication provisions of several international treaties as well as for the overall revision of the Copyright Act completed in 1997. From 1997 to 1999, Mr. Gilker created and managed Bell Canada’s intellectual property, information technology and new media legal department tasked to provide legal services relating to the research, development, acquisition, operation and protection of software, multimedia products and Web sites. Mr. Gilker’s current practice is centered on the provision of legal assistance to major national and international enterprises and associations in the technology and entertainment sectors on intellectual property and commercial law matters.

Art

Big Worlds on Small Screens

Creating huge sprawling worlds in today’s game industry has become the norm. Current generation consoles are capable of displaying the most realistic environments ever seen in the industry. But what if you want to do the same on a portable system? Can it even be done effectivly? In this speech Randy will go over the challenges and artistic direction he, and his team, have faced while developing Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain for the DS.

Creating huge sprawling worlds in today’s game industry has become the norm. Current generation consoles are capable of displaying the most realistic environments ever seen in the industry. But what if you want to do the same on a portable system? Can it even be done effectivly? In this speech Randy will go over the challenges and artistic direction he, and his team, have faced while developing Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain for the DS.

Biography Randy van der Vlag lives and works in London, Ontario, Canada where he is a lead artist at Big Blue Bubble. Randy enrolled in Algonquin College’s Classical Animation program in 1998, but found his true calling in Game Development soon after graduation. He acquired a job at Gameloft’s Montreal studio where he soon became the lead 2D animator putting his talents to use in to such mobile games as Rayman 3, Derek Jeter Baseball, King Kong Pinball and New York Nights. In 2005 Randy got the opportunity to speak at the Montreal Game Summit on the topic of Pixel Art In and Out of Games and was ranked in the Top 10 Speakers for that year. He’s currently the lead artist on BBB’s Fighting Fantasy DS title.

Design

Everything I Learned About Level Design, I Learned From Disneyland

"Scott Rogers (GOD OF WAR, MAXIMO series, PAC MAN WORLD) reveals his secret weapon for designing levels with beginning and experienced designers: Disneyland. Learn how to inject the genius of the original Magic Kingdom into your own game levels. Discussion topics include thematic goals for players, pathing techniques, and the theory of illusional narrative. Don't worry if you've never been to Disneyland, every example will be lavishly illustrated. From skeletons to trash cans, there’s a lot to learn from Disneyland! Takeaway Attendees will learn how to design their levels from the ground up using the techniques of Disneyland's creators and how to improve their level designs and story telling using new and proven concepts found at Anaheim's Disneyland. Pre-production advice, level design tricks, trouble shooting techniques and personal experiences will be shared. Intended Audience and Prerequisites Aspiring, novice and experienced game and level designers, level artists, producers, planners, creative directors and anyone with a desire to learn about the creative process and techniques on level design. Audience members familiar with Disneyland and the work of the Imagineers will best benefit from this talk, however it is not a necessity as there will be plenty of images and diagrams through the talk. "

"Scott Rogers (GOD OF WAR, MAXIMO series, PAC MAN WORLD) reveals his secret weapon for designing levels with beginning and experienced designers: Disneyland. Learn how to inject the genius of the original Magic Kingdom into your own game levels. Discussion topics include thematic goals for players, pathing techniques, and the theory of illusional narrative. Don't worry if you've never been to Disneyland, every example will be lavishly illustrated. From skeletons to trash cans, there’s a lot to learn from Disneyland! Takeaway Attendees will learn how to design their levels from the ground up using the techniques of Disneyland's creators and how to improve their level designs and story telling using new and proven concepts found at Anaheim's Disneyland. Pre-production advice, level design tricks, trouble shooting techniques and personal experiences will be shared. Intended Audience and Prerequisites Aspiring, novice and experienced game and level designers, level artists, producers, planners, creative directors and anyone with a desire to learn about the creative process and techniques on level design. Audience members familiar with Disneyland and the work of the Imagineers will best benefit from this talk, however it is not a necessity as there will be plenty of images and diagrams through the talk. "

Biography After deciding that game designers have more fun, Scott Rogers embarked on a 16 year career creating exciting game designs for titles including Sony's GOD OF WAR, Capcom's MAXIMO: GHOSTS TO GLORY and its sequel MAXIMO VS. ARMY OF ZIN and Namco's PAC-MAN WORLD. Scott is currently a creative manager for THQ on titles including SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS and DRAWN TO LIFE.

Design

Good Violence?

What is our fascination as a society that keep violence the primary conflict mechanic in games in order to draw people into an experience? Is using violence necessary to engage player or are old habits just difficult to break? What other forms of situation could be used to engage players and provide entertaining experiences? Through this roundtable discussion we will address these questions and ask designers from our industry what is their take on the subject.

What is our fascination as a society that keep violence the primary conflict mechanic in games in order to draw people into an experience? Is using violence necessary to engage player or are old habits just difficult to break? What other forms of situation could be used to engage players and provide entertaining experiences? Through this roundtable discussion we will address these questions and ask designers from our industry what is their take on the subject.

Biography :Vander Caballero Vander Caballero is a Creative Director at  EA Montreal, his main focus has been to introduce innovation by changing the game design process. He has created the concept team, a specialized prototyping team that develops new IPs and collaborates in the preproduction of franchises like Spore Hero, and NFS Nitro. His major achievements have been the creation of the Army of Two and Boogie franchises. Vander studied Industrial Design at the "Instituto Europeo de Design" in Italy. Upon his arrival in Montreal in 1998 he began to work in Virtual Reality & Architectural Visualization. In 1999, along with Daniel Langlois, he co-founded 4-Elements Studio.

Biography :Thomas Anderson Currently a senior animator at Artificial Mind and Movement he has worked in the Montreal games industry for the past 10 years working on 16  + titles including Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, The Two Thrones as well as FarCry: Instincts and Surf's Up. Over the years he has become passionate in the design of games for the mainstream audience aimed at positive social impact.

Biography :Geneviève Lord After her studies in programming, followed by an MBA (IT, international business) at McGill University, Geneviève has worked as an IT consultant, manager and director for 11 years in 5 different countries (Canada, Belgium, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago, and Spain). Once in Montreal, she became a video game producer and senior director at Ubisoft and A2M respectively. Since the fall of 2007, she has been the liaison agent as well as the director of Vermont’s Champlain College in Montreal. Genevieve’s particular fields of interest include coaching, the optimization of management methods, as well as anything related to new media. When she’s not hard at work, you will most likely find her reading a good book (history, fiction, science-fiction, literature and comic books) or playing video games (RPGs, MMOs, platform games, casual and strategy). Her goal is to help people achieve their full potential with the beneficial support of new technologies. She continuously puts effort into helping video games reach their full potential as a new media.

Biography :Chris Crowell Since 1994 Chris has worked at EA, Maxis, Ubisoft and A2M, developing wide variety of computer and video games. He has served on the IGDA Board of Directors. His personal goals are exploring the role of interactive play in peoples lives and to support the evolution of games as a respected cultural element with positive impact. He is currently Creative Director at Tribal Nova developing a MMO for tweens that is focused on creativity and sharing.

Production

Things I Swore I Would Never Do To Someone Else

Building great games requires teamwork between members of your own project and, increasingly, across organizational lines. That may mean working with different areas of production, support teams, central teams, sharing across projects or even outsourcing. To do this successfully, we need to build strong relationships and develop collaboration skills, which are especially important when stress levels rise. This session will share with you lessons learned from over two dozen projects, many of which spanned the globe. These best practices apply to any collaborative relationship whether it is a few desks or a few time zones away.

Building great games requires teamwork between members of your own project and, increasingly, across organizational lines. That may mean working with different areas of production, support teams, central teams, sharing across projects or even outsourcing. To do this successfully, we need to build strong relationships and develop collaboration skills, which are especially important when stress levels rise. This session will share with you lessons learned from over two dozen projects, many of which spanned the globe. These best practices apply to any collaborative relationship whether it is a few desks or a few time zones away.

Biography Liza Wood has over 13 years experience on a variety of production and product development projects, with project teams that ranged in size from five to 500, often spanning multiple time zones.  Since joining the video games industry four years ago, she has consistently been a Development Director of central teams. Liza spent two years at Electronic Arts Canada in Burnaby, BC, managing a content creation technology team and some strategic projects.    At the end of 2007 she joined Artificial Mind and Movement and is currently Sr. Director, Development Services, managing a technology team and a user experience design team.

Tech

Character locomotion

While the animation system tries to produce the best looking animated character, the pathfinding system aims at moving the character in a complex, dynamic and crowded world with accuracy. When you combine these two technologies to have a NPC character moving in a believable way, the results are not always there immediately and the developer sometimes needs a lot of tuning to make them work together, particularly when the two technologies are two separate middleware. In this session we will present work and prototypes that show how to simplify the process of having character pathfinding and animation technologies work together as they each strive to achieve different objectives for a character.

While the animation system tries to produce the best looking animated character, the pathfinding system aims at moving the character in a complex, dynamic and crowded world with accuracy. When you combine these two technologies to have a NPC character moving in a believable way, the results are not always there immediately and the developer sometimes needs a lot of tuning to make them work together, particularly when the two technologies are two separate middleware. In this session we will present work and prototypes that show how to simplify the process of having character pathfinding and animation technologies work together as they each strive to achieve different objectives for a character.

Biography Simon Ouellet, a Middleware Animation Team Lead at Autodesk has been developing several tools and character animation solutions in the last 6 years at Autodesk. He  participated to creation of the non-linear editor in MotionBuilder, the Animation Layer system in Maya, Multiple character interaction in MotionBuilder. He is now building a node base animation framework middleware around character animation at Autodesk.

Art

Multi-platform Production Pipeline

Round table

Round table

Biography Luis Alonso is a Technical Artist that began in the television computer animation industry. After making the switch to videogames, he widened his skills to include in-game engine pipeline management, special effects and the development of various tools while remaining true to the advancement of animation techniques. He currently works at Electronic Arts in Montreal making tight deadlines a reality and is a part-time teacher at Dawson.

Sponsored seminars

Indie in 2D: Quality Art on a Tight Budget

Capy’s PlayStation®Network exclusive Critter Crunch has received serious kudos for its visual style… yet it was developed by a team of 5, including only 2 artists. In this session, Capy co-founder and President Nathan Vella will offer ways to achieve polished visuals without hemorrhaging money, specifically discussing the importance of choosing the right people, the right visual style, and the right tech. This talk will also cover how making smart choices between pre-existing tools and internally developed ones can drastically increase quality while decreasing painful bank withdrawals.

Capy’s PlayStation®Network exclusive Critter Crunch has received serious kudos for its visual style… yet it was developed by a team of 5, including only 2 artists. In this session, Capy co-founder and President Nathan Vella will offer ways to achieve polished visuals without hemorrhaging money, specifically discussing the importance of choosing the right people, the right visual style, and the right tech. This talk will also cover how making smart choices between pre-existing tools and internally developed ones can drastically increase quality while decreasing painful bank withdrawals.

Biography Nathan Vella is one of the co-founders of Toronto-based independent game developer Capy (www.capybaragames.com) and began as the studios’ Art Director. Later he transitioned into the role of President and runs the studio with the help of the other co-founders Matt Repetski, Anthony Chan, Sean Lohrisch and Kris Piotrowski. Capy most recently completed development of the self-published PlayStation®Network title Critter Crunch, and the Ubisoft published DS title Might & Magic Clash of Heroes. Nathan is a Ryerson University film grad, was addicted to Tribes 1, mains Cammy in Street Fighter 4, and enjoys long walks on the beach.

Business

Riding the Waves of Change: How Video Game Companies Can Flourish in an Environment of Relentless Volatility and Flux

The Game Industry is in constant flux and flow: to be successful in this industry one must learn to contend not just with a changing market, but technology, educational demographics, workers´ skill-sets, but even changes within companies through mergers, acquisitions, and all-out take-overs. Panel with : - Clint Hocking (Creative Director from Ubisoft) - Ken Schachter (Founder/President of Trapdoor) - Jason Della Rocca (Senior Consultant, Perimeter Partners) - Brenda Bailey (C.O.O. / Managing Partner, Deep Fried Entertainment)

The Game Industry is in constant flux and flow: to be successful in this industry one must learn to contend not just with a changing market, but technology, educational demographics, workers´ skill-sets, but even changes within companies through mergers, acquisitions, and all-out take-overs. Panel with : - Clint Hocking (Creative Director from Ubisoft) - Ken Schachter (Founder/President of Trapdoor) - Jason Della Rocca (Senior Consultant, Perimeter Partners) - Brenda Bailey (C.O.O. / Managing Partner, Deep Fried Entertainment)

Biography :Gerri Sinclair Gerri Sinclair is currently the Executive Director of the Masters of Digital Media Program, as well as the CEO of the Centre for Digital Media, a collaborative partnership between the University of B.C., Simon Fraser University, Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design, and the B.C. Institute of Technology. Most recently she was the Chair of the Canadian Federal Government’s Telecom Policy Review Panel, advising the Federal Government on the future policy and regulatory environment required to support an advanced telecommunications framework. She was also the General Manager of MSN Canada and a senior member of the Microsoft executive team, as well as the founder and CEO of NCompass Labs, an Internet content management company acquired by Microsoft in 2001. A former visiting scientist at IBM Research, Dr. Sinclair was also the president of the British Columbia Government Premier’s Technology Council, and the founding director of the ExCITE lab at Simon Fraser University, the first multimedia educational technology centre in Canada.  She has served on several government and corporate boards including Telus Corporation and BC Telecom, and is currently a director of the Toronto Stock Exchange, Ballard Power, and the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.She is the recipient of the YWCA Woman of Distinction award, the Canadian Women in Communications’ Woman of the Year award, the Canadian Women in New Media Pioneer award, the Influential Woman in Business award, the Sarah Kirke award for the most outstanding Canadian woman in High Tech, the 2005 Canadian Consumer Choice Award for Business Woman of the Year, and most recently the 2008 Canadian Public Policy Forum Testimonial Award. She holds a Ph.D. in Renaissance drama as well as an honorary Doctor of Science in Computer Science from the University of British Columbia.

Biography :Clint Hocking For almost eight years Clint has been at Ubisoft where he has worked as a level designer, game designer, scriptwriter and creative director on the original SPLINTER CELL, on SPLINTER CELL: CHAOS THEORY, and on FAR CRY 2. His current project is unannounced. Before games Clint worked in the web industry and experimented with independent filmmaking while earning an M.F.A in creative writing from the University of British Columbia. He maintains a blog at www.clicknothing.com , and he lives happily in Montreal with his wife and their dog.

Biography :Ken Schachter Ken Schachter is the founder of Trapdoor, an independent developer and publisher of video games based in Montreal whose focus is on the creation of original IP. Prior to founding Trapdoor, Ken was Studio Manager of Gameloft's Canadian studio, overseeing the work of some 300+ developers. His varied background includes 12+ years of technology/entertainment experience and has worked in film post production, 2D animation and mobile/handheld gaming industries.

Biography :Brenda Bailey With 15 years experience leading large not-for-profit organizations, Brenda was searching for a less heart wrenching occupation. She co-founded Deep Fried Entertainment, a Nintendo Wii, DS and PSP developer based in Vancouver, and has been having a blast ever since. DFE is currently self-publishing a WiiWare product, for release fall of 2010. C.E.O. Silicon Sisters Interactive Inc. In Fall 2010 Brenda started a second small studio. Silicon Sisters Inc. is focused on building games for a female demographic and will bring their first title to market in the fall of 2010.

Biography :Jason Della Rocca Jason has been a member of the game industry for over a dozen years, most notably spending nine years leading the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). Recently, he left IGDA to found Perimeter Partners, a consultancy focused on building the game industry via consulting on economic and cluster development efforts around the globe. Last year, Jason was honored for his industry building efforts with the inaugural Ambassador Award at the 8th annual Game Developers Choice Awards, given at GDC. Jason is a sought after expert on the game industry, and has spoken at conferences, lectured at top universities, and has written for or been interviewed by countless news outlets worldwide.

Art

Teamwork and creative process

"This lecture will begin with an overview of some of Steambot's past works and projects. The team will show the creative process behind the development of an I.P and how to work as a team to overcome the numerous problems of production. They will finally demonstrate the theory with a ""classic"" Steambot live painting demo."

"This lecture will begin with an overview of some of Steambot's past works and projects. The team will show the creative process behind the development of an I.P and how to work as a team to overcome the numerous problems of production. They will finally demonstrate the theory with a ""classic"" Steambot live painting demo."

Biography STEAMBOT is a next generation visual development studio, gathering talented and experienced artists under a label of quality and visionary spirit. We specialize in Conceptual design, high-end illustration, matte painting, 3D asset development, consulting and seminars. With its wide range of expertise, experience, originality and imagination, STEAMBOT is certainly one of today's most qualified organizations to create new, consistent and original universes

Design

How to Make Games that Aren't Fun

When we set out to design a video game, we start with the assumption that it must be fun, and we measure each decision against that goal. What if we didn't? Every art form has its great dramas and tragedies, but video games have been slow to demonstrate interactive material that brings value to our audience's life by triggering dark emotions. This session explores theories about why it goes against the grain of our medium to be anything other that fun and proposes some possible solutions for overcoming these obstacles. A theoretical design for a tragic game is constructed step by step in the course of addressing the issues.

When we set out to design a video game, we start with the assumption that it must be fun, and we measure each decision against that goal. What if we didn't? Every art form has its great dramas and tragedies, but video games have been slow to demonstrate interactive material that brings value to our audience's life by triggering dark emotions. This session explores theories about why it goes against the grain of our medium to be anything other that fun and proposes some possible solutions for overcoming these obstacles. A theoretical design for a tragic game is constructed step by step in the course of addressing the issues.

Biography Randy Smith is the game designer and co-owner of Tiger Style, an indie iPhone studio. He is also a monthly columnist for Edge magazine where he writes about video games as an art form and seeks perspective on our path to artistic maturity. Previously he was a creative director of a collaboration with Steven Spielberg at Electronic Arts in Los Angeles, the project director of Thief: Deadly Shadows at ION Storm in Austin, Texas, a consultant working with companies such as Arkane Sutdios and Ubisoft, and he started his career at Looking Glass Studios in Cmabridge, Massachusetts where he was a designer for Thief: The Dark Project and Thief II: The Metal Age.

Production

’You’ll never beat Nintendo.’ Deconstructing Nintendo via ‘Blue Ocean’, ‘Disruption’, ‘Retard’ and other theories.

In this talk, I will show that Nintendo has a very simple and open strategy, that ‘motion control’ is just one of many tactics, and that it is very plausible for a 3rd party publisher to beat them on their own platform.

In this talk, I will show that Nintendo has a very simple and open strategy, that ‘motion control’ is just one of many tactics, and that it is very plausible for a 3rd party publisher to beat them on their own platform.

Biography Joe joined Electronic Arts' Sports division in 2005. At that time, FIFA was losing Metacritic and market share to Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer. With a sensitive approach, mixing storytelling techniques with authentic gameplay, Joe lead two FIFA titles: The AIAS nominated FIFA ‘07 (PS2, XBOX) was the first FIFA in four years to increase Metacritic. And, the BAFTA & AIAS nominated FIFA 08 (PS3, XBOX360) was the first title in FIFA's history to beat Konami's Metacritic and raise market share. In 2007, Joe joined EA Montreal to head up the Nintendo Group, a strategic initiative to build a centre of excellence on Nintendo's platforms for the EA Games Label. Need For Speed: NITRO will be the first title released from the group this fall. Joe's career spans 20 years, with a broad experience including creative, production and engineering credits on over 30 titles, selling over 24 million units and generating $1b at retail. Highlights include FIFA, Ghost Recon 2, and Rollercoaster Tycoon.

Tech

Dynamic Audio Mixing for Games - Strategies for interactive sound mixing

Abstract Dynamic Audio mixing techniques have been the mainstay of the film and postproduction industries for years. Given the linear nature of these mediums, dynamic audio mixing is easily controlled and predictable. Mixing game audio brings with it many challenges, including performance constraints and the non-linear event based triggering of in-game sounds. Current game console technology now provides enough processing power to allow Sound Engine architectures to support advanced audio pipelines by incorporating real-time dynamic mixing functionality. Using real-game practical audio examples, this session will demonstrate the many positive benefits that dynamic audio mixing can have on modern sound design. Session Topics The dynamic mixing concepts presented in this session can be applied at three different conceptual levels: • Atomic - focuses on dynamic mixing techniques that can be applied to sound entities at the atomic level, only affecting individual objects. Real game audio examples will be used in the following areas of interest: parameter value randomization, distance attenuation, and controlling audio parameters in real-time using game data. • Group – presents advanced mixing techniques that result from the dynamic interaction of atomic objects and parameters combined with behavioral and mixing hierarchies. Examples will include: setting audio parameters via event triggers, mix bus routing, auto-ducking, and voice management. • Global - demonstrates mixing techniques that apply to all levels of sound entities. Practical examples include occlusion and obstruction, game states, and game environments. Key Takeaways Benefiting from many real world audio examples, attendees will gain a better understanding of how to implement advanced dynamic audio mixing techniques. Sound designers will learn how to create a more immersive audio experience for players by enhancing the quality of game audio. Intended Audience This session is intended for sound designers and programmers. Attendees are expected to be familiar with most aspects of professional game audio production and integration.

Abstract Dynamic Audio mixing techniques have been the mainstay of the film and postproduction industries for years. Given the linear nature of these mediums, dynamic audio mixing is easily controlled and predictable. Mixing game audio brings with it many challenges, including performance constraints and the non-linear event based triggering of in-game sounds. Current game console technology now provides enough processing power to allow Sound Engine architectures to support advanced audio pipelines by incorporating real-time dynamic mixing functionality. Using real-game practical audio examples, this session will demonstrate the many positive benefits that dynamic audio mixing can have on modern sound design. Session Topics The dynamic mixing concepts presented in this session can be applied at three different conceptual levels: • Atomic - focuses on dynamic mixing techniques that can be applied to sound entities at the atomic level, only affecting individual objects. Real game audio examples will be used in the following areas of interest: parameter value randomization, distance attenuation, and controlling audio parameters in real-time using game data. • Group – presents advanced mixing techniques that result from the dynamic interaction of atomic objects and parameters combined with behavioral and mixing hierarchies. Examples will include: setting audio parameters via event triggers, mix bus routing, auto-ducking, and voice management. • Global - demonstrates mixing techniques that apply to all levels of sound entities. Practical examples include occlusion and obstruction, game states, and game environments. Key Takeaways Benefiting from many real world audio examples, attendees will gain a better understanding of how to implement advanced dynamic audio mixing techniques. Sound designers will learn how to create a more immersive audio experience for players by enhancing the quality of game audio. Intended Audience This session is intended for sound designers and programmers. Attendees are expected to be familiar with most aspects of professional game audio production and integration.

Biography Deveau is the Business Development Manager / Program Manager for Audiokinetic. Prior to joining Audiokinetic in 2003, Deveau worked in the music and post-production industries for over fifteen years as a mixer and editor. With his experience as a recording engineer/mixer on several top music and independent film productions, Deveau brings extensive practical audio knowledge to his work on developing new features, solutions and defining functionality for the Wwise family of products.

Production

Building Teams that Care

Round table

Round table

Biography Liza Wood has over 13 years experience on a variety of production and product development projects, with project teams that ranged in size from five to 500, often spanning multiple time zones.  Since joining the video games industry four years ago, she has consistently been a Development Director of central teams. Liza spent two years at Electronic Arts Canada in Burnaby, BC, managing a content creation technology team and some strategic projects.    At the end of 2007 she joined Artificial Mind and Movement and is currently Sr. Director, Development Services, managing a technology team and a user experience design team.

Business

Game Studio Startup Roundtable

A roundtable discussion for new and emerging development studios to talk about challenges and opportunities that exist for the new studio.

A roundtable discussion for new and emerging development studios to talk about challenges and opportunities that exist for the new studio.

Biography Scott is the co-founder and CEO of Playbrains, an emerging development studio in Ottawa, Canada. Playbrains released its first game title to critical acclaim on console and PC this summer and is dedicated to digitally-distributed fun, blurring the lines between downloadable and retail games. Scott is also the CEO of the award-winning services company bitHeads and is a member of the board of directors for ITAC and Interactive Ontario. Scott is a contributor and advisor to many of Ottawa’s tech startup success stories.

Sponsored seminars

Modeling and Animation Tools for Game Pipelines

In this session Steven Roselle will demonstrate how a suite of Autodesk products can be used together to enhance your game production.  You’ll see how the addition of tools such as Autodesk® Mudbox® and Autodesk® MotionBuilder® can augment and complement a Maya centric pipeline.

In this session Steven Roselle will demonstrate how a suite of Autodesk products can be used together to enhance your game production.  You’ll see how the addition of tools such as Autodesk® Mudbox® and Autodesk® MotionBuilder® can augment and complement a Maya centric pipeline.

Biography Steven Roselle began using 3D software over a decade ago and launched his career as a freelance 3D artist. In his current role at Autodesk he focuses on Autodesk® Maya®, Autodesk® MotionBuilder® and Autodesk® Mudbox® for the games industry. Steven has had the good fortune to work with a long list of game developers including EA, Sony and THQ who are using Autodesk products for game content creation.

Keynote

Tools and Testing in LittleBigPlanet: Consequences of a user-generated world

"One of the defining ambitions of LittleBigPlanet was to give users the ability to create and share their own levels. Rather than treating user-generated content as a bolt-on feature, we wanted to embrace it, and built our whole game with this philosophy. Achieving this has led to numerous challenges throughout development, from building an engine robust enough to handle anything our users can throw at it, to ensuring that patches don't break any of the hundreds of thousands of levels that have already been published. "

"One of the defining ambitions of LittleBigPlanet was to give users the ability to create and share their own levels. Rather than treating user-generated content as a bolt-on feature, we wanted to embrace it, and built our whole game with this philosophy. Achieving this has led to numerous challenges throughout development, from building an engine robust enough to handle anything our users can throw at it, to ensuring that patches don't break any of the hundreds of thousands of levels that have already been published. "

Biography Paul Holden is Lead Architect at Media Molecule based in Guildford, UK. Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet was among the most critically acclaimed games of 2008.

Business

Planning for Success in the Chinese Game Market

The Chinese online game market is the largest single online market in the world yet over 70% of the games that make it to market fail financially. This presentation will discuss the Chinese market and help you form strategies to improve your odds of being successful.

The Chinese online game market is the largest single online market in the world yet over 70% of the games that make it to market fail financially. This presentation will discuss the Chinese market and help you form strategies to improve your odds of being successful.

Biography Jeff is a veteran game producer and studio head having led some of the most successful game development studios in North America. He was the General Manager at Ensemble Studios, GM and Producer of Papyrus Racing Games and President and Executive Producer of Iron Lore Entertainment. Hit franchises that Jeff has worked on include Age of Empires with over 15 million units sold, NASCAR Racing, Titan Quest and Dawn of War. Jeff is the Vice President and General Manager of Tencent Interactive Entertainment Division’s Boston Studio. He is responsible for growing and overseeing this studio and its products.

Art

Creating Environment Concepts for Video Games

During this conference, Volta Art Director Sunder Raj will detail the process through which environments are created during the visual concept phase of game production. Samples briefs, style guides, references and art direction bibles will be presented, along with examples of the various iterations entailed in the visual development of an environment.

During this conference, Volta Art Director Sunder Raj will detail the process through which environments are created during the visual concept phase of game production. Samples briefs, style guides, references and art direction bibles will be presented, along with examples of the various iterations entailed in the visual development of an environment.

Biography Renowned concept artist Sunder Raj has joined Volta in 2007 before becoming one of the studio's Art Directors in 2008. At Volta he has worked on several AAA titles for the world's most prominent game studios, including Activision-Blizzard, Ubisoft, Eidos and Sony.

Design

A Narrative Designer's Toolkit

The road to success as a narrative designer is long and arduous. But you don't want to hear that. So Ken Rolston, Internationally Celebrated Lead Designer of Oblivion, Morrowind, and other light classics, will reveal the carefully hoarded treasury of cheap tricks and short cuts that enable him to avoid Real Work. In this fast-paced and charming presentation, Rolston delivers the box of tools, lavishly illustrates their use in the production of Rolston's Great Works, and teaches you how to project a shallow but persuasive mastery of the craft of narrative game design.

The road to success as a narrative designer is long and arduous. But you don't want to hear that. So Ken Rolston, Internationally Celebrated Lead Designer of Oblivion, Morrowind, and other light classics, will reveal the carefully hoarded treasury of cheap tricks and short cuts that enable him to avoid Real Work. In this fast-paced and charming presentation, Rolston delivers the box of tools, lavishly illustrates their use in the production of Rolston's Great Works, and teaches you how to project a shallow but persuasive mastery of the craft of narrative game design.

Biography Ken Rolston designs Big Huge computer roleplaying games. Currently lead designer on an unannounced project for Big Huge Games, Ken was lead designer for Bethesda's award-winning The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls III:Morrowind. Previously Ken was an award-winning designer of paper-and-pencil roleplaying games, including games and supplements for PARANOIA, RUNEQUEST, WARHAMMER FANTASY ROLEPLAY, AD&D, D&D, STAR WARS, GHOSTBUSTERS, and STORMBRINGER. Ken served as roleplaying director for West End Games, Games Workshop, and Avalon Hill Game Company. Ken is a member of SFWA, holds a Masters Degree from NYU, and has been a professional games designer since 1982.

Production

Lean Production

This session will define and explain lean and explore how it is being applied to game development through real-world examples.

This session will define and explain lean and explore how it is being applied to game development through real-world examples.

Biography Over the course of 20 years, Clinton has gone from programming avionics for advanced fighter jets and underwater robots to overseeing programming for hit video game titles such as Midtown Madness, Midnight Club and The Bourne Conspiracy.  He introduced the video game industry to agile development and is now an agile coach teaching teams how to adopt Scrum.

Sponsored seminars

Unlocking Mobile Visual Computing

The Khronos Group is evolving a royalty-free ecosystem of open-standard, visual acceleration APIs - including OpenGL ES, OpenMAX, OpenKODE and OpenCL - enabling sophisticated user interfaces, visual computing and gaming applications on mobile handsets with portability across multiple platforms. This presentation will provide a strategic overview of the standards being developed and how they enable innovation in mobile visual applications. This presentation will include cutting edge mobile 3D UI demonstrations and will provide one of the first opportunities for the mobile development community to gain an insight into the new OpenCL standard for heterogenous computing.

The Khronos Group is evolving a royalty-free ecosystem of open-standard, visual acceleration APIs - including OpenGL ES, OpenMAX, OpenKODE and OpenCL - enabling sophisticated user interfaces, visual computing and gaming applications on mobile handsets with portability across multiple platforms. This presentation will provide a strategic overview of the standards being developed and how they enable innovation in mobile visual applications. This presentation will include cutting edge mobile 3D UI demonstrations and will provide one of the first opportunities for the mobile development community to gain an insight into the new OpenCL standard for heterogenous computing.

Biography Neil has spent over twenty five years in the 3D graphics industry and is responsible at NVIDIA for enabling and encouraging compelling applications on mobile devices and Smartbooks. Previously, as Vice President of 3Dlabs, Neil was at the forefront of the silicon revolution bringing interactive 3D to the PC. Neil is currently the elected President of the Khronos Group where he initiated the OpenGL ES and OpenKODE working groups and chairs the OpenCL and EGL working groups that are defining industry standards for advanced compute, graphics and media processing on a wide range of mobile, embedded and desktop systems.

Business

Doing Business in Montreal

Biography

Sponsored seminars

Interactivity: Learning While Innovating

Commercial communication is a petri dish in which several interactivity concepts are developed, tested, or discarded. How does the communication industry use interactivity on a daily basis? How does it create a productive tool for its customers? Agencies offer some interesting lessons from the world of games. LE MONDE DE COSSETTE, the leading communication group in Canada, has an opinion on this subject and is ready to share it with you.

Commercial communication is a petri dish in which several interactivity concepts are developed, tested, or discarded. How does the communication industry use interactivity on a daily basis? How does it create a productive tool for its customers? Agencies offer some interesting lessons from the world of games. LE MONDE DE COSSETTE, the leading communication group in Canada, has an opinion on this subject and is ready to share it with you.

Biography Lionel’s creativeness is focused on business technologies and strategies, such as the creation of innovative Web concepts, portals and websites, and his leadership is based on success and innovation including management and motivation of his teams. Since 2002, Lionel has taught various subjects for the Master’s degree in electronic business at HEC: “Digital economy”, “Introduction to electronic commerce” and “Project management”). He also participates in various researches in usability, semantic web, business models for electronic commerce and Web strategy. He has been a sponsor and organizer of Intracom since 2003 and is a member of the board of directors of the API (Association for Intranet Professionals), the Quebec Computer Federation (FIQ), the HEC network, the GRESI network (HEC information system researchers) and is an active member of the board of directors of the association Je Passe Partout.

Sponsored seminars

Havok AI: Pathfinding in Dynamic Environments

As game environments become increasingly detailed, physical and dynamic a whole new set of challenges arise for AI systems. This talk discusses  those challenges and describe how Havok have used their experience in physical simulation to design an AI system from the ground up with scalable dynamic environments in mind.  A range of demos will present unique nav mesh generation techniques as well as pathfinding  and path following technology.

As game environments become increasingly detailed, physical and dynamic a whole new set of challenges arise for AI systems. This talk discusses  those challenges and describe how Havok have used their experience in physical simulation to design an AI system from the ground up with scalable dynamic environments in mind.  A range of demos will present unique nav mesh generation techniques as well as pathfinding  and path following technology.

Biography Tim works with  customers to assess and create solutions using Havok’s award winning software to deliver high-quality games.  Tim uses his technical expertise and in-depth industry knowledge to support game developers worldwide as they work to build their next Triple A hits using Havok’s innovative product lineup.  He has forged solid relationships with top teams including: 2K Games, Activision, Blue Castle, Disney, East Sleep Play, Pandemic, and Turbine.  He graduated with highest honors from North Carolina State University (BS, Physics and Applied Mathematics) where he was a Park Scholar and a member of the University Honors Program.

Business

Pitching your Game Title or Development Services : Best Practices

The panel will discuss best practices and suggestions for independent game developers and how to pitch their game concepts or services to publishers. What works? What doesn’t? At the end of this panel discussion, the attendee will have a better understanding of pitching properties or services.

The panel will discuss best practices and suggestions for independent game developers and how to pitch their game concepts or services to publishers. What works? What doesn’t? At the end of this panel discussion, the attendee will have a better understanding of pitching properties or services.

Biography :Warren Currell Since 2001, Warren Currell has developed a reputation as a respected game agent, acting as president of Sherpa Games Inc., a company that represents dozens of developers and studios in their efforts to license and sell their games and IP to publishers. He has brokered deals with most of the major publishers including Sony, THQ, Microsoft, Atari, Sega, Take-Two, Namco, and EA.  Working in the video games industry since 1997, Warren has broad connections in the publishing and development community and possesses a background on the technical side of game development providing him an understanding of how games are actually made. Warren is a member of the International Game Developers Association authoring the white paper for the IGDA on how to pitch games to publishers. He also sat on the Serious Game Summit Advisory board from 2005 until 2007, and currently sits on the Program Advisory Committee of Sheridan College’s Animation Program and their Technology Program, and is the Chair of Sheridan’s new video design program. He has appeared on numerous television news segments (CTV, CBC, CHCH) as a subject matter expert on the games industry and has conducted presentations and moderated dozens of panel discussions throughout the world about the games industry. He has been involved twice with the sale of game development studios and the establishment of a next-gen, multi platform development studio in New York City.

Biography :Dan Winters Dan is an industry veteran of over 15 years, with stints at Activision, Disney Interactive and Electronic Arts. Before entering into the world of Video Games, Dan spent 4 years playing professional baseball for the Oakland A’s, San Francisco Giants and New York Mets. He also spent 6 years as an actor with appearances on day time TV, commercials and various other TV shows. After getting his start at Activision in 1993, working on various titles including Mechwarrior 2, he spent 10 years at Disney Interactive where he eventually became Vice President of Product Development. Under Dan’s leadership, Disney Interactive contributed to or co-released over 50 games including; Kingdom Hearts, Tarzan, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story, Tron, etc…After a stint at Electronic Arts as Executive Producer of Medal of Honor: European Assault, Dan rejoined Activision in 2005 to oversee Developer Relations and Acquisitions. Although Dan has enjoyed an exciting professional path, Dan’s is most proud of his family, Joshua (22), Mariah (16), Nicole (10) and wife, Marianne.

Biography :Jamie Leece Mr. Jamie Leece recently joined Artificial Mind and Movement as Senior Vice-President of Business Development. Prior to joining A2M Jamie was President and Founder of Rainmaker Games, where he provided strategic consulting to a prestigious client base, including MTV Games, Major League Baseball Advanced Media and Croteam.  Cumulating 20 years of experience in the industry, Mr. Leece has held positions at LucasArts, Interplay Productions and was President of the Take-Two label Gotham Games.  An expert in sales licensing publishing and business development in the gamer and casual games markets, he has published and/or licensed such products as Max Payne, Duke Nukem, Halo, Conflict: Desert Storm, Celebrity Death Match and Piglet's Big Game.

Biography :Alastair Jarvis Recently named Studio Head of HB Studios Lunenburg, Alastair Jarvis has spent much of his career pitching game concepts as a producer. HB Studios was established in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia in July 2000 around a pitch for Cricket 2002 which was subsequently signed to a publishing deal with Electronic Arts’ Australian studio. From that initial project, HB’s games have gone on to achieve global sales of over 10.5 million units and last year HB was listed 56th in Develop Magazine’s “World’s Most Bankable Game Studios”.

Design

Every Click Counts

In the flurry of production, we sometimes forget that games are for players. If players can misunderstand something, they will. If players can get frustrated at something, they will. It’s our job to deliver interfaces that are as easy to understand and use as possible--and that means removing extra clicks wherever we can. I’ll show examples from several games that require extra clicks where they shouldn’t, as well as similar games that did things right. You’ll laugh, but the next time you’re in production, you’ll remember to make an efficient interface so your game won’t appear in my next lecture.

In the flurry of production, we sometimes forget that games are for players. If players can misunderstand something, they will. If players can get frustrated at something, they will. It’s our job to deliver interfaces that are as easy to understand and use as possible--and that means removing extra clicks wherever we can. I’ll show examples from several games that require extra clicks where they shouldn’t, as well as similar games that did things right. You’ll laugh, but the next time you’re in production, you’ll remember to make an efficient interface so your game won’t appear in my next lecture.

Biography David Sirlin is a game designer and tournament fighting game player. He was lead designer of Puzzle Fighter HD Remix, Street Fighter HD Remix, and Kongregate.com’s Kongai. He’s currently developing Yomi: Fighting Card Game in addition to consulting on video game projects. Between ass-kickings in Street Fighter, he even managed to write a book called Playing to Win.

Production

Building Your First Console Downloadable - What You Need to Know

Digitally-distributable games are evolving rapidly. Next generation games strive to provide immersive gameplay and 3-D graphics that approach AAA console games while being delivered in a light-weight package that can be easily distributed for PC download or through the online marketplaces of the  console manufacturers. Developing this new class of game quickly and cost-effectively is a major challenge. Based largely on the lessons learned in producing and digitally distributing Madballs in… Babo:Invasion, this session walks through the process of planning and developing a downloadable game and getting it onto today’s consoles.

Digitally-distributable games are evolving rapidly. Next generation games strive to provide immersive gameplay and 3-D graphics that approach AAA console games while being delivered in a light-weight package that can be easily distributed for PC download or through the online marketplaces of the  console manufacturers. Developing this new class of game quickly and cost-effectively is a major challenge. Based largely on the lessons learned in producing and digitally distributing Madballs in… Babo:Invasion, this session walks through the process of planning and developing a downloadable game and getting it onto today’s consoles.

Biography Paul is the Executive Director of Playbrains, a new game studio based in Ottawa, Canada, which specializes in developing games on-spec as well as developing their own IP.  In addition to Playbrains, Mr. Winterhalder has experience delivering hundreds of award winning software products through his role as VP/Architect/PM of bitHeads, inc. Playbrains creates console and PC games that blur the lines between downloadable and retail games. Their first release is Madballs in...Babo:Invasion, which is available on Xbox LIVE Arcade and PC/Steam.

Tech

The Art of Dying | Where Animation Meets Physics

Dealing with death is not easy, especially when artists want control over the look of it! This talk goes through the technology behind A2M’s game WET which added more life into dying. Different blending strategies for animation and physics will be discussed, as well as useful tools and general pitfalls to avoid. The focus will be on best practice and tips. This talk is intended for an intermediate programmer audience. Technical directors might also be interested in this topic.

Dealing with death is not easy, especially when artists want control over the look of it! This talk goes through the technology behind A2M’s game WET which added more life into dying. Different blending strategies for animation and physics will be discussed, as well as useful tools and general pitfalls to avoid. The focus will be on best practice and tips. This talk is intended for an intermediate programmer audience. Technical directors might also be interested in this topic.

Biography Liko-Paul Pinsonnault is currently a software developer for Artificial Mind & Movement (A2M) where he focuses mainly on physics, animation and their related tools. His latest game is WET, A2M's first mature title. After graduating from physics engineering at Polytechnique de Montréal, Liko joined A2M as an engine developer and helped shipped titles like Monster House, The Ant Bully and Happy Feet.

Production

Agile/Lean/Scrum

Round table

Round table

Biography Over the course of 20 years, Clinton has gone from programming avionics for advanced fighter jets and underwater robots to overseeing programming for hit video game titles such as Midtown Madness, Midnight Club and The Bourne Conspiracy.  He introduced the video game industry to agile development and is now an agile coach teaching teams how to adopt Scrum.

Design

How to Make Games that Aren't Fun

Round table

Round table

Biography Randy Smith is the game designer and co-owner of Tiger Style, an indie iPhone studio. He is also a monthly columnist for Edge magazine where he writes about video games as an art form and seeks perspective on our path to artistic maturity. Previously he was a creative director of a collaboration with Steven Spielberg at Electronic Arts in Los Angeles, the project director of Thief: Deadly Shadows at ION Storm in Austin, Texas, a consultant working with companies such as Arkane Sutdios and Ubisoft, and he started his career at Looking Glass Studios in Cmabridge, Massachusetts where he was a designer for Thief: The Dark Project and Thief II: The Metal Age.

Art

How To Love Outsourcing

Outsourcing art can be an enticingly cost-efficient tool for art production, given enough time and resources. However, far too often it's seen as being a magic bullet instead of a specialized tool and it falls apart. You can end up with a confusing mess of frustrated managers, bad art and unmotivated artists with no clear way out or understanding of what went wrong. Jon Jones speaks from his experience managing outsourced teams and presents a practical and disciplined approach to outsourcing art simply and effectively while avoiding the most common pitfalls before they can occur.

Outsourcing art can be an enticingly cost-efficient tool for art production, given enough time and resources. However, far too often it's seen as being a magic bullet instead of a specialized tool and it falls apart. You can end up with a confusing mess of frustrated managers, bad art and unmotivated artists with no clear way out or understanding of what went wrong. Jon Jones speaks from his experience managing outsourced teams and presents a practical and disciplined approach to outsourcing art simply and effectively while avoiding the most common pitfalls before they can occur.

Biography Jon Jones has been developing games professionally for eight years and has been involved in the video game art community for thirteen years. Jon is recognized by many as an expert on the subject of outsourcing art, and recently spoke on the subject at the Casual Games Association's Casual Connect Seattle conference. Jon specializes as an Art Outsourcing Manager, and his latest projects were managing outsourced art teams for MMO projects at 2K Games and NCsoft. Jon is currently working freelance, and is offering a wide range of services pertaining to the management of outsourcing art.

Sponsored seminars

Processes and Techniques for Outsourcing your QA

QA is an essential part of any successful team. Everybody needs QA! If developers do not have an internal QA team, the most feasible option would be to outsource their QA. What this session aims to accomplish is to help developers identify the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing their QA. It outlines how to manage an outsourced QA team, identify and mitigate the possible risks that may occur, as well as what processes and procedures should be implemented. This session will also provide developers with tips on what criteria should be used when selecting the right QA vendor as well as ensuring they receive the right level of quality and efficiency.

QA is an essential part of any successful team. Everybody needs QA! If developers do not have an internal QA team, the most feasible option would be to outsource their QA. What this session aims to accomplish is to help developers identify the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing their QA. It outlines how to manage an outsourced QA team, identify and mitigate the possible risks that may occur, as well as what processes and procedures should be implemented. This session will also provide developers with tips on what criteria should be used when selecting the right QA vendor as well as ensuring they receive the right level of quality and efficiency.

Biography Éric Hum a joint les rangs de Bug-Tracker en 2006. Il en a rapidement gravi les échelons pour devenir le Responsable du studio de Montréal. Possédant 8 années d'expérience QA, Éric est rapidement devenu un atout indispensable à la compagnie. Ayant travaillé autant dans l'industrie de simulation que dans celle des jeux vidéos, Éric possède donc une expertise QA très diversifiée. Ses principales responsabilités sont : la planification, la coordination et la supervision des processus de production du studio de Montréal.

Sponsored seminars

Autodesk® 3ds Max® Centric Animation and Modeling Pipeline

In this demonstration Louis Marcoux will show you how the suite of Autodesk products can enhance your game production.  This session will focus on a Autodesk® 3ds Max® centric pipeline and will include demonstrations of 3ds Max, Autodesk® MotionBuilder®, Autodesk® Mudbox® and other Autodesk products. Louis will discuss the animation and modeling tools in 3ds Max as well as interoperability with other products.

In this demonstration Louis Marcoux will show you how the suite of Autodesk products can enhance your game production.  This session will focus on a Autodesk® 3ds Max® centric pipeline and will include demonstrations of 3ds Max, Autodesk® MotionBuilder®, Autodesk® Mudbox® and other Autodesk products. Louis will discuss the animation and modeling tools in 3ds Max as well as interoperability with other products.

Biography Louis Marcoux has been a 3D technical artist and software developer for 15 years. He has helped bring real-time 3D graphics to screen at ABC, NBC, CNN and Time Warner Cable Stations in America. He currently focuses on Autodesk 3ds Max and Mudbox for the games, films, visual effects and visualization industries.

Sponsored seminars

Video games and society: what are the limits of social and environmental responsibility for studios

Have you ever wondered about the environmental and social impact of video games? No matter what your feelings are on this subject, this roundtable will be of interest to you. Bringing together the representatives of major studios in Montreal and Quebec, this roundtable will take a look at the challenges of sustainable development in our industry. They will debate on this topical subject as well as define the actual role that studios can play in these problems; an issue that also interests the financial market, government and our society. This is an event not to be missed! Roundtable participants:

• Rémi Racine, Artificial Mind and Movement
• Stephane D'Astous, Eidos-Montréal
• Alain Tascan, EA
• Clint Hocking, Ubisoft
• Dominique Brown, Beenox

Have you ever wondered about the environmental and social impact of video games? No matter what your feelings are on this subject, this roundtable will be of interest to you. Bringing together the representatives of major studios in Montreal and Quebec, this roundtable will take a look at the challenges of sustainable development in our industry. They will debate on this topical subject as well as define the actual role that studios can play in these problems; an issue that also interests the financial market, government and our society. This is an event not to be missed! Roundtable participants:

• Rémi Racine, Artificial Mind and Movement
• Stephane D'Astous, Eidos-Montréal
• Alain Tascan, EA
• Clint Hocking, Ubisoft
• Dominique Brown, Beenox

Biography

Keynote

Games Entertainment in the Age of Connectivity

In the this talk, Jason Holtman, Valve's director of business development, reveals findings from the first five years of Steam, the company's leading platform for PC games.  Holtman will explore how the platform has grown from under 2 million Counter-Strike players to over 20 million PC enthusiasts worldwide,  how the platform has grown from an auto-updater to a leading distribution platform that also offers a full suite of backend services, and how the presence and promotion of a game offered on Steam can benefits a games visibility, awareness, and performance across all channels.

In the this talk, Jason Holtman, Valve's director of business development, reveals findings from the first five years of Steam, the company's leading platform for PC games.  Holtman will explore how the platform has grown from under 2 million Counter-Strike players to over 20 million PC enthusiasts worldwide,  how the platform has grown from an auto-updater to a leading distribution platform that also offers a full suite of backend services, and how the presence and promotion of a game offered on Steam can benefits a games visibility, awareness, and performance across all channels.

Biography Jason joined Valve in 2005 as the company began extending the services of its 1 year-old Steam platform (then 6 million users strong) to third parties. As director of business development at Valve, he helps manage a variety of the company's affairs and specializes in the continual growth of Steam, which today serves over 750 games from 100 PC game makers to more than 20 million PC game players around the world. Prior to his arrival at Valve, Jason worked as an intellectual property attorney, a political organizer, and a ski-shop mechanic. He received his law degree at Stanford and a masters and bachelors degree from Ohio University.

Business

Making sense of today’s mobile market

Emergence and development of new platforms, liberalization and interconnectivity of distribution channels, the mobile industry and its main actors went through a lot of changes in the last few years. What are the new avenues and challenges for developers? Find out more at this “State of the union” conference on the Mobile market.

Emergence and development of new platforms, liberalization and interconnectivity of distribution channels, the mobile industry and its main actors went through a lot of changes in the last few years. What are the new avenues and challenges for developers? Find out more at this “State of the union” conference on the Mobile market.

Biography Hugo Morin founded Humagade in April 2003. Humagade quickly became a leader in mobile development having produced over 150 games in J2ME, BREW and Flashlite, with such licenses as Star Wars, Mickey Mouse, Madden, Greenday, South Park and Family Guy In February 2008, Mr. Morin became a shareholder in Frima Studio, which acquired Humagade. Today, Frima has over 230 employees and is the second-largest independent studio in Quebec. Mr. Morin has over 16 years' experience as an entrepreneur in the high-tech sector and is actively involved in the Quebec IT/gaming industry. Mr. Morin is Vice-President Strategic Development for Frima

Art

Rigging : A Practical Guide

Ever wonder how f-curves work and why gimbal-lock happens? Ever wonder what drives IK or why your character isn’t bending right? Unlock the mysteries of rigging one puzzle at a time as we go over day to day scenarios with practical solutions that you can use in real-world production environments.

Ever wonder how f-curves work and why gimbal-lock happens? Ever wonder what drives IK or why your character isn’t bending right? Unlock the mysteries of rigging one puzzle at a time as we go over day to day scenarios with practical solutions that you can use in real-world production environments.

Biography Luis Alonso is a Technical Artist that began in the television computer animation industry. After making the switch to videogames, he widened his skills to include in-game engine pipeline management, special effects and the development of various tools while remaining true to the advancement of animation techniques. He currently works at Electronic Arts in Montreal making tight deadlines a reality and is a part-time teacher at Dawson.

Design

Long-Tail Game Design: Creating Successful Games for Social Networks

The explosive growth of social media has led to an entirely new style of play. “Social games” serve millions of players every day on Facebook and elsewhere, taking full advantage of their platforms to incite continued growth through gameplay mechanics that emphasize the value (and reevaluation) of players’ friends. Social games are also opening new doors for designers, with unprecedented emphasis on short session lengths and heavy return compulsions. In "Long-Tail Game Design," Scott Jon Siegel will use his classical game design pedigree and experience at Playdom to form a vocabulary for designing -- and dissecting -- these social games.

The explosive growth of social media has led to an entirely new style of play. “Social games” serve millions of players every day on Facebook and elsewhere, taking full advantage of their platforms to incite continued growth through gameplay mechanics that emphasize the value (and reevaluation) of players’ friends. Social games are also opening new doors for designers, with unprecedented emphasis on short session lengths and heavy return compulsions. In "Long-Tail Game Design," Scott Jon Siegel will use his classical game design pedigree and experience at Playdom to form a vocabulary for designing -- and dissecting -- these social games.

Biography Scott Jon Siegel wants to leverage your social graphs. Since 2006 he's been thinking and writing on game design for a variety of publications, including Joystiq and Escapist Magazine. Scott cut his teeth working at area/code in New York - where he contributed to genre-busting titles like Sharkrunners and Drop7 (née Chain Factor) - and spent a year in the trenches at Zynga, designing social games for the biggest developer on Facebook. Now newly relocated to Playdom in Mountain View, Scott's been working hard on the next generation of blockbuster social games. His hobbies include inviting emergent behavior through concrete rulesets, and playing the ukulele.

Production

What is a living plan and how can we achieve it?

The production planning process has long been the tool of Producers and Project Managers, difficult to decipher for the non-initiated and used primarily to direct the team’s efforts. However, game development production is a rapidly evolving beast, and within one game cycle it’s common to find what worked at the start of the project be dramatically changed by the end of it. As such, a static production plan quickly becomes irrelevant. Instead we must look towards an equally evolving plan that constantly reflects reality and can actually prove a useful tool, offering guidance to autonomous teams. Through cultural changes, agile practices and technology improvements, this talk will provide techniques and advice on how to build such a living plan.

The production planning process has long been the tool of Producers and Project Managers, difficult to decipher for the non-initiated and used primarily to direct the team’s efforts. However, game development production is a rapidly evolving beast, and within one game cycle it’s common to find what worked at the start of the project be dramatically changed by the end of it. As such, a static production plan quickly becomes irrelevant. Instead we must look towards an equally evolving plan that constantly reflects reality and can actually prove a useful tool, offering guidance to autonomous teams. Through cultural changes, agile practices and technology improvements, this talk will provide techniques and advice on how to build such a living plan.

Biography After graduating with a Masters Degree in Project Management, Dorian has worked in the video games industry for over seven years. He has been credited on twelve titles in roles ranging from Game Design to Production. In the past three years, Dorian has been actively involved with agile methodologies and online planning, introducing them to DC studios and then improving them at BioWare. Recently, he has been leading the move to a new management tool at BioWare and has also become an active contributor to the Agile Project Management group within Electronic Arts. Dorian is currently working as a Development Director on Mass Effect 2.

Tech

Time to Flush the Floater: Fixed point-Integer should now be the preferred option.

With 64-bit technology becoming a major player in modern processors, the need for floating-point data and its original, necessary advantages are no longer superior to the capacity of integer based operation. By using fixed-point notation with integer data types the industry as a whole may open up previously unexplored options that are available with the new, large data types soon to become the mainstream in personal computers and dedicated gaming machines. After this session programmers, artists, animators, and designers should take away a new insight on what using integer data, as opposed to floating point, can offer to their work. Live Demonstrations Offered.

With 64-bit technology becoming a major player in modern processors, the need for floating-point data and its original, necessary advantages are no longer superior to the capacity of integer based operation. By using fixed-point notation with integer data types the industry as a whole may open up previously unexplored options that are available with the new, large data types soon to become the mainstream in personal computers and dedicated gaming machines. After this session programmers, artists, animators, and designers should take away a new insight on what using integer data, as opposed to floating point, can offer to their work. Live Demonstrations Offered.

Biography Returning to speak at the Montreal Game Summit for the second time and marking his ninth year in the industry, Steven has worked on titles dating back to the original MLB Slugfest and NFL Blitz games for the PlayStation2. After co-founding an independent game studio, Geekay Soft, in early 2006, he immediately began providing outsource work for next-generation systems while providing technology consulting services within the industry. Currently leading the company’s first in-house title, Steven is also actively researching in many scientific-computation related projects.

Business

Doing Business in the United States

Doing business in the US is a challenge at best. if you are a canadian company in the videogame industry, it can be doubly so. Knowing the ins and outs and real challenges faced by companies wanting to do business south of the border can make all the difference. The Trade commissioner Service of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) can help. In cooperation with Alliance numérique, we are offering an informal panel discussion with key gaming companies in the US. Join us to have a conversation behind closed doors to hear what is really needed to succeed in the video game industry in the US.

Doing business in the US is a challenge at best. if you are a canadian company in the videogame industry, it can be doubly so. Knowing the ins and outs and real challenges faced by companies wanting to do business south of the border can make all the difference. The Trade commissioner Service of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) can help. In cooperation with Alliance numérique, we are offering an informal panel discussion with key gaming companies in the US. Join us to have a conversation behind closed doors to hear what is really needed to succeed in the video game industry in the US.

Biography

Business

Pitching

Round table

Round table

Biography Since 2001, Warren Currell has developed a reputation as a respected game agent, acting as president of Sherpa Games Inc., a company that represents dozens of developers and studios in their efforts to license and sell their games and IP to publishers. He has brokered deals with most of the major publishers including Sony, THQ, Microsoft, Atari, Sega, Take-Two, Namco, and EA.  Working in the video games industry since 1997, Warren has broad connections in the publishing and development community and possesses a background on the technical side of game development providing him an understanding of how games are actually made. Warren is a member of the International Game Developers Association authoring the white paper for the IGDA on how to pitch games to publishers. He also sat on the Serious Game Summit Advisory board from 2005 until 2007, and currently sits on the Program Advisory Committee of Sheridan College’s Animation Program and their Technology Program, and is the Chair of Sheridan’s new video design program. He has appeared on numerous television news segments (CTV, CBC, CHCH) as a subject matter expert on the games industry and has conducted presentations and moderated dozens of panel discussions throughout the world about the games industry. He has been involved twice with the sale of game development studios and the establishment of a next-gen, multi platform development studio in New York City.

Sponsored seminars

Getting the government to pay for your projects (SR&ED, SODEC, OIDMTC…)

Do you have a dream project, but not enough funds? There are various government programs at federal and provincial levels that you can use to obtain funding for your project. SR&ED is a federal program under which you can be refunded a large portion of your qualifying payroll spent on R&D activities. There are provincial-level programs for digital media as well (OIDMTC in Ontario, SODEC and multimedia production tax credit in Quebec). (Foreign companies qualify too if they pay salary in Canada.) In this workshop, you will learn about existing programs and get some valuable tips and tricks.

Do you have a dream project, but not enough funds? There are various government programs at federal and provincial levels that you can use to obtain funding for your project. SR&ED is a federal program under which you can be refunded a large portion of your qualifying payroll spent on R&D activities. There are provincial-level programs for digital media as well (OIDMTC in Ontario, SODEC and multimedia production tax credit in Quebec). (Foreign companies qualify too if they pay salary in Canada.) In this workshop, you will learn about existing programs and get some valuable tips and tricks.

Biography Tania Samsonova is a technical writer and a SRED consultant. She holds a degree in Computer Science and has worked in software development for 15 years, which gives her a thorough knowledge of the IT industry. Tania helps companies obtain government funding through various federal and provincial programs such as SRED.

Sponsored seminars

Realistic Modeling for Game Production

This presentation shows the preparation of a simple character or prop model including the process of adding realistic details using a simple and creative tool – Autodesk® Mudbox®. Brush based techniques for sculpting, texturing, normal maps and occlusion maps will be presented as well as optical effects to create stunning results for approval and final rendering. Workflows with Autodesk® Maya® and Autodesk® 3ds Max® will be presented.

This presentation shows the preparation of a simple character or prop model including the process of adding realistic details using a simple and creative tool – Autodesk® Mudbox®. Brush based techniques for sculpting, texturing, normal maps and occlusion maps will be presented as well as optical effects to create stunning results for approval and final rendering. Workflows with Autodesk® Maya® and Autodesk® 3ds Max® will be presented.

Biography :Steven Roselle Steven Roselle began using 3D software over a decade ago and launched his career as a freelance 3D artist. In his current role at Autodesk he focuses on Autodesk® Maya®, Autodesk® MotionBuilder® and Autodesk® Mudbox® for the games industry. Steven has had the good fortune to work with a long list of game developers including EA, Sony and THQ who are using Autodesk products for game content creation.

Biography :Louis Marcoux Louis Marcoux has been a 3D technical artist and software developer for 15 years. He has helped bring real-time 3D graphics to screen at ABC, NBC, CNN and Time Warner Cable Stations in America. He currently focuses on Autodesk 3ds Max and Mudbox for the games, films, visual effects and visualization industries.

Business

Long tail of spaceships and flying objects

This session shares insights and postmortem thoughts on the sales curve of a top selling Playstation 3 PSN game “Super Stardust HD” and an XBLA golf game "Golf: Tee It Up!". The session concentrates on analyzing the business side of things of downloadable games including the typical assumptions of the business like the ratio of 1st month sales vs life time sales, the power of price promotions and the long tail of game sales. The audience will also find out, why Housemarque think it is developing “core casual games” and why it’s extremely relevant for independent developers as the biggest thing since sliced bread.

This session shares insights and postmortem thoughts on the sales curve of a top selling Playstation 3 PSN game “Super Stardust HD” and an XBLA golf game "Golf: Tee It Up!". The session concentrates on analyzing the business side of things of downloadable games including the typical assumptions of the business like the ratio of 1st month sales vs life time sales, the power of price promotions and the long tail of game sales. The audience will also find out, why Housemarque think it is developing “core casual games” and why it’s extremely relevant for independent developers as the biggest thing since sliced bread.

Biography Ilari Kuittinen is a co-founder and CEO of Housemarque. He co-founded Housemarque with Harri Tikkanen early 1995 and has since been in charge of running the company. Housemarque is an internationally known game development company specializing in downloadable console games for PSN and XBLA. The studio’s first PSN game for Playstation 3, “Super Stardust HD”, was published in June 2007. The game is one of the most popular games in the service and a game reviewer’s favorite with a Metacritic score of 85. Mr. Kuittinen is currently also a chairman of the Association of Finnish Game Developer.

Design

Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics

This lecture presents Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics (MDA), an intellectual framework for game design. The MDA framework encourages designers to view games from three different perspectives: games as rules systems, games as emergent behavior, and games as emotional experiences. These three perspectives help game designers clarify their vision as well as diagnose game design problems. MDA also offers a design vocabulary to help development teams communicate their ideas. The lecture will discuss how MDA can be integrated into the development process. re clearly about their designs and make better games.

This lecture presents Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics (MDA), an intellectual framework for game design. The MDA framework encourages designers to view games from three different perspectives: games as rules systems, games as emergent behavior, and games as emotional experiences. These three perspectives help game designers clarify their vision as well as diagnose game design problems. MDA also offers a design vocabulary to help development teams communicate their ideas. The lecture will discuss how MDA can be integrated into the development process. re clearly about their designs and make better games.

Biography Marc LeBlanc has been creating games professionally since 1992. He began his career at LookingGlass Studios, where he was a core contributor to the now-classic Thief and System Shock series. Since then, he has helped create console staples such as NFL 2K2 and Field Commander as well as award-winning indie games like the 2004 IGF Game of the Year, Oasis. Marc attended MIT, where he was awarded a Master's in Computer Science, and the rank of Master Assassin. Marc is a frequent lecturer on game design and game development, and teaches an annual game design workshop at the Game Developers Conference.

Production

Building Strong Teams around Gameplay

For every video game company, the goal is to create games that are fun and engaging. It may sound easy enough, but when gameplay is thrown into the mix with needs for art, sound, story and more, it can fall down. With three Nintendo titles under his belt, Next Level Games Producer, Ken Yeeloy, knows how to get the best gameplay out of his team. By creating a cohesive leadership group, implementing an inclusive design approach and ensuring that the game is always playing in the background, they find the ideas that are fun and quickly discard the ones that aren’t.

For every video game company, the goal is to create games that are fun and engaging. It may sound easy enough, but when gameplay is thrown into the mix with needs for art, sound, story and more, it can fall down. With three Nintendo titles under his belt, Next Level Games Producer, Ken Yeeloy, knows how to get the best gameplay out of his team. By creating a cohesive leadership group, implementing an inclusive design approach and ensuring that the game is always playing in the background, they find the ideas that are fun and quickly discard the ones that aren’t.

Biography Ken Yeeloy entered the video game industry in 2004. As a Producer at Next Level Games, Ken has coached and developed the high performance teams behind the Mario Strikers series and Punch-Out!!

Tech

How to get the best out of your production team

The typical size of development teams has increased greatly in recent years. The diversity of the consoles available on the market adds an additional challenge to content creation. In this context, it is vital to have access to good tools and good methods in order to increase the productivity of the people who generate content. It is possible to get even more out of your teams through the introduction of certain technologies into your production chain. Several of these technologies are presented, including the establishment of a good cache file system, export distribution and real-time modification tools. The importance of procedures will also be covered briefly.

The typical size of development teams has increased greatly in recent years. The diversity of the consoles available on the market adds an additional challenge to content creation. In this context, it is vital to have access to good tools and good methods in order to increase the productivity of the people who generate content. It is possible to get even more out of your teams through the introduction of certain technologies into your production chain. Several of these technologies are presented, including the establishment of a good cache file system, export distribution and real-time modification tools. The importance of procedures will also be covered briefly.

Biography Sylvain Morel is Chief Technology Officer with Beenox, Quebec city’s largest video game studio. He started his career in games in 1998 as an integrator and became part of the talented Beenox team in 2002 where he has led the technology department since joining the company. Sylvain has always been a great programming enthusiast: he was already programming Basic at the age of 10, was an expert in Assembly Language before becoming a teenager and had in-depth knowledge of C and C++ before turning 18! Today, he has gathered an impressive amount of experience in programming, having already worked with PlayStation 1, 2 and 3, Xbox and Xbox 360, PC, Wii and MAC consoles. Sylvain has coordinated the development of Beenox’s own technology as well as the setting up of the conversion system. This technology, the envy of many of the industry’s stakeholders, enables simultaneous development on five platforms. Sylvain Morel and his team have obtained numerous awards for the quality of their work and Sylvain himself was named Programmer of the Year in Canada in 2005 at the Canadian New Media Awards.

Business

Doing Business in the United States

Doing business in the US is a challenge at best. if you are a canadian company in the videogame industry, it can be doubly so. Knowing the ins and outs and real challenges faced by companies wanting to do business south of the border can make all the difference. The Trade commissioner Service of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) can help. In cooperation with Alliance numérique, we are offering an informal panel discussion with key gaming companies in the US. Join us to have a conversation behind closed doors to hear what is really needed to succeed in the video game industry in the US.

Doing business in the US is a challenge at best. if you are a canadian company in the videogame industry, it can be doubly so. Knowing the ins and outs and real challenges faced by companies wanting to do business south of the border can make all the difference. The Trade commissioner Service of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) can help. In cooperation with Alliance numérique, we are offering an informal panel discussion with key gaming companies in the US. Join us to have a conversation behind closed doors to hear what is really needed to succeed in the video game industry in the US.

Biography

Art

Creative Problem Solving for Art Leaders "Techniques to help you think outside the box."

As visual leaders, we are counted on to be creative problem solvers. This presentation offers several techniques to help generate ideas to solve issues you are facing, either visual or logistic. Additionally this presentation offers some methods for cultivating and stimulating creativity. Attendees should walk out of this presentation with a good toolbox of techniques to bring to bear when faced with artistic challenges.

As visual leaders, we are counted on to be creative problem solvers. This presentation offers several techniques to help generate ideas to solve issues you are facing, either visual or logistic. Additionally this presentation offers some methods for cultivating and stimulating creativity. Attendees should walk out of this presentation with a good toolbox of techniques to bring to bear when faced with artistic challenges.

Biography Greg Grimsby recently served as the Art Director for Mythic Entertainment on Warhammer Online. Greg’s journey into polygons and pixels began in 1995, when he joined the art staff at Kesmai Studios to work on the multiplayer game Legends of Kesmai, a precursor to the modern MMO’s of today.  “We have more pixels in one of WAR’s UI icons than we had in the monster sprites in Legends.”, says Greg.  Riding the unstoppable juggernaut of ever-improving visual quality in games is part of the challenge and excitement of working on game art for Greg.

Tech

The Future of AI

Round table

Round table

Biography Liko-Paul Pinsonnault is currently a software developer for Artificial Mind & Movement (A2M) where he focuses mainly on physics, animation and their related tools. His latest game is WET, A2M's first mature title. After graduating from physics engineering at Polytechnique de Montréal, Liko joined A2M as an engine developer and helped shipped titles like Monster House, The Ant Bully and Happy Feet.

Design

Games for Social Network

Round table

Round table

Biography Scott Jon Siegel wants to leverage your social graphs. Since 2006 he's been thinking and writing on game design for a variety of publications, including Joystiq and Escapist Magazine. Scott cut his teeth working at area/code in New York - where he contributed to genre-busting titles like Sharkrunners and Drop7 (née Chain Factor) - and spent a year in the trenches at Zynga, designing social games for the biggest developer on Facebook. Now newly relocated to Playdom in Mountain View, Scott's been working hard on the next generation of blockbuster social games. His hobbies include inviting emergent behavior through concrete rulesets, and playing the ukulele.

Keynote

Meaningfully Mass Market

Abstract: Are games really a mass market medium? Are games currently--or could they be--a powerful art and entertainment form that deserves to stand next to film, literature, music, and visual arts? You read the news about how "games make more money than movies", how "games are part of our culture", and how "everybody plays games". Are these claims actually true? What does "mass market" even mean, anyway? What characteristics do other mass market mediums have, and do games share those characteristics? Should we even care? We'll explore these topics, using quantitative data, qualitative analysis, and a fair amount of ranting and hand waving.

Abstract: Are games really a mass market medium? Are games currently--or could they be--a powerful art and entertainment form that deserves to stand next to film, literature, music, and visual arts? You read the news about how "games make more money than movies", how "games are part of our culture", and how "everybody plays games". Are these claims actually true? What does "mass market" even mean, anyway? What characteristics do other mass market mediums have, and do games share those characteristics? Should we even care? We'll explore these topics, using quantitative data, qualitative analysis, and a fair amount of ranting and hand waving.

Biography Chris focuses on solving hard problems at the intersection of gameplay, aesthetics, and engineering. He is an outspoken advocate for pushing the current boundaries of design and interactivity, in the hope that games will eventually achieve their full potential as a medium. To this end he helps organize the Indie Game Jam and the Experimental Gameplay Workshop, and his recent work has centered on using proceduralism to enhance player creativity and agency. Chris has been on the advisory board for the Game Developers Conference for many years and is a regular speaker at the GDC, Siggraph, and other conferences. A frequent contributor to Game Developer magazine, Chris was the technical columnist for the magazine for two years and the Editor-at-Large for three, and is currently on the editorial board of the computer graphics research publication, The Journal of Graphics Tools. He has worked at both ends of the development spectrum, as a one-man indie game developer with his company definition six, inc. and on a hundred-person team at Maxis/Electronic Arts. His professional goal is to help games become the preeminent art and entertainment form of the 21st century. His current project is SpyParty, an indie game about subtle human behavior and deception.