Technology and Entertainment Gurus Converge at GDC, Outline Vision for the Future of the Game Industry

Technology and Entertainment Gurus Converge at GDC, Outline Vision for the Future of the Game Industry

High Profile Speakers Include: Nintendo President, Xbox Co-founder, Hollywood Futurist, Sony CG Specialist

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The Game Developers Conference (GDC) brings to life the 2005 theme, Future Vision, with a series of talks dedicated to the road ahead for interactive entertainment. The "vision track" will include progressive leaders in the fields of music, video games, design and technology. GDC will take place Monday through Friday, March 7-11, 2005 at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco.

"The vision track is designed to provoke innovation among developers and set the stage for the future of interactive entertainment," said Jamil Moledina, director, GDC. "In a business environment where finishing the current project is the foremost priority, our goal is to provide an environment that fosters the innate creativity of game developers, and empowers each of them to establish their own long-term vision of the next decade of games."

Featured speakers include: * J Allard, corporate vice president and founding member of the Xbox platform project, is recognized as one of the most promising young leaders of the entertainment industry. In 1993 he was named in Hollywood Reporter's Top 35 Entertainment Execs Under 35. Allard's session is entitled "The Future of Games: Unlocking the Opportunity."

* Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, is a unique executive in the games business since his background is not finance, law, or marketing, but rather video game creation. His game credits include the classic character Kirby, as well as the globally popular Earthbound and Super Smash Brothers series. His session entitled "The Heart of a Gamer," will assess where the game business stands today, predicting how it will develop over the next several years.

* Masaya Matsuura, a visionary musician and game developer, blazed ahead of his time by building an online music community in Japan. In 2004 IGDA awarded Matsuura with the First Penguin award for taking risks and breaking new ground in beat-rhythm and music games. He helped bring rhythm to games with titles like Parappa the Rapper and Vib-Ribbon. Matsuura-san will be facilitating a session entitled, "The Near Future of Media Distribution."

* Peter Molyneux, co-founder of Bullfrog Productions and founder of Lionhead Studios, is renowned for creating the new genre "god games" like Populous (1989) and Black and White (2001) -- games that cast the player as a deity whose whims influence the activities of a simulated world. In 2005 the Queen of England recognized Molyneux by giving him an Order of the British Empire (OBE). Sir Peter Molyneux is the first games developer to be granted an OBE. His session is entitled "Gamesplay Moves Forward into the 21st Century."

* Remington Scott, CG special projects supervisor at Sony Imageworks, has supervised/directed/produced computer generated "Performance Animation" for visionary feature film directors including Peter Jackson, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Sam Raimi and the Wachowskis. His work in The Lord of the Rings: The Twin Towers received the Academy Award for Achievement in Visual Effects for using a computer motion capture system to create the split personality character of Gollum and Smeagol. Scott's session is entitled "Feature Film Performance Animation and Digital Human Acquisition for the Next Generation Games."

* Tim Sweeney, programmer and founder of Epic Games, has been developing games and technology from the time of early PC gaming. His 3D genius has developed many games, including Unreal Tournament, Splinter Cell and Harry Potter. His accomplishments don't stop there: He was recently named among GameSpy's 30 Most Influential People in Gaming. Sweeney's session is entitled "Games Technology and Content Creation for the Next Generation."

* Kenzo Tsujimoto, president and CEO of Capcom, will give a talk named, "The Japanese Game Industry: Past, Present and Future," examining the Japanese game industry through the context of Japanese events such as the Tokyo Game Show, the CESA (Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association) Game Awards and CEDEC (CESA Developers Conference) organized by CESA.

* John Underkoffler serves as science and technology advisor to film productions including Minority Report, The Hulk, The Miniseries Taken and the upcoming live-action adaptation Aeon Flux. His technology- based art and design works have been exhibited across several continents and have received various awards. His session is entitled "Fluid Loop: The Splendid Tangle of Science Design in Cinema, Games and Life."

* Will Wright, Maxis' chief designer, co-founded Maxis in 1987. His ground breaking game The Sims 2 became the fastest selling PC game ever, selling more than a million copies in the first ten days worldwide. In 2002 Wright was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame. His session is entitled "The Future of Content."

The GDC will feature more than 300 lectures, panels, tutorials and roundtable discussions across seven content tracks. For a complete list of GDC 2005 event information visit www.gdconf.com.

About the CMP Game Group

A core provider of essential information and community to the professional game industry, the CMP Game Group includes the Game Developers Conference, Game Developer magazine, Gamasutra.com, the Independent Games Festival, and the Game Developers Choice Awards. For more information, please visit www.cmpgame.com.

About CMP Media LLC

CMP Media LLC (http://www.cmp.com/) is a leading integrated media company providing essential information and marketing services to the entire technology spectrum -- the builders, sellers and users of technology worldwide. Capitalizing on its editorial strength, CMP is uniquely positioned to offer marketers comprehensive, integrated media solutions tailored to meet their individual needs. Its diverse products and services include newspapers, magazines, Internet products, research, direct marketing services, education and training, trade shows and conferences and custom publishing.

Source: CMP Game Group

CONTACT: Sibel Sunar, sibel@bohle.com, ext. 271, or Craig Sinel, craig@bohle.com, ext. 211, both of The Bohle Company, +1-310-785-0515, for CMP Game Group

Web site: http://www.gdconf.com/

Web site: http://www.cmpgame.com/

Web site: http://www.cmp.com/

------- Profile: Ent