Iron Composer Texas, Year 1
Speaker: Nathan Madsen (Composer-Sound Designer, Freelance), Jesse Searls (Composer, Sound Designer, Ohio State University), Randall Ryan (Lead Composer, HamsterBall)
Date/Time: Tuesday (September 16, 2008) 1:30pm — 2:30pm
Location (room): Room 10
Track: Audio
Format: 60-minute Panel
Experience Level: All

Session Description
Prepare for Battle!

Three game audio participants will be selected from the pool of volunteers by a Mysterious Mystical Traditional Texas Process. Those three will compete LIVE to see who will be Iron Composer Texas during a 60-minute session at Austin GDC. Three months before the event, each participant will be given a description of The Mystery Game. During those three months, they will prepare a keyboard full of sounds and music. On the day of the session, each participant will have a turn at playing their prepared sound set LIVE, while audience volunteers play the game.

But there is one twist: The Secret Ingredient!!!!!!!

Who will win???? Maybe there will be cake for the winner????

Idea Takeaway
This is the one they'll be talking about afterwards--and you will have to attend personally to experience this unique event. We expect attendees to gain unique insights into interactivity, showmanship, game design, psychology of games...even audio. And it's gonna be fun.

Intended Audience
ALL from the very serious professional to the casual observer.

Unlocking Flash to Build the Next Great MMO
Speaker: Ben Garney (Founder, PushButton Labs), Rafhael Cedeno (Chief Technology Officer, Multiverse)
Date/Time: Tuesday (September 16, 2008) 1:30pm — 2:30pm
Location (room): Room 4
Track: Online Games - Technology and Services
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: All

Session Description
Flash is gaining popularity as a platform for MMO development due to its quick startup time, and also wide install base. This session will explore how Flash can be used to create MMOs and how to avoid common development problems.

This session will examine the feasibility of Flash as a platform, which includes details of how to effectively handle the networking demands of an MMO, and technical issues for developing content. The talk will also address possible ways to fast-load content delivery, and optimize client responsiveness. Each of these areas will be supported by experience and, in many cases, demo applications.

Idea Takeaway
Attendees will leave understanding the feasibility of developing MMOs in Flash, as well as the major technical issues involved.

Making Games Human: Adding Voice to Videogames
Speaker: Matthew Bellows (Vice President Consumer Strategy, Vivox)
Date/Time: Tuesday (September 16, 2008) 1:30pm — 2:30pm
Location (room): Room 5
Track: Online Games - Design
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Intermediate

Session Description
Speech is the most natural form of human communication - the first we develop and the most prevalent and personal one we use throughout our lives. But as an interface into our digital lives, speech has been shockingly absent. This talk will span the creative, technical and experiential aspects of speech from both gamers and game designers points of view. What are the dynamics of a voice-powered community compared with a text-centric one? How does voice work for and against the design efforts of the XBox community, Team Fortress 2, Second Life and WoW? And how will voice interfaces change the casual, social games that are expanding our market? This talk will present a deep dive into the emerging role of voice as an interface for digital community and games.

Idea Takeaway
Attendees will walk away with an understanding of the emerging role of speech in videogames and videogame communities. Having seen examples of current best practices, pitfalls and innovations, they will gain actionable insights for their own initiatives.

Intended Audience
Executives, Producers and Community Managers who want insight into the best practices for speech in videogames.

Unsharding: The Secret to Storytelling in a Massively Multiplayer Environment
Speaker: James Portnow (Game Designer/Design Correspondent, Divide by Zero)
Date/Time: Tuesday (September 16, 2008) 1:30pm — 2:30pm
Location (room): Ballroom B
Track: Writing for Games
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Intermediate

Session Description
The narratives in MMOs should be epic, player-driven sagas rather than pale imitations of single player dramas. They’re not. Why? In part, because of the immense difficulty of supporting different stories on multiple servers. How do we solve this problem? Through unsharding. Unsharding makes player-driven stories possible. It enhances player/developer interactions, allowing for GM-run events, meaningful storyline choices, and world-altering politics in a massive environment. This lecture will address, in detail, the storytelling possibilities unlocked by this new approach to narrative worldbuilding.

Idea Takeaway
The audience will take away concrete examples of the benefit unsharding can provide to storytelling in a massive multiplayer environment, as well as well as a group of practical tips drawn straight from the research being done by the development team working on DbZ’s unannounced unsharded MMO project.

Intended Audience
This lecture is aimed at intermediate to advanced writers, designers and producers who are interested in creating player driven stories in a massive virtual world.

Online Community and Culture: Why it's Easier to Manage than You Might Think
Speaker: Ron Meiners (Community Director, MyHollywood.com)
Date/Time: Tuesday (September 16, 2008) 1:30pm — 2:30pm
Location (room): Room 9
Track: Online Games - Social Networking & Community
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Advanced

Session Description
While the online space creates exciting potential for new forms of interaction in many forms, the understanding of how these social systems operate is very valuable to professionals designing for or working with an online community. From the stories they tell to peer pressure, from trends to the role of sheriff in an online frontier town, this presentation looks at online community management from the perspective of core human social dynamics aka culture. Our goal will be to examine the creation of positive community spaces that support their host game, creating benefits in customer satisfaction, support, retention, and marketing.

Idea Takeaway
Takeaways will be in the form of a richer perspective of online social dynamics: both in terms of existing sociological understanding and in the ways that the online social space affords the opportunity for new cultural productivity. Among the benefits of this perspective:

* better understanding of core user aspirations
* shaping public opinion and perspective
* supporting community leaders to nurture positive social dynamics
* engendering long-term positive relationships between users and with the brand or IP

Intended Audience
Intended for experienced game design, marketing, and community professionals, this presentation will explore understanding online community characteristics from the perspective of culture.

Computer Entertainment 35 Years from Today
Speaker: Bruce Sterling (Science Fiction Writer and Futurist)
Date/Time: Tuesday (September 16, 2008) 11:00am — 12:00pm
Location (room): Ballroom A
Track: Writing for Games
Format: 60-minute Keynote
Experience Level: All

Session Description
Pong is 36 years old, and Pong marked the birth of popular computer entertainment.

Imagine if someone from 2008 walked into the office of Nolan Bushnell in 1973 as he prepared to launch Pong, to explain today's computer entertainment to the great pioneer. For instance: hundreds of thousands of networked people evolving their own Sim space aliens. Or: an artist in residence in New York City fabricating an eighteen- foot tall digital statue of Gandhi, as, using a treadmill and Second Life, he mimics Gandhi's epic march to the sea. How could you explain that insanely great stuff to Nolan Bushnell in 1973 -- even though it's all perfectly true? It's par for the course for us -- but for him, could you even find the words -- the most basic concepts?

Now imagine the kind of computer entertainment our grandchildren will be tackling in 35 years. What if some visitor from the future frankly told you what was going on -- your industry, in his own language, from the year 2043?

Nobody can do that -- but Bruce Sterling certainly knows how to fake it. And he will!

In-World Advertising Case Study
Speaker: Joe Hyrkin (VP of Sales and Business Development, Gaia Online), Christian Lassonde (President & Cofounder, Millions of Us LLC)
Date/Time: Tuesday (September 16, 2008) 11:00am — 12:00pm
Location (room): Ballroom C
Track: Worlds in Motion
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: All

Session Description
Advertising in online worlds is an increasingly important part of monetizing games – with possibilities including in-game billboards, contests, and more. In this case study, we’ll hear from the creators of Gaia Online and their advertising partners at Millions of Us, uncovering how in-game advertising works for them, how to reach your audience without turning them off, and all the advantages and pitfalls of advertising in this new medium.

Google's First Real Talk on Lively Since its Debut
Speaker: Mel Guymon (Product Manager, Google)
Date/Time: Tuesday (September 16, 2008) 9:30am — 10:30am
Location (room): Ballroom C
Track: Worlds in Motion
Format: 60-minute Keynote
Experience Level: All

Session Description
In his keynote, Guymon will provide a full overview of Lively, including the team’s vision for this product as a tool to enrich social interaction on the web. He will also offer a historical perspective on how Lively evolved from inception to launch.

Cracking the Consumer Control Code: Effective Strategies for Advertising in the Social Media Landscape
Speaker: Lauren Bigelow (General Manager & SVP Marketing, WeeWorld Inc.)
Date/Time: Tuesday (September 16, 2008) 9:30am — 10:30am
Location (room): Room 9
Track: Online Games - Social Networking & Community
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: All

Session Description
Consumers are in control in the evolving social media landscape. Viral marketing and advertising on mobile phones, online video sites and virtual worlds are gaining attention as agencies are pushing marketers to increase budgets, or allocate budgets for the first time, to those tactics. What are the viable and most effective options? How do you create a successful promotion when consumers have control? We’ll provide a first-hand look using Weeworld as the example of how marketers can effectively engage consumers through social media and leverage self-selected promotions to create viral power through consumer endorsement. It will explore successful campaigns with the world’s most recognized brands – from a prom-themed campaign for a top packaged goods company, music promotions for RCA Record artists Avril Lavigne and Alicia Keys and partnerships with organizations such as Bono’s RED, to Skittles-themed bikinis, the WeeMee takeover of the USA Network Character Game Lounge and branded make up kits that generated user backlash at the campaign’s close.

Idea Takeaway
Attendees will learn how to: • Be contextually relevant • Be actively tied to community behavior • Be meaningful • Become a viral force

Hardcore Games for Casual Audiences
Speaker: Jesse Schell (Prof. of Entertainment Technology, Carnegie Mellon University)
Date/Time: Tuesday (September 16, 2008) 9:30am — 10:30am
Location (room): Room 5
Track: Online Games - Design
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: All

Session Description
Jesse Schell has made a career out of taking hardcore videogame concepts, such as flight simulators, first person shooters, and MMORPGs, and turning them into games loved by casual players. In this talk, he will give examples from interactive theme park attractions, MMOs for kids and family (such as Toontown Online and Pixie Hollow Online), as well as serious games. In combination, these examples will show some underlying principles that can expand the audience of any game.

The Death of Linearity, Or Who Shot The Three Act Structure?
Speaker: Andrew Walsh (Writer, Director, Narrative Designer, Freelance)
Date/Time: Tuesday (September 16, 2008) 9:30am — 10:30am
Location (room): Room 3
Track: Writing for Games
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Intermediate

Session Description
On-demand storytelling allows the player to choose when and how to access a game’s story and so create their own unique experience of the narrative. Does this choice to put the player in charge of how a story is told mean that linearity is dead? What do players get from on-demand models? How can writers, games designers plot further feats of narrative derring-do? This session will analyze the development and future of on-demand storytelling, examine how, why and when it can be used and show how this is being implemented in the new Prince of Persia.

Idea Takeaway
Attendees will gain an overview of existing on-demand structure as well as how these models are likely to develop. The session will lay out techniques and the methods needed to deliver these on-demand models to a playing audience.

Intended Audience
Intermediate to advanced game writers and designers familiar with writing and games design terms used within the industry. The session will not exclude novice writers, but it will assume at least a basic understanding of interactive storytelling.

Emerging Market: India, Challenges & Pitfalls
Speaker: Sumeet Maniar (Vice President, India Market Development, K2 Network, Inc.)
Date/Time: Tuesday (September 16, 2008) 9:30am — 10:30am
Location (room): Room 7
Track: Online Games - Business & Marketing
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Intermediate

Session Description
The Emerging MMOG Online Gaming Market in India, Challenges and Pitfalls. India is predicted to be the next China in the gaming market by 2011 with revenues exceeding $200M from almost $20m last year. Will this really happen? Is India really the next big thing? Is it all hype? Mr. Maniar, who successfully helped set up K2 Network USA , has spent the last two years scaling the company within India for publishing MMOG titles. He will discuss trends and issues, the challenges and pitfalls in online gaming in the world's largest democracy.

Idea Takeaway
The Indian economy possesses many parallels as with ealrier Asian countries and other developing countries in the gaming space. Hence, those members of the audience who have a keen interest in these markets can apply some of these principles in how to best address online gaming within India.

Intended Audience
The requisite level of knowledge is Intermediate and for those members who are interested in emerging markets.

What's Lara's Story? Advanced Storytelling Techniques in Tomb Raider: Underworld
Speaker: Eric Lindstrom (Creative Director, Crystal Dynamics)
Date/Time: Tuesday (September 16, 2008) 9:30am — 10:30am
Location (room): Ballroom B
Track: Writing for Games
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Intermediate

Session Description
The recent adventures of Lara Croft have presented uniquely difficult storytelling challenges. They include a range of issues from progressing a long-standing franchise without alienating a heavily invested fan base to telling the story of a charismatic anti-hero who nonetheless speaks little and works alone. The Creative Director and Writer of the upcoming Tomb Raider: Underworld details how advanced storytelling methods are being applied to meet these challenges and more to create Lara Croft's first truly Next-Gen adventure.

Idea Takeaway
Attendees will gain a greater understanding of how storytelling in games can significantly advance using proven techniques that are currently underutilized, with real examples from many games and films, including one of the industry's most challenging storytelling franchises.

Intended Audience
Creative leads, story designers, writers, and developers of all disciplines who contribute to games that leverage storytelling. Experience or familiarity with the fundamentals of game development and story structure will be helpful.

Mythbusting the Internet
Speaker: Derek Wise (CTO, GNi)
Date/Time: Tuesday (September 16, 2008) 9:30am — 10:30am
Location (room): Room 4
Track: Online Games - Technology and Services
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Advanced

Session Description
This presentation examines how physics inevitably impacts what is and is not possible with online game infrastructure and deployment. The talk takes an amusing look at a number of misconceptions surrounding topics such as data transfer, power consumption etc. and provides tools to see through hyperbole around advertised speeds and performance.

Idea Takeaway
The audience will leave the presentation with a clearer outlook on how data moves from one point to another, what affects its travel, what that means to the gamer looking for the ultimate online experience. The presentation will also discuss what, if anything, they can do to enhance their experience outside of actually defying Einstein’s theory and nature itself to get a better game play experience over the Internet. The audience will be engaged by facts, data and knowledge that is presented at head level and in a fashion that allows them to grip and potentially share the concepts to others that share their passion in gaming.

Intended Audience
This presentation is for the person who needs to know the reality of how fast data moves over the internet and how it effects game play.

Why Game Composers MUST become 21st Century Artists or Face Extinction
Speaker: Austin Wintory (Composer, Wintory Global Engineering)
Date/Time: Tuesday (September 16, 2008) 9:30am — 10:30am
Location (room): Room 10
Track: Audio
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Intermediate

Session Description
Austin Wintory, BAFTA-nominated composer for ThatGameCompany's breakout hit 'flOw,' discusses why it is imperative for game composers to regard themselves as artists in order to raise the bar for game music. Even though the industry as a whole is still in its very early years, game scores are already facing an identity crisis that must be addressed if new creative heights are ever to be achieved.

Idea Takeaway
Attendees listen to current game scores, and compare them to Hollywood scores. This reveals the “identity crisis,” and why it represents a threat to this art form. Attendees will also learn the importance of why composers MUST start thinking as artists for the integrity of this field to remain intact.

Intended Audience
This talk is absolutely intended for composers, sound designers, and other audio staff. However, general game development crew are welcome as well. There are no technical prerequisites.

Dr. Strangeflow or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Pipeline
Speaker: Lane Daughtry (Technical Artist, Sony Online Entertainment)
Date/Time: Tuesday (September 16, 2008) 9:30am — 10:30am
Location (room): Room 6
Track: Online Games - Business & Marketing
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Intermediate

Session Description
The quality bar for creation of in-game characters and animation for a standard next-gen title is at an all time high. Factor in the necessary density of an MMO game and you have the recipe for a lot of headaches. This lecture offers a glimpse at managing the complex character and animation asset creation during development of an MMO for a limited console target and presents an overview of how SOE has tackled pipeline creation, asset management and creation for their next-gen console MMO FPS title, The Agency. As The Agency is aimed at providing an persistent world experience while maintaining a primarily console SKU, SOE has designed their characters and pipeline to meet the next-gen quality bar of market expectation, as well as allow fast iteration for their game and cinematics content.

Idea Takeaway
Attendees will be shown the hurdles that must be overcome in order to achieve their desired character and motion aesthetic and the pertinent pieces of the pipeline that were developed in order to do so.

Intended Audience
Intended audience of this lecture would include technical artists, character artists, animators and tools engineers working on/in next-gen pipelines and with content on console systems.

Social Networks and Virtual Worlds: A Shared Future?
Speaker: Michael Steele (Executive Consultant), Corey Bridges (Executive Producer & Co-Founder, Multiverse), Stevana Case (VP, Business Development & Sales, Fatfoogoo AG), Jonathan Hanna (Sr. Producer, John Galt Games)
Date/Time: Monday (September 15, 2008) 4:30pm — 5:30pm
Location (room): Room 9
Track: Online Games - Social Networking & Community
Format: 60-minute Panel
Experience Level: All

Session Description
Virtual Worlds and Social Networks are currently at opposite ends of the socializing spectrum. One medium is deep and immersive, and the other is light-touch. But despite--or perhaps because of--their differences, their intersection is expected to vault both media to new heights of usage and relevance. This panel discussion will explore how this is being done today, how it will be done in the near future, and how it SHOULD be done.

Easy is F&#@ing Hard: Game Design Fundamentals for Mass-Market Games
Speaker: Eric Zimmerman (Chief Design Officer, Gamelab)
Date/Time: Monday (September 15, 2008) 4:30pm — 5:30pm
Location (room): Room 5
Track: Online Games - Design
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: All

Session Description
We all want to create experiences that will hook our players and bring them back to our games again and again. But as more and more developers shift away from hardcore game audiences, new design challenges emerge. Creating games for a mass market means creating games that are quick to pick up, easy to learn, and deadly addictive. But designing successful easy gameplay is actually very hard. Going beyond existing genres to reach new audiences, incorporating new themes and content into game interaction, integrating new revenue models into games, and creating innovative core mechanics requires a deep knowledge about how games function.

This session goes beyond “tips and tricks” to explore the most fundamental aspects of game design, including the relationship of rules and play, the design of meaningful choices, and the pacing of short, medium, and long-term goals – and how each of these elements relate to the creation of successful games for mass-market audiences. In his talk, Eric will draw from fourteen years of experience in the game industry, providing concrete examples and practical approaches to help you solve the hard design problems of creating of easy games.

Galatea 3.0: Designing and Writing Great Game Characters
Speaker: Tom Abernathy (Writer, Microsoft Game Studios)
Date/Time: Monday (September 15, 2008) 4:30pm — 5:30pm
Location (room): Ballroom B
Track: Writing for Games
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Intermediate

Session Description
As the possibilities for gaming expand with advances in technology, game writers and designers seek to elevate future game narrative in sophistication, richness, and emotional impact. The deceptively crucial wellspring in this process is character--both players and their supporting cast of AI NPCs. Examining key elements of fully fleshed-out characterizations drawn from games and other media (using case studies well-known game characters that were forward-thinking in their own time), this session will elucidate how great characters make great story and gameplay possible--and arm attendees with specific tools to make the game characters of the future distinct and memorable.

Idea Takeaway
Attendees will examine questions fundamental to building strong characters and explore approaches to characterization inspired by other narrative media, while gaining appreciation for the impact those choices will have on story and gameplay in the future.

Intended Audience
This session is geared toward working writers and designers of intermediate and greater experience. It assumes some writing knowledge while offering more advanced insights drawn from other disciplines; those of other experience levels, however, will also find the concepts discussed useful and useable.

Licensed Software - Cost Benefit Analysis
Speaker: Bill Dalton (Technical Director, BioWare Austin)
Date/Time: Monday (September 15, 2008) 4:30pm — 5:30pm
Location (room): Room 4
Track: Online Games - Technology and Services
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Intermediate

Session Description
The selection criteria and methods used by BioWare’s Austin studio will be presented. An analysis of the project's current developmental status will be used to determine the efficacy of the licensed products. The lecture will focus on engine technologies, but third party tools will also be considered.

Idea Takeaway
Attendees will learn useful techniques for evaluating third party components. Real world experiences and pitfalls will also be presented and discussed.

Intended Audience
Developers facing build/buy decisions, particularly in an MMO context.

Pirates of the Burning Sea: A Post-Partum
Speaker: Joe Ludwig (Chief Technical Officer, Divide By Zero Games)
Date/Time: Monday (September 15, 2008) 4:30pm — 5:30pm
Location (room): Room 7
Track: Online Games - Business & Marketing
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Intermediate

Session Description
Well, it took five years, but Flying Lab Software has finally launched its Age of Sail MMO! Come hear the ups and downs of the project and all the things the team learned along the way. All of the successes and failures encountered while building a new MMO with a new team are presented.

Idea Takeaway
The lessons that Flying Lab learned through its development process are all presented in this session including dealing with dramatic scope changes, personnel issues, publishing troubles, and a changing market. Attendees gain the practical knowledge that they can apply to their own projects in order to avoid some of the same pitfalls and achieve some of the same successes.

Intended Audience
If you are working on an MMO or think that you might be starting one soon, this is the talk for you. Producers, programmers, and designers can all benefit.

A Future Told: Writing for Cinematic Design
Speaker: Paul Marino (Lead Cinematic Designer, BioWare), Mac Walters (Senior Writer/Managing Editor, BioWare)
Date/Time: Monday (September 15, 2008) 3:00pm — 4:00pm
Location (room): Ballroom B
Track: Writing for Games
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Intermediate

Session Description
A wise man once said, “There is nothing new under the sun”. As storytellers our tool set is fairly well defined, but as game designers our canvas is never constant. From pure text to life-like characters, the medium is constantly evolving and has required writers to think performance over prose. To this, the lecture will look at writing for cinematic design at BioWare – a glimpse at its trajectory over past projects such as Jade Empire and Mass Effect, with a rack-focus on future areas such as digital acting and the dynamic staging of characters.

Idea Takeaway
The lecture will provide insights as to how cinematic design at BioWare is impacting both narrative presentation and gameplay – today and moving forward.

Intended Audience
Writers of intermediate (or above) level who are familiar with game design disciplines as well as screenwriting.

Modeling Infrastructure Cost for MMO Launch
Speaker: Peter Jarvis (MMO Consultant)
Date/Time: Monday (September 15, 2008) 3:00pm — 4:00pm
Location (room): Room 4
Track: Online Games - Technology and Services
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Intermediate

Session Description
In this lecture, we will model the infrastructure cost around building and launching an MMO. We will explore the different decisions that need to be made, and when, that impact your final launch cost on capital, non-recurring charges, and recurring charges. We will model 2 scenarios, the budget conscience MMO title vs. the AAA Title. We will do most of the work live in a spreadsheet, which will be made available to the attendees.

Idea Takeaway
Attendees will learn how to model the true cost of building the infrastructure and services required to launch a successful MMO in today's market. Building an MMO can be costly, and the more information known up front the better for making important decisions early in hopes of minimizing unexpected cost.

Intended Audience
This class is beneficial for IT Directors, CTO's, CFO's and general financial analysts who have financial responsibility within a development studio or publisher. General knowledge of finance terms and methodology as well as technology terms like servers and routers is required.

Online Games Under Construction: Run Your Beta Right.
Speaker: Jonathan Hanna (Sr. Producer, John Galt Games), Richard Weil (Director of Community Relations, Cartoon Network)
Date/Time: Monday (September 15, 2008) 3:00pm — 4:00pm
Location (room): Room 9
Track: Online Games - Social Networking & Community
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Intermediate

Session Description
Online game betas are about more than just testing your product and are often a missed opportunity for developers. Though it takes planning, betas can be an effective part of your marketing and community building efforts and in many can help grow your potential audience more than traditional marketing alone. This lecture will discuss the best practices and tactics on how to get the most out of your beta.

Idea Takeaway
Attendees will learn how to maximize their beta to grow awareness and their community pre-launch.

Intended Audience
Developers, community relations, and marketing professionals will benefit from this lecture. Some knowledge of beta tests is helpful, but not required.