Archive for the ‘Conference’ Tag
IMGDC Announces Move To Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV – December 8, 2008 – Last Straw Productions announced today the location details for the upcoming Indie MMO Game Developers Conference 3.0, set for April 17-19, 2009. Newly established in the accessible city of Las Vegas, the conference will be held at the Alexis Park Resort Hotel. The hotel provides premiere all-suite accommodations for $99 while attending the conference. A limited number of block rooms are available for this price.
Alexis Park Resort is located just a half-mile from the Vegas Strip, a mile from the airport and across the street from the Hard Rock Hotel. Free shuttle rides are offered directly to the strip. All guests of Alexis Park have access to room service, guest services, free safe deposit boxes and business center services. The hotel and conference center is an excellent place to focus on Indie game development and connect with others in the industry.
IMGDC is moving into its third year with bigger and bolder agendas with the goal of reaching as many Indie studios and developers as possible. Las Vegas is a convenient hub for business and pleasure. The city provides the ultimate central location, allowing for inexpensive flights from all over the country and world. Speakers and sponsors will find it easier than ever to participate in the rapidly growing market of Indie gaming.
“With Las Vegas being such an easily accessible location and the Alexis hotel offering an intimate atmosphere, IMGDC 3.0 attendees will find a venue for harnessing their passion and love for this industry.” said Jonathon Stevens, CEO of Last Straw Productions.
LOGIN Conference Ready to Energize Online Game Industry Leaders in 2009
SEATTLE, Washington, October 28, 2008 - Evergreen Events has established a tradition of excellence hosting leaders and influencers in the online games industry at its annual conferences. Beginning in 2006 with the Global Games Summit, and continuing in 2007 and 2008, with OGDC and the ION Game Conference respectively, the tradition is set to continue in 2009 with the LOGIN Conference. LOGIN 2009 brings together three years of feedback from the community and the expertise of an industry leading advisory board to create an innovative event designed to facilitate education, networking, and entertainment for both business and development professionals. LOGIN 2009 will be held May 11th-14th 2009 in Seattle, Washington at the fantastic Seattle Marriott Waterfront Hotel.
The call for speakers will be announced by late November. Early bird registration will begin in January 2009. Additional details about speaking, registration and the conference will be announced shortly.
“We are thrilled to continue to evolve our conferences, building on 3 years of amazing success,” stated Cynthia Freese, co-founder of LOGIN and Evergreen Events, its parent company. “LOGIN, our new identity, more accurately reflects our desire to help our attendees get connected with new developments in the ever-expanding online game industry, and also get connected with each other. LOGIN 2009 Conference attendees will be excited to learn that we will build on the best of what made our 2008 conference so successful and distinctive.”
LOGIN 2009 builds upon the strong foundation of past Evergreen Events’ conferences, where attendees, sponsors, and media within the online game industry are treated as exclusive guests. In 2008, the audience spanned 19 different countries, with 20% of attendees originating from outside the United States. Over 40% of attendees held Director, VP or C-level positions, underscoring the predominantly senior level of participants.
The conference has garnered an enthusiastic and loyal following; the majority of 2008 attendees indicated they were present at the conference based on the recommendation of a colleague who had previously attended. 86% of all attendees rated the 2008 conference as “excellent” or “better than” all other industry conferences.
The vision of the 2009 LOGIN Conference advisory board has been expanded with the diverse and experienced insights of Erik Bethke, Founder & CEO of GoPets Ltd.; Steve Klebe, Senior VP, Business Development at Vindicia, Inc.; John W. Ratcliff, Senior Programmer at Simutronics Corporation; George Sarhanis, Management Consultant; and Rich Weil, Community Relations Director at Cartoon Network. To review the expanded advisory board supporting the LOGIN 2009 Conference, visithttp://www.loginconference.com/advisors.php.
The LOGIN Conference is an annual game industry event created for the leading voices and minds of the online game industry from all corners of the globe. The conference is designed to encourage networking and to create unique business opportunities for all attendees. LOGIN 2009 will feature dozens of insightful speakers, five different tracks, a networking expo area and business lounge meeting rooms. Visit the official websitehttp://www.loginconference.com for the latest news and information about the LOGIN 2009 Conference.
Attendee Quotes:
“Evergreen’s conferences are everything a game conference should be-great sessions, speakers, and plenty of networking opportunities. We look forward to participating in 2009!” proclaimed Matt Tullis, Sr. Manager Game Segment of Dolby Laboratories.
“Last year’s conference was the perfect venue for bringing together leaders and visionaries within the online gaming industry. It was an honor to serve on an executive panel with my peers, and very fulfilling to attend the wide variety of great sessions offered at the event. In my opinion it was the key event of the year for networking, catching up with industry colleagues, and making new friends. I look forward to the LOGIN 2009 event,” said Bob Ferrari, VP of Business Development of Turbine.
“Like the 2008 conference, LOGIN 2009 will no doubt be a compact conference with the right mixture of high level designers, developers and executives to get things done while being small enough to not be a media circus,” said Marty Poulin, CEO of ShadyLogic Studios.
“Evergreen Events has created a conference that’s provided a tremendous opportunity for iovation to connect with our gaming clients, network with the some of the biggest names and newcomers in the industry, and learn more about all of their exciting new products. We are anxious to be a part of LOGIN in 2009!” said Cory Swick, Sr. Enterprise Sales Executive of iovation Inc.
LOGIN is supported by:
LOGIN 2009 SPONSORS: BigWorld Technology, Dolby, Garvey Schubert Barer, and iovation
LOGIN 2009 PARTNERS: China GC Networks, Mary-Margaret Network, Massive Gamer Magazine, MPOGD, Pearl Research, Redline China and Thisisgame
MMOFury To Host Indie Games Development Fair
Iranian Game Companies Unveiled the Biggest Presence Ever at Dubai World Game Expo 2008
Dubai, United Arab Emirates – October 18, 2008 - Today the Dubai World Game Expo (DWGE) announced that Iranian game companies unveiled the biggest presence ever at the Dubai World Game Expo 2008 to be held at Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre in United Arab Emirates from 28 – 30 October, 2008. Variety of Iranian game companies will be at DWGE and at least 8 companies already confirmed to be at Iranian Game Pavilion.
In addition, Behrouz Minaei-Bidgoli, Managing Director of Computer Game National Institute of Tehran, Iran will deliver a speech “Iranian Game Market” at Game Development Session during the Dubai World Game Summit 2008.
ngmoco and GDC Team Up To Offer $10,000 ‘Best iPhone Game’ Prize at Independent Games Festival During Game Developers Conference 2009
Filed under: Mobile, News | Tags: Conference, Contest, Dev, Mobile
Leave a Comment The partnership with ngmoco, the Kleiner Perkins-funded iPhone publisher co-founded by former EA executive Neil Young, includes a Gold Sponsorship of the IGF Mobile event, which is now in its second year. The mobile-centric indie event, originally created by Think Services and Founding Sponsor Nvidia, is expanding to include iPhone games this year. With last year’s Grand Prize winner Critter Crunch already a successful title on Apple’s handheld, organizers are expecting a surge in iPhone game entries.
“ngmoco is proud to support the independent development community and burgeoning micro-studios who are dedicated to creating device defining ‘only on iPhone’ games”, Alan Yu, Vice President, Artist & Repertoire, ngmoco, said. “As gamemakers, we’ve long admired the IGF for showcasing and highlighting innovation and independent thinking in games.”
iPhone developers entering their games will be eligible for all IGF Mobile categories, which also include game design, art, technical and audio awards, a Best Game award, and other major prizes. In addition, entry into IGF Mobile is free this year, meaning it’s easy for ‘bedroom programmers’ and upwardly mobile indies alike to enter the competition.
The finalists in the ‘Best iPhone Game’ category will be invited to showcase their games on the expo floor at the industry-leading Game Developers Conference 2009, to be held in San Francisco from March 23th-27th, 2009. In addition, the winners of the category will be revealed onstage at the special IGF Mobile awards ceremony at GDC 2009, and also highlighted at the flagship Independent Games Festival Awards event at the show.
“We’re delighted to be working with ngmoco to help discover the best iPhone games out there,” commented Simon Carless, Chairman, Independent Games Festival. “We’re starting to see open platforms and innovation spread indie goodness into fascinating new places, and highlighting worthy, high quality iPhone games is something that will benefit both discerning consumers and developers.”
In addition to the IGF Mobile sponsorship, ngmoco has also partnered as the exclusive sponsor of Think Services’ new iPhone and iPod Touch-specific weblog, FingerGaming (http://www.fingergaming.com). The site, one of the leading outlets in the rapidly expanding space, covers business announcements, gaming news, trends, and impressions regarding games for Apple’s touch screen handheld.
For more information on IGF Mobile and entering this year’s competition, for which the deadline is November 17th, please visit www.igfmobile.com.
Indie Arcade Will Showcase The Best of Indie at the Eurogamer Expo
London, 28th and 29th of October 2008.
A selection of the best and most interesting independent games will be on show this year at the Indie Arcade, part of the Eurogamer Expo. Organised by Pixel-Lab and Eurogamer as part of the London Games Festival, the Indie Arcade will be happening at the Old Truman Brewery, 28th and 29th of October.
Exclusive titles on show will include the upcoming PC version of Jonathan Blow’s Braid, Amanita Design’s upcoming adventure game Machinarium, and recently announced project Plain Sight, in development by London based studio Beatnik Games. The developers themselves will be on hand to play against people at the Expo, nearly a month before the game goes into public beta testing.
Other titles playable at the Arcade will include Introversion’s Multiwinia, 2D Boy’s World of Goo, FlashBang Studios’ Off Road Velociraptor Safari, and Mousechief’s Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble.
Rupert Loman, Managing Director of Eurogamer said: “We’re delighted to have the Indie Arcade as part of the Eurogamer Expo. As anyone who has followed Eurogamer over the years will testify, we’ve always had a soft spot for independent games – and being able to help introduce these great games to thousands of gamers at the Expo is very exciting for us.”
David Hayward of Pixel-Lab said “Indie Games have long been overlooked in a landscape of boxed games with £50 price tags, but that’s changing now. Whether done commercially or not, indie development is an important strand of the culture of games, where smaller studios and auteurs can make significant contributions to innovation and the aesthetics of games. I’m really pleased to be working on the indie arcade this year, especially as it will feature the public debuts of several titles.”
Among this group of anticipated upcoming commercial indie games, there will also be a surprise selection of some of the most interesting and experimental freeware indie projects. Come down to see the best of Indie; entry is included in the ticket price for the Eurogamer Expo.
For further details see: http://expo.eurogamer.net/
Indie MMO Game Developers Conference 3.0 Announced
Filed under: MMO Game, News, PC - Windows | Tags: Conference, Dev, MMO, PC
Leave a Comment Las Vegas, NV – October 6, 2008 – Last Straw Productions announced today the third annual Indie MMO Game Developers Conference, to be held in Las Vegas, NV on April 17th, 18th, and 19th, 2009. To celebrate continued success, the IMGDC website has been revamped with a fresh and innovative new design and logo that reflects the passion of previous conferences and the anticipation for IMGDC 3.0. Continuing the innovation of the conference, the community can now participate directly by visiting the new community portal at the official IMGDC website, which features IMGDC advisor and speaker blogs as well as forums for continuing or starting new discussions.
IMGDC 3.0 is designed to be an informal venue of Indie developers with the shared passion on design, development and production of Indie MMOGs, virtual worlds and online games. IMGDC 3.0 is an informative, educational, and fun gathering of industry professionals from around the world who want to focus on development and network with other passionate developers.
“Last year’s IMGDC had fantastic presentations, more vendors than the first show, and incredible networking opportunities with passionate leaders from the independent game development community.” – Ron Meiners, Advisory Board Member
“Establishing IMGDC 3.0 in Las Vegas will propel growth by providing easier access, while keeping it affordable for smaller independent studios that drive innovation in this exciting game development arena.” – Jonathon Stevens, IMGDC 3.0 Founder
The conference will also feature demo stations where Indie developers can showcase their latest creations and designs. IMGDC 3.0 provides an excellent opportunity for team building and networking in a casual environment. If you’ve caught the incurable passion to make independent games, this is a gathering of talented individuals you will not want to miss. For more information, please visit the official IMGDC website at www.imgdc.com.
America’s Video Game Expo (VGXPO) Expanded to Include the ‘East Coast Games Summit’
Philadelphia, PA – (October 2, 2008) – Lunar Tide Communications, Inc., co-producers of America’s Video Game Expo (VGXPO), one of the largest consumer gaming events in the America’s, is expanding the scope of VGXPO to include a new game industry conference – the ‘East Coast Games Summit’. Designed to serve the professional colleagues in the game industry, as well as those interested in starting a career in games, the Summit offers programming for all VGXPO attendees.
Co-sponsored by GameJobs.com and GameRecruiter, the East Coast Games Summit is an industry conference that supports a range of programming and networking opportunities. Summit tracks include: “Scrum Deconstructed,” a hands-on workshop for game industry management and technologists; ‘Breaking In’ a single-track mini-conference for students and others interested in making a career out of games; ‘Pitch You Game Idea’ , a session for would-be game entrepreneurs to present their game concepts to game industry leaders; and a number of additional keynotes and panel sessions on hot topics in the game industry.
“The East Coast Games Summit helps the videogame industry grow not only on a management-process level, but on an education-outreach level as well,” stated Fiona Cherbak, Vice President of Marketing at GameRecruiter. “For people not already in the games industry, there is an opportunity to gain a lot of knowledge about the the games making process and also get your foot in the door for a possible career in videogames.”
The East Coast Games Summit will include speakers representing a number of leading companies, organizations and educational institutions from within the game industry, including: Acclaim Entertainment, Electronic Arts, Bioware, Nexon, Red Storm Entertainment, Viximo, Zeitgeist Games, Obsidian Entertainment, International Game Developers Association (IGDA), Entertainment Software Association (ESA), Entertainment Consumer Association (ECA), Full Sail, ITT Tech, The Art Institutes, SMU Guild Hall, Devry University, Savannah College of Art and Design and the Vancouver Film School.
“The East Coast Games Summit provides hands-on experience on important topics in the games industry,” said David Perry, CCO of Acclaim Entertainment. “Whether you are managing developers, designing video games or looking for career opportunities, this summit provides something for everyone.”
To kick off the inaugural year of the East Coast Games Summit, all conference tracks are offered at no expense to registered VGXPO attendees. In addition, all game industry trade members whom wish to participate in VGXPO and the East Coast Games Summit are encouraged to submit their credentials prior to Oct .10 for a free Industry Insider pass to VGXPO.
“We are thrilled to host the East Coast Games Summit,” said Jennifer Johnson-Halpin, VGXPO Show Director. “The summit is going to be a great experience for VGXPO attendees and our colleagues in the industry. We look forward to providing east coast videogame insiders with a new venue to exchange ideas and network with peers.”
The organizers of the East Coast Games Summit are committed to building the summit into a premiere industry event for game developers, management and others involved in the games industry. For more information, or to participate as a presenter or sponsor at the event, please contact Jennifer Johnson-Halpin at jennifer.halpin@nbcuni.com or visit the VGXPO website at www.videogame.net.
ZeniMax Online Studios Recruiting at Austin GDC
Filed under: News | Tags: Conference, Game Jobs, Game Publishers
Comments (1) ZeniMax Online Studios Recruiting at
Austin Game Developer Conference
September 11, 2008 (Hunt Valley, MD) – ZeniMax® Online Studios, a ZeniMax Media company, announced today that it will be recruiting talented game professionals at the upcoming Austin Game Developer Conference. The show will run September 15-18 at the Austin, TX convention center.
“If you are an industry professional who wants to help create the quintessential MMOG, then we want to talk with you,” said ZeniMax Online president, Matt Firor. ZeniMax Online will be meeting with potential employees with experience in game development – Art, Programming, Design, Server Technology, Customer Support, QA and Marketing.
ZeniMax Online, located in beautiful Hunt Valley, Maryland, is the sister company of Bethesda Softworks® – the developer and publisher of megahits such as The Elder Scrolls® series and the highly anticipated Fallout® 3, which is launching worldwide this Fall.
The ZeniMax Online team will be in booth 100 on the conference show floor. People interested in joining this world class online game development studio are invited to stop by to discuss employment opportunities.
“We’re hard at work creating the next big MMOG – one that will challenge the current market leaders – and are looking for talented developers to add to the team,” added Firor. “Austin is known in the online gaming industry as a hub of talent – the perfect place for us to find experienced professionals.”
For those who can’t make it to Austin GDC, but are still interested in positions on the team, please go to www.zenimaxonline.com for a complete listing of employment opportunities.
ZeniMax Online is headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, a major east coast hub of game development just north of Baltimore that includes Firaxis, Big Huge Games, Breakaway, LTD, and Day 1 Studios. Also located in the Washington-Baltimore technology corridor are Bethesda Softworks and Mythic Entertainment.
For more information, visit www.zenimaxonline.com.
Intel Extreme Masters Global Challenge to Be Held at the E For All Expo
World’s top eSports teams in Counter-Strike and World of Warcraft will compete for prize money and spot at the Intel Extreme Masters Global Finals at CeBIT 2009
The Intel Extreme Masters, the global league of eSports champions, will be held at the E for All in Los Angeles October 3-5, 2008. The world’s top eSports teams in Counter-Strike 1.6 and World of Warcraft will compete for 80,000 USD prize money at the Global Challenge Los Angeles. The overall prize money of the Intel Extreme Masters season III is 750,000 USD, which is an all-time record for a global online league.
The Intel Extreme Masters, now in its third season, features nine live tournaments that are held at prominent technology and video game conventions throughout the globe, and are tied together by three continental eSports leagues. The leagues are held in Asia, Europe and the United States to find the best World of Warcraft and Counter-Strike teams on each continent. These teams will compete at the Continental Finals for their spot at the Intel Extreme Masters Global Finals at CeBIT 2009.
The games at the Intel Extreme Masters are played on Dell Alienware Area-51 systems based on Intel Core(tm)2 Extreme Processors. All events will feature free gaming areas where attendees can play gaming blockbusters on the latest Intel Processors: The Intel Core 2 Extreme in Notebooks or Desktops. Intel and Dell Alienware sponsor the global league of eSports champions. In addition to the title sponsorship of the Intel Extreme Masters, Intel supports the Intel Friday Night Games and the ESL European Nations Championship across Europe.
The IPTV station ESL TV and its global partners broadcast the matches of the Intel Extreme Masters III live. The IPTV Stream is available at: http://tv.esl.eu.
Lively by Google’s Mel Guymon to keynote Worlds in Motion Summit at 2008 Austin Game Developer’s Conference
SAN FRANCISCO – August 15, 2008 – Think Services, organizers of the Game Developers Conference (GDC) have announced that Mel Guymon, Product Manager for Lively by Google, will be presenting the opening keynote to the Worlds in Motion Summit (WiMS), taking place at the Austin GDC from September 16-September 17 at the Austin Convention Center. 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. Guymon will also offer a historical perspective on how Lively evolved from inception to launch.
As a co-founder of the IMVU, the 3D avatar-driven instant messenger and chat experience, and as an early director of online 3D world There.com, Guymon is an authority on virtual world development. Guymon earned a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering and has served as both a submarine officer in the US Navy and a contributing editor for Game Developer Magazine. His multitude of experience lends a unique voice to the lineup of speakers for Worlds in Motion Summit, which also includes Stephen Andrade, NBC.com’s Digital Entertainment General Manager, who alongside Bunchball founder and CEO, Rajat Paharia, are providing a talk on “The Office”’s Dunder Mifflin Infinity creative social networking project. Other topics being addressed at the Worlds in Motion Summit include the future of the Metaverse, in-world advertising, and kids in virtual worlds with participants from Electric Sheep, Samsung Electronics, NGI, Rebel Monkey, and Intel presenting a roadmap and expertise on efforts within this space.
The Worlds in Motion Summit is a two day event taking place at the Austin GDC on September 16-17 at the Austin Convention Center. The emphasis of the summit is the careful integration of content and brands into interactive worlds by companies both large and small. The summit marks the intersection of games, business, and entertainment, and seeks to mark the path towards the future.
For more information on the Worlds in Motion Summit at Austin GDC including a list of confirmed speakers and sessions, please see the official website http://www.austingdc.net/wim/index.htm.
Mobile Games in the spotlight at the GC Developers Conference in Leipzig on August 18 and 19
The CEO’s of leading European development studios such as Ideaworks3D(UK), Digital Legends (SP), Fishlabs(GE) and Handy Games (DE), leading analysts such as David Macqueen (Strategy Analytics) and Allistair Hill (m:metrics) and top executives from Nokia and Sony Ericsson will be seen and heard in Leipzig during 8 different panels (see the program at www.gcdc.eu).
The subjects all relate to the extremely dynamic and fast growing market of mobile games, an installed base of more than 2 billion game enabled handsets worldwide: cross-platform gaming, multi-platform publishing, recently released reports on mobile games, new distribution models, new publishing strategies such as NGage and the Iphone and much more.
“We are extremely pleased with the quality of this years’ conference program for mobile games. Attending these sessions will prove to be very valuable for all those involved in games in general, and especially in mobile games” commented Frank Schliwka, Director of the conference.
“We are very excited to be sponsoring the mobile track at the GC Developers Conference this year” said Kay Gruenwoldt, North American Marketing Manager, First Party Games, Nokia. “GCDC has always offered great opportunities for us and is a key date in the games calendar. For Nokia, it is an ideal time to discuss the latest issues affecting the mobile games industry such as distribution, quality and innovation.”
Maarten Noyons, Founder of the International Mobile Gaming Awards (www.imgawards.com) and moderator of 4 of the panels added: “It is going to be a very rich and informative conference covering all the stages of the process, from development to publishing and marketing strategies. If you are in mobile games, you can’t afford to miss it.”
Southern Methodist University and The Center for American and International Law To Hold International Summit on the Law and Business of Video Games
DALLAS, TX – August 12, 2008 – The Guildhall at SMU, the SMU Dedman School of Law and The Center for American and International Law have announced plans to hold Game::Business::Law, an international summit on the law and business of video games January 14-15, 2009.
Video game legend and future astronaut Richard Garriott of NC Soft and Dr. Peter Raad of The Guildhall at SMU will serve as co-chairs of the event.
“Cutting-edge effects and great storytelling aren’t enough,” says Dr. Peter Raad, executive director of The Guildhall at SMU. “Successful studios and developers know that gaming is a business … very big business. The legal issues are enormous for this industry and we are delighted to host this global event.”
The summit will bring together global game industry leaders, investors, developers, publishers, and lawyers for two days to explore the latest trends in the games industry. Game::Business::Law will provide practical approaches for achieving success in the evolving marketplace of digital games.
“Digital gaming is one of the world’s fastest growth industries, creating new investment opportunities, social paradigms, business models, and a host of legal issues,” says Xuan-Thao Nguyen, professor of law at SMU Dedman School of Law.
“Games take the law and finance where it has never been,” agrees David McCombs, a partner at Haynes and Boone. “It’s not just hardware and software. Gaming businesses need to juggle the demands of user-generated content, free speech, online ownership, and new business opportunities.”
The global gaming industry will jump from $41.9 billion in 2007 to $68.3 billion in 2012. The annual growth rate of 10 percent would best all other media sectors except for online advertising and access, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2008-2012.
Last year, overall U.S. industry sales (which include not only software, but also accessories and hardware) were $18 billion, a new record, according to the NPD Group. NPD analyst Anita Frazier said this month that the U.S. is on track for sales in the $21-$23 billion range in 2008.
Industry Advisory Council members for the event include Dr. Amit Basu, Cox School of Business; Steve Nix, Id Software; Joseph Olin, Academy of Interactive Arts and Science; Patrick Pugh, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and David Riley, NPD Group.
More about Game:: Business::Law can be seen on the summit website at www.game-business-law.com.
AnimfxNZ conference details
First Speakers For Digital Entertainment, Digital Effects, Animation and Games Conference Announced
LOS ANGELES, Calif. and WELLINGTON, New Zealand – August 11, 2008 – AnimfxNZ, the world’s leading conference for digital animation, effects, animation and games today announced the theme for this year’s conference. “Where Creative Convergence Begins,” represents the conference’s goal of bringing together leaders from the four major creative digital mediums to share ideas and further the creation of digital entertainment. AnimfxNZ will take place November 14-16th, in Wellington New Zealand and present a line-up of keynotes and panels that feature the brightest minds in digital media today.
“The goals of AnimfxNZ are to further the exchange of creative ideas and to provide a platform for digital entertainment‘s greatest minds to share their views on the state and future of the industry as well as the technologies influencing the craft,” said Jos Ruffell, Chairman of the New Zealand Games, Animation and Visual Effects Trust (NZGAV), the organizing body behind AnimfxNZ. “AnimfxNZ will present a program that is relevant and inspiring to digital content creators from each of the four major disciplines as they look for new ways to create digital content that pushes the boundaries of what is possible and immerse an ever demanding audience, worldwide.”
“We’re extraordinarily pleased to come back as one of the partners of AnimfxNZ,” said Eric Roth, Executive Director of the Visual Effects Society (VES). “With AnimfxNZ, New Zealand is once again showing how it’s leading the way in all things digital. Expanding beyond film and animation into the fields of games and all forms of digital entertainment means that all forward thinking companies will want to see and hear what AnimfxNZ has to offer.” Roth added.
The first announced speakers for AnimfxNZ 2008 include Barrie Osborne, Carolyn Soper, Howard Postley, Jeff Okun and Habib Zargarpour.
About The Speakers
Barrie M. Osborne is currently overseeing post production of The Laundry Warrior, and recently produced The Water Horse, and The Lord of the Rings: Return Of The King. He has won awards including the 2004 Academy Award and the British Academy of Film and Television Award for Best Picture. In addition to his work on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Mr. Osborne Executive Produced the worldwide box office blockbuster and groundbreaking special effects award winner The Matrix.
Carolyn Soper is vice president of production for Walt Disney Animation Studios, and is responsible for overseeing the production of Disney’s films, shorts and special projects. Her credits include Bolt, Meet the Robinsons, Chicken Little, Rapunzel, Glago’s Guest and Dinosaur.
Howard J. Postley, COO of 3ality Digital, is a serial entrepreneur and a member of the iMagic founding team. He is an experienced executive focused on building businesses who brings strong leadership and demonstrated skills in business management, technology management and product development with an emphasis on strategic business and technology planning. 3ality Digital, the only full service studio dedicated to high-quality live-action 3D production, has brought together top people in 3D and digital production to create a unique environment that is purpose built for uncompromising quality, from acquisition through exhibition. Postley has won many awards, and has an Emmy for technical excellence.
Jeff Okun is supervising the visual effects work on The Day The Earth Stood Still where he is creating invisible visual effects for the film. Okun is known for creating ‘organic’ and invisible effects, as well as spectacular ‘tent-pole’ visual effects that blend seamlessly into the storytelling aspect of the project. His credits include Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai, Stargate, Sphere, Red Planet, Deep Blue Sea, Die Hard 2: Die Harder and The Last Starfighter. Okin also serves as the Chair of the Visual Effects Society Awards Committee.
Habib Zargarpour currently serves as a visual effects supervisor and senior art director at EALA collaborating on a new next-gen game project with Doug Church and Steven Spielberg. Zargarpour is responsible for the visual aspects of the project including production design and the overall look. With over 12 years of experience in the visual effects industry working on both games and film, Zargarpour has been nominated for two Academy Awards in visual effects, for his work on Twister and The Perfect Storm while at ILM. His other projects include the pod race sequence in Star Wars Episode I, Star Trek First Contact, Spawn, and Signs.
About the VES
VES is a professional, honorary society, dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences, and applications of visual effects and to upholding the highest uniform standards and procedures for the visual effects profession.
VES is the entertainment industry’s only official organization representing the extended community of visual effects practitioners including supervisors, artists, producers, technology developers, educators and studio executives. Its 1,800 global members contribute to all areas of entertainment from film, television and commercials to music videos, games and new media. VES strives to enrich and educate its members and the entertainment community at large through many domestic and international events, screenings and programs. Visual effects professionals constitute a vital creative force in content creation and are literally shaping the future of entertainment
About AnimfxNZ
AnimfxNZ was founded in 2006, to provide a global platform for the creative content community to exchange ideas across the various disciplines of digital media. Since its inception, the conference has presented leading speakers on the topics of animation, digital entertainment, digital effects and games, and has served as the crossroads of collaboration for creative media convergence. The 2008 conference is organized under the theme, “Where Creative Convergence Begins,” and is focused on the current and future states of creative digital content creation, worldwide.
MTBS, Epic Games, and THQ Inc. Talk 3D Gaming at SIGGRAPH 2008
Los Angeles, California – August 5th, 2008 – During two separate stereoscopic 3D (S-3D) events being held at SIGGRAPH in the LA Convention Center next week, Neil Schneider, President & CEO of Meant to be Seen, will be co-presenting alongside Mark Rein, VP and Co-Founder of Epic Games, and Danny Bilson, VP of Creative Development for THQ Inc. Visit MTBS in the iZ3D Booth #158 during SIGGRAPH.
Similar to the experience movie goers get in 3D theaters, consumer gamers use S-3D technology at home for superior game immersion, visual beauty and game enjoyment. In video games, stereoscopic 3D hardware makes explosions fly out of the screen and adds a depth that makes the screen look like a window rather than a flat projection. Sample hardware includes iZ3D 3D monitors, TDVision head mounted displays, and a growing selection of 3D HDTVs by Samsung, Mitsubishi, and SpectronIQ.
Stereoscopic 3D displays are quickly becoming the equipment of choice for avid gamers, and the technology has already demonstrated as much as 3:1 revenue benefits over 2D theaters in the Hollywood cinema space.
The first presentation is taking place August 11th at 3:45PM PT in Petree Hall C. Neil Schneider will be giving a crash course on modern stereoscopic 3D gaming, and will be joined by Mark Rein for a special demonstration of Epic Games’ Unreal Tournament 3 in stereoscopic 3D using a mix of iZ3D and Real D hardware and software.
Meant to be Seen is the foremost authority group on consumer stereoscopic 3D technology. It has quickly become the largest S-3D community in existence by working jointly with its members and partners to grow the stereoscopic 3D gaming industry through advocacy and business relationships. Their site features industry interviews, S-3D game reviews, active forums, game certification and a member driven massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) called MTBS Nations at War.
“It is a fantastic experience when you see games like ours running with proper stereoscopic equipment,” said Mark Rein, VP and Co-Founder of Epic Games.
Epic Games is a leading game and game engine developer. Their Unreal Tournament 3 and Gears of War titles are critically acclaimed, and their Unreal Engine 3 is renowned in the game development industry.
“Unreal Tournament 3 is a visual success in stereoscopic 3D and I’m excited to see how the audience will respond when they see it on the big screen. We will be using the popular iZ3D S-3D drivers along with Real D technology to make this work. Real D is the same technology used in modern movie theaters for successful films like Beowulf 3D, Hannah Montana 3D, and Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D. Special thanks go to Rob Engle of Sony Imageworks, SIGGRAPH, TDVision Corp., iZ3D, and NVIDIA and Real D for supplying the specialized equipment needed to make this possible,” Schneider said.
The second presentation will be more hands-on and takes place as part of “The (Gorilla) Studio” venue located in Hall H. Neil Schneider will give a tour of modern S-3D equipment through example, Danny Bilson, VP of Creative Development for THQ will share his opinion on the technology, and audience members will be able to try some popular THQ games on a selection of PC focused 3D displays including the iZ3D 22” 3D monitor and the TDVision Head Mounted Display.
THQ is a leading game developer whose popular titles include the Company of Heroes series, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, and Frontlines: Fuel of War.
“THQ Inc. is synonymous with the words “gaming success”. Our members are huge fans of their work, and we are honored that Danny Bilson will be co-presenting with us,” Schneider said.
All interested stereoscopic 3D consumers (e.g. gamers, 3D movie goers), game developers, and gaming media are encouraged to learn more about MTBS and what stereoscopic 3D has to offer by visiting http://www.mtbs3d.com.
