 What's Next Panel |
| This panel of industry experts engage in a detailed discussion on the key issues affecting the industry, including: the technical and artistic hurdles of next-generation game creation, the convergence of film and game, the system-wide changes in the efficient production of bigger games, the broadening of the game-playing market, and more. |
| What's Next in Design |
| What's Next in Game Design"" - Game Design Keynote In his game design keynote address, Wright will discuss next generation game design and development. DOWNLOADABLE MP4 @ 320x240 resolution - Licensed for single user to one PC and one portable device. Biography Will Wright has become one of the most successful designers of interactive entertainment in the world. Credited with establishing ôSimulation Realityö as a new genre in a gaming world previously focused on action and sports, Will is the creative force behind the award-winning game franchises SimCity and The Sims. The total sales for these two properties exceed 70M games sold, life to date. Recently named one of the top 25 ôMost Influential People in Video Gamesö by the Wall Street Journal and named to Fast CompanyÆs ôFast 50ö list, WillÆs honors and accolades include making Entertainment WeeklyÆs ôIt Listö of ôthe 100 most creative people in entertainmentö and Time DigitalÆs ôDigital 50ö in 1999, receiving a ôLifetime Achievement Awardö at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2001, being named #35 on Entertainment WeeklyÆs Power List in 2002, becoming the fifth person to be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and SciencesÆ Hall of Fame that same year, and receiving the PC Magazine Lifetime Achievement. Will is currently devoted to the creation of SporeÖ, which took home the Electronic Entertainment ExpoÆs most coveted prize, the Game Critics Award for Best of Show when the game debuted at E3 2005. Spore was also named Best Original Game, Best PC Game, and Best Simulation Game. |
| Disrupting Development |
| Nintendo President Satoru Iwata will reveal the backstory of how a string of recent disruptive products from Nintendoùthe Nintendo DS, the 'brain-training' games, and Nintendo WiFi Connectionùsurprised the market. He will share his thoughts on the role NintendoÆs video game systems will play in expanding the market and widening the possibilities for developers. |
| Platform Keynote: PlayStation 3: Beyond the Box |
| Platform Keynote: PlayStation 3: Beyond the Box, 2788 Vision, Lecture Phil Harrison Executive Vice President, Sony Computer Entertainment Focusing on the new creative, technical, and business opportunities provided by the arrival of PlayStation 3, the keynote will share Sony Computer Entertainment's innovative plans for the format and will provide a look at how new technology and new business models will help fuel the growth of the computer entertainment industry by attracting new consumers. SCE is recognized as the global leader of the video game business with over 200 million hardware units and billions of software units sold across the three PlayStation formats. The recent global success of PlayStation Portable has shown the companyÆs commitment to continued innovationùdeveloping the market beyond the traditional definitions of the game consumer. This keynote will look at the tremendous opportunities presented to game developers worldwide as the industry goes ôbeyond the box.ö Takeaway to follow. Prerequisites to follow. |
| GDC Mobile 2006 Wrap-Up |
| GDC Mobile 2006 Wrap-Up, 2525 Game Design, Lecture Robert Tercek Founding Chairman of GDC Mobile, & Co-Founder of MultiMedia Networks LLC In the last five years, mobile gaming has emerged as the fastest growing sector of the videogame industry, becoming a multi-million dollar business today. Nearly two billion mobile phones are in use today worldwide and at least 700 million of these phones are capable of downloading a mobile game. With more than 800 million units sold every year, there is no question that the mobile gaming market represents the biggest opportunity for growth in the entire industry. This session provides attendees a summary of key findings and emerging trends presented at GDC Mobile Summit. |
| OpenGL ES 2.0: Shaders Go Mobile |
| OpenGL ES 2.0: Shaders Go Mobile, 1936 GDC Mobile: 3D, Lecture Dan Ginsburg Staff Engineer, ATI Research OpenGL ES 2.0 represents a major milestone in the convergence of graphics capabilities between desktop and handheld gaming devices. The OpenGL ES 2.0 specification introduces the majority of the functionality used by todayÆs desktop games into the embedded space. The latest version of OpenGL ES will have a major impact on mobile game developers. In keeping with the design goal of removing any redundancy from the API, the Khronos group has completely removed fixed-function vertex/pixel processing. While this change ushers in the shader era to mobile gaming, it also means that mobile game developers will need to make significant changes to their applications. The goal of this presentation is to review in detail what has changed in OpenGL ES 2.0 and what the changes mean for mobile game development. The discussion begins by briefly reviewing the history and design goals that drove the OpenGL ES specification. The changes to the OpenGL ES API for version 2.0 are then discussed from three different directions: what has changed in GLSL, what is new relative to OpenGL ES 1.1, and what has changed from OpenGL 2.0 on the desktop. The shader era is about to make its way onto the mobile gaming scene and OpenGL ES 2.0 is set to become the API of choice. The introduction of shaders means that there are numerous new design considerations for mobile game developers and ideally they need to start thinking about that now. |
| Khronos: Creating the Embedded Media Processing Ecosystem |
| Khronos: Creating the Embedded Media Processing Ecosystem, 1937 GDC Mobile: 3D, Lecture Neil Trevett Vice President Embedded Content, NVIDIA This presentation provides insights into Khronos' rapidly forming ecosystem of open standards for embedded graphics and media processing, including: key market drivers, the role of the Khronos Group, and an overview of how 3D and media processors are beginning to ship into the mobile market place. The presentation also covers the key features and roadmap of the main Khronos standards: the OpenGL ES 3D API including the newly announced OpenGL ES 2.0; the new OpenVG standard for accelerated high-quality 2D vector graphics; OpenSL ES for foundation-level audio processing; OpenMAX for video and image processing; and COLLADA for streamlined 3D content authoring. This session provides attendees an understanding of the importance of open standards to grow the market for embedded graphics and media, the role that the Khronos group is playing to create those standards, high-level uses and features of the main Khronos standards, and how they may get involved in using and developing those standards. |
| Mobile 3D Development and COLLADA |
| Mobile 3D Development and COLLADA, 1938 GDC Mobile: 3D, Lecture Stephen Wilkinson CSSD Graphics Software Technical Lead, Texas Instruments Learn what impact the upcoming technology of hardware accelerated 3D graphics mobile devices means for your toolchain. This session describes what upcoming devices may be able to do, and the standards such as OpenGL ES and JSR-184 used to develop for them. It examines COLLADA, the Khronos standard 3D asset interchange format that is also used for PSP/PS3 development. It also shows how using COLLADA can be better than writing your own tools from scratch for delivering scalable 3D content across many devices as well as supporting all well-known DCC tools. The presentation is a proof-of-concept toolchain developed at Nokia Research Center that uses COLLADA for processing mesh and scene data and translating them into M3G files used by the JSR-184 standard for mobile 3D graphics. Mobile devices are changing rapidly û soon there will be a variety of devices with hardware accelerated 3D graphics. This session identifies how mobile game developers can look ahead at how they may need to modify their game development and it introduces them to using COLLADA in a mobile 3D toolchain with examples including OpenGL ES and JSR-184. |
| The Mobile 3D Programmers Cookbook |
| The Mobile 3D Programmers Cookbook, 1939 GDC Mobile: 3D, Lecture Henrik Enqvist Technical Lead, Digital Chocolate / Sumea The introduction of 3D graphics for mass market mobile phones has brought mobile gaming a small step towards to what was has been possible in PC and consoles for more than a decade. But developing for mobile phones presents some unique challenges that you have to deal with in order to be successful. This lecture presents the status of current hardware and APIs for 3D capable phones and gives away a set of recipes on how to program 3D games for mass market mobile phones. The lecture discusses the most common pitfalls to avoid in J2ME 3D programming. It also explains how to handle portability, scaling and optimization for a variety of performance characteristics. Real world examples are used to illustrate how the ideas work in practice. The audience get an insight into how to develop 3D games for mobile phones. They are given a bag of tricks on how to overcome the most common pitfalls and how mobile 3D differs from developing 3D titles for other platforms such as PC, consoles and handhelds (such as PSP). |
| Deal Points and Pitfalls in Mobile Game Development Contracts |
| Deal Points and Pitfalls in Mobile Game Development Contracts, 1940 GDC Mobile: Deals and Distribution, Lecture Steven Masur Managing Partner, MasurLaw Everyone is looking for the next big thing in mobile content. Analysts think it is games. As the thinking goes, mobile games can be made cheaply, include big brand names ranging from Nike and BMW to 50 Cent and Al Pacino. They can be compelling to people of all ages waiting on subway platforms, in school buses, dentist offices and box office lines, or just hanging out in the park. Perhaps the analysts are right. This lecture explores: 1) the legal pitfalls in mobile game development agreements; 2) licensing rights to use celebrity names and likenesses, music, or other pre-existing elements to make games appealing to buyers; 3) licensing underlying technologies owned by outside parties; 4) rights issues associated with selling product placements within games; 5) clearing all these rights for international distribution, and covering yourself from being ripped off in foreign markets; and 6) white label deals and international re-licensing using assets that appeal in different cultures. Attendees learn how to avoid the legal pitfalls in mobile content publishing and distribution, maximize revenue potential, and foster lucrative relationships through contract best practices. |
| What Mobile Publishers Are Looking For In Developers |
| What Mobile Publishers Are Looking For In Developers, 1941 GDC Mobile: Deals and Distribution, Panel Ben Jones SVP, North America Sales, JAMDAT Mobile Dan O'Connell Offner Founder, Offner & Anderson Jamie Ottilie Chief Operating Officer, Abandon Mobile Stuart Platt Director, Studio & Deployment for Mobile, Capcom Entertainment This goal of this panel is to present from the publisher perspective and from the developer perspective what mobile publishers are looking for in their developer partners. What do publishers look for with respect to technology, staffing, experience, and deals with developers? Most importantly, from the publisher's or buyer's perspecitve what should developers be looking to do to secure more mobile development work and better deals. The attendee hopefully get inside the mind of the buyer of attendee's services and what that buyer wants. The attendee comes away not only a better idea of what the publisher is looking for, but what the developer needs to do to close better development deals with top tier publishers. |
| Licensing Without Tears: 10 Steps to Success in Content and Brand Licensing |
| Licensing Without Tears: 10 Steps to Success in Content and Brand Licensing, 1942 GDC Mobile: Deals and Distribution, Lecture Vincent Scheurer Founder, Sarassin LLP Brand and content licensing plays a crucial role in the mobile games industry. From games based on major movies, through to sports simulation games and extensions of console games, brand and content licensing deals underpin many of the most commercially successful mobile games of our age. This talk identifies the 10 most important deal points in brand or content licensing deals, including the licensorÆs approval rights over the game; the practical assistance required from the licensor during game production; and how to value the licence in the first place. Using real-world examples taken from the videogames industry, the lecture and associated white paper examine how these 10 points should be negotiated to promote a long term successful relationship with a licensor, and how they can cause the failure of a games project when ignored. It also addresses how the licensing relationship has to be managed constantly, long after the original negotiation has been forgotten. Attendees learn the 10 most important deal points in brand and content licensing agreements, how to negotiate these points and how to manage a licensing relationship. Attendees are also introduced to a series of real world examples, taken from the games industry, of how these licensing deals can fail if they are not properly negotiated or managed. |
| Creating Original Character-Based Brands and IP: A Postmortem on Johnny Crash |
| Creating Original Character-Based Brands and IP: A Postmortem on Johnny Crash, 1943 GDC Mobile: Game Design, Lecture Teemu Kivikangas Art Director, Freelance This presentation offers a critical exploration of the creation of the Johnny Crash franchise û JOHNNY CRASH and sequel JOHNNY CRASH STUNTMAN DOES TEXAS - from the initial idea through design and production to the final product. Special focus in this postmortem is on creation of original character-based game brands. It discusses the strategic value of developing own, original content-based intellectual property and explores the pros and cons of this approach when compared to licensing IP from other entertainment industries. Own unique character-based brands can create a solid foundation for a series of successful future titles with a loyal following of gamers. Process of designing and creating game brands is explored with emphasis on developing the JOHNNY CRASH game characters. The presentation provides an overview of the character as the core of the whole brand. The type of challenges that had to be overcome in developing the game, what went right, what went wrong and what kind of lessons were learned are discussed. Attendees leave this session with an understanding of strategic value of creating original, unique IP and importance of character-based brands. Audience also gain insights into the nature of mobile game brands and characters and process of their creation from initial idea to finished, polished product. |
| Cameras and Vision: Giving Your Games Sight |
| Cameras and Vision: Giving Your Games Sight, 1944 GDC Mobile: Game Design, Lecture Antonio Haro Research Engineer, Nokia Research This session offers an introduction to computer vision and how it can be used to treat a mobile device's video camera as a data source and game controller. It provides a crash course in computer vision as it applies to using mobile devices' video cameras in videogames. Topics include what computer vision is good for, its limitations, computational issues, tracking, gesture recognition, and challenges in the mobile domain. This session provides a crash course in computer vision as it applies to using mobile device's video cameras in video games. Topics include what computer vision is good for, its limitations, computational issues, tracking, gesture recognition, and challenges in the mobile domain. |
| The New Era of Mobile Gaming: Casual Multiplayer Games |
| The New Era of Mobile Gaming: Casual Multiplayer Games, 1945 GDC Mobile: Game Design, Lecture Andy Riedel , InfoSpace John Chasey Vice President of European Operations, InfoSpace Casual games continue to rise in popularity to become one of the most dominant genres in mobile games. Today, a growing number of titles are ports of card, web puzzle, and classic arcade games thanks to their wide appeal. Increasingly developers need to focus on what comprises truly made-for-mobile casual games. Case studies are presented to show the distinction of the casual and multiplayer gamer, understanding the demographics of the two distinct groups and the future of casual gaming. Developers learn best practices for creating mobile games that appeal to the casual gamer, while also understanding current and future trends on mobile game usage among various age groups and demographics. |
| Developing Games for Global Distribution |
| Developing Games for Global Distribution, 1946 GDC Mobile: Production, Lecture Kristian Segerstrale VP of production, EMEA, Glu Mobile Robert Nashak Chief Creative Officer, Glu Mobile Tier-one mobile game publishers are putting increasing pressure on their developers to create games that can be leveraged across global distribution channels. A global hit requires distribution on 100+ carriers worldwide, 320+ unique handsets, 2,400+ individual SKUs, 10+ languages, and multiple operating systems. While handset fragmentation has always been the key challenge for mobile game development, the stakes are raised exponentially for games intended for distribution in multiple territories around the world. Using real world examples of games distributed in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, this presentation outlines four key challenges faced by global game developers and offers concrete solutions for addressing those challenges. The four key challenges include: 1. Picking the right reference handsets to optimize the global porting process 2. Planning for SKUs, not ports 3. Accomodating global distribution practices 4. Deploying technology innovation in the global marketplace This session offers solutions to four key challenges that mobile game developers face when charged with creating a game for a global market. |
| Putting the Fun in Functional |
| Putting the Fun in Functional, 1947 GDC Mobile: Game Design, Lecture Amy Jo Kim Creative Director, Shufflebrain Scott Kim Game Designer, ShuffleBrain Mobile games are becoming a big business - but on the horizen, there's an even more exciting opportunity to develop compelling mobile services that help people get things done - services like restaurant reviews, weather reports, stock quotes, diet support, and meal planners. This session reviews the psychology and system thinking behind game design, and explore how to use game mechanics to create a mobile experience that's fun, compelling and addictive. It concludes by showcasing some cutting-edge mobile services from Europe and Asia that incorporate these ideas, and give us a glimpse into the future of mobile applications. Attendees learn about the expanding, exciting opportunities to develop mobile services, and find out how to apply game mechanics to mobile services. They also get an overview of cutting-edge mobile services from the world's most advanced mobile markets - Asia and Europe. |
| Success Factors of One Button Casual Mobile Games |
| Success Factors of One Button Casual Mobile Games, 1948 GDC Mobile: Planning Ahead, Lecture One button casual mobile gaming has been a unique market created in one of the most sophisticated mobile markets in the world, Korea. |
| The Outspoken Speak Out: Where is My $10 Billion Dollar Mobile Games Industry? |
| The Outspoken Speak Out: Where is My $10 Billion Dollar Mobile Games Industry?, 1949 GDC Mobile: Planning Ahead, Lecture John Szeder CEO, Mofactor Everyone is hunting for the runaway hit in mobile that will be the defining title for the medium. This presentation is an examination of the lessons of history, assumptions, marketplace conditions and other realities that have prevented an industry from emerging. By attending this presentation, people crafting product roadmaps for 2007 and 2008 should have better ideas what not to do. Attendees takeaway a fresh perspective on the mobile platform and the products they should be creating. The goal of this presentation is to inspire people to think differently about their product development and how they capture the hearts and minds of their consumers. |
| The BREW Bag of Tricks |
| The BREW Bag of Tricks, 1950 GDC Mobile: Programming, Lecture Guido Henkel CEO, G3 Studios QualcommÆs BREW has quickly become the dominant mobile platform in todayÆs wireless landscape. However, BREW is not perfect and through the various incarnations of BREW and the different SDK versions, a series of inconsistencies, problems and errors have surfaced which make developing for the platform challenging and often time-consuming. How do you deal with a platform where full functionality of the core APIs is not guaranteed? How do you create successful games on cell phones that show unpredictable behavior, and may or may not do what they are supposed to? How does a developer face this challenge to ensure that his titles are functional across a variety of phones, despite incomplete feature set implementations, misbehaving hardware and a lack of corrective support. This session takes a look at the problems that BREW developers face and offers concrete solutions on those issues, covering them with code examples, potential work-arounds and additional information. It gives participants a good overview over the current state of BREW, and the challenges it poses to developers hoping to cover as many handsets as possible. Attendees can take away proven techniques that have been put to use in various games for BREW cell phones which have been published worldwide. These techniques are illustrated by examples using actual code samples. The lecture also suggests how to find and avoid pitfalls in the future that may prevent code from functioning on upcoming BREW handsets. |
| Covering All Dimensions: Developing a Mobile Game Title in 2D and 3D |
| Covering All Dimensions: Developing a Mobile Game Title in 2D and 3D, 1951 GDC Mobile: Production, Lecture Jyri Ranki Producer, Digital Chocolate, Sumea Studio This lecture focuses on the unique challenges of developing both 2D and 3D versions of a mobile game title. It discusses these issues while going through several case studies of development projects within the last two years. The case studies include 2D and 3D titles, such as EXTREME AIR SNOWBOARDING, BEACH MINI GOLF, MINI GOLF: CASTLES, AND RACING FEVER GT. The structure of case studies take a postmortem like approach of what went right and what went wrong. As the lecture goes through the case studies in chronological order, the audience is able to see how the approach gets refined with each consecutive project. The latest cases highlight the major breakthroughs made at Digital Chocolate on how these kinds of projects should be organized. Attendees leave this session with an idea on the challenges of developing both a 2D and 3D versions for mobile game titles. They gain practical advice on how to approach such a project. They also understand why it is a good idea to develop both versions in the first place. |
| Creating Audio for Mobile Games |
| Creating Audio for Mobile Games, 1952 GDC Mobile: Audio, Lecture Peter Drescher Sound Designer, Danger, Inc. Developing audio content for mobile games presents sound designers and composers with a series of challenges: limited CPU, tight bandwidth, cross-platform incompatibilities and more. Fortunately, we've been there before and have developed techniques for creating interesting and entertaining soundtracks despite the resource constrained environment. Some of the same tricks of the trade that were useful in early PC games and dial-up Web sites can be used to good effect on mobile devices. This session discusses techniques for creating large amounts of sound and music using ridiculously small files, compression options, speaker size limitations and other mobile audio issues. The author demonstrates some original, interactive soundtracks for games on the T-Mobile Sidekick. Attendees learn how lengthy, interactive soundtracks can be created using extremely small files. Techniques for producing high quality sound effects on thumbnail sized speakers is discussed. The author also talks about the options available for mobile game audio today, what issues audio developers must face, and what to listen for in the future. |
| Mobile Musical Instruments: Bringing Music Creation to the Masses |
| Mobile Musical Instruments: Bringing Music Creation to the Masses, 1953 GDC Mobile: Audio, Lecture Jennifer Hruska President & Founder, Sonic Network, Inc. The technology now exists for utilizing wireless handsets as true musical instruments, and the opportunity for game designers, handset makers and wireless operators to cash in on a new lucrative market will soon be at hand. Music product sales in the U.S. alone hit a record breaking $7.3B in 2004, reflecting unprecedented consumer interest in playing an instrument. In fact, 54 percent of American households have at least one person who actively plays a musical instrument. As more consumers are turning to music for its many proven benefits, which include helping young children learn and develop, relieving stress in teenagers and adults, as well as staving off some effects of aging in senior citizens, the mobile devices are poised as a ready, willing and able platform to offer consumers music creation capabilities on the go, anywhere, anytime. Attendees learn how they can participate in the lucrative MI market and learn how wireless handsets provide an excellent opportunity to build user community through multi-user music generation and sharing experiences. They learn how MM SoC manufactures are adopting this technology into their next generation platforms to support more advanced audio for game and entertainment apps. |
| Beyond Polyphony: Maximizing Audio on Mobile Platforms |
| Beyond Polyphony: Maximizing Audio on Mobile Platforms, 1954 GDC Mobile: Audio, Lecture Brad Fuller Partner, Sonaural LLC Don Diekneite , Sonaural LLC What a difference a year makes in the fast-paced mobile game arena! Audio technology on mobile phones continues to improve at a pace faster than any game platform in history. Since last year's GDC, new audio developments have emerged û from a new Java multimedia spec (JSR-234) to several enhanced CMX versions to a new Interactive Audio SIG initiative. Handset manufacturers have followed with sophisticated hardware featuring new capabilities such as Layered Audio, 3D positional sound, and multisequencing, to name but a few. New technologies available on today's phones along with development and implementation issues are discussed. Solutions are presented for efficient audio implementation across a variety of handsets that not only result in superior game and brand-strengthening audio but also give developers the opportunity to leverage the market value of unique soundtracks in their games. Mobile game developers gain a better understanding of the latest audio technologies embedded in the new handsets and are provided solutions for efficient audio implementation in the complex mobile game landscape. |
| Look Ma, No Hands (Wires): The Beginning of Physical Retail Disruption? |
| Look Ma, No Hands (Wires): The Beginning of Physical Retail Disruption?, 1956 GDC Mobile: Planning Ahead, Lecture Mike Yuen Senior Director, Gaming Group, QUALCOMM Informa estimates there are more than 70 million wireless 3G global subscribers today (2005) growing to nearly 800 million by 2010. The much heralded broadband world of 3G has come of age providing high-speed wireless content distribution and delivery. AppleÆs iPod/iTunes business has already proven digital distribution is here to stay. And with several industries all dabbling with similar ideas, from Amazon Pages to MicrosoftÆs Xbox 360 Marketplace to EA Downloader and TBSÆ GameTap, acceleration of the digital distribution paradigm is clearly on the minds of several media companies from music to gaming to books. What does this specifically mean for gaming? Can it help address piracy in emerging markets like China and India? Is its impact truly disruptive that it can potentially alter the entrenched physical retail landscape? ôFree your mindö and come hear one vision of the future where wires are not required. This session offers a vision of the future of wireless gaming, and more broadly media content, and the potential impact wireless digital distribution will have in the years to come. |
| Porting 700 Versions of Splinter Cell Chaos Theory for Simultaneous Launch |
| Porting 700 Versions of Splinter Cell Chaos Theory for Simultaneous Launch, 1957 GDC Mobile: Production, Lecture Eric Albert Director, North American Operations, Gameloft Porting several versions of a mobile game is key to ensuring that each gamer, regardless of whether the handset is outdated or the latest and greatest, is able to have the best gaming experience possible on their mobile phone. Gameloft has had vast experience in this field with the launch of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory. For this title, Gameloft ported 700 versions of the game application to various handsets. All of the porting and testing was done in-house in order to ensure the quality of the game. It is important to port several versions of a game to as many handsets as possible in an effort to reach a wider audience of mobile phone users. 1)It is necessary to individually port each version of a game to ensure that the best quality game is offered to the gamer 2) Porting games in-house is a big advantage because it guarantees that the people behind the porting know the product inside and out 3) It takes a team of about 70 people to port 700 versions of one game |
| World Tour of Mobile Innovations 2006 |
| World Tour of Mobile Innovations 2006, 1961 GDC Mobile: Game Design, Lecture |
| Bringing Console Quality To Mobile |
| Bringing Console Quality To Mobile, 2275 GDC Mobile: Game Design, Lecture Tim Closs Head of Game Technology, Ideaworks3D Drawing from extensive experience of bringing high profile console an PC franchises, such as THE SIMSÖ 2, TONY HAWK's PRO SKATER«, NEED FOR SPEEDÖ UNDERGROUND 2, to mobile, this session explores what it means, and what it should not mean, to deliver a console quality 3D and connected mobile game. Questions of design scope, network features, art pipelines and programming challenges are all tackled in the context of concrete examples, taken from the development of several major published titles. The current addressable market for ôconsole qualityö titles is discussed, together with a snapshot of the current state-of-the-art, and an informed look towards the future of high-end 3D connected mobile games. Attendees takeaway an informed picture of the current development realities involved in making console quality 3D connected mobile games. The session is an inspiration to developers looking to create the next generation of high-end mobile games, and it highlights some danger areas and pitfalls to avoid. |
| Re-forging a Legend: Postmortem for King Kong the Official Mobile Game of the Movie |
| Re-forging a Legend: Postmortem for King Kong the Official Mobile Game of the Movie, 2276 GDC Mobile: Game Design, Lecture Eric Albert Director, North American Operations, Gameloft The mobile market is saturated with game adaptations of Hollywood films. A big challenge is defining what makes a movie to mobile game successful and worth playing. This session explores the game conceptualization and design process involved in the development of KING KONG THE OFFICIAL MOBILE GAME OF THE MOVIE. The session focuses on the must have factors for designing a game based on a film adapatation: design, engine, U.I., and quality control. Attendees takeaway lessons learned from the successful design, development and deployment of King Kong The Official Mobile Game of the Movie and how it can be applied to the development process of future film adaptations. |
| Mobile Operator Spotlight Panel |
| Mobile Operator Spotlight Panel, 2279 GDC Mobile: Deals and Distribution, Panel Jason Ford General Manager, Games & Entertainment, Sprint Nextel Ken Ruck General Manager of Downloadable Content and Product Development, Virgin Mobile Robin Chan Associate Director, Entertainment Programming, Verizon Wireless Seamus McAteer Chief Product Architect & Senior Analyst, M:Metrics Steve Glagow Orange Partner, Orange Tim Harrison Head of Games, Vodafone Group Andrew Stein Sr. Product Manager, Cingular Wireless This session brings together senior executives, from leading wireless networks from around the globe, to discuss the strategies for distributing, marketing, and merchandising mobile games. |
| Creating MMOGs for Mobile Phones |
| Creating MMOGs for Mobile Phones, 2335 GDC Mobile: Game Design, Lecture Elina Koivisto , Nokia Research Center Tommy Palm Head of R&D, Jadestone Group AB This session summarizes fiver years of experience of creating MMOG (Massively Multi-Player Online Games) for mobile phones and provides concrete examples from recently finished projects, such as SPIRITS, for Nokia's N-Gage platform, and SEA OF FORTUNE, for Java phones. Issues highlighted include: - Designing with the limitations in mind - Battling latency and other problems related to mobile networks - Handling match making and player interaction - Supporting player-to-player communication - Game user interface for one hand input device - Iterative design and testing - Operations and maintenance of service - What types of MMOGs can be expected for mobile phones The audience learns about the possibilities and pit falls of mobile MMOG development, how to create networked games for a high-latency environment, how to create mobile games in iterative manner and use playtesting methods in that process. |
| Big Brands, Small Screens |
| Big Brands, Small Screens, 2424 GDC Mobile: Deals and Distribution, Lecture Shalom Mann Vice President, Game Studio, Sony Pictures Digital From classic arcade titles like PAC-MAN to the always popular TETRIS, branded mobile games a" "From classic arcade titles like PAC-MAN to the always popular TETRIS, branded mobile games are starting to become more everpresent on the carriers' respective top ten lists. Even Hollywood properties like Wheel of Fortune, Spider-Man, and Batman Begins are starting to show that well-made titles matched with big brands equal a lot of revenue for everyone involved. This session seeks to highlight the main advantages and disadvantages of working with big brands for mobile games. |
| How to Put the Fun Element In Mobile Games |
| How to Put the Fun Element In Mobile Games, 2425 GDC Mobile: Game Design, Lecture Mark Stephen Pierce CEO, Super Happy Fun Fun, Inc. As mobile games become mainstream, the word-of-mouth on the fun factor of specific games will migrate towards its rightful place: consumer's minds. To succeed, mobile games will not only need to have a great license, but must also exploit the fun element. How is the fun factor discovered, measured, captured and expressed? Using examples from a number of current and upcoming mobile game titles, both original IP and licensed, such as NFL QUARTERBACK SHOWDOWN and ZUMA, this session discusses the advantages, challenges, and risks of implementing the fun elements into mobile games. Proven quick-play, casual game, design techniques learned from unique coin-op experience are also referenced. Attendees gain valuable insight on proven features, tricks and techniques that make for more compelling, accessible, and most importantly, fun mobile game titles. |
| Strategies for Maximizing Mobile Game Distribution |
| Strategies for Maximizing Mobile Game Distribution, 2695 GDC Mobile: Deals and Distribution, Lecture Paul Maglione President, Vivendi Universal Games Mobile Distribution is at the core of the mobile gaming industry; mobile network operators control up to 90% of distribution and are consolidating their games suppliers, making it increasingly difficult for developers and even publishers to get titles to market. What are the different strategies available for developers to get major carrier distribution, and what are the alternatives to it? In this session, the guest speaker covers a wide range of issues such as: • How to gain credibility with carriers • How to approach publishers with game titles • How to work with aggregators, distribution in emerging markets • Off-portal distribution • Leveraging direct marketing to consumers • Distribution via phone-embedded games and demos |
| Music & Mobile Games |
| Music & Mobile Games, 2723 GDC Mobile: Audio, Panel Paul Rehrig Rio D. Caraeff VP and general manager, Universal Music Mobile Robert Tercek Founding Chairman of GDC Mobile, & Co-Founder of MultiMedia Networks LLC Thomas V. Ryan SVP, Digital & Mobile Strategy and Dev., EMI Music This panel of industry experts explores the potential for games and music on mobile phones and the creative possibilities for combining the two. Topics discussed include: • Games as Soundtracks: Certainly music has emerged as a key component of console games. Plenty of singles and new acts are introduced via console game titles. What's needed to get the mobile platform to function in a similar way? What's missing in today's devices, business models, billing arrangements, etc. When might we expect to enjoy high quality music in mobile games? What's the timeline? • Games with Recording Artists as Heroes: Videogames about recording artists are starting to emerge as a new category in console games ûVivendi Universal Games' 50 CENT: BULLETPROOF title is a good example. Sony Pictures Mobile pioneered a new genre with SNOOP DOGG BOXING. What's the potential for developing a game franchise around a recording artist? Is this a short lived fad, or a long term trend? Are many artists interested in building game franchises? What type of recording artist is best suited to such a franchise? What are the brand attributes of a recording artist? • Musical Gameplay: DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION blazed a new trail in music based arcade games. This genre continues to evolve with air guitar and other forms. What about mobile? What's the potential for a game based on musical themes or rhythm? What's the potential for a game that remixes a music track, based on the input generated by your game play? Already, there is a splendid music game in NAME THAT TUNE on Verizon Wireless. Why hasn't this category been exploited more thoroughly? |
| What's Next for Japan: An Interview with Daishiro Okada by Dan Scherlis |
| What's Next for Japan: An Interview with Daishiro Okada by Dan Scherlis, 2764 GDC Mobile: Planning Ahead, Lecture Daishiro Okada President & COO, Square Enix, Inc. Dan Scherlis CEO, Etherplay In this session, Square Enix's president and COO, Daishiro Okada, sits down with Dan Scherlis to discuss Japan's mobile marketplace, his thoughts on the future outlook of mobile gaming in Asia, and where he thinks the industry is headed. Additionally, they address topics, such as: • Game design for RPGs • Differences between designing for consoles and designing for mobile phones • Trends, what's happening now, and what's coming up • What new mobile game titles are in the works for Square Enix • And more Attendees get a chance to pose questions for Mr. Okada following the interview. |
| Mobile DLS: Creating Customized Game Sounds with Downloadable Sound Technology |
| Mobile DLS: Creating Customized Game Sounds with Downloadable Sound Technology, 2766 GDC Mobile: Audio, Lecture Chris Dunn Director of Production, Moderati, Inc. Haruko Kurata Product Manager of Embedded Technologies, Moderati, Inc. The next generation mobile audio technology is here. The Mobile DLS (Downloadable Sound) and Mobile XMF (eXtensible Music Format) as developed and standardized by the MIDI ManufacturerÆs Association is available on mobile handsets in the market today. Not only is mobile DLS sounds compact and reusable, they are also highly customizable for every game developerÆs audio needs. This session covers the tools and techniques necessary to create a library of mobile game sounds. From recording studio to finished product, learn how to make a one second sample of carrots snapping sound like bones breaking in your mobile game audio. An understanding of mobile DLS technology and how to apply it to mobile game sounds. |
| Developer-Publisher Relationship Dynamics: From Creating to Distributing Mobile Content |
| Developer-Publisher Relationship Dynamics: From Creating to Distributing Mobile Content, 2789 GDC Mobile: Deals and Distribution, Lecture Ricci Rukavina VP, Creative/Product Development Mobile, Walt Disney Internet Group 2005 was great a year for mobile gaming and all signs point to an even better next couple of years as the industry continues to thrive. As todayÆs industry is built on strong relationships and quality products, it is vital for the developer-publisher relationship to flourish beyond the once standard paper deal. This session highlights the following key topics: • Forging a solid developer-publisher relationship • Structuring successful deals • Pros and cons of creating original vs. branded IP • Multi-platform development • Methodology û prototyping, development and design û content from concept to completion • Creating a buzz among consumers This session offers attendees insights on: • How to work with a publisher û its advantages and disadvantages • Developing compelling content by understanding the mobile marketplace • Setting expectations for everyone • Understanding the importance of marketing |
| The Future of Mobile Gaming and Its Enemies |
| The Future of Mobile Gaming and Its Enemies, 2794 GDC Mobile: Planning Ahead, 60-minute Keynote Mitch Lasky Senior Vice President, EA Mobile In his first public address since the JAMDAT and Electronic Arts merger, Mitch Lasky reveals to attendees the combined vision of the two companies, what the union means for the industry, and how it will impact the advancement of mobile game development and ultimately benefit customers around the world. Lasky will also offer his view of the future of the mobile gaming business, including trends in distribution, the viability of small publishers, consolidation, and the challenges of running a public pure-play mobile content company in todayÆs market environment. At the same time, he will survey the potential pitfalls on the horizon that could derail the industry before it has a chance to mature. Lasky will conclude by fielding questions from the audience. |