GDC 2012 details Game IT Summit talks featuring McGonigal, Bogost, more
Game Developers Conference 2012 organizers have debuted a series of notable sessions within the first-ever Game IT Summit, featuring talks from prominent game developers and researchers such as Jane McGonigal (pictured), Ian Bogost, and much more.
This new Summit, scheduled for Monday, March 5, will examine how video games can help accomplish organizational roles through enterprise-focused game development.
Across its numerous sessions, the Game IT Summit will cover new ways to boost productivity, increase user engagement, and encourage group interaction through games.
As Summit advisor Ian Bogost puts it, this Summit isn't about "gamification," but about something far greater.
"Rather than think of Game IT as a less odious nickname for 'gamification,' think of it instead as a more deliberate and long-term commitment to the process of making and using games in the service of different industries."
"This isn't about the next hype cycle or trend, but about figuring out how to make use of games as infrastructure in the context of organizations," he said.
Those interested in checking out the Game IT Summit can do so by registering for an All Access or Summits & Tutorials pass on the official GDC website passes page.
The following are some of the notable sessions to be held within this new Summit:
- The Game IT Summit will open with a series of mini-talks focusing on how games can solve problems by encouraging group interaction. The session, "Game Structured Hiveminds: Organizing People & Solving Problems with Fun," will cover a handful of new game-based projects that use crowdsourcing and collaboration to help researchers decode the human genome, coordinate civic logistics, and develop artificial intelligence. Speakers include Digitalmill's Ben Sawyer (Virtual U), McGill University's Jerome Waldispuhl, Entertainment Technology Center's Evan Brown, and Citizen Logistics' Joe Edelman.
- Elsewhere, a panel of speakers will present their responses to a challenge posed at GDC 2011 -- to create games that help players stay healthy or fight physical and mental illness. In "Health IT! Enterprising Approaches to Combining Health and Games," speakers such as Social Chocolate's Jane McGonigal, ShapeUp's Rajiv Kumar, and GreenGoose's Brian Krejcarek will showcase games and technologies that promote mental, physical and social resilience, boost physical well-being, and much more.