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GDC Next 10: Capy's Vella tells us about Super TIME Force and game jams

Capy Games president and co-founder Nathan Vella knows he's in charge of a creative powerhouse, and in his GDC Next 10 talk, "From Game Jam to Full Game -- Super TIME Force & Other Shining Examples" he'll be speaking about how regularly participating in weekend game jams is key to fueling said creativity.
In advance of GDC Next, taking place in Los Angeles next month, GDC Director of Online Community Patrick Miller asked the Toronto-based Vella about Capy's jamming habits, the process of nurturing a jam idea into a full-team project, and what to expect in his upcoming talk.

GDC Next's Expo Floor - 'handheld history', exhibitor details revealed

Game Developers Conference Next is just a few weeks away from happening in Los Angeles (November 5th-7th), kicking off the inaugural 'future of games' event.
And while you're putting together your session schedule in the Schedule Builder, don't forget to set some time aside to stop by the Expo Floor. Highlights include:

  • The exhibitors: Google, Sony, Microsoft, Samsung, Intel, Qualcomm, Pandora, Technical Illusions, and other major game and app industry players will be there, showing what's next for developers.
  • Vendor talks: GREE, Tencent, Intel, Google, and many others will be offering sponsored sessions at the GDC Next and ADC Expo Floor theater, all accessible to anyone with any GDC Next, ADC, or Expo Pass.
  • ADC Best in Apps: AppCircus and ADC have partnered to put on the Best in Apps contest, and a hand-selected group of finalists will be presenting their work on the Expo Floor.
  • Retro portable gadgets: Remember the Apple Newton? The Videogame History Museum will be presenting a special exhibit called the Museum of Portable Devices, showing the Newton, early Palm products, as well as presenting arcade machines and its classic '80s 'living room' setup
  • Get a job: Several major industry companies, including Sony, Insomniac, GREE, and Nexon, will be networking and recruiting for open positions.
  • Grab a snack: Recharge your body's batteries with a free smoothie from 10-11am and 2-3pm, afternoon coffee from 3:30-4:15pm, and Happy Hour from 5-6pm.

For more information on the GDC Next and ADC Expo Floor, including Intel's presentations, free OUYA giveaways, and more, check out the GDC Next Expo Floor page.

What's Next? How games-as-a-service is changing everything

[In advance of November's GDC Next, GDC's Director of Online Community Patrick Miller reached out to many games industry luminaries to see where they think the future of video games is headed. This interview is the latest installment of a multi-part series that will run up until shortly before the 'future of games' conference, which takes place in Los Angeles, CA from November 5-7, co-located with the App Developers Conference.]
As a general partner at Signia Venture Partners, Dan Fiden's job is to figure out the future of the games industry as best he can -- so, naturally, he was a perfect pick to talk about the future of games. Read on to find out why he thinks freemium and games-as-a-service models are only beginning to catalyze changes that will reverberate through the entire industry.

Raph Koster, Ouya's Uhrman, Magic's Skaff Elias to speak at GDC Next 2013

'Future of games' conference GDC Next has added more exciting talks to its inaugural lineup: Raph Koster on the expanding definition and audience of games, Ouya's Julie Uhrman on 'Why Now Is the Best Time Ever to Be a Game Developer,' and Three Donkeys's Skaff Elias (a key figure in the creation of Magic: The Gathering) on tweaking luck and skill in game design.
GDC Next is the spiritual successor to GDC Online, and will take place alongside the App Developers Conference on November 5th-7th, 2013 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
This new event aims to highlight the future of video game development, with session tracks organized around 'Next Generation Game Platforms', 'Free To Play & New Business Models', and 'Smartphone & Tablet Games', as well as cloud and indie game tracks.
For veteran designer Raph Koster (Ultima Online), the future of games is already here -- and they're far exceeding the medium's traditional boundaries and expectations. Amidst gamified restaurants, immersive narrative experiences, political statements, and more, there are conflicts between audience subcultures and within the development community. Players get mad when a title isn't what they expected. Developers grow angry as they watch the encroachment of business practices they dislike.
In a titled talk 'Playing with "Game",' Koster will offer a craft-centric approach to these fundamental game dev questions: What do we make, who do we make it for, and how can we best make what we want? He will present a framework for thinking about varied types of interactive experiences, and the four types of problems that make for compelling play, along with practical design checklists and techniques for different kinds of game experiences.

Final GDC Next 10 talks announced: SWERY's D4, Storyteller

'Future of games' conference GDC Next organizers have announced the last two talks included in the 'GDC Next 10' special session series of innovative, yet-to-debut games: Daniel Benmergui's comic-strip-like puzzler Storyteller, and Hidetaka "SWERY" Suehiro's Kinect-powered, episodic noir mystery D4.
As part of the November LA-based 'future of games' conference's cutting-edge content, representatives of each game will be invited to give a world-exclusive talk about the concept, inspiration, and design behind the title.
Each GDC Next 10 game has been picked by GDC organizers as a game to watch for the future; one that is doing something decidedly different in today''s increasingly crowded game market.
This week's first addition to the Next 10 is Hidetaka "SWERY" Suehiro's Xbox One Kinect-powered, episodic noir mystery D4 [trailer] from Access Games. Suehiro is best known for his work on Deadly Premonition, and Polygon's Griffin McElroy described his 20-minute demo as "the strangest 20 minutes of video game I've ever seen in my entire life."
Suehiro will share the challenges of designing for Xbox One's Kinect and of focusing on sensory experiences and empathy in his talk, 'D4: Dawn of the Dreaming Director's Drama.' He promises to share his unique approaches "as professionally as possible," while also presenting simple but often-overlooked approaches to game design.

Sponsored talks by Tencent, Google, GREE on GDC Next expo floor

Learning at GDC Next won't stop at the session tracks; Tencent, Google, GREE, and Samsung are just a few of the vendors offering instructional talks on the shared GDC Next/ADC Expo Floor Theater (booth #102), open to anyone with an Expo Pass as well as all GDC Next, ADC, and VIP All Access pass holders on November 5-6.
Confirmed sessions include:
Google's AdMob and Google Analytics teams will offer insights into tracking consumer analytics and your apps' performance in a talk called "Monetize, Measure, and Promote with AdMob and Google Analytics".
Tencent will explain some of the marketing design and technical requirements devs ought to be aware of when pitching apps to Chinese operators in "A Developer's Guide to Pitching Games for the Chinese Market".
Samsung will walk devs through their new developer program, explaining how to get your apps noticed on Samsung devices and get access to their special tools, in "Samsung + Developers".
Mobile app publishing platform Fuse Powered will demonstrate how to use their tools to analyze and iterate on a live free-to-play game in "Freemium Iteration Loop; Analyze, Test & Adapt in Real-Time to Maximize Revenue".
GREE will host a one-hour Q&A session with Jim Ying, VP of publishing and partnerships, where he will offer advice and feedback in a talk called "Publisher Speed Dating with GREE".
App marketers Fiksu will explain how to optimize your user acquisition spend by targeting the right metrics in "Launching a Mobile Game: Insights on Key User Acquisition Metrics".
Mobile VoIP provider Rebtel will discuss the importance of enabling app-to-app communication, using their app-to-app calling SDK as an example, in "Giving Your Game a Voice - Why App Communication Matters".

What's Next? Intel's Pallister on the future of processing power

[In advance of November's GDC Next, GDC's Director of Online Community Patrick Miller reached out to many games industry luminaries to see where they think the future of video games is headed. This interview is the latest installment of a multi-part series that will run up until shortly before the 'future of games' conference, which takes place in Los Angeles, CA from November 5-7, co-located with the App Developers Conference.]
As the director of content strategy for Intel's visual computing group, part of Kim Pallister's job is forecasting tech progress and emerging trends games and graphics -- in other words, predicting the future. Read on to find out where he thinks hardware will go in the next ten years (and where he thinks it isn't hardware that's holding us back).

Find out more about Square Enix's Collective publishing platform at GDC Next!

Today, Square Enix announced Collective, a new curated game pitching-and-publishing platform developed in partnership with IndieGoGo that enables independent game devs to connect with Square Enix and the broader community for feedback, crowdfunding, even access to older Eidos IP. If you want to know more about Collective, you can hear more about it yourself at a special GDC Next session called "The Story Behind Square Enix Collective".
In this session, Square Enix head of community Phil Elliott will offer more details about the Collective publishing platform, including details on launch plans, submission parameters, platforms, and information on which Square Enix IP will be available for pitches. The session will also include a question-and-answer period, and Square Enix is soliciting further questions and feedback via email at [email protected].

Sony's Boyes to speak about free-to-play on the PS4 at GDC Next

'Future of games' conference GDC Next has added more exciting talks to its inaugural lineup for the Next Generation Game Platforms Track: Sony Computer Entertainment America's Adam Boyes on new business models and the PS4's "Easy-to-Play" model, and Mind Pirate on its next-gen mobile Callisto platform and wearable tech.
GDC Next is the spiritual successor to GDC Online, and will take place alongside the App Developers Conference on November 5th-7th, 2013 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
This new event aims to highlight the future of video game development, with session tracks organized around 'Next Generation Game Platforms', 'Free To Play & New Business Models', and 'Smartphone & Tablet Games', as well as cloud and indie game tracks.
How will games built around free-to-play, episodic distribution, or other new business models work on the PlayStation 4? SCEA VP of publisher and developer relations Adam Boyes will share how Sony envisions new business models fitting into the PS4's "Easy-to-Play" philosophy in a talk called 'The Easy-to-Play Model: Developer Friendly, Gamer Approved'.
Boyes will discuss the evolution of F2P on game consoles, the engagement and spending habits of F2P consumers, case studies on how developers have built successful F2P intellectual properties on the PlayStation, and ways F2P will evolve in the future on the PlayStation 4.

Reminder: IGF 2014 Main Competition deadline is in two weeks

Don't forget: The Main Competition submission deadline for the 2014 Independent Games Festival is in two weeks!
The Independent Games Festival is the signature competition for indie games, to be held for a 16th year during GDC 2014 in San Francisco next March. This directly follows a record-breaking year which saw nearly 900 entries for the 2013 event, including top prizewinners like FTL: Faster Than Light, Cart Life, and Kentucky Route Zero.
The deadlines for the Main and Student Showcase categories are October 19th and October 31st, 2013, respectively, with finalists announced in January 2014. Finalists' games will be playable at the IGF Pavilion on the Game Developers Conference 2014 Expo Floor, and will compete for nearly $60,000 in prizes.
The Independent Games Festival is the longest-running and highest profile independent video game festival, summit and showcase. It has served as a springboard for several games that have gone on to become critical and cultural hits. Previous IGF prize winners from the past 16 years include Spelunky, Fez, Minecraft, Limbo, World of Goo, Braid, Castle Crashers, Everyday Shooter and many more of the game industry's breakthrough independent titles.

GDC Next 10 adds Project Eternity, CounterSpy talks

'Future of games' conference GDC Next organizers have announced the latest two titles to be included in the 'GDC Next 10' special session series of innovative, yet-to-debut games: Obsidian Entertainment's retro-revival RPG Project Eternity, and Dynamighty's procedurally-generated stealth game CounterSpy.
As part of the November LA-based 'future of games' conference's cutting-edge content, representatives of each game will be invited to give a world-exclusive talk about the concept, inspiration, and design behind the title.
Every GDC Next 10 game has been picked by GDC organizers as a game to watch for the future; one that is doing something decidedly different in today''s increasingly crowded game market.
This week's first addition to the Next 10 is Obsidian Entertainment's Project Eternity [trailer], an original PC game that aims to revive the 2D isometric design and hand-drawn aesthetic established by classic party-based role-playing games Planescape: Torment, Baldur's Gate, and Icewind Dale. Project Eternity initially made waves as one of last year's crowdfunding hits, pulling in over $4 million to break the Kickstarter record for games at the time.
However, bringing back the 2D isometric RPG isn't all magic missiles and lightning bolts. Project Eternity director Josh Sawyer (Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights 2) will elaborate upon the challenges involved in balancing contemporary development and design practices with classic RPG fans' expectations in a talk titled 'Gathering Your Party withProject Eternity'. Attendees will learn how 13440 x 7560 renders sound cool until you see how big they are on disk; how classic challenge is good, as long as you avoid classic obfuscation; and how a few words with a loose illustration can be a scene's greatest illustrator.

Augment your reality at GDC Next!

Augmented Reality (AR) is maturing into more than just a neat tech demo; stop by GDC Next in Los Angeles (from November 5-7) to learn more about how to work with AR in games in the sessions and on the show floor.
In a talk from the 'Future of Gaming' track titled 'Beyond the Box: Opportunities in Augmented Reality,' Experience Mars developer and Advanced Interactions founder Brian Cody will speak about the history of AR, his experience working with Vuforia, Qualcomm's Augmented Reality SDK, and how it integrates with Unity 3D, and AR's potential for future games.
Meanwhile, AR hardware startup Technical Illusions, led by ex-Valve devs Jeri Ellsworth and Rick Johnson, will be on the GDC Next show floor on special invitation from GDC organizers to demonstrate CastAR, their work-in-progress AR headset. Watch the "Let the Wookiee Win" video below to see a demo of a familiar-looking game using the CastAR that was built in Unity 3D.

What's Next? Robert Zubek on the evolution of social games

[In advance of November's GDC Next, GDC's Director of Online Community Patrick Miller reached out to many games industry luminaries to see where they think the future of video games is headed. This interview is the latest installment of a multi-part series that will run up until shortly before the 'future of games' conference, which takes place in Los Angeles, CA from November 5-7, co-located with the App Developers Conference.]
Between his work at Zynga engineering CityVille and FarmVille 2, and his current work as founder of indie mobile sim studio SomaSim Games, it's safe to say that Robert Zubek has a good handle on what's coming up next on the tech side of the games industry. I spoke to him about how social games will change and evolve in the next era of social networks -- and why Minecraft really might just be emblematic of the most important emerging trends in games.

Star Citizen crowdfunding, Kongregate analytics talks added to GDC Next

'Future of games' conference GDC Next organizers have added more exciting talks to its inaugural lineup for the Business & Marketing Discipline: Chris Roberts on the community-building lessons he learned while crowdfunding Star Citizen for $20 million, and Kongregate COO Emily Greer on analytics best (and worst) practices.
GDC Next is the spiritual successor to GDC Online, and will take place alongside the App Developers Conference on November 5th-7th, 2013 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
This new event aims to highlight the future of video game development, with session tracks organized around 'Next Generation Game Platforms', 'Free To Play & New Business Models', and 'Smartphone & Tablet Games', as well as cloud and indie game tracks.
Cloud Imperium Games CCO and Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts (pictured) -- who spoke to Gamasutra about his crowdfunding success -- will present a talk called 'Star Citizen: Going Beyond Crowdfunding'.
In this talk, Roberts will explain his approach to cultivating and continuously engaging Star Citizen's supporter community -- and how that approach enabled them to raise more money than any other crowdfunded game and build a head start on the large player base needed to support its massive virtual universe.

GDC Taipei Summit 2013 announced for Dec 5-6, call for talks open

The call for submissions to present talks for the GDC Taipei Summit 2013 is open from now until October 8.
GDC Taipei Summit 2013, now in its second year, is organized by Gamasutra parent UBM Tech in association with UBM Asia, also co-creators of the recent GDC China event.
The event will be held at the Taipei International Convention Center on December 5-6, 2013, and continues to be the premier professional conference for the creators of games and interactive entertainment in Taiwan.
Submissions are welcomed on a wide range of topics:

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