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Phoenix Comicon Fan Fest 2014 Interview

Mathew Anderson
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Phoenix Comicon Fan Fest 2014 Interview

We chat with the Phoenix Comicon team and get the latest on this upcoming event in Glendale, Arizona on December 12-14, 2014. Have a read on what you should get excited about when attending!

Events For Gamers: Phoenix Comicon bears a similar name to Comic Con and other related TV/Film/Game and Cosplay convention events. How does yours stand out from the crowd?

Colin: Our first Phoenix Comicon Fan Fest even is slightly different than our annual Phoenix Comicon event held every spring. For one, the event is this December, so the weather will be much more pleasant for costumers, which is one of our big focuses for this event. The Fan Fest event will be smaller than our annual Phoenix Comicon and in addition to costumers, this event will be focused on actors and vendors as well.

E4G: What makes Glendale, Arizona so appealing to host the event?

Colin: Glendale is a very appealing place to hold a convention. First off, our Fan Fest even will be taking place inside the awesome University of Phoenix Stadium. For our Attendees who are used to the parking situation in downtown Phoenix, rejoice; there will be thousands of parking spaces available around the Stadium, which will be free. Add in the adjacent Westgate entertainment complex and there will be a multitude of options available for everyone’s taste.

E4G: What makes Glendale, Arizona so appealing to host the event?

Colin: The best way to discover your inner geek is to just be yourself. Everyone has different pop culture and entertainment preferences and we work to provide a wide variety of different types Guests and Programming available to indulge in your interests and maybe find a few new ones too.

E4G: It has to be a blast to attend just to see all of the unique cosplay costumes. Are there any contests or events focusing on cosplay for this year’s event?

Colin: There will certainly be a number of Attendees participating in cosplay and costuming, which we love to see each year. I am not 100% sure on specific contests that will be happening. Any updates will be added to our website, http://phoenixcomicon.com/.

E4G: Art exhibits are one of the big themes at the event. How can budding artists participate in promoting their work, and what should they know about when attending as a general visitor?

Colin: For our Fan Fest event, as soon as you walk through the entrance to the Stadium, you will be in Artist Alley. When attending as an Attendee, any aspiring artist can learn a lot just by observing how our events are set-up and interacting with other artists and other Attendees as well. Any aspiring artists can contact us directly regarding participation.

E4G: ‘Kids Need to Read’ is a promoted project on the main website. What does the event provide kids?

Colin: Kids Need to Read is a great organization that provides inspiring books to underfunded schools, libraries, and literacy programs across the United States, particularly serving disadvantaged children. We love having great Authors come to Phoenix Comicon each year and think helping provide children with books to read is an amazing cause that we’re happy to support.

E4G: Game awards and related activities are also a strong theme. What are some of the highlights attendees can expect?

Colin: Due to the size of the Stadium in comparison to the Phoenix Convention Center and surrounding hotels, unfortunately, we will not have the space to provide designated gaming areas like at the Hyatt.

E4G: Comics, Television/Film, and other entertainment arenas will see many famous actors and other guests at the event. What are the main guests that attendees can look forward to seeing?

Colin: For our Fan Fest event, we have some great Guests that will be coming. For TV and Film actors, we will be welcoming Michael Biehn, David Ramsey, Colin Baker and Jennifer Blanc. For Comics, we have Tony Parker, Sean Galloway and Brian Pulido. We are very excited about all of our Guests scheduled to come and join us next month.

E4G: For those hoping to attend, where can they go to purchase tickets and information about the game? Is there anything of special interest you want to mention here?

Colin: Memberships are on sale now and can be purchased directly on our site. Here is the direct link to what’s available: https://phoenixcomicon.com/page/10.

E4G: Anything else you would like to share about Phoenix Comicon?

Colin: This is the first time that we are having two events in a year and the first Fan Fest event, so we are very excited for it. Personally, our Attendees are what make these events special for me and we all cannot wait to see everyone who comes out to this new event. Thank you and we look forward to seeing everyone next month.

E4G: We are looking forward to continuing to cover Phoenix Comicon!

PAX AUS 2014 – Cannibal Fever Interview

Mathew Anderson
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PAX AUS 2014 – Cannibal Fever Interview

Leviathyn.com chats with the Cannibal Fever team about their recent Kickstarter project. They are at PAX Australia to announce this somewhat stomach rattling but really unique zombie RTS game. Have a read:

Leviathyn.com: CAN YOU INTRODUCE US TO CANNIBAL FEVER?

Michael: Certainly. So my name is Michael Carroll and I work for Forbidden Film Studios, a local company in Melbourne, Australia. We’re here today at PAX AUS 2014 to announce the launch of the Kickstarter for our zombie RTS game Cannibal Fever which basically has a whole bunch of elements to it which I hope will make it really successful. We’re using live action, motion capture animation and we have great American voice talents such as John DiMaggio, Jim Cummings and Richard Doyle which I hope will make this game really cool sounding ans really immersive.

Leviathyn.com: DO YOU PLAN TO APPROACH THE RTS GENRE WITH A MORE WARCRAFT/STARCRAFT STYLE OR SHOULD WE BE THINKING MORE ALONG THE LINES OF COMMAND & CONQUER OR AGE OF EMPIRES?

M: I think we’re doing some slightly different things with our RTS. Obviously you get to play as the zombies and the issue with that is that zombies don’t really collect resources or build structures so we had to come up with a number of ways to make that work.

M: The world is preexisting and you will move your units around the map to capture key buildings. Those key buildings will then build more units or research new upgrades on a time basis – the bigger the unit or upgrade, the longer it takes. I was worried about this not working but then I remembered a game I played as a kid called Z by the Bitmap Brothers which basically had the same thing where you’ve got territories and it was really fast paced. You had to think about your strategy and be on top of all these different things and it made it really fast and I think that’s what we’re looking for in this game. Fast action that makes you feel immersed and slightly distressed – either you’re trying to kill hordes and hordes of zombies or you’re using your horde of zombies to kill them.

Read more at: http://www.leviathyn.com/previews/2014/11/08/pax-aus-2014-cannibal-fever-interview/

SIGGRAPH Asia 2014 Announces Keynote Speakers Scott Ross of Digital Domain and Steven Feiner of Columbia University and Advisor to Meta Share Expert Insights into Computer Graphics and Augmented Reality

Mathew Anderson
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SIGGRAPH Asia 2014 Announces Keynote Speakers Scott Ross of Digital Domain and Steven Feiner of Columbia University and Advisor to Meta Share Expert Insights into Computer Graphics and Augmented Reality

07 October 2014 – Over four days this December, Asia’s largest computer graphics (CG) event, SIGGRAPH Asia 2014, will be hosted in Shenzhen, China. SIGGRAPH Asia 2014 will present a myriad of experts and exhibits in a range of fields, including hardware, software, film and game production, as well as research and education.

Among the experts this year are the conference’s two keynote speakers: Scott Ross and Steven Feiner. As leaders and game-changers in their respective fields, Mr. Ross and Prof. Feiner will share compelling information and research about the changing nature of Computer Graphics and Augmented Reality (AR), leaving the audience with unparalleled insight into the future direction and trends of these dynamic subjects.
Scott Ross Asks: “Can Asia Become Hollywood?”

As a pioneer in the digital media and entertainment industry, Scott Ross has worn many hats throughout his career. As a co-founder of renowned Academy Award-winning digital production studio, Digital Domain, Mr. Ross’ commendable direction saw the studio receive Academy Awards for ground-breaking visual effects in Titanic, What Dreams May Come and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, as well as several Academy Award nominations for numerous other films.

Before forming Digital Domain, Mr. Ross led George Lucas’ vast entertainment empire, running Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Skywalker Sound, LucasFilm Commercial Productions, and DroidWorks. Under his leadership, ILM won five Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects (Who Framed Roger Rabbit; Innerspace; Terminator 2; The Abyss; and Death Becomes Her).

For his keynote speech at SIGGRAPH Asia 2014, Mr. Ross will examine whether China will surpass the United States and become the world’s largest box office territory by 2021. Given the importance of Asia’s movie-going public, will Asian filmmakers and Asian stories refocus Hollywood’s vision? Or will a new power emerge independently?
Columbia University Professor Steven Feiner Shares New Research

Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University, Mr. Feiner also directs the Computer Graphics and User Interfaces Lab and Columbia Visual and Graphics Center. For over 20 years, Prof. Feiner’s lab has been undertaking Augmented Reality (AR) research. His research created the first outdoor mobile AR system using a see-through display, and pioneered experimental applications of AR to fields such as tourism, journalism, maintenance, and construction.

Prof. Feiner is co-author of Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice. He received the IEEE VGTC 2014 Virtual Reality Career Award, and was elected to the CHI Academy. Together with his students, he has won the ACM UIST Lasting Impact Award and best paper awards at ACM UIST, ACM CHI, ACM VRST, and IEEE ISMAR. Prof. Feiner is lead advisor to Meta, which is developing 3D AR eyewear.​

Computer Animation Festival Awards Top Three Achievers

The SIGGRAPH Asia 2014 Computer Animation Festival presents the most stunning animation and visual effects works. Every year, it showcases the latest technologies and creative innovations for attendees, and this year it will continue to thrill with a variety of creative arts and technological advancements.

With a high number of submissions this year, the Computer Animation Festival continues to further anchor its position as a major festival in Asia. This year’s Best of Show Award has been given to Bang Bang!, by Julien Bisaro of Caïmans Productions in France. Bang Bang! presents a dazzling visual narrative, further enhanced by a rapid pace that keeps viewers completely engaged from the start to its satisfying ending.

The Jury Special Prize was presented to James Cunningham of Media Design School (New Zealand), for his short film Over The Moon. The Best Student Project Prize was awarded to Jinxy Jenkins, Lucky Lou, by Michael Bidinger and Michelle Kwon of the Ringling College of Art and Design (United States).
“I would like to emphasize that there are quite a number of outstanding pieces that attracted the committee and jury’s attention with intriguing visual designs and gripping narratives,” said the Computer Animation Festival Director Jinny Choo.

Courses Explore Contemporary Topics in Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques

Chaired by Richard Zhang of Simon Fraser University, the Courses component of SIGGRAPH Asia 2014 sees experts present a wide variety of topics in computer graphics and interactive techniques, with a special focus on design and content creation, interactive technologies, user experiences, as well as fabrication and big (visual) data. All topics will be tailored to seasoned professionals and students.

Among the highlights this year: How to Design and Build New Musical Interfaces, by Michael Lyons of Ritsumeikan University and Sidney Fels of the University of British Columbia; Motion Capture for Mobile Phones – Hands On, by Feijo Filho of the Nokia Institute of Technology; and Bringing Stories to Life: Developing Narrative for Games, Animation, and VFX by Craig Caldwell of the University of Utah. Additionally, prospective future submitters of Courses topics should make time to attend How to make a SIGGRAPH Paper by Daniel Cohen-Or of Tel-Aviv University, Dani Lischinski of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Niloy Mitra of University College London, Xin Tong of Microsoft Research Asia and Li-Yi Wei of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Record Submissions for Technical Papers

This year, the highly-revered platform for presenting the latest technical research findings on computer graphics and interactive techniques saw more papers with a focus on 3D printing, scene reconstruction, digital photography and video, alongside a range of other topics.

The SIGGRAPH Asia 2014 Technical Papers program received a record-breaking 355 completed submissions. A total of 63 papers were accepted from over 16 countries and regions around the world.

Among this year’s highlights are: Mirror Mirror: Crowdsourcing Better Portraits, by Junyan Zhu and Alexei Efros of the University of California, Berkeley and Aseem Agarwala, Eli Shechtman, and Jue Wang of Adobe Systems, Inc; Leveraging Depth Cameras and Wearable Pressure Sensors for Full-body Kinematics and Dynamics Capture, by Peizhao Zhang, Jianjie Zhang, and Jinxiang Chai of Texas A&M University and Karen Liu and Kristin Siu of the Georgia Institute of Technology; plus Rendering Volumetric Haptic Shapes in Mid-air Using Ultrasound by Benjamin Long, Sue Ann Seah, Tom Carter, and Sriram Subramanian of the University of Bristol.

The Business of Computer Graphics

The “business of the business” is more important now than ever before. Companies are no longer exclusively run by creative or industry visionaries, but rather by those focused on success and return on investment.

SIGGRAPH Asia 2014’s Business Symposium aims to examine the most important topics relating to the financial success of businesses in the computer graphics industry. Matters presented will include Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA), cloud strategies, intellectual property, and tax incentives will be key points of discussion alongside industry-specific topics like creative management, production efficiency, and best practices.

The program features a 60 minute Q&A session with Scott Ross, followed by two 90-minute sessions focusing on a variety of topics, including how to successfully run Computer Graphics businesses in China, how to find and retain talent, cloud usage and patent law.

Featured panellists and guests include: Teresa Chung, GM of Lucasfilm Singapore; Thilo Kuther, CEO of Pixomodo; Shuzo Shiota, President of Polygon Pictures; Harley Zhao, founder of Original Force; and Ashley Lui, founder of MindWalks Studio.
Featured Sessions Bring Innovative Thinkers and Top Talent

The Featured Sessions give conference attendees the chance to listen and learn from the world’s most exciting and innovative talent. This year, SIGGRAPH Asia 2014 is proud to feature two talks from two inspirational individuals, Peter J. Bentley and Robb Denovan.

Dr. Bentley is currently an Honorary Reader and Senior College Fellow at University College London, where he also runs the Digital Biology Interest Group. His areas of research interests cover evolutionary algorithms, computational development, artificial immune systems, swarming systems and other complex systems, applied to diverse applications including design, control, novel robotics, nanotechnology, fraud detection, mobile wireless devices, security, art and music composition.

Bentley authored the number one bestselling iPhone app, iStethoscope Pro. Through his research and his books he often gives plenary speeches at international scientific conferences, public lectures, takes part in debates, and appears on radio and television. He has published over 250 scientific papers and is editor of the books Evolutionary Design by Computers, Creative Evolutionary Systems and On Growth, Form and Computers, and is the author of The PhD Application Handbook and the popular science books Digital Biology, The Book of Numbers, The Undercover Scientist and Digitized.

Dr. Bentley’s talk is titled More Than Skin Deep. In this talk, Dr. Bentley describes how biological systems such as evolution, growth and immune systems, can be used to inspire graphic models with examples from his lab (art installations, collaborations with special effects companies, collaborations with biologists). He describes how interdisciplinary research enables these different forms of
representations and how the models provide new understandings of the phenomena being examined.

Robb Denovan is a senior animator with Pixar Animation Studios. He has amassed over a decade of experience in the animation industry with stints at numerous top studios such as MPC London, Weta Digital, and Pixar Animation Studios. Mr. Denovan has worked on a variety of highly successful films including King Kong, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Clash of the Titans, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, La Luna, Brave, Cars 2 and Monsters University. He is currently working as a Senior Animator on Pixar’s upcoming film Inside Out scheduled for release in 2015.

The title of Mr. Denovan’s talk is Inside Pixar Animation: Animating a Shot from Conceptual Stage to Final Polish. In this talk, he will share his secrets on animating at one of the top studios in the world and offer insight into how Pixar’s legendary animation is created.

How to Jam Like a Cardinal in 30 Game Development Hours

Paul Philleo
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How to Jam Like a Cardinal in 30 Game Development Hours

What happens when you throw together about 250 people, a 24/7 hackathon over an autumn weekend at a Stanford University-supported accelerator, a lot of energy drinks and snacks? You get  the Cardinal Game Jam — and more importantly, a surprisingly high caliber of game demo.

Organized in partnership with the Stanford Alumni Association, the Cardinal Game Jam brought Ivy League backing in concert with a spectrum of partners across publishing, development, platforms, investment and technology. Impressive-sounding, but upon first arriving at the StartX accelerator, it seemed like a humble event that might be under-attended even on a rainy start to the weekend.

It goes to show, first impressions can be misleading.

As a crowd gathered around mid-day, presentation seating was quickly broken down to set up tables to make room for the newly-arrived hackers. The organizers were able to adjust quickly to the ramped-up energy. Buster Zalkind, one of the “faces” of the event and a strategist at Weeby.co, a Cardinal Game Jam event sponsor, said “This is the first time Weeby.co helped sponsor a game jam. It was also a first for the organizers, the Stanford Alumni Association. So I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t expect so many people to sign up — that was overwhelming for Weeby.co and the other sponsors, but very exciting.”

This newly-minted game jam tapped into the deep roots of Stanford’s community and connections, even if it hasn’t been a source of a lot of game development entrepreneurship.

Ernestine Fu, a senior associate at Alsop Louie Partners and event co-organizer, added, “Not many gaming companies have started out of Stanford. Weeby.co is an exception and poster child of Stanford students making a huge impact in the gaming industry. We were thrilled to have them come back, support the event, and encourage more alumni and students to be involved. They also pulled in StartX and Apportable (both founded by Stanford alumni) as sponsors as well, which put Stanford entrepreneurship and games front and center in the gaming industry, right alongside big industry giants like Machine Zone, Cocos2D, DeNA, and others who were also sponsors.”

Of the 40 or so teams Fu estimated were on-site, by nightfall, about 7-8 teams on both floors of the StartX space were still cranking out code and design ideas — and several of which went on to the next day as one of the dozen-plus finalists at judging. Even a few die-hard representatives of the platform and service provider companies providing support late into the night.

Speaking of that radical transition from transition concept to playable content in just over a day, Zalkind noted, “I went around and saw the games Saturday afternoon when they were barely more than a concept.  Seeing so many amazing games presented a day later was tons of fun.  I was worried participants would be tired and would go home early if their game wasn’t picked as a finalist but I shouldn’t have been. The winners weren’t announced until 30 hours after coding started.  But the room was packed, everyone was so excited to see and support each others creations.”

It’s amazing, too, what can be accomplished when development and coding time comes down to the wire, “Concepts went from initial prototypes that were working to well-balanced, fun, and addictive games in those last 60 minutes,” noted Fu.

George Deglin, developer of Bubble Pop at the game jam, a realtime collaborative physics games where players push soap bubbles around a level and combine their bubbles with each other, shared his positive impressions about the game jam too: “This hackathon in particular was unique in that there were several talented artists and musicians participating. For instance, we met a a very talented audio composer during the hackathon and she made all of the music and sound effects for our game and several other games during the event. Apart from that, it was one of the better run hackathons I’ve been to. Food was great and plentiful, the venue was great, judging didn’t take up too much time. Overall a great experience.”

Because it’s fun to put the cart in front of the horse sometimes, before we get to the winning ideas, will there be another Cardinal Game Jam? Both Ernestine Fu and Buster Zalkind agree that there will be, or at least they hope there will be, with the support of Stanford and the game industry at-large. Because every first time event like this has its growing pains, which was sometimes on the chaotic side, it’s important to ask: what did the organizers learn that they would apply to the next event? Fu suggested a larger value, or even multiple venues, to support the large number of attendees and teams.

Buster Zalkind suggested simply, recognizing the 24/7 aspect of any go-go-go hackathon, “Line up a coffee sponsor.”

Cardinal Game Jam winners:
* The grand prize winning team was lead by Collin Jackson, a Stanford PhD graduate from 2009.
* The runner up prize was won by Albert T. Lai, a Stanford undergraduate from 2012.
Deep Water Dragon – Grand Prize Winner – Marketing for 40,000 guaranteed installs for their game, sponsored by Machine Zone (valued at between $80,000 to $120,000 if you count each install at $2-3)
Deep Water Dragon is a haunting endless swimmer where you lead your skeletal dragon through underwater caverns to collect your missing dragon eggs. Avoid foes, level up, and collect powerups that help you defeat challenging enemies and bosses.  The gameplay centers on a circling gesture in order to attack your enemies and collect powerups.The game was created in Objective-C using SpriteBuilder IDE and the Cocos2D game engine. The game was demonstrated on iPhone and iPad although it can support Android devices as well. It makes extensive use of Cocos2D’s new CCEffects API to draw 2D lighting effects. Particle systems are used to provide an immersive parallax effects. The game uses the Chipmunk physics engine integrated into SpriteBuilder to allow creative ways of defeating your enemies.The game integrates with Tango extensively using Weeby.co’s cloud producer to handle the social and economic aspects critical to modern free to play games. An all-new Weeby.co theme uses custom assets designed by our artist to show a consistent visual style between the game and the Weeby.co-provided user interfaces.Viktor Lidholt, Collin Jackson, and Ian Fischer developed the game on site at the hackathon. Chipmunk physics engine creator Scott Lembcke contributed code remotely. Erin Fusco created all art assets for the game.  All five team members work at Apportable on SpriteBuilder and Cocos2D.

Magic Zoo Consequences – Runner-Up Prize – Marketing for 10,000 guaranteed installs for the game, sponsored by Tango (valued at between $20,000 to $30,000 if you count each install at $2-3)

Magical Zoo Consequences! Basically over the course of your life you have amassed a large menagerie due to your magical powers. Unfortunately, magical powers doesn’t translate well to actual care of taking animals, so now they’re on the rampage. You feel terrible about all of this, naturally.

In the game you connect a spell to advancing enemies in the style of Pipe Dream. As you defeat animals different ones come up, such as the monkey, which spins tiles around itself as it advances, or the HORSE MONARCH, which creates more horses as they advance down the field. That’s not to say you’re not totally defenseless though — golden power ups unleash devastating effects on the playing field if you manage to move your spell through them on the way to an enemy.

The game was made by Albert Lai, with many of the graphics taken from game-icons.net.

Everybody Paint Stuff – 3rd place – Leap Motion Controllers – sponsored by Leap Motion and Cocos2d-x

Everybody Paint Stuff! is a unique cooperative painting game.  Players watch a single (ideally big) display and use their phones as controllers.  Each player controls a brush tool on a communal canvas, and together they try to replicate a target image.

Sam Green and Peterson Trethewey

Confirmed Speakers Announced for GMIC SV 2014 – Silicon Valley’s Largest Mobile Internet Conference

Mathew Anderson
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Confirmed Speakers Announced for GMIC SV 2014 – Silicon Valley’s Largest Mobile Internet Conference

SOURCE GWC, Inc.

Third Annual Global Mobile Internet Conference Features Speakers from Airbnb, Baidu, Evernote, Facebook, Google, Jawbone, Linkedin, Path, Paypal, and many more

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Nov. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — GWC Inc. today announced the latest round of speakers for its third annual Global Mobile Internet Conference Silicon Valley 2014 (GMIC SV) taking place December 1-3 at Hilton Union Square in San Francisco, CA.

GMIC SV is the largest mobile Internet conference in Silicon Valley hosting mobile leaders, entrepreneurs, developers, and investors from around the globe. This year’s theme ofMobilizing the Next 5 Billion will explore industry shifts caused by billions of new users coming online through mobile and smart devices. The comprehensive curriculum will offer 80 thought-provoking sessions on the hottest topics in mobile. Confirmed tracks include: User Acquisition Summit, AppSpace, Grow Asia, Mobile Education, Global Games Summit, Robotics, Smarter Hardware, and Thought Leader.

Thought Leaders speaking at GMIC SV this year include Emmett Shear, the Founder and CEO of Twitch, the world’s leading live video platform and community for gamers; Joe Lonsdale, the Founder of Formation8, a fund that invests in top Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and connects them with Asian conglomerates in order to give innovation a global impact, and Chris Anderson, the CEO of 3D Robotics, the premiere advanced drone, UAV, multicopter, autopilot and autonomous vehicle control company in the world.

Additional confirmed speakers include: Yves Behar, Founder and CEO of Fuseproject; Tim Draper, Founding Partner of  Draper Associates and DFJ, Cyril Ebersweiler, Founder ofHAXLR8R; Sheng Fu, CEO of Cheetah Mobile; Dmitry Grishin, Founder of Grishin Roboticsand CEO of Mail.ru; Rick Liu, VP of NativeX; Linda Kozlowski, VP of Worldwide Operations atEvernote; Dave Madden, Senior Vice President of Global Media Solutions at EA; Dave Morin, CEO and Co-Founder of Path; Andrew Ng, Chief Scientist of Baidu; Varsha Rao, VP of Operations at Airbnb, Joff Redfern, VP of Mobile Product at LinkedIn; Robert Scoble, Startup Liaison at Rackspace; and Kent Wakeford, COO of Kabam.

Please visit sv.thegmic.com/speakers-2014/ to view the full list of confirmed speakers.

Registration for GMIC SV 2014 is open to all industry professionals and members of the press. To reserve your spot at the conference and learn more about GMIC SV, visit sv.thegmic.com.

Follow GMIC online via:

About GWC Inc.: The GWC is an invite-members only, private network for innovators and executives from leading mobile companies worldwide to build trusted relationships, share insights, explore collaboration and develop international growth strategy. GMIC SV is produced by GWC, Inc.. GWC is headquartered in Mountain View, CA and has offices in Beijing, Tokyo, and Bangalore.

GDC Next 2014 Speaker Interview: Japheth Dillman

Paul Philleo
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GDC Next 2014 Speaker Interview: Japheth Dillman

Yetizen LogoHelping to lead the multi-faceted game-focused accelerator YetiZen, Japheth Dillman is an increasingly well-known voice within the game industry. One of his signature talks that’s helped draw crowds and interest in his perspectives is a talk about the inner workings on Google and Apple app stores. Japheth will be sharing those insights  via his talk, “Secret Sauce of the App Stores“, with game and app developers in Los Angeles at GDC Next.

Events for Gamers: Japheth, thank you for giving us some of your time and thoughts into the inner workings of app stores. Let’s kick this off by detailing what YetiZen is all about and what you’re working on these days.

Japeth from YetizenJapheth Dillman:  YetiZen is currently interviewing for its 7th round of accelerator companies.  Time flies, right?  Each round is a very intense three month process, and in prior years we held two rounds a year, but in 2015 we’re going to hold one round but with a larger batch size.  This is because we’re ramping up a number of other efforts as well.  We’re putting together a bootcamp for earlier stage companies (the accelerator focuses on post-market post-release startups at the scaling stage).  This bootcamp is a global effort.  In 2013 we held a single month long bootcamp for Columbia, this was our trial run and now that we’ve perfected it we’re opening up to all regions globally.  www.yetizen.com/bootcamp

Additionally, we are working on putting together an angel investment fund and our regular event series always takes up a lot of time (150 events in 2013, but we’ve scaled down to about 50 events this year).

E4G: Some folks might have seen you present the “Secret Sauce of the App Stores” talk before at different venues. What information will be different in the talk this time?

JD: One of the most interesting things about this talk is the ranking algorithms on the backend of the AppStores.  These are a huge mystery to developers, and they are constantly evolving!  The AppStore optimization is an ever changing game, and luckily we at YetiZen have insiders that help us see what has evolved.  The last time I gave this talk was some time ago, early 2014 I believe, and just as an insight Google has over 200 components to that algorithm and its constantly evolving, perhaps 30-40 of those components have evolved since I last spoke.  For example, using other GooglePlay services (such as real time multiplayer, save games, quests, etc) can impact your placement in the rankings!  This was not so last time I spoke. The talk goes beyond the Appstore algorithms, it also discusses how to create successful campaigns, and of course optimization of the appstore listing itself.

E4G: What are one or two of the common mistakes an app developer might make, that reduces their chance at visibility and traffic in an app store?

JD:  Often developers rely upon PR for installs.  This simply does not work on the Appstore.  One of the most widely read blogs on apps is 148Apps.com.  Getting featured with a fantastic review there might net you at most a hundred installs.  This doesn’t budge the needle for your placement in the store.  A developer needs thousands of installs to get bumped up.  A holistic and complete approach to marketing is needed, from how the App is listed in the store, to ad campaigns, to PR, to even the user landing funnel into the game.

E4G: In general, if you were going to give one piece of advice — or trick — to a developer about to upload their app to an app store at the start of their launch campaign, what would it be?

JD:  RETENTION!  This is number one.  If your retention is garbage it doesn’t matter how well you monetize, or even how well you market the game.  Get those 1 day, 7 day, and 30 day numbers as healthy as possible prior to release.  Everything else will fall into alignment if you have good retention!

E4G: Do game app developers face any special considerations when it comes to advertising, marketing or sustaining visibility on App Store or Google Play that might not be an issue to non-game app developers?

JD: Luckily, TradeMob has released data that shows us that Organic Uplift is much healthier in games vs. non-games.  I’ve included an image from TradeMob that highlights this:

This means if developers can nail their AppStore listing just right, optimize on their presence in the store, they can take advantage of organic installs at a better rate than non-organic installs.

*reference:  http://www.trademob.com/infographic-calculating-the-cost-of-a-top-10-rank-in-the-app-store/

E4G: Do you foresee any emerging app stores that might compete with “the big two”?

JD:  Actually, I see a few AppStores disappearing.  Dan Galpin from Google filled us in on something unique.  Android Lollipop (the next version) will have built in console capabilities with controller support.  This, I fear, may make it very difficult for the Ouyas of the world to succeed now.  Interestingly though, I will say that Windows mobile marketplace is becoming a place to explore.  Some devs have had financial (and userbase) success on that platform as of late.

E4G: What other talks or speakers do you hope to see at GDC Next?

JD:  Making Games for the YouTube Audience looks like an interesting talk.  There’s a lot to be had for video virality, Everyplay is killing it. Any video tie-in with your gamers is going to go a long way, and I really want to hear this talk.

E4G: Last but not least, YetiZen is known for throwing big bash-style parties at GDC. Can you tip your hand and tell us what you might have in mind for GDC 2015?

JD:  Haha, yes… how do we follow up renting out the AT&T Giant’s Ballpark?  It seems each year our epic bashes grow and grow.  I don’t think you can get bigger than the Ballpark, so this year I’m considering something more unique as opposed to going for a larger sized party.  We’re still 5 months out from GDC proper in March, but I do have it on the mind.  In December I’ll be finalizing plans with sponsors, but right now I’m definitely exploring a few outdoor venues.  I haven’t seen this done at GDC before. January and February I’ll be booking entertainment.  I’m quite open to ideas and there’s lots of time to bring in entertainment (one of my favorites has always been MC Frontalot, but we’ve had him twice now).  As for themes, we’ve done an ice theme, a circus theme, and Ferraris.  2015 has a really high bar to hit obviously, and I want to make it something memorable.

If you have something or someone you’d like to see at our 2015 GDC party, or if you want to be a part of this year’s bash, hit me up at:  jdillman@yetizen.com

Twitch streaming multiple panels all weekend at PAX AUS – get the full schedule now

Mathew Anderson
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0
Twitch streaming multiple panels all weekend at PAX AUS – get the full schedule now

Friday 31 October, 2014 – The Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), is proud to partner with Twitch to provide streaming access to multiple panels all weekend at PAX Australia. PAX Australia, which opens today and runs through Sunday November 2, offers more than 100 panels with a topic for everyone.

Fans can tune in to more than 36 hours of streaming content, including Omegathon coverage, live concerts and much more. Fair dinkum!

Some of the high-profile PAX AUS panels include:

 

~ ‘Storytime with Pete Hines’: Join PAX Aus 2014 keynote speaker Pete Hines, the Vice President of PR & Marketing at Bethesda Softworks, as he talks about his 15 years working on franchises such as The Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Wolfenstein. He’s done everything from writing manuals to playtesting games to serving as the company’s chief spokesman, and he’s sure to have some unique stories to tell!

 

~ ‘A Chat with Chris Roberts: The Original Wing Commander’: A round table chat with Chris about everything from the early Mark Hamill days all the way through to the most successful crowd funded game of all time.

 

~ ‘Media Molecule – Ask Us (almost) Anything’: Media Molecule are responsible for creating Little Big Planet and Tearaway. Join studio director Siobhan Reddy and her team, along with ABC TV’s Good Game host Gus “Goose” Ronald as they explore Mm’s rationale to game design and building communities of like-minded gamers.

 

~ ‘Why watch when you can play?’ – Bajo and Hex from ABC’s Good Game are joined on stage by film critic and presenter Marc Fennell and special guests to discuss how gaming has led to the rise of Twitch and YouTube celebrities. They’ll be offering tips successful broadcasters pass on so that you too can build an audience!

 

~ ‘Political Proactivism for Geeks’: What’s in store for the games development industry in Australia? Where are we headed?  This panel invites key members of Australia’s political parties to weigh in on recent cuts and changes to Australia’s funding of games development.

 

~ ‘Rooster Teeth’: Formed in 2001 with the online smash hit Red Vs Blue, Rooster Teeth has since grown into a Texan-sized production company, responsible for none other than Achievement Hunter, RWBY, The Gauntlet, Immersion, Slo-Mo Guys and plenty more. Join the Rooster Teeth staff as they go up on stage completely unprepared and wing it!

 

For a continuous live stream of the PAX AUS show floor – and prize giveaways throughout the weekend, head to www.twitch.tv/spiral_live 

 

 

Full Streaming Panel List:

 

 

Friday, 10:30am – 11:30am AEST (Thursday 4:30pm PST)

Title: Storytime with Pete Hines

Theatre: Main Theatre

Description: Join Pete Hines, the Vice President of PR & Marketing at Bethesda Softworks, as he talks about his 15 years working on franchises such as The Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Wolfenstein. He’s done everything from writing manuals to playtesting games to serving as the company’s chief spokesman, and he’s sure to have some unique stories to tell!

Panelists:
Pete Hines [Vice President of PR & Marketing, Bethesda Softworks]

 

 

Friday, 1:00pm AEST (Thursday 7:00pm PST)
Title: Rooster Teeth

Theatre: Main Theatre

Description: Formed in 2001 with the online smash hit Red Vs Blue, Rooster Teeth has since grown into a Texan-sized production company, responsible for none other than Achievement Hunter, RWBY, The Gauntlet, Immersion, Slo-Mo Guys and plenty more. Join the Rooster Teeth staff as they go up on stage completely unprepared and wing it!

Panelists:
Jack Pattillo [Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter]
Ray Narvaez, Jr [Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter]

 

 

Friday, 2:00pm AEST (Thursday 8:00pm PST)

Title: Political Proactivism for Geeks

Theatre: Wombat Theatre

Description: After the latest federal budget, many Australian “geeks” were upset about the cuts and lack of support to science, the arts, libraries, and tech. So, how can we express to the powers that be that we value our libraries and art galleries, our CSIROs, and Interactive Game Funds? Does slacktivism achieve anything? Are protests outdated? Can video games be an effective tool for political persuasion? Help us brainstorm positive ways to express our shared values to all sides of politics.

Panelists:
Adam Bandt [Member of Parliament, The Greens]
Sue McKerracher [Executive Director, ALIA]
Justin Halliday [Investment Manager, Screen Australia]
Conor O’Kane [Lecturer, RMIT]
Dr Fiona Tweedie [Organiser, GovHack Melbourne]
Nicole Stark [Director, Disparity Games]

 

 

Friday, 3:30pm AEST (Thursday 9:30pm PST)

Title: A Chat With Chris Roberts, The Original Wing Commander

Theatre: Wombat Theatre

Description: Wing Commander. Freelancer. Star Citizen. Chris Roberts is no stranger to the infinite blackness of space. But what is it that keeps drawing Roberts back? What is it like working with Mark Hamill to shoot full-motion video cutscenes? And just how did Star Citizen make $50 million without even being released? Find out as we join the veteran game designer to look to the stars.

Panelists:
Chris Roberts [Space Lord, Cloud Imperium Games]
Daniel Hindes [Space Trucker, GameSpot]
Nathan Cocks [Space Nomad, Freelance]
Joab Gilroy [Space Drunkard, Freelance]
Seamus Byrne [Space Dad, CNET]

 

 

Friday, 4:30pm AEST (Thursday 10:30pm PST)

Title: Designing Smite and cracking the MOBA market

Theatre: Main Theatre

Description: Join Hi-Rez Studios as they dive into the design and development process behind the mythology themed, third-person MOBA Smite. Hear stories about the game’s early development, design hits & misses, and how the community has helped Smite become the #3 MOBA worldwide. Plus, free exclusive skins!

Panelists:
Todd Harris [CoFounder, Hi-Rez Studios]

 

 

Friday, 5:30pm AEST (Thursday 11:30pm PST)
Title: Bioware: Stories You Can Play
Theatre: Wombat Theatre
Description: Developers from the Dragon Age: Inquisition team walk attendees through the evolution of Bioware’s storytelling over the past decade: How the studio and the gaming landscape have evolved, and their thoughts on why Dragon Age: Inquisition is the next step in Bioware’s goal of crafting the best stories you can play.
Panelists:
Aidan Scanlan [Assistant Director of Design, BioWare Edmonton]
Mike Laidlaw [Creative Director (Dragon Age Franchise), BioWare Edmonton]
Mark Wilson [Lead Technical Designer (Dragon Age: Inquisition), BioWare Edmonton]

 

Friday, 7:00pm AEST (Friday 11:00am PST)
Title: Cards Against Humanity
Theatre: Wombat Theatre
Description: Pitch your card ideas to the creators of Cards Against Humanity and special guests. The best suggestions will go in the game, the worst suggestions will be mercilessly ridiculed.
Panelists:
Eli Halpern [Co-Creator, Cards Against Humanity]
David Munk [Co-Creator, Cards Against Humanity]
Claire Friedman [Experience Manager, Cards Against Humanity]
Jenn Bane [Community Manager, Cards Against Humanity]
David Pinsof [Co-Creator, Cards Against Humanity]
Max Temkin [Co-Creator, Cards Against Humanity]

 

 

Friday, 8:30pm AEST (Friday 12:30pm PST)
Title: Friday Night Concerts – Paul & Storm, Tripod
Theatre: Main Theatre
Description: Our first night of concerts, you may feast upon the sounds of musical comedy duo Paul and Storm, followed by Tripod and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra premiering their upcoming show ‘This Gaming Life’

 

 

Saturday, 10:30am AEST (Friday 4:30pm PST)
Title: Penny Arcade – Make a Strip!
Theatre: Main Theatre
Description: Ever wonder what goes into making a Penny Arcade comic? Join Gabe and Tycho in the Main Theatre and take part in creating Monday’s comic!

Panelists:
Gabe and Tycho!

 

 

Saturday, 12:00pm AEST (Friday 6:00pm PST)
Title: Playing as a Female Character – does it matter?
Theatre: Wombat Theatre
Description: Yes girls like to game, but does being able to play as a female character make a difference to gamers of both sexes? On this panel we explore if gender is more than pixel deep.
Panelists:
Hex [Presenter, ABC TV]
Siobhan Reddy [Studio Manager, Media Molecule]
Peter Hines [Vice President of PR & Marketing, Bethesda]
Aidan Scanlan [Assistant Director of Design, Bioware]
Randy Pitchford [CEO, Gearbox Software]
Rex Crowle [Creative Director, Media Molecule]

 

 

Saturday, 1:00pm AEST (Friday 7:00pm PST)
Title: What’s driving the future of PC gaming?
Theatre: Main Theatre
Description: PC gaming is having an unprecedented resurgence and is bigger and better than ever. But what will drive the next stage of PC gaming? Gamers now expect far more from PC gaming than just more pixels jammed on the screen — but where will this next wave of innovation come from? From new technologies such as VR, through PC’s taking over the loungeroom; from digital delivery platforms, through crowd-funding dev communities: we’ll explore the path ahead for the world of PC gaming.
Panelists:
Nic Healey [Senior editor, CNET]
Joe Olmsted [Product Development Manager, Alienware]
Chris Roberts [Founder, Cloud Imperium Games]
Aidan Scanlan [Assistant Director of Design, Bioware]
Jeffrey Yohalem [Lead Writer, Ubisoft]
Callum Underwood [Developer Relations Manager, Oculus VR]

 

 

Saturday, 2:00pm AEST (Friday 8:00pm PST)
Title: BATTLECRY: Welcome to the WarZone
Theatre: Wombat Theatre
Description: Join the BattleCry Studios team as they discuss the world of BATTLECRY, the upcoming team action combat game from Bethesda slated for Beta in 2015. Learn about the team’s approach to combining visceral brutality and competitive multiplayer action to create a new gameplay experience. Plus get exclusive swag!
Panelists:
Rich Vogel [Executive Producer, BattleCry Studios]
Lucas Davis [Design Director, BattleCry Studios]
Mark Tucker [Senior Systems Designer, BattleCry Studios]
Shahin Kanafchian [Community Manager, BattleCry Studios]
Rae Johnston [Tech & gaming advocate & TV presenter]

 

 

Saturday, 3:30pm AEST (Friday 9:30pm PST)
Title: Good Game: Ask Us Anything

Theatre: Wombat Theatre

Description: If you are a fan of ABC TV’s Good Game and Spawn Point, your chance to ask presenters Bajo, Hex, Dave and Goose and the show’s creator Janet Carr just about anything about the shows and how they make them. The panel will be moderated by Paul Verhoeven.

Panelists:
Janet Carr [Executive Producer, Good Game – ABC TV]
Bajo [Presenter, Good Game – ABC TV]
Hex [Presenter, Good Game – ABC TV]
Goose [Presenter, Good Game – ABC TV]
Paul Verhoeven. [Steam Punks – ABC TV]
Dave Callan [Good Game – ABC TV]

 

 

Saturday, 5:00pm AEST (Friday 11:00pm PST)

Title: Hey there, good lookin’!

Theatre: Wombat Theatre

Description: “Are video games art?” Who cares? This is not just another panel asking the unanswerable question. Instead, we want to figure out the most beautiful game in history. We’ve asked our panellists to name their favourites, and they’re ready to defend their decisions. Is it based purely on visual appeal, or is there more to it than that? Does user experience come into it – can a terrible game also be a beautiful one? What’s your pick?

Panelists:
John Nesky [Feel Engineer, thatgamecompany]
Jeffrey Yohalem [Lead Writer, Ubisoft]
Rex Crowle [Creative Lead, Tearaway, Media Molecule]
Jessica Citizen [Editrix, Player Attack]
Ken Wong [Lead Designer, Ustwo Games]

 

 

Saturday, 6:30pm AEST (Saturday 12:30am PST)

Title: Building New IP – Pixel by Pixel

Theatre: Wombat Theatre

Description: Some of the best and brightest minds in game development are right here at PAX. Between them, these developers have created some of the most rich and diverse game universes. In this panel our guests will give us a unique insight into the joy, and pain, in bringing life to some of gamings best virtual worlds, pixel by pixel.

Panelists:
Bajo [Presenter, Good Game]
Siobhan Reddy [Studio Manager, Media Molecule]
Ken Wong [Lead Designer, Ustwo Games]
Pete Hines [Vice President of PR & Marketing, Bethesda Softworks]
Randy Pitchford [CEO, Gearbox Software]
Barry Meade [CEO, Fireproof]

 

 

Saturday, 7:30pm AEST (Saturday 1:30am PST)
Title: Omegathon Round 4 – Battleblock Theatre
Theatre: Main Theatre

 

Saturday, 8:00pm AEST (Saturday 2:00am PST)
Title: Saturday Night Concerts – 7 Bit Hero, Freezepop, MC Frontalot

Theatre: Main Theatre

Description: Our second night of concerts features Brisbane group 7bit Hero, American electronic music band Freezepop, and nerdcore hip-hop legend MC Frontalot.

 

 

Sunday, 10:30am AEST (Saturday 4:30pm PST)
Title: Inside Gearbox Software
Theatre: Main Theatre
Description: Gearbox Software is back at PAX Australia! This is your opportunity to take a behind the scenes look at Gearbox Software and get the latest news and updates on our games including Borderlands, Battleborn and Homeworld Remastered! We will have never before seen reveals, exclusives and surprises so don’t miss your chance to hang out with the Gearbox crew at PAX Australia!

 

 

Sunday, 11:30am AEST (Saturday 5:30pm PST)
Title: I am JC Denton: A Conversation With Jay Anthony Franke
Theatre: Wombat Theatre
Description: Jay Anthony Franke is the voice actor who not only provided the voice of JC and Paul Denton, but also worked on the dev team that created the Gaming Classic, Deus Ex. Please join us as Jay recalls stories and anecdotes of how this Legendary game to be. This will be a 45 minute presentation/interview followed by a 15 minute audience Q&A.
Panelists:
Jay Anthony Franke [Voice Actor/ Game Developer]
Peter Marshall [Interviewer]

 

 

Sunday, 1:00pm AEST (Saturday 7:00pm PST)
Title: Pay vs Fremium – the impact on Creativity
Theatre: Wombat Theatre
Description: Hand Held devices have massively expanded and altered the gaming landscape. Independent developers have lead the way in this new frontier. But while we’ve enthusiastically embraced mobile gaming, when it comes to paying, we’re not nearly so keen. Developers have responded with various funding models in order to make a living. But what is the impact on the creative process and ultimately who are the winners and losers?
Panelists:
Bajo [Presenter, Good Game]
Barry Meade [CEO, Fireproof Studios]
Rami Ismail [CEO, Vlambeer]
Phil Larsen [Chief Marketing Officer, Half Brick]
Leigh Harris [CEO, Flat Earth Games]

 

 

Sunday, 2:00pm AEST (Saturday 8:00pm PST)
Title: Penny Arcade Q&A #2
Theatre: Main Theatre
Description: Wait, they do even more panels!? These guys are the best! Come meet the hardest working duo in the online jpeg racket. Gabe and Tycho field your questions and entertain you because hey, you deserve it.
Panelists:
Gabe and Tycho!

 

 

Sunday, 3:00pm AEST (Saturday 8:00pm PST) 
Title: Media Molecule – Ask us about our games!
Theatre: Wombat Theatre
Description: Media Molecule are responsible for creating Little Big Planet and Tearaway. They are the Triple A developers with the big heart – committed to developing games that immerse the player in beautiful virtual worlds that transcend age, gender and cultural differences. Key to the MM gaming experience is enabling the player to use their original tools to create their own game worlds. This panel will explore Mm’s rationale to game design and building communities of like-minded gamers.
Panelists:
Gus “Goose” Ronald [Presenter, Good Game]
Siobhan Reddy [Studio Manager, Media Molecule]
Rex Crowle [Creative Lead, Media Molecule]
James Spafford [Community Manager, Media Molecule ]

 

 

Sunday, 4:30pm AEST (Saturday 9:30pm PST)
Title: Where to now for Australian Game Development?
Theatre: Wombat Theatre

Description: Australians have been making amazing video games for 30 years but it’s fair to say that the last few years have been a difficult time for local developers. Hosted by Kotaku’s Mark Serrels, the panel will discuss what is happening now and what the governments, developers, publishers, investors, educators and gamers can do to help forge a bright and exciting future for the Australian development scene. The panel will also shine a spotlight on some of the most exciting locally developed games.

Panelists:
Mark Serrels [Editor, Kotaku AU]
Chris Wright [Managing Director, Surprise Attack Games]
Clara Reeves [Manager – Games, Digital Content and Animation, Film Victoria]
Morgan Jaffit [Director, Defiant Development]
Tony Lawrence [General Manager, 2K Australia]
Maize Wallin [Interactive Art Composer/Curator, Glitchmark]

 

 

Sunday, 5:30pm AEST (Saturday 10:30pm PST)

Title: Omegathon Round 5 and Closing Ceremony

Theatre: Main Theatre

 

 

The full schedule can be viewed online here.

The maps and exhibitor listings can be viewed online here.

 

PAX Australia is held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 31 October to 2 November, 2014 and is organised by ReedPOP in conjunction with Penny Arcade.

For further information visit www.paxaustralia.com.au or follow PAX Australia updates via official Twitter and Facebook.

November 2014 Game Industry Conferences and Other Events

Mathew Anderson
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November 2014 Game Industry Conferences and Other Events

To help you plan attendance for this month’s game industry conferences, conventions, and other events, we post a monthly consolidated list of game industry events at the beginning of each month. You can view the complete event list below for this month!

November 2014 Game Industry Conferences and Other Events:

Click here for the main calendar view.

29-3: Paris Games Week
31-3: PAX Australia
1-2: The Cardinal Game Jam
3-4: GDC Next
4-7: The Summit
6-10: IndieCon
7-9: BlizzCon
7-9: Houston Arcade & Pinball Expo
7-10: PIXEL 9
10-12: Casual Connect Belgrade
10-12: MIGS
12-14: Apps World London
17-21: Game Summit
19: London Games Conference
20-22: GameON: Finance
22: Canadian Videogame Awareds
22-23: G-Star

This list is obtained from the main calendar. Did we miss an event? Let us know!

SafeCharge aims to Convert Players to Payers at Casual Connect, Belgrade

Mathew Anderson
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0
SafeCharge aims to Convert Players to Payers at Casual Connect, Belgrade

Showcasing the SafeCharge Cashier solution

SafeCharge, a leader in advanced payment technologies, is exhibiting at Casual Connect Belgrade, 10th-12th November, showcasing its Cashier solution, a deposit management system, that enables gaming merchants to give their players a personalised experience.

Casual Connect Belgrade is the video games industry’s premiere event, produced by the Casual Games Association. According to research by the Association, more than 200 million people worldwide play casual games via the Internet, in a market that is worth US$75.5bn.

SafeCharge, together with its client ggcorp, will be speaking in a panel session at the event, called:

“Convert Players to Payers: Making In-Game Payments Simple” on the 11th November at 16:00 in the Baltic Aegean Hall, http://ee.casualconnect.org/content.html. Attendees will also be an opportunity to meet the SafeCharge team at the Company’s stand, (201) to learn more about its Cashier solution.

Some key features of the solution are:

– Localisation capabilities, based on geo-location

– Fully customisable and intelligent payment page, auto-selecting optimal language, currency and regional payment methods

– Access to multiple payment and currency options with only a single integration

– Best conversion and retention rates with fewer “walkaways”

– Integrated fraud prevention platform to minimise risk

Commenting on the Company’s participation in Casual Connect Belgrade, its COO, Yuval Ziv said: “Casual Connect enables us to meet the industry’s leading games developers and highlight our award-winning payments solutions, such as Cashier; 3D secure processing; and complete PCI descoping, Casual Connect continuously strives to bring together experts in the industry and I look forward to discovering trending solutions available in the current online and video games space.”

“We are thrilled to be partnering and presenting with SafeCharge at the Casual Connect Belgrade event,” said Benjamin Vidal, Co-Founder and CFO, ggcorp. “By collaborating with SafeCharge we can now offer our players an end-to-end payment solution with cost-effective rates; superior risk management; personalisation capabilities; and access to multiple payment methods and currencies.”

D.I.C.E. Award submissions now open, with two new categories

Mathew Anderson
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0
D.I.C.E. Award submissions now open, with two new categories

From Gamasutra: The Academy Interactive Arts & Sciences has opened the submission process for its annual D.I.C.E. Summit awards ceremony. The 18th annual awards are set for the next D.I.C.E. Summit, which will take place from February 3 to 5 in Las Vegas.

This is the 18th year for the A.I.A.S.’ awards ceremony, and this year, the organization is debuting two new categories: the Technical Impact Award and the Sprite Award.

The Technical Impact Award is a special award that “celebrates unique innovations that contribute to the ongoing progress of interactive media,” while the Sprite Award “will be awarded to a game having disproportionate resources for development and exposure (as compared to AAA titles), represent a higher degree of risk tolerance and advances our industry with innovative gameplay and experiences,” the organization said in its announcement.

More at Gamasutra.

More than 65 UK businesses take to Paris for Game Connection 2014

Mathew Anderson
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More than 65 UK businesses take to Paris for Game Connection 2014

29 October 2014 – London, United Kingdom – Ukie also puts call out for more trade and investment support from UK government.

This year’s Game Connection Paris conference, starting today, has more than 65 UK games businesses in attendance across the three days. Ukie will be running the UK area on the show floor which is home to over 20 British companies, located at booth F81 on the show floor. Games companies who are part of the Ukie space have saved more than £11k in exhibition costs, partly thanks to UKTI Tradeshow Access Programme (TAP) grants, despite a reduction in funding to support these events and the number of these grants available to SMEs this year.

CEO of Ukie, Dr Jo Twist said: “The UK is an amazing place to make and sell games and that message needs to be promoted confidently internationally. Trade shows like Game Connection are key marketplaces for UK companies to find new partners to do more business internationally. We help companies get to these shows at low cost and we promote the UK’s identity as a sector there.”

Dr Twist made a call for more funding to promote the UK games sector overseas: “The TAP grants are invaluable to enable SMEs get to these key expos, to have meeting space and to do deals. In the year that games tax relief comes online and we have a clear Government strategy for increasing trade across the creative industries, it seems counterintuitive to reduce the support for companies to access key potential partners internationally. Trade and investment support of this kind from government is critical to ensure the success of policy interventions like the games tax relief scheme so we can attract inward investment and increase exports of our UK-made games and services to the rest of the world.”

There will be a UK Industry VIP drinks reception in partnership with Multiplay and Playfab, at Bar Heuresup at 299 Rue Lecourbe, 75015 Paris, France on Thursday 30 October at 7pm.

General Manager of Playfab Mark Val said: “Playfab are proud to be sponsoring the UK VIP drinks reception alongside Multiplay at this year’s Game Connection. Events like the reception are a fantastic way to meet key industry contacts which are so important to doing business and a great way of celebrating our industry. We look forward to sharing a drink with all attendees in Paris.”

Craig Fletcher, CEO and Founder of Multiplay said: “We have sponsored Ukie’s drink receptions at prominent global events before, and they are always a great time with lots of opportunities for networking. We are looking forward to working alongside both Ukie and PlayFab at this year’s Game Connection to continue promoting the ever-growing UK games industry, and we hope to see as many of our partners and peers attending as possible.”

If you are interested in attending the drinks reception, please sign up on the eventbrite page – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ukie-drinks-reception-game-connection-paris-tickets-13824139373

Here is a list of UK companies exhibiting on the Ukie-led UK Industry Stand at Game Connection:

Amuzo

Born Ready Games

Bundle Stars | Focus Multimedia Limited

deltaDNA

Firebrand Games

Games Workshop Group Plc

GameSparks Ltd

Mediatonic Ltd

Multiplay

Nintendo UK

Nvidia – EMEAI

Nyamyam

Oink (Virtual Piggy)

Onebip by Neomobile

OPM Response Ltd

Oysterworld Ltd

PEER 1 Hosting

Perforce Software

Sumo Digital Ltd

Tag Games

Tangentix Ltd.

TechExcel Inc

Universally Speaking

Intel® Extreme Masters San Jose tickets on sale with top teams confirmed

Paul Philleo
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Intel® Extreme Masters San Jose tickets on sale with top teams confirmed

TSM and Alliance to feature in the League of Legends® competition along with the world’s best players in StarCraft® II

(Los Angeles, CA) October 28, 2014 – Tickets for Intel® Extreme Masters San Jose, set to play out in the SAP Center from December 6-7, go on sale today. Featuring the best in League of Legends® and StarCraft® II action, members of the community will be able to begin voting for the League of Legends LCS teams they wish to see compete starting tomorrow, October 29th.

The League of Legends tournament will consist of six teams from three regions: North American LCS champions Team SoloMid alongside a community-voted North American LCS team, European LCS champions Alliance alongside a community-voted European LCS team and two teams from South American qualifiers. The fan vote will be held on the Intel Extreme Masters official website starting October 29th.

Blizzard Entertainment’s award-winning game, StarCraft II, will also be a feature event, and that tournament will include a mix of veterans and rising star players from around the world. Global qualifying tournaments for the event are underway, with fan-favorites ForGG and Vortix already punching their tickets to San Jose via the European qualifier.

All games will play out in the legendary SAP Center, home to the NHL Sharks and regular hosts to Olympic athletes and Grammy award winners. Set to continue Intel Extreme Masters’ legacy of bringing the world’s best gamers together to compete on the highest level, Michal Blicharz (Director Pro Gaming at ESL) said:

“We are proud to be delivering an esports event in a major US arena. With our stage layout we are looking at a capacity of about 12,000 seats.  If we sell out, this will be one of the largest Western esports events of all time.”

“When we first sponsored Intel Extreme Masters nine years ago, not many people bet on us going to arenas where professional sports and music concerts are performed” , says George Woo, corporate sponsorships manager at Intel. “It’s gratifying to see how far we have come.”

Early Bird tickets go on sale today for both StarCraft II and League of Legends seating. Tickets start at US$36 and US$40 respectively, with premium seating available for US$150 and US$250. Full Early Bird pricing is available on Ticketmaster, with prices set to increase once the limited early bird tickets sell out.

For a full breakdown of the competition brackets, voting procedure and ticketing information, please visit www.eslgaming.com

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