Triangle Game Conference Announces Keynotes, Event Schedule and Game Development University Syllabus

RALEIGH, N.C., March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- The Triangle Game Conference (TGC), scheduled for April 7-8, 2010 at the Raleigh Convention Center and Marriott City Center, today announced the conference will feature keynote addresses by Chad Dezern, Studio Director at Insomniac Games, and John Zuur Platten, co-founder of the Bureau of Film & Games. TGC has also announced the schedule of events for panels and lectures, including speaker selections for Game Development University, a syllabus of lectures recommended for attending students and aspiring game developers.

To view the master schedule of events, visit www.trianglegameconference.com/content/schedule_program

To register for the conference, visit www.trianglegameconference.com/apps/register.

Keynotes

Chad Dezern's keynote address, entitled, "The Portable Culture: Inside Insomniac's Expansion," will explore the genesis of Insomniac's move to the Triangle in 2009, the philosophy behind the studio's string of worldwide hits and how the company translated that philosophy to a new team in a new state.

Dezern will provide insight into Insomniac's approach to making games, including team structure and collaboration, design methods, idea generation, and production schedule. He will also share studio best practices and lessons learned.

Dezern oversees all aspects of development and content creation at Insomniac's studio in Durham, N.C. Prior to heading up the studio, he served as an Art Director, Environment Art Director, Senior Artist and Production Artist during his tenure at Insomniac. His credits include 15 shipped titles from Insomniac, DreamWorks Interactive and Disney Interactive.

John Zuur Platten will share his experiences as a pioneer at the forefront of immersive technology video games and cinema in his keynote address, "To Me, it's a Table: The Craftsmanship of Creativity." From humble beginnings as a tour guide at Universal Studios to producing blockbuster entertainment and cutting edge games including Avatar, The Chronicles of Riddick and Transformers, Platten will weave a vision of the past, present and future of immersive entertainment.

Early in his career, Platten was a production coordinator as well as post-production and visual effects supervisor for a variety of videogame series. Platten's early work as Visual Effects Producer on the Sega CD's Ground Zero Texas and Double Switch led to a relationship with Sega, where he designed, produced and wrote the highly successful Sega CD, Tomcat Alley.

Platten's projects released last year include: Wanted: Weapons of Fate, Ghostbusters, Project: Origin (sequel to F.E.A.R.), Dark Athena (the next chapter in the Riddick saga) and Wheelman. In development is Sin City, based on the cult graphic novels of Frank Miller, I Am Alive and HAWx for Ubisoft, Nuts for Square/Enix and Real Fighter for AMA. Other recent video game projects include Fantastic Four, Space Chimps, Scooby-Doo: Unmasked, Teen Titans and Constantine.  

Speaker Tracks and Game Development University

As previously announced, TGC 2010 will offer attendees five extensive tracks comprised of panels, lectures and discussions on top industry issues and trends. Speaker sessions will run Wednesday, April 7 and Thursday, April 8 from 9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

The five tracks include:

• Game Development
• Engines and Middleware
• Immersive Learning
• Business of Games
• Games and Media

Attending students and aspiring developers are encouraged to follow the "Game Development University" (GDU) program, a hand-picked selection of lectures and panels designed for helping attendees tap into education resources and make connections with industry leaders.

The GDU program recommendations include:

• "Monetizing Your Flash Game" by Christopher Gregorio, XDragonX10 Productions
• "Unity Indie Development" by Zachariah Inks and Stephen Cooney, Digital Roar Studios
• "Breaking into the Games Industry" by John Austin, Emergent Game Technologies
• "Indie Game Studio on a Shoe String Budget" by John Lyons, Digital Roar Studios
• "Level Design Using Unreal" by Brad Swearingen, Epic Games
• "Challenges and Solutions in Building Browser Based Games" by Jobe Makar, Electrotank
• "Physics for Game Programmers" by Jim Van Verth, Insomniac Games
• "Unreal Engine 3: Current Status and Latest Features" by Alan Willard, Epic Games
• "What Video Game Designers Can Learn from Tabletop Games" by Lewis Pulsipher, Fayetteville Technical Community College

To view the GDU syllabus schedule, visit www.trianglegameconference.com/content/expo/gdu.

For a listing of all conference speakers, visit www.trianglegameconference.com/content/speaker_list.

Career Lounge

For students who follow the GDU syllabus and are thirsting for more, TGC encourages visits to the TGC Career Lounge, which will feature 45-minute roundtables with industry professionals discussing critical topics such as:

• Navigating the shifting landscape of the industry,
• Preparing for interviews,
• A day in the life at work, and
• Starting your own company.

Roundtable hosts will include experts such as Joseph Drust, Senior Character Artist for Vicious Cycle; Demond Rogers, Level Designer for Epic Games; Garner Halloran, Tools Programmer for Insomniac Games; and Chris Deavellar, Art Director for Icarus Studios.

For more information about the Career Lounge and times when industry professionals will be hosting roundtables and work critiques, visit www.trianglegameconference.com/content/expo/careerfair.

Resume Submissions and Work Critiques

In the TGC Career Lounge, attendees will have access to local companies currently hiring and the ability to apply electronically for posted positions through on-site computer kiosks. Attendees are encouraged to bring electronic files of their resumes for posting.

For those interested in receiving a critique of their work, a demo kiosk will be set up to review portfolios via the Web, disk or drive.

About Triangle Game Conference

Held in Raleigh, North Carolina, the Triangle Game Conference is the East Coast forum for networking, career building and sharing gaming industry expertise. The conference presents a program of lectures by industry experts, a Career Fair and Expo at the Raleigh Convention Center and Marriott City Center. For more information, please visit www.trianglegameconference.com or check out TGC on Facebook and Twitter to get the most up-to-date information on the conference.

SOURCE Triangle Game Conference