2014 D.I.C.E. Summit Reveals Additional Speakers To Present On Augmented Reality, Feelings-centric Game Design, And Industry Forecasts

Also, Google's Niantic Labs Will Unleash An Exclusive Live Player Event For Attendees

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The organizers of the 2014 D.I.C.E. Summit today announced additional speakers to its conference line-up.  These new sessions will address the overall theme of the conference, The New Golden Age, with industry veterans and leaders discussing how blending real-world interaction, tipping points, and a feelings-first approach can redefine games in the next generation.  New speakers include John Hanke, Niantic Labs; Robin Hunicke, Funomena; and industry luminary Trip Hawkins.

This year the D.I.C.E. Summit is partnering with Niantic Labs at Google to unleash a special live player event exclusively for attendees with a unique Ingress experience, complete with secret missions played out in the real world through smartphones. The game is a portal itself, into an unseen reality that surrounds "agents" (players) who are organized into factions, defending the world according to their beliefs. During the D.I.C.E. conference, players will battle in the virtual and real world, executing both solo missions and -- most importantly -- group missions with other Ingress agents. Ingress unlocks a deeply engaging narrative, one that evolves with players' actions.

New speakers added include:

• John Hanke, founder of Niantic Labs at Google, will reveal the world of Ingress and talk about Niantic's mission to blend reality with interactive entertainment and location services. His session, titled "Adventures on Foot: The World Through Ingress" will discuss the unique ways a location-aware mobile platform can bring a game to life, and break assumptions about how mobile and free-to-play games are designed in today's game industry.
• Robin Hunicke, Designer and Co-Founder at Funomena will open up a discussion about one of the most important functions of entertainment.  In her talk, titled "We Care A Lot," Robin will outline her manifesto for the feeling-first approach to building games, plus her experiences building a company and a global audience.
• Trip Hawkins is the Academy's 2005 Hall of Fame recipient.  EA Founder Trip will speak on "Tipping Point," illustrating how several tipping points are challenging the game industry to change, and pointing the way toward a golden age for games. Co-Founder and CEO of If You Can Company, a maker of educational games, he also advises game and tech companies including Kixeye, NativeX and Extreme Reality 3D. 

These industry experts will join the line-up of confirmed speakers: David Helgason of Unity, Ed Fries, and Sundance DiGiovanni of MLG.

Registration for the 2014 D.I.C.E. Summit and 17^th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards is currently open (the D.I.C.E. Awards ticket is included in the full conference pass or it can be purchased separately as a stand-alone event). Register until Dec. 20 for regular registration pricing at www.dicesummit.org.

This past September marked the Academy's inaugural D.I.C.E. event in Europe.  To watch the stellar line-up of speakers discussing the future of interactive entertainment, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=SPLx_Nt-I7Viqp_BIKm8gyyOHVrLi8HrEI

SOURCE Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences