CASUAL GAMES CONFERENCE EARLY
REGISTRATION ENDS JULY 11, 2005
Leading developers, publishers
and distributors converge on Seattle on July 19-20, 2005
SEATTLE, Washington – July 6, 2005 –
Early registration for the Casual Games Conference ends July 11, 2005. Attendees
who register by July 11 pay only $195, saving $200 off the $395 registration
fee. The Casual Games Conference takes place July 19-20, 2005 in Seattle,
Washington and provides insights to the business opportunities and design
considerations required for developers, publishers and distributors to succeed
in this rapidly-expanding game industry segment. Register now at
http://www.CasualGamesConference.com/register/
The Casual Games Conference is
sponsored by industry leaders Microsoft Casual Games Group, Real Networks,
Nokia, Sandlot Games, shockwave.com, Game Instinct and DigiPen. Media partners
include Moby Games, GameDev.net, Gamesindustry.biz and Business Wire.
Casual Games Conference Schedule
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Multiplayer What are the current
business models for multiplayer and community based games? What infrastructure
exists/is being created to support multiplayer and community games? What portion
of the distributors will be supporting/pushing for MP content in the future? –
Moderator: Jay Moore – Daniel James, Three Rings – Hugh De Loayza, EA – Teemu
Huuhtanen, Sulake Corporation
Neopets! An inside look at
the immersive advertising of Neopets with NeoPets’ Vice President, Business
Development & Immersive Advertising Eric Greenwald. (oh and Viacom just recently
paid $160 million for the Neopets website and its’ 25 million members.) – Eric
Greenwald, Vice President, Business Development & Immersive Advertising Neopets
Alternative Business: Marketing
Models What are the current business models beyond the 60 minutes try and buy?
What are the most successful way to draw and keep people at a distribution site?
Discuss: subscription models, targeted marketing, and branded IP. – Moderator:
Joel Brodie – Shaul Olmert, Nickelodeon – Paul Thelen, Big Fish Games – Duncan
Magee, Real Networks, Inc. – Andrew Pedersen, Pogo – Colin Cardwell, 3rd Sense
Advergaming Is advergaming the
future of online gaming? What success have others seen? What tools and services
exist for integrating advertisements? What are the ethical issues surrounding
some implementations? What about adver supported web games? What is the
customer’s reaction to the model: are we moving to a tv or movie advertisement
model? – Moderator: Robb Lewis, Trymedia Systems – Alex St. John, WildTangent –
Peter Glover, Shockwave – Brian Robbins, Fuel Industries – Garry Kitchen,
Skyworks – Shawn McMichael, Microsoft Casual Games Group
FUN! What makes a game rewarding and
fun? – Scott Kim
CGC Party Sponsored by Microsoft
Casual Games Group
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
IGDA SIG Announcements
Developing for the Sony PlayStation
Portable (PSP) and Nintendo DS Opportunities and pitfalls for casual developers
and publishers interested in developing games for handheld devices. – Mark
DeLoura, Sony – Lindsey Gupton, Amaze Entertainment – Chris Charla, Digital
Eclipse
Contracts and Royalties Is the
current split fair? What are the ramifications of the recent dip in
publisher/developer royalties? Are the publishing efforts from distributors a
side effect of an unfair split or the desire from the developers to minimize
risk? How does the casual split compare to the core PC space? – Moderator: James
Gwertzman, Sprout Games – Duncan Magee, Real Networks, Inc. – Greg Mills,
America Online – Rich Roberts, PlayFirst – David Nixon, Oberon Media, Inc. – CJ
Wolf, iWin – David Walls, Funkitron, Inc.
Wireless: Taking Casual Games to the
Wireless Space How casual games are an important part of the mobile games
industry: opportunities for developers and how to tackle them. – Moderator: Ken
Ruck, Virgin Mobile USA – Jason Ford, Sprint – Mike Yuen, Qualcomm – Juan Gril,
Joju
Appealing to the Casual Gamer Is the
demographic, design direction and quality bar for the casual game space
changing? Will we start to see alternative game types as the market matures and
broadens: casual strategy games, more complex story lines, more action
titles…? – Moderator: Wade Tinney, Large Animal Games – Jason Kapalka, PopCap
– Nicholas Fortugno, gameLab – David Rohrl, Pogo – Eric Albert, Gameloft
Designing and Marketing Skill and
Tournament Based Games What new opportunities exist for games following an
alternative game design and marketing model such as skill and tournament based
gaming? What alternative distribution models are companies using for their skill
based games? (comment on machines in vegas and bars) How does the demographic
and attach rate for skill and tournament based games compare to typical web
games and community based games? What is the customer?s reaction to the skill
based gaming? What types of government restrictions if any come into effect for
skill based gaming? What is the projected growth of this market compared to the
other areas of the casual game market? – Moderator: Daniel Bernstein, Sandlot
Games – Paul Jensen, SkillJam – Stephen Killeen, WorldWinner – Joshua Howard,
Microsoft Casual Games Group – Adeo Ressi, Game Trust – Steve Hoffman, Infospace
Games
The early registration price of $195
ends July 11, 2005. Register now at
http://www.CasualGamesConference.com/register/
About The Game Initiative
The Game Initiative is a leading
producer of conferences and events for professionals in the computer and video
game industry. The Initiative is chartered with the growth of the industry
through events, public awareness, information and supporting programs and serves
the needs of companies and people involved in producing interactive
entertainment software and hardware for video game consoles, handheld devices,
personal computers and the Internet. Game Initiative events include the Austin
Game Conference, the Mobile Game Conference, the Women’s Game Conference, The
Advertising In Games Forum, Advertising In Games West, European Advertising In
Games Forum, The Casual Games Conference, Game Technology Association Meetings
and the How to Break into the Game Industry national conference series. More
information about the Game Initiative can be found at
http://www.GameConferences.com
