From shellyhivemind at gmail.com Wed Dec 6 17:52:04 2006 From: shellyhivemind at gmail.com (shelly@hive-mind.com) Date: Thu Nov 29 17:38:57 2007 Subject: [dorkbotsea-announce] Re: December Dorkbot: Innovation in Games! In-Reply-To: <37bd773c0611291624g5e9ae01eq6a0cebdfd397cae9@mail.gmail.com> References: <37bd773c0611291624g5e9ae01eq6a0cebdfd397cae9@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <37bd773c0612061452l2b24cbbcu495d6ee1b3b1763e@mail.gmail.com> Reminder! tonight....see you there! On 11/29/06, shelly@hive-mind.com wrote: > > ************************PLEASE FORWARD FREELY********************* > > * * > > *WHAT: December DORKBOT: Innovation in Games* > > WHEN: Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2006*, *7:30 PM (7:00 for a bit of socializing!) > > WHERE: Center for Contemporary Arts (CoCA), 410 Dexter Ave N, Seattle > > ADMISSION: Free, all ages and species, but support CoCA by buying drinks > at their lovely bar! > > > > > ****************************************************************************** > > Greetings, Dorks! On Wednesday, December 6th at 7:30 PM at the Center of > Contemporary Art (CoCA), we will have three fabulous presentations about > innovation in games! > > * * > > *Jordan Weisman* and *Elan Lee* from *42 Entertainment* will discuss their > innovative approach to immersive, participatory entertainment, *James > Gwertzman* from *PopCap Games Inc.* will share techniques for creating > casual games, and *Ruth Fruland,* the Regional Coordinator for *Games for > Change* will provide an overview of using games and game concepts for social > change. > > * * > > Doors will be open at 7:00 if you want to show up early, have a drink at > CoCA's bar, and chat with your fellow dorks! If you would like to take > the mic for a few moments at "open dork" after the presentations let me > know. > > > > Please find more information about our presenters below; http://dorkbot > .org/dorkbotsea will also have full information about the talks shortly. > Please send any questions or comments to me, Shelly, your Dork Overlord, at > shellyhivemind@gmail.com. > > > > Looking forward to seeing you all on the 6th! Special thanks to CoCA (http://www.cocaseattle.org) > for providing a venue! > > > ****************************************************************************** > > More about the presenters: > > > > *Jordan Weisman*, 42 Entertainment, CEO ( http://42entertainment.com) > > A creative visionary in the entertainment and media world for the past 25 > years, Jordan is responsible for driving 42's overall creative vision and > steering conceptual development on behalf of 42's clients and partners. In > this role, Jordan provides hands-on direction to all 42's creative teams. > > The creative motivating force behind the founding and success of a number > of companies, Jordan launched his career in 1980 when he co-founded FASA > Corp., and led the design and creation of game lines such as BattleTech, > Shadowrun, and Crimson Skies. In 1987, Jordan and his partners founded VWE, > and built the world's first virtual reality entertainment venue, The > BattleTech Center. In 1992, members of the Disney family acquired a majority > stake in VWE. In 1995 Jordan founded FASA Interactive to develop > MechWarrior, a PC game that ultimately sold more than 11 million units. > Microsoft acquired FASA Interactive in 1999 and Jordan assumed the role of > Creative Director of Microsoft's Entertainment Division. In 2000, Jordan > and Dawne Weisman founded WizKids, creating collectable miniatures games > such as Mage Knight, Marvel HeroClix, and MechWarrior: Dark Age. Retail > sales for WizKids products topped $100 million in 2002. In 2003, Jordan sold > WizKids to The Topps Company. > > Jordan has won over one hundred awards during his career, including > election to the game designer's hall of fame by the Academy of Adventure > Gaming Arts & Design, and selection as Pacific Northwest Entrepreneur of the > Year for 2003 by Ernst & Young. > > > > *Elan Lee*, 42 Entertainment, Vice President, Experience Design ( > http://42entertainment.com) > > Elan has pioneered numerous breakthroughs in the area of entertainment and > immersive gaming in his career. At 42, he is responsible for crafting the > audience experience on innovative new projects, and also plays a key role in > the creation of the company's content-driven platforms. Elan started his > career as a character designer at Industrial Light and Magic, where he > worked on several motion pictures. In 1998 he became lead game designer at > Microsoft Game Studios, designing and directing games for the PC and Xbox. > Elan has served as Director and Lead Designer on numerous projects including > Steven Spielberg's AI experience, "The Beast", and "ilovebees". > > Elan's work has been featured in numerous publications around the world. > As a pioneer in the field of immersive gaming, and interactive experiences, > Elan is a frequent speaker at forums including the Game Developer's > Conference, The Alternative Gaming Forum, and Intel Research Laboratories. > > > > *James Gwertzman* , Director of Business Development, PopCap Games, Inc. ( > http://www.popcap.com) > > You should be making casual games! > > The casual game industry has erupted out of nowhere in the past few years > to become a major piece of the overall game industry, with revenues > projected to top $1B by 2008. Small, addictive, fun, and aggressively > mass-market, casual games are not only good business but they're also > incredibly fun to produce. Who wants to spend years being part of a 100+ > person team building a giant "blockbuster" game that will cost so much to > build that its publisher is unwilling to take any creative risks, when you > could be producing the equivalent of an "art house" film ? a small, tight, > creative game that will live and die in the market entirely by the merits of > its actual game-play? And quite literally do so at home in the garage, with > a very real chance at being successful? > > Come to this talk to learn more about casual games, and also to get an > overview of tools & resources available to you for free to help get you > started creating the next great gaming masterpiece at home in your free > time. James Gwertzman is the Director of Business Development for PopCap > games, one of the leading casual game developers and publishers, but he's > also got first-hand experience as an "indie" developer in this space, having > co-founded Sprout Games (a small and successful casual game developer) prior > to its acquisition by PopCap. As part of this talk James will also share > some of the techniques that PopCap uses in developing its own best-selling > casual games such as Bejeweled or Zuma. > > * * > > *Ruth Fruland* , Ph.D., Research Associate, Human Interface Technology Lab > (HITL), and Regional Coordinator, Games for Change > > Ruth Fruland is the Northwest Coordinator of the national Games for Change > organization, a subset of the Serious Games movement, and for several years > have been spearheading a group called GaSworks, which is an informal group > of people who share an interest in Games and Simulations in Education in the > Puget Sound area. Her presentation will include some of the games and game > concepts that people in this group have developed, in addition to what else > is out there, or is on the horizon. Check out the Games for Change and > Serious Games websites at: > > http://www.gamesforchange.org / and > http://www.seriousgames.org/index2.html > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotsea-announce/attachments/20061206/e0b585bb/attachment.html