The Game Developers Conference 2008, which is currently scheduled for February 18-11 in San Francisco, has published a list of featured speakers and topics under discussion for each. Here are some big names for the curious:
Peter Molyneux (Head of Studios, Lionhead Studios), on (surprise!)
Fable 2 - The Big Three Features Revealed.
- Peter Molyneux's stated ambition as a designer is to make FABLE 2 a landmark game. In order to achieve this three big design features have been added. The inspiration and rational behind these features will be discussed along with their evolution throughout the development process. The wider context of their impact and influence on the RPG genre with also be examined as the ambition is also to evolve the genre itself. The talk will be supported by retrospective videos as well as live game examples.
Ken Levine (President/Creative Director, 2K Boston) on (bigger surprise!)
Storytelling in Bioshock: Empowering Players to Care about Your Stupid Story (sign me up).
- Game stories can matter, even in first person shooters. But first we're going to have to give up a lot of our preconceptions about what people care about when playing a game. For too long, games (especially first person shooters) have been stuck in a "game sequence followed by story sequence" mentality. Ken Levine will tell the tale of how the BIOSHOCK took a pointy-headed idea about a pseudo-objectivist utopia and turned it into one of the most compelling and succesful game worlds in recent history. What were the tools used? What compromises had to be made? Where did the shooter end and the story begin? How did we make people give a crap? How did we use story and narrative to become perhaps the most talked about game at the super-crowded E3 2006? What does this all mean for stories in games? And must of all, what hell does "Mise En Scene" mean?
Chris Butcher (Engineering Lead, Microsoft/Bungie) on
E Pluribus Unum: Matchmaking in Halo 3.
- The online multiplayer mode of HALO 3 features an automatic matchmaking system to place players into games. Players may join individually or with parties of friends, and are quickly matched into groups. This presentation describes the algorithms behind the peer-to-peer matchmaking model, and its implementation over Xbox Live. It examines the impact of matchmaking on the HALO online community, and provides techniques for shaping the player experience and discouraging cheaters. The tradeoffs of an automatic matchmaking system compared to traditional multiplayer game browsers will be discussed, and illustrated by some results from the first months of HALO 3's operation.
Cevat Yerli (Managing Director, Crytek) on
Crysis in the Making.
- This session will offer a look into key areas of CRYSIS development that markedly depart from Crytek's first project, FAR CRY. Main topics include Nanosuit design and gameplay, creating a rich, destructible/non-linear world, and peopling it with dynamic, believable AI enemies that challenge and entertain the player.
You can view the full list of
featured speakers here. If you're interested in the keynotes, however, you can find that
here.
Reviews
Video footage of a recent interview of Ted Price and Colin Munson of Insomniac Games regarding Resistance 2 (dated for 2008), the sequel to the best (or second best, depending on your love for Call of Duty 4) shooter on the PlayStation 3, has hit the Web.
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In happier Nintendo news of the morning, Nintendo of America has announced that it has appointed two sales and marketing executives to its new office in Redwood City, California. 
