certainly has experience running live services
on mobile platforms. This lecture will reveal
the company’s lessons learned and essential
strategies for managing in-game economies,
attracting lapsed players, and more.
LOCALIZATION SUMMIT
With new markets emerging all over the world, high quality
localization is more important than ever for publishers
who wish to take advantage of these untapped territories.
The Game Localization Summit at GDC is supported and
organized by the IGDA Game Localization SIG, and features
lectures, panels, and postmortems intended to help
developers and publishers understand how to effectively
localize titles in terms of both planning and efficiency. As
of press time only one talk is announced, but there will be
several more at the show itself.
GAMIFICATION 201—30 TACTICS
IN 30 MINUTES
Rajat Paharia (Bunchball)
CREATING A SOCIAL, LOCATION-BASED SMARTPHONE GAME IN 5
WEEKS
Jennie Lees (Google)
/// In order to parse the most effective ways to
implement gamification solution for companies
of all sizes, this panel will answer some of the
most common questions about gamification
and how to execute it properly.
/// In order to keep up with the short release
cycles of mobile games, developers need to
be quick on their feet, with agile development
strategies and practices. This session takes
a look at how a team of four strangers took a
location-based game from concept to prototype
in just five weeks.
GAME MARKETS IN THE MIDDLE
EAST: OPPORTUNITIES AND
CHALLENGES
Oded Sharon (Corbomite Games) and Mahmoud
Khasawneh (Quirkat)
INDEPENDENT GAMES SUMMIT
Serving as the voice of the independent developer
at GDC, the Independent Games Summit features
lectures, postmortems, and roundtables from some
of the most influential indie developers, including
many former and current Independent Games Festival
finalists and winners. The summit lifts the curtain on
the wide range of knowledge and experience within the
indie community, with sessions focusing on design,
production, philosophy, business, marketing, and more.
/// The Middle East is not often considered
fertile ground for the industry, but its game
market has seen substantial growth over the
last five years, and this lecture will examine
its untapped potential and present examples
of the most successfully localized games for
the region.
SOCIAL AND ONLINE GAMES
SUMMIT
Social and online enabled have matured rapidly over
the last few years, with Facebook titles, web-based
games, and downloadable persistent MMOs among the
most prevalent examples. The Social and Online Games
Summit will take a close look at the ever-evolving space
and examine what does and doesn’t work there, as well
as where these types of games are headed in the future.
Sessions will feature the industry’s leading professions
as well as up-and-coming success stories in lectures
and panels on design, technology, business, and more.
BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS AND
SOCIAL GAMES
Peter Fishman (Playdom)
THE HUMBLE INDIE BUNDLE
John Graham ( Wolfire)
/// In order to examine how and why we make
certain decisions, Playdom economist Peter
Fishman will explore behavioral biases in
decision making, and how these innate biases
influence the mechanics and features designers
put into social games.
/// The Humble Indie Bundle, a pay-what-you-want charity promotion organized by a handful
of indie developers, took in over 1. 3 million
dollars in just 11 days. This lecture provides
an inside look at the inspiration and process
that led to the bundle’s creation, as well as a
breakdown of user contribution data and tips for
operating a successful promotion.
SERIOUS GAMES SUMMIT
The eighth annual Serious Games Summit focuses on
the evolution and growth of projects using video game
technology for purposes other than entertainment. This
summit features sessions on using game resources for
training, health, education, behavior change, science,
advertising, and more. This year’s summit is built
around changing behavior and participatory action, with
day one focusing on health and healthcare, while day
two will focus on the rising trends of “gamification,” the
process of building game-like incentives into non-game
applications.
USING YOUR FRIENDS:
IDENTIFYING THE TOP
INTERACTION MECHANICS IN
CURRENT SOCIAL GAMES & MEDIA
Mia Consalvo (MIT)
THE FULL SPELUNKY ON
SPELUNKY XBLA
Derek Yu (Independent) and Andy Hull (Story Fort)
HYPERLOCAL GAME DESIGN:
CONNECTING SOCIAL CURRENCY
TO REAL WORLD CURRENCY
Kati London (Area/Code)
/// In this panel, the creators of the roguelike
SPELUNK Y will detail the process and challenges
of bringing the celebrated PC title to Xbox Live
Arcade, while also discussing the benefits of
freeware titles and procedurally-generated
content.
/// This talk examines the community-specific
social game MACON MONE Y, which is structured
based on player locations and real purchases
within the town of Macon, GA. Its limited scope
and unique constraints helped the team find
new ways to innovate and link real world
currency to the game’s social infrastructure.
/// While social gaming has become a prominent
part of the modern industry, some of the most
popular social games feature very limited player
interaction. This panel will take a look at the
various social mechanics found in these titles,
and will point to the myriad interactions these
games can support.
GAME DESIGN BY ACCIDENTS
Steph Thirion
VIDEO GAME PLAY AS NIGHTMARE
PROTECTION
Jayne Gackenbach (Grant MacEwan University)
RETAIN YOUR CUSTOMERS BY
LETTING GO: FIXING THE SHORT
TERM TACTICS THAT THREATEN
PLAYER LOYALTY
Scott Rigby (Immersyve)
/// Programming is an interesting discipline; a
single change in a line of code can drastically
affect a game in its entirety. This lecture
will demonstrate how these changes can
be beneficial, and how coding can inspire
unexpected design ideas.
/// In this lecture, Jayne Gackenbach of Grant
MacEwan University will explain how video
games might help prevent nightmares, as they
train us in handling threatening situations,
and may help us gain control over the
circumstances of our dreams.
/// While some social games can attract a
large number of players with relative ease,
encouraging them to keep playing has become
the real challenge. This lecture focuses on
developing long term motivation in social
games, and how to collect and examine
behavioral and motivational metrics to better
gauge player retention.
GAME DEVELOPER | JANUARY 2011 12
