Ichiro Otobe, chief strategist of Square Enix Co., Ltd., will deliver the opening keynote for the Serious Games Summit GDC (SGS GDC) taking place March 5-6, 2007, at the Moscone Convention Center North in San Francisco. Otobe's address, titled "Serious Games Squared," will detail the efforts, strategies, and risks that went into Square Enix's entry in the serious games sector. Otobe will also discuss the company's approach to reconcile commercial entertainment economics with the realities, challenges and opportunities of the serious games industry. The session will also feature demos of prototype games and titles currently under development.
Otobe said, "The serious games market represents a new outlet for our skills as a game developer, and it means that we will be serving totally different customers. As such, there are many different kinds of hurdles that must be cleared in order for it to offer meaningful opportunities. I plan to speak about Square Enix's approach to these challenges, and hopefully provide both business and design inspiration for everyone interested in the uses of games beyond entertainment."
"This keynote signifies the growing impact serious games can have not only outside of games but within the games industry -- even for major companies like Square Enix," said Ben Sawyer, co-founder, Digitalmill, and SGS GDC content chair. "We have constantly taken the approach that serious games gets its core strength from the great work arising from our best industry resources. This year's SGS GDC will speak to this and we look forward to the industry-wide reflection and innovation which will undoubtedly spring from the Summit and this address in particular."
SGS GDC offers advanced seminars on design, production, implementation and assessment issues related to serious games, as well as case studies on game-based solutions and simulations used within non-entertainment industries. There will be SGS GDC Reception on March 5 from 6-8:00 pm to network with game developers and industry professionals. The SGS GDC speaker lineup, full session descriptions and registration are available online at www.sgs.gdconf.com.
More than 12,500 game industry professionals are expected to convene during GDC, the world's largest games industry-only event dedicated to the advancement of resources, tools and technologies used to create interactive entertainment. The GDC features more than 300 lectures, panels, tutorials and round-table discussions on a comprehensive selection of game development topics taught by leading industry experts.
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