GDC 2014 - our lecture recommendations for press.

Since we're rapidly coming up on Game Developers Conference 2014, which Gamasutra parent UBM Tech Game Network organizes, and I help to run, there's a wealth of info out there about the show.

Obviously, we tend to use the official GDC news blog and its related RSS feed and Twitter/Facebook pages to highlight most of the goodness going on at the show, but every year there's one or two things that end up being more suitable to highlight elsewhere.

But there was something that we showed to you back in 2011 and again in 2013, and I wanted to pass along again here. We've gone to a fairly strict invite-only media policy to GDC to make sure we do allow press to attend. But the developers who make up the bulk of the attendees - and the learning results - are the main focus.

Nonetheless, every year, our press liaison firm FortySeven Communications works with us to put together a list of some of the most interesting Summit and Main Conference lectures that could work well when written up for a larger audience.

We don't always publish these to the public. But both for the benefit of press that might not have spotted them yet, and for those people who want to see some of the 'newsier' (and some of the worthwhile and less news-y) talks at the show this week, here it is.

(However, massive disclaimer again - these are not ALL necessarily the talks that you will get the best takeaway for if you're a developer looking for solid takeaway from the show. This is especially true if you want to attend technical talks based around programming, art, audio, etc. Please carefully peruse our overall session list and make a schedule that's right for you.)

Game Narrative Summit

Beyond Fun: Difficult Topics Inspire Story and Design

Speakers: Hugo Giard (Ubisoft), Jill Murray (Ubisoft)

Date/Time: Monday (March 17) 10:00am-10:25am

Location: Room 3016, West Hall

Death to the Three Act Structure! Toward a Unique Structure for Game Narratives

Speakers: Tom Abernathy (Riot Games), Richard Rouse III (Microsoft Game Studios)

Date/Time: Monday (March 17) 3:00pm-3:25pm

Location: Room 3016, West Hall

User Responses to Narrative-Driven Games

Speakers: Fasih Sayin (Crytek)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 11:15am-11:40am

Location: Room 3016, West Hall

1979 Revolution: A Case Study in Bringing Real Stories to Gaming

Speakers: Navid Khonsari (iNK Stories)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 4:30pm-4:55pm

Location: Room 3016, West Hall

Independent Games Summit

Trial by Fire: The Making of Little Inferno

Speakers: Kyle Gray (Tomorrow Corporation)

Date/Time: Monday (March 17) 10:00am-10:25am

Location: Room 2005, West Hall

Sandbox Lessons: Modular Design in Kerbal Space Program

Speakers: Chad Jenkins (Squad)

Date/Time: Monday (March 17) 10:35am-11:00am

Location: Room 2005, West Hall

The Programming of Gone Home: How to Succeed by Being Lazy

Speakers: Johnnemann Nordhagen (The Fullbright Company)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 10:35am-11:00am

Location: Room 2005, West Hall

Antichamber: An Overnight Success, Seven Years in the Making

Speakers: Alexander Bruce (Antichamber)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 11:15am-12:15pm

Location: Room 2005, West Hall

Empathy for Octopodes: How Octodad Helped Young Horses Grow Up

Speakers: John Murphy (Young Horses)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 3:35pm-4:00pm

Location: Room 2005, West Hall

Indie Soapbox

Speakers: Leigh Alexander (Gamasutra), Shawn Alexander Allen (NuChallenger), Ryan Clark (Independent), Zach Gage (Independent), Kert Gartner (kertgartner.com), Nika Harper (ndependent), Robin Hunicke (Funomena), Ethan Levy (FamousAspect), Zoe Quinn (Independent), Kellee Santiago (OUYA), Lea Schonfelder (Independent)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 4:30pm-5:30pm

Location: Room 2005, West Hall

Free-to-Play Design and Business Summit

The Year in Free-to-Play Games

Speakers:  Juan Gril (Joju Games), Steve Meretzky (GSN Games), Dave Rohrl (GameHound Inc.)

Date/Time: Monday (March 17) 10:00am - 11:00am

Location: Room 2016, West Hall

Lessons from Launching Plants vs. Zombies 2 in China

Speaker: Kun [Leo] Liu (PopCap)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 10:00am - 11:00am

Location: Room 2016, West Hall

The State of Mid-Core F2P Games

Speakers: Steven Martin (Kabam Vancouver), Mike Sellers (Rumble Entertainment)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 11:15am - 12:15pm

Location: Room 2020, West Hall

Designing In-Game Purchases

Speaker: Ethan Levy (FamousAspect)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 3:00pm - 4:00pm

Location: Room 2016, West Hall

Smartphone & Tablet Games Summit

Infinity Blade: Creating the Mobile Blockbuster Trilogy

Speaker: Scott Stoddard (ChAIR Entertainment)

Date/Time: Monday (March 17) 2:20pm-2:45pm

Location: Room 2001, West Hall

The Global Android Explosion: Succeeding on Earth's Largest Gaming Platform

Speaker: Torrey Lincoln (Flurry, Inc.)

Date/Time: Monday (March 17) 4:30pm-4:55pm

Location: Room 2001, West Hall

AAA Mobile Games Development: iOS was a Console and Android a PC

Speaker: Romain Sididris (Gameloft)

Date/Time: Monday (March 17) 5:05pm-6:05pm

Location: Room 2001, West Hall

Meaningful Companion Apps for AAA Console Titles

Speakers: Andree-Anne Boisvert (Ubisoft Quebec), Marie Eve Vignola (Ubisoft Quebec)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 3:00pm-3:25pm

Location: Room 2001, West Hall

Localization Summit

Indie Games Localization: Is It Worth It?

Speakers: Belen Agullo Garcia (PINK NOISE), Jonas Waever (Logic Artists)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 10:35am-11:00am

Location: Room 2004, West Hall

Journey to the West: A Chinese Game Localization Primer

Speakers: Shaun Newcomer (Reality Squared Games)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 1:45pm-2:10pm

Location: Room 2004, West Hall

Crowdsourcing the Localization of Gone Home

Speakers: Johnnemann Nordhagen (The Fullbright Company)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 4:30pm-4:55pm

Location: Room 2004, West Hall

What is the Place of Machine Translation in Today's Gaming Industry?

Speakers: Michaela Bartlet (Electronic Arts), Michel Buch Andersen (Pole To Win International), Beatrice Compagnon (Vienna Group International), Mike Dillinger (Association for Machine Translation in the Americas), Declan Groves (Microsoft), Kirti Vashee (Asia Online)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 5:05pm-6:05pm

Location: Room 2004, West Hall

Artificial Intelligence Summit

AI Postmortes: Hearthstone

Speakers: Brian Schwab (formerly Blizzard Entertainment)

Date/Time: Monday (March 17) 10:00am - 11:00am

Location: Room 3007, West Hall

Bringing BioShock Infinite's Elizabeth to Life: An AI Development Postmortem

Speakers: John Abercrombie (Irrational Games)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 10:00am - 11:00am

Location: Room 3007, West Hall

The Simplest AI Trick in the Book

Speakers: John Abercrombie (Irrational Games), Michael Dawe (Harmonix Music Systems), Kevin Dill (Game AI Architecture, Lockheed Martin) Rez Graham (Maxis), Cloderic Mars (MASA Group), Brian Schwab (Blizzard Entertainment), Jeet Shroff (Avalanche Studios)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 1:45pm - 2:10pm

Location: Room 3007, West Hall

Free-Range AI: Creating Compelling Characters for Open World Games

Speakers: Aaron Canary (Volition), Jeet Shroff (Avalanche Studios)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 3:00pm - 4:00pm

Location: Room 3007, West Hall

GDC Education Summit

Top Ten Things to Teach About Game Writing

Speakers: Wendy Despain (Quantum Content)

Date/Time: Monday (March 17) 10:35am-11:00am

Location: Room 3020, West Hall

Game Design Education 10+ Years In: Where to Take the Field from Here

Speakers: Katherine Isbister (New York University)

Date/Time: Monday (March 17) 5:05pm-5:30pm

Location: Room 3020, West Hall

Feature Creep or Essential Mechanics? Top Twenty Things Game Development Programs Should be Doing Outside the Classroom

Speakers: Roger Altizer (EAE Master Games Studio/University of Utah), Mia Consalvo (Concordia University)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 10:00am-11:00am

Location: Room 3020, West Hall

Extracurricular Video Game Development Clubs: How They Complement the Classroom Experience

Speakers: Chris DeLeon(HobbyGameDev)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 11:15am-11:40am

Location: Room 3020, West Hall

QA Summit

Making Every Crash Count: Effective Mobile Game Testing

Speakers: Sean Robertson (Google) Dave Santoro (Google)

Date/Time: Monday (March 17) 1:45pm-2:45pm

Location: Room 2004, West Hall

Customer Support - Critical to Game Development

Speakers: Paul Boustany (Activision), Randolph D'Amore (Microsoft), Dave Firth-Eagland (EA), Tim Rondeau (Activision), Brent Wilkinson (Ubisoft)

Date/Time: Monday (March 17) 11:15am-12:15pm

Location: Room 2004, West Hall

Back To The Future of QA

Speakers: Peter Cardwell (Xbox IEB Certification Group/Microsoft), Michael Gilmartin (Blizzard Entertainment), Darren Merritt (Riot Games), Dave Parkinson (First Party QA Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment), Mario Vasquez (Electronic Arts), Ben Wibberley (Client Solutions/VMC Game Labs)

Date/Time: Monday (March 17) 4:30pm-5:30pm

Location: Room 2004, West Hall

Special Main Conference Sessions (open to all passholders) on Tuesday, March 18

From the Advocacy Track:

The Connection Between Boys' Social Status, Gaming and Conflict

Speakers:  Ashly Burch (Hey Ash LLC), Rosalind Wiseman (Author, Queen Bees & Wannabes and Masterminds & Wingmen)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 12:45pm-1:15pm

Location: Room 2010, West Hall

Sponsored Session from the Programming Track:

Driving the Future of Innovation at Sony Computer Entertainment (Sponsored Session presented by Sony Computer Entertainment America)

Speakers: Richard Marks (SCEA R&D), Anton Mikhailov (SCEA R&D), Shuhei Yoshida (SCE Worldwide Studios)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 5:45pm – 6:45pm

Location: Room 130, North Hall

GDC Flash Forward

GDC Flash Forward

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 9:30am – 10:30am

Location: GDC Ballroom, West Hall

GDC Favorites

Rant Apocalypse: The 10th Anniversary Mega Session

Speakers: Ian Bogost (Georgia Institute of Technology), Heather Chaplin (The New School), Greg Costikyan (Loot Drop), Jason Della Rocca (Execution Labs), Justin Hall (Links.net), Chris Hecker (definition six, inc.), Mitu Khandaker-Kokoris (The Tiniest Shark), Frank Lantz (NYU Game Center), Brenda Romero (UC Santa Cruz), Eric Zimmerman (Independent)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 11:30am – 12:30pm

Location: Room 135 North Hall

GDC Microtalks 2014: One Hour, Ten Speakers, a Panoply of Game Thinking!

Speakers: Emily Greer (Kongregate), Tadhg Kelly (What Games Are), Mitu Khandaker-Kokoris (The Tiniest Shark), Harry Lee (Wanderlands), Richard Lemarchand (USC), Susan O’Connor (Susan O’Connor Writing Studio), Lana Polansky (Sufficiently Human), Elizabeth Sampat (Independent), Brian Sharp (Independent), Austin Wintory (Wintory Global Engineering)

Date/Time: Friday (March 21) 10:00am - 11:00am

Location: Room 135, North Hall

Experimental Gameplay Workshop

Speakers: Daniel Benmergui (Independent), Robin Hunicke (Funomena) 

Ted Aronson (Independent), Mahdi Bahrami (Independent), Thijmen Bink (Digital Dreams),  Brandon Dillon (Double Fine Productions), Albert Elwin (Space Budgie), Bennett Foddy (NYU Gamecenter/ foddy.net), Auriea Harvey (Tale of Tales),  Karl Inglott (Space Budgie),  Kellan Jett (Independent), Adriann de Jongh (Game Oven),  Ichiro Lambe (Dejobaan Games), Greg LoPiccolo (Harmonix), Martin Middleton (Funomena), Geert Nellen (Digital Dreams), Jason Roberts (Gorogoa), Sarah Romoslawski (Anchorage), Michael Samyn (Tale of Tales), Ziba Scott (Popcannibal), Albert Shih (CMU), Gabe Smedresen (Ancorage), Ken Strickland (Harmonix), Robin-Yann Storm (Fru), Mattia Traversom (Fru), Yuxi Zhang (CMU)           

Date/Time: Friday (March 21) 2:30pm – 4:30pm

Location: Room 135, North Hall

Classic Game and Studio Postmortems

Shenmue

Speaker: Yu Suzuki (Ys Net)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Location: Room 135, North Hall

Simultaneously translated from Japanese into English

Classic Studio Postmortem: Lucasfilm Games

Speakers: Steve Arnold (Polaris Partners), Noah Falstein (Google), David Fox (Electric Eggplant), Ron Gilbert (Independent), Peter Langston (Apple Advanced Computation Group), Chip Morningstar (PayPal)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 10:00am - 11:00am

Location: Room 135, North Hall

Robotron: 2084

Speaker: Eugene Jarvis (Raw Thrills)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 2:30pm - 3:30pm

Location: Room 135, North Hall

Zork

Speaker: Dave Lebling (BAE Systems)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 5:30pm - 6:30pm

Location: Room 135, North Hall

Big Names…:

Meanwhile, In Japan

Speakers: Keiji Inafune (Comcept, Inc.), Mark MacDonald (8-4, Ltd.)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Location: Room 135, North Hall

Simultaneously translated from Japanese into English

Narrative Legos

Speaker: Ken Levine (Irrational Games)

Date/Time: Friday (March 21) 11:30am - 12:30pm

Location: Room 2001, West Hall

Xbox’s Phil Spencer: Fireside Chat

Speakers: Kris Graft (Gamasutra), Phil Spencer (Microsoft)

Date/Time: Friday (March 21) 11:30am - 12:30pm

Location: Room 135, North Hall

There and Back Again: Koji Igarashi's Metroidvania Tale

Speaker: Koji Igarashi

Date/Time: Friday (March 21) 2:30pm - 3:30pm

Location: Room 303, South Hall

Simultaneously translated from Japanese into English

… and Big Games:

How to Turn a New Leaf at the Animal Crossing

Speakers: Katsuya Eguchi (Nintendo Co., Ltd.), Aya Kyogoku (Nintendo Co., Ltd.)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 11:00am - 12:00pm

Location: Room 135, North Hall

Simultaneously translated from Japanese into English

The Visual Effects of inFAMOUS: Second Son

Speaker: Matt Vainio (Sucker Punch)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Location: Room 2006, West Hall

The Art of Reanimating Plants vs. Zombies 2

Speaker: Mark Barrett (PopCap Games)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Location: Room 2006, West Hall

Why is Gone Home a Game?

Speakers: Steve Gaynor (The Fullbright Company)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 10:00am - 11:00am

Location: Room 2001, West Hall

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Road to Next-Gen Graphics

Speaker: Bartlomiej Wronski (Ubisoft Montreal)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 11:30am - 12:30pm

Location: Room 132, North Hall

Creating BioShock Infinite's Elizabeth

Speaker: Shawn Robertson (Irrational Games)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 2:30pm - 3:30pm

Location: Room 3016, West Hall

Puzzle and Dragons Postmortem

Speaker: Kazuki Morishita (GungHo)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 5:30pm - 6:30pm

Location: Room 303, South Hall

Simultaneously translated from Japanese into English

Building Customizable Characters for Bungie’s Destiny

Speaker: Scott Shepherd (Bungie)

Date/Time: Friday (March 21) 10:00am - 11:00am

Location: Room 2016, West Hall

Battlefield 4: Creating a More Dynamic Battlefield

Speaker: Linnea Harrison (EA DICE)

Date/Time: Friday (March 21) 10:00am - 11:00am

Location: Room 3007, West Hall

Hearthstone: 10 Bits of Design Wisdom

Speaker: Eric Dodds (Blizzard)

Date/Time: Friday (March 21) 11:30am - 12:30pm

Location: Room 303, South Hall

Advocacy Track and Other Sessions on Social Issues

The Connection Between Boys’ Social Status, Gaming and Conflict

Speakers: Ashly Burch (Hey Ash LLC), Rosalind Wiseman (Author, Queen Bees & Wannabes and Masterminds & Wingmen)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 12:45pm - 1:15pm

Location: Room 2010, West Hall

U.S. National Investment in the Future of Games?

Location: Room 130, North Hall

Speakers: William Bainbridge (National Science Foundation), Jason Rhody (National Endowment for the Humanities), Noah Wardrip-Fruin (UC Santa Cruz)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Location: Room 130, North Hall

Misogyny, Racism and Homophobia: Where do Video Games Stand?

Speaker: Manveer Heir (BioWare Montreal)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 3:30pm - 4:30pm

Location: Room 2006, West Hall

Enhancing Sportsmanship in Online Games

Speaker: Jeffrey Lin (Riot Games)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Location: Room 2001, West Hall

How to Subversively Queer Your Work

Speakers: Samantha Allen (Emory University), Mattie Brice (Independent), Todd Harper (MIT Game Lab), Christine Love (Love Conquers All Games, Inc.), Zoe Quinn (Independent)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 10:00am - 11:00am

Location: Room 130, North Hall

Mob Rules: The Destructive Power of Opinion and Online Community

Speaker: Adam Orth (Three One Zero)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 11:30am - 12:30pm

Location: Room 2001, West Hall

How to Depression-Proof Your Studio Culture

Speaker: Russ Pitts (Take This, Inc.)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 4:00pm - 5:00pm

Location: Room 304, South Hall

#1ReasonToBe

Speakers: Leigh Alexander (Gamasutra), Deirdra Kiai (Independent), Anna Kipnis (Double Fine Productions) Colleen Macklin (Parsons The New School for Design), Laralyn McWilliams (The Workshop Entertainment), Brenda Romero (UC Santa Cruz), Lauren Scott (UC Santa Cruz)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 4:00pm - 5:00pm

Location: Room 135, North Hall

Accessibility: Lessons Learned from Designing for Gamers with Disabilities

Speaker: Ian Hamilton (Ian Hamilton DC)

Date/Time: Friday (March 21) 2:30pm - 2:55pm

Location: Room 3003, West Hall

Sponsored Sessions by Top Hardware and Software Providers

Driving the Future of Innovation at Sony Computer Entertainment (Presented by Sony Computer Entertainment America)

Speakers: Richard Marks (SCEA R&D), Anton Mikhailov (SCEA R&D), Shuhei Yoshida (SCE Worldwide Studios)

Date/Time: Tuesday (March 18) 5:45pm – 6:45pm

Location: Room 130, North Hall

Working with the Latest Oculus Rift Hardware and Software (Presented by Oculus VR)

Speakers: Michael Antonov (Oculus VR), Nate Mitchell (Oculus VR)

Date:/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 11:00am - 12:00pm

Location: Room 3020, West Hall

Creating Unique Interactive Experiences with the PlayStation4 (Presented by Sony Computer Entertainment America)

Speaker: Chris Norden (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 12:00pm-2:00pm

Location: Room 3020, West Hall

ID@Xbox: What's New in Live for Xbox One (Presented by Microsoft)

Speaker: Frank Savage (Microsoft)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 1:00pm - 2:00pm

Location: Room 2002, West Hall

Panel on Indie Development Solutions for PlayStation 4 (Presented by Sony Computer Entertainment America)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Location: Room 3020, West Hall

ID@Xbox: SmartGlass and Cross Screen Applications for Xbox One (Presented by Microsoft)

Speaker: Frank Savage (Microsoft)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 3:30pm - 4:30pm

Location: Room 2002, West Hall

F2P on PS4-Can it Work? (Presented by Sony Computer Entertainment America)

Speakers: Jared Gerritzen (Zombie Studios), Sarah Thomson (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 11:30am - 12:30pm

Location: Room 2014, West Hall

Developing Virtual Reality Games and Experiences (Presented by Oculus VR)

Speaker: Tom Forsyth (Oculus VR)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 2:30pm - 3:30pm

Location: Room 3020, West Hall

The Witcher 3: Enabling Next-Gen Effects through NVIDIA GameWorks (Presented by NVIDIA)

Speakers: Dane Johnston (NVIDIA), Monier Maher (NVIDIA), Balazs Torok (CD Projekt RED)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 4:00pm - 5:00pm

Location: Room 2004, West Hall

Audio Track

The Next-Gen Dynamic Sound System of Killzone Shadow Fall

Speakers: Andreas Varga (Guerrilla Games), Anton Woldhek (Guerrilla Games)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 11:00am - 12:00pm

Location: Room 3006, West Hall

Next-Gen Audio in Killer Instinct

Speakers: Mick Gordon (Independent), Jean-Edouard Miclot (Double Helix Games)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Location: Room 3006, West Hall

The Sound of Grand Theft Auto V

Speaker: Alastair MacGregor (Rockstar North)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 11:30am - 12:30pm

Location: Room 3006, West Hall

Checkered Flag: Forza Motorsport 5 Soundtrack Postmortem

Speakers: Chase Combs (Microsoft), Lance Hayes (DJDM Dot Com Music Publishing)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 4:00pm - 5:00pm

Location: Room 3002, West Hall

Peggle 2: Live Orchestra Meets Highly Adaptive Score

Speaker: Guy Whitmore (PopCap Games)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 5:30pm - 6:30pm

Location: Room 3002, West Hall

Business, Marketing and Management Track

Awesome Video Game Data 2014

Speaker: Geoffrey Zatkin (EEDAR)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 11:00am - 12:00pm

Location: Room 3007, West Hall

Is Publishing Dead?

Speaker: Mitch Lasky (Benchmark)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Location: Room 3007, West Hall

Is Your Business Model Evil? The Moral Maze of the New Games Business

Speaker: Ben Cousins (Scattered Entertainment/DeNA)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Location: Room 2020, West Hall

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Multiplayer - Crafting Good Monetization on the Traditional Console

Speaker: Damien Kieken (Ubisoft)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 5:30pm - 6:30pm

Location: Room 2001, West Hall

Game Design Track

Bite-Sized Storytelling: Creating Meaningful Mobile Game Narratives in Seconds

Speaker: Levi Buchanan (Chillingo)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 2:35pm - 3:00pm

Location: Room 3003, West Hall

Emergent Stories in Crusader Kings II

Speaker: Henrik Fahraeus (Paradox Development Studio)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 3:30pm - 4:30pm

Location: Room 2020, West Hall

Behind the Realm Reborn

Speaker: Naoki Yoshida (Square Enix Co. Ltd.)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 3:30pm - 4:30pm

Location: Room 135, North Hall

Simultaneously translated from Japanese into English

Believable Make-Believe: Putting the Player at the Heart of Tearaway

Speaker: Rex Crowle (Media Molecule)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 4:00pm - 5:00pm

Location: Room 2001, West Hall

Opening a Creative Pandora's Box: Puppeteer Postmortem

Speaker: Gavin Moore (Sony Computer Entertainment/Japan Studio)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 4:00pm - 5:00pm

Location: Room 3016, West Hall

Production Track

Service Design: Lessons Learned from Running 24/7 Game Services

Speaker: Aaron Loeb (Electronic Arts)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 2:35pm - 3:00pm

Location: Room 304, South Hall

Enter the Stage: Cinematic Dialogue in Performance Capture

Speaker: Richie Nieto (Ubisoft Toronto)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 2:30pm - 2:55pm

Location: Room 3006, West Hall

Come Rain or Shine: rain Postmortem

Speakers: Yuki Ikeda (Sony Computer Entertainment/Japan Studio), Ken Suzuta (Sony Computer Entertainment/Japan Studio)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 2:30pm - 3:30pm

Location: Room 303, South Hall

Simultaneously translated from Japanese into English

Child's Play: Playtesting with Children in the World of Skylanders

Speaker: Gareth Griffiths (Activision Blizzard)

Date/Time: Friday (March 21) 11:30am - 12:30pm

Location: Room 2010, West Hall

Programming Track

Moving to the Next Generation: The Rendering Technology of Ryse

Speaker: Nicolas Schulz (Crytek)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 11:00am-12:00pm

Location: Room 2020, West Hall

Next-Generation AAA Mobile Rendering

Speakers: Timothy Lottes (Epic Games), Niklas Smedberg (Epic Games)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 3:30pm - 4:30pm

Location: Room 2005, West Hall

Sucker Punch's Performance Capture for inFAMOUS: Second Son

Speaker: Spencer Alexander (Sucker Punch)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 3:30pm - 4:30pm

Location: Room 3016, West Hall

Crafting a Next-Gen Material Pipeline for The Order: 1886

Speakers: David Neubelt, Matt Pettineo (Ready at Dawn)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 5:00pm – 6:00pm

Location: Room 130, North Hall

A Context-Aware Character Dialog System

Speaker: Jason Gregory (Naughty Dog

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 10:00am - 11:00am

Location: Room 3003, West Hall

Visual Arts Track

GDC Visual Arts Board State of the Industry Discussion

Speakers: Jeff Hanna (Volition), Lee Petty (Double Fine Productions), Justin Thavirat (Blizzard Entertainment), Steve Theodore (Undead Labs), Ru Weerasuriya (Ready at Dawn)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 11:00am - 12:00pm

Location: Room 3016, West Hall

The Art of The Witness

Speaker: Luis Antonio (Thekla Inc)

Date/Time: Wednesday (March 19) 11:35am - 12:00pm

Location: Room 2006, West Hall

The Art of Making Guacamelee! - From Folklore to Finish

Speaker: Augusto Quijano (Drinkbox Studios)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 10:00am - 11:00am

Location: Room 3007, West Hall

Rediscovering Authentic Creativity

Speaker: Peter Chan (PChan LTD)

Date/Time: Thursday (March 20) 11:30am - 12:30pm

Location: Room 2006, West Hall

Character Design Across Multiple Game Genres

Speaker: Arnold Tsang (Blizzard Entertainment)

Date/Time: Friday (March 21) 11:30am - 12:30pm

Location: Room 3016, West Hall