GDC Next adds Super TIME Force, Project Spark to 'Next 10' lecture/showcase

With early-rate pricing rapidly running out, 'future of games' conference GDC Next organizers have revealed Capy Games's Super TIME Force and Team Dakota's Project Spark as the latest two titles included in the 'GDC Next 10' showcase of innovative, yet-to-debut games. As part of the Los Angeles event's cutting-edge content, each game’s creator will be invited to give a world-exclusive talk about the concepting, inspiration, and design behind the title. Each 'GDC Next 10' game has been picked by GDC's organizers as a game to watch for the future -- one that is doing something decidedly different in today’s increasingly crowded game market. This week's first inductee to the Next 10 is Sword & Sworcery developer Capy Games's Super TIME Force [trailer], an upcoming Xbox 360 Live Arcade sidescrolling shooter which Game Informer praised for its "retro style, fun-loving sense of humor, and clever time altering mechanic." Capy co-founder Nathan Vella's talk 'From Game Jam to Full Game - Super TIME Force & Other Shining Examples' will cover the creative and production challenges they faced while making their game jam project into a game for a major platform -- as well as some of the learnings from other 'game jam to complete title' projects from other studios. The second inductee to the GDC Next 10 this week is the free-to-play, sandbox-based 'creation engine' Project Spark (trailer - for Xbox One, Xbox 360, Windows 8) by Microsoft internal dev studio Team Dakota and publisher Microsoft Studios. The Verge praises the SmartGlass-compatible editor, saying that whatever game you might be dreaming of, "Project Spark just might be able to build it." Team Dakota technical director Soren Hannibal will discuss how building will be fun and simple with a learning curve, masked behind a deceptively powerful a visual programming language, in his talk 'Project Spark: Enabling and Inspiring the User to Make (Almost) Anything.' He'll also cover some of the broader challenges with making a sandbox-based creation framework that aims to support every game genre, across multiple platforms and input devices. These games join last week's GDC Next 10 inductee, Doki-Doki Universe by HumaNature Studios. Studio founder Greg Johnson (also the veteran creator of Starflight & cult classic Toe Jam & Earl) will present a session that describes how his team dealt with the challenges of developing an emotional, interactive story game. GDC Next is the spiritual successor to GDC Online, and will take place alongside the App Developers Conference on November 5th-7th, 2013 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. This new event aims to highlight the future of video game development, with tracks including 'Next Generation Game Platforms', 'Free To Play & New Business Models', and 'Smartphone & Tablet Games', as well as cloud and indie game tracks. Check out the GDC Next Session Scheduler to see the other announced talks and begin your planning. Previously announced talks include an exclusive demo-heavy Xbox One Kinect talk, an "evolution of eSports" panel featuring speakers from Riot, Twitch, and Team Dignitas, and another key panel on veteran triple-A developers (from Bungie, EA, and Zynga) going indie. Registration is in full swing for GDC Next and the co-located ADC. The first 500 attendees who sign up (with over half of these seats already taken up, and the rest going fast!) can save over 30% on ADC, GDC Next, or a combined VIP All-Access Pass. For all the latest news on GDC Next, subscribe for updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS. Also, check out ADC's recently announced design talks on effective first impressions for productivity app Evernote, and Gravity Switch co-founder Jason Mark's on-stage critique of attendee apps and icons. Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech