GDC 2011 Reveals Full Game Career Seminar Lineup

Author: by Staff

GDC 2011 organizers have revealed the complete Game Career Seminar lineup, spanning Schell Games' Jesse Schell, Epic's Cliff Bleszinski and notable Xbox Live Indie Games creators at the one-day student event this March. This special one-day program -- taking place on Friday, March 4 during Game Developers Conference 2011 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco -- offers a series of talks and presentations to help students and prospective developers make their way into the industry. Attendees, who are eligible for special reduced-price passes if they are students, will get the opportunity to view lectures, network with industry professionals, meet with HR representatives from a number of leading game companies and gain insight from industry experts. A number of talks are featured on the Seminar's homepage and the Game Career Seminar section of GDC's Schedule Builder. Highlights include the following: - In 'From Student to Start Up: Case Studies,' Schell Games' Jesse Schell provides an in-depth look at student projects that successfully made a name for themselves in the industry. From Portal to Fl0w, Schell will provide examples of how to best make the transition from school to professional development, as well as note some examples of how the process can go awry. - In the a panel on Xbox Live Indie Games, industry professionals and independent develops will discuss pricing, visibility, and other methods to help ensure success on the console-based indie platform. With Game Developer magazine's Brandon Sheffield moderating, panelists include representatives from Mommy's Best Games (Weapon Of Choice), MagicalTimeBean (Soulcaster), Ska Studios (I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1NIT!!!1), and Zeboyd Games (Breath Of Death VII). - The 'Killer Portfolio or Portfolio Killer' panel, which is broken into 'Advice from Industry Artists' and 'Portfolio Review' sections, will see artists from Firaxis, Blizzard, Valve, Epic, and Irrational Games discussing what it takes to make an artist's portfolio stand out from the crowd. The speakers will examine common mistakes, and attendees can sign up for one-on-one portfolio review sessions with each of the panelists. - Finally, 'Breaking into AAA Game development: Ask the Pros' brings a number of the industry's biggest creative names together to discuss what major studios look for when hiring new talent. Speakers including LucasArts' Clint Hocking, Microsoft's Chris Charla, Zynga's Brian Reynolds, Thatgamecompany's Robin Hunicke and Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski will share their insight and advice for breaking in to the industry's biggest studios. Others sessions within the Game Career Seminar include a talk from WB Games' Christian Allen on networking tips, and a lecture by Fire Hose Games' Jeff Ward on how to best transition from college to the game industry. In addition to these sessions, Student Pass attendees can visit the Career Pavilion on Friday, a job fair that will feature representatives from over 40 companies, including Ubisoft, Naughty Dog, Crytek, Zenimax Media and more. The Game Career Seminar will take place during the Game Developers Conference 2011, which will be held February 28 to March 4 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. For more information on the Game Career Seminar, which is open to all GDC attendees, including Student Pass holders, please visit the official GDC website.