GDC Mobile Announces Keynote From Ngmoco CEO Young

The organizers of the Game Developers Conference 2009 announced that ngmoco founder and CEO -- and former Electronic Arts executive -- Neil Young will provide this year's GDC Mobile keynote. In his speech, titled "Why the iPhone just changed everything," Young will discuss Apple's platform and its effects on the mobile games industry. Young's session summary describes the iPhone as "the most exciting innovation of the last year," and likens its launch to the introduction of industry-defining consoles like the Atari 2600, the Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Game Boy. The executive will also use the keynote at the GDC Mobile summit to explain why he left Electronic Arts to form ngmoco and create games for Apple's iPhone, and will discuss what opportunities new mobile devices present in the future. Young previously held industry positions as general manager at Electronic Arts Los Angeles and as head manager at EA Blueprint. He resigned in 2008 to found mobile developer ngmoco, which has produced popular iPhone titles such as Topple, Dropship, and the recently launched Rolando. The Game Developers Conference (part of Think Services, as is Gamasutra) is the world's largest professionals-only game industry event, attracting over 18,000 attendees each year. This year's conference will be held between March 23rd and 27th, 2009, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California.