Indie Games Summit @ GDC Austin Adds Lectures, Early Reg. Deadline Today

Author: by Staff

Organizers of this September's Independent Games Summit at GDC Austin have announced more speakers for the September 15th-16th event. The summit is a separate part of the wider, 'connected game'-focused Austin conference, and more information is available on the GDC Austin website. Early registration for the event ends today, August 13. Some of the newly-announced lectures include: - In 'And Yet It Moves: From Student Prototype To Published Indie Game', Felix Bohatsch of Broken Rules explains the creation of the former IGF Student Showcase finalist, currently available on PC download services like Steam, Greenhouse, and soon WiiWare, discussing strategies available to small teams aiming for mass audiences through digital distribution. - Presenting a lecture called 'The Blurst of Times: How to Make a (Shader-Heavy, Physics-Based, 3D) Game in 8 Weeks', Matthew Wegner and Steve Swink of Flashbang Studio discuss how it's possible to make complex 3D web games like Minotaur China Shop and Off-Road Velociraptor Challenge in an 8-week production cycle - essentially "AAA game development in microcosm", with prototyping, betas, and a specific, rapidly-executed schedule. - In a lecture called 'How To Operate Your Indie Game Business - For Fun And Profit!', Wahoo Studios / NinjaBee's Brent Fox explains how the Kingdom For Keflings and Cloning Clyde XBLA developer "can maintain the creative indie edge and still stay in business." He'll discuss contracting vs. self-funded games, comparing development and success on platforms from iPhone through WiiWare to XBLA, PC, and beyond. Also just added are Aquaria co-creator and Infinite Ammo head Alec Holowka on 'Storytelling Through Independent Games'; Twisted Pixel Games duo on 'Making an XBLA Game in 6 Months: A Splosion Man Postmortem', and Lost Garden blogger Daniel Cook on 'The Rise of Premium Flash Games'. Other previously announced highlights of the two-day Summit include Gaijin Games' Mike Roush on 'The Bit.Trip Series: Holistic Indie Console Game Design', Jennifer Bullard of local Texas independent developer Certain Affinity (Age Of Booty) on 'Business Managing Your Indie Developer Through The Downturn', Colin Northway on 'Postmortem: The Design & Business Behind Fantastic Contraption', Wolfire COO John Graham (co-creator of the upcoming Overgrowth) discussing 'Effective Marketing For Indie Game Developers', and 'The Indie Business Rant', including notables such as Hothead's Joel DeYoung (DeathSpank, Penny Arcade Adventures), Klei's Jamie Cheng (Shank), and IGS advisory board members Matthew Wegner (Blurst.com, Crane Wars) and Adam Saltsman (Fathom). In addition to the Indie Game Summit, the Game Writers, Game Audio, iPhone Game Summits at the events also sport major additions ahead of today's deadlines. More information on 2009's Independent Games Summit at Austin GDC (part of Think Services, as is this website), including registration details and other specifics, is available at the official IGS @ Austin GDC website.