Just announced - One Day Registration Option

Wow, just got this, the organizers have announced a special one day registration rate, so if you can only make it for one day, this might be the ticket for you. Seems like a good idea if you can only make it for a single day.

New this year, the first-ever three-day Project Management Course for Game Development, led by Heather Chandler

This workshop session is ideal for anyone who leads a game development team of any size. Those new to the leadership role will leave with new tools to help them keep projects on track, motivate team members, and conduct risk analysis. More experienced producers will also benefit from learning the production techniques and methods discussed.Registration includes your copy of the Game Production Handbook, 2008 Edition.

Learn ways to keep projects on track, by using cross-functional teams, prototyping game features, and conducting a risk analysis. Develop new skills to build and motivate your team, and learn new strategies for improving developer and publisher relationships including how to define milestones and accommodate scope changes.

The game development course is 16 hours in duration. The course is worth 1.6 Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credits. Participants who complete the course will receive a certificate of completion and documentation of the amount of CEU's earned.

Jackie Copland of Electronic Arts to Deliver Keynote at FuturePlay 2008

Jackie Copland is a member of the Global University Relations Team of Electronic Arts (EA), the world’s largest interactive entertainment software company (perhaps you have heard of them...). Jackie’s physical office is based at EA’s development studio in Burnaby, BC – but she works with all five of EA’s studios in Canada, and many post secondary institutions across the country. University Relations at EA is a centralized team that manages relationships with faculty, professors, staff, and students at colleges and universities worldwide.

Prior to joining EA in 2006, Jackie worked for with Co-op students and employers for five years in the Engineering Co-op Program at the University of British Columbia, building partnerships between academia and industry, and helping students to transition from school to work. She also has a scientific background, with 6 years in the mining industry as a research project manager working with new refining technologies. She holds a B.Sc. from McGill University, and an MBA from Queen’s University.

The idea of a University outreach program from a game company is something that newcomers to the gaming space may not be aware of. Of course at FuturePlay the idea of the interaction of the gaming industry and the academy is really a central theme. Companies like EA and Microsoft (to name just two) work closely with academics on research projects. I wonder if she can get me a copy of Madden 09 for free... Oh, did I say that out loud? Anyway, I really look forward to her talk. EA have been supporters of FuturePlay for quite a while now and I cannot wait to meet Jackie.

Woo Hoo! FuturePlay 2008 Conference Program Announced

I just got an email announcing the FuturePlay 2008 Program. The keynotes look great (and I will be profiling more keynoters throughout the next couple of weeks) and I am pretty interested in the poster session. Some guy there will be presenting research that shows no relationship between trashtalk, violence in games and aggression... (ok that may be a little self serving, but, hey, it is my blog....).

It turns out that the hotel have extended the rate deal of 129 a night until the 14th, which is good news if you have not booked your room yet.

See you there!

Conference Rate at the Toronto Delta Chelsea Downtown Extended Until October 10

Booking period extended! Toronto's Delta Chelsea Hotel is offering rooms at the guaranteed conference rate, starting at $129 until October 10. Don't miss this great offer. Visit www.futureplay.org now and follow the links to the Delta Chelsea booking page to make your reservation.

John Hopson's 2007 Keynote

John Hopson is a pretty cool guy. He has a PhD in experimental psychology, whcih in my books already makes him cool. Then it turns out, his PhD work was done in a lab where they study animal cognition. OK, that is even cooler, as well, the cool kids take animal cognition. Then we got to talking and realized we had read each others' stuff. I know that has nothing to do with game design, but it is, to me, an indication of the serendipitous connections you can make at FuturePlay.

Anyway most of you will know John from his work on a little text called "Behavioral Game Design" which applies the psychological literature to game design. See I knew I liked this guy...

John gave a keynote at FuturePlay 2007 which I recorded with my little iRiver (this year I will use a Zoom H2 which is MUCH better). So some of the audio is a bit shall we say messy. You will also notice someone (who I will not name...) picking up my recorder and looking at it and you will hear me say "That's my recorder" when she asks what she is holding....

John basically described his work at Microsoft, working with various studios to make better games. Tell me that isn't a cool job.

This talk should give you an idea of the quality of speaker at the conference.

I hope you enjoy John's keynote from the 2007 FuturePlay conference.

This Week It Is An Oscar Winner: Ken Perlin To Speak at FuturePlay 2008

In last week's Keynote Speaker Profile (I have made a command decision to capitalize that...) I talked about Don Daglow, well, this week I thought I would mention another luminary coming to FuturePlay 2008. Ken Perlin.

Ken Perlin is a professor in the Department of Computer Science at New York University.He is the founding director of the Media Research Laboratory and also directed the NYU Center for Advanced Technology. Ken's research interests include graphics, animation, user interfaces, science education and multimedia. OK, now this is pretty cool, he received an Academy Award for Technical Achievement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (that is an Oscar for those of you scoring at home...) for his noise and turbulence procedural texturing techniques, which are widely used in feature films and television, as well as the TrapCode award for achievement in computer graphics research, the New York City Mayor's award for excellence in Science and Technology and the Sokol award for outstanding Science faculty at NYU, and a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation.

He spoke at FuturePlay 2006 where he showed some software that models emotions and then maps them on to faces. This technology has been used to help teach autistic kids how to read emotion. (Take that Jack Thompson).

Oh yeah, he has also been a featured artist at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

I can tell you as well that he is a great speaker, and frankly he is funny as hell too. You do not want to miss ths