AUSTIN, Texas--Last October, the online-focused Austin Game Conference was purchased by CMP Group, the organizers of the Game Developers Conference. Now, nearly a year later, the first show under new management has kicked off.
Mike Morhaime (giant pile of WOW money not pictured.)
The event's name has been changed to the Austin Game Developers Conference, but the content remains much the same. There are separate tracks for in-game audio and writing, as well as sessions dedicated to business and marketing issues, and the community-building challenges online game developers face.
Just as in years past, the Austin Convention Center will host an elephant in the room, in the form of Blizzard Entertainment's massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft. Last year's show opened up with Blizzard Entertainment lead designer Rob Pardo detailing the publisher-developer's method of game development, a process responsible for such hits as the Diablo and Starcraft franchises. Among the gems of coffee-mug-worthy wisdom Pardo imparted to the crowd were "don't ship until it's ready," "purity of purpose," "easy to learn, difficult to master," and "concentrated coolness."
Just in case Pardo didn't make the road to commercial MMORPG success clear enough (and judging by WOW's continued stranglehold on the market, he didn't), this year's show is being kicked off by Blizzard president Mike Morhaime's keynote address, "How to Rule the World (of Warcraft): 10 Lessons." Whereas Pardo covered the gameplay and design specifics, Morhaime is set to address the bigger issues surrounding WOW, such as how one takes a hit franchise in one country and makes it a global phenomenon.
Morhaime took the stage of the Austin Convention Center's main ballroom about 10 minutes after his designated start time and launched straight into his presentation by setting up some context for his talk by noting how much has changed in the 21st century. Morhaime noted that just 100 years ago there were only 8,000 cars in the US, there was no Air Force, and only 8 percent of US homes had a telephone.
"It was kind of like World of Warcraft before you had a mount, with no flight paths," Morhaime joked.
much more here
Mike Morhaime (giant pile of WOW money not pictured.)
The event's name has been changed to the Austin Game Developers Conference, but the content remains much the same. There are separate tracks for in-game audio and writing, as well as sessions dedicated to business and marketing issues, and the community-building challenges online game developers face.
Just as in years past, the Austin Convention Center will host an elephant in the room, in the form of Blizzard Entertainment's massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft. Last year's show opened up with Blizzard Entertainment lead designer Rob Pardo detailing the publisher-developer's method of game development, a process responsible for such hits as the Diablo and Starcraft franchises. Among the gems of coffee-mug-worthy wisdom Pardo imparted to the crowd were "don't ship until it's ready," "purity of purpose," "easy to learn, difficult to master," and "concentrated coolness."
Just in case Pardo didn't make the road to commercial MMORPG success clear enough (and judging by WOW's continued stranglehold on the market, he didn't), this year's show is being kicked off by Blizzard president Mike Morhaime's keynote address, "How to Rule the World (of Warcraft): 10 Lessons." Whereas Pardo covered the gameplay and design specifics, Morhaime is set to address the bigger issues surrounding WOW, such as how one takes a hit franchise in one country and makes it a global phenomenon.
Morhaime took the stage of the Austin Convention Center's main ballroom about 10 minutes after his designated start time and launched straight into his presentation by setting up some context for his talk by noting how much has changed in the 21st century. Morhaime noted that just 100 years ago there were only 8,000 cars in the US, there was no Air Force, and only 8 percent of US homes had a telephone.
"It was kind of like World of Warcraft before you had a mount, with no flight paths," Morhaime joked.
much more here