The Austin Game Developers Conference unofficially began on Sunday night, September 14th, as many attendees met with specialized groups in various bars around downtown Austin. If you have ever wondered how to go about networking yourself with industry professionals, this is it. More than likely, you will not find a more relaxed environment to introduce yourself and voice your opinions on the current state of the industry.  And, if you miss the opening night, fear not. The following three nights proved to be just as open to mingling and card-swapping as the first.

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In 1977, kids were listening to Rush, smoking cigarettes and a few of the lucky ones had even gotten to second base with the girls, all of which left Bioshock creator Ken Levine wondering “where am I at this point?” Well last week thousands knew exactly where he was as we gathered for his opening keynote speech at PAX 08 offering us a peek at his inner-nerd and a few lessons on coming to terms with our own.
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The Game Developers Conference holds its next event in San Francisco next March, but will miss one of its best.  The event organizers have announced that after 5 years working on the Game Developer Conference and Game Developer Events,  Jamil Moledina is leaving in pursuit of other interests.

The announcement states Meggan Scavio will pick-up the reins as Event Director.  She looks to continue and enhance the GDC’s relationship with the developer community which sounds promising as she is an 8-year veteran.
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The folks organizing 2008’s Austin Game Developers Conference (Austin GDC) have put out a friendly reminder to possible attendees that early registration for the event ends today, July 31st.

This time around they’ll be be hosting keynote speeches from Bruce Sterling and co-creator of Club-Penguin Lane Merrifield.

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We all know that serious games mean serious business. Companies like IBM, Hilton, Humana and Cisco are discovering what the military learned long ago—that contrary to what our mothers told us, games can boost productivity.

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At the recent Krazytalk Industry Giants presentation I had an amazing opportunity to hear one of my idols speak–Will Wright. Will, the creator of The Sims and numerous other hugely successful titles, is a legend and arguably the most successful and influential designers of our day. In front of an audience of students, industry, fans and admirers; Will discussed gaming in the context of human development and as an up in coming art form.

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Today at the Masters of Digital Media program at Great Northern Way Campus, Will Wright (does he even need an introduction? okay, the guy behind SimCity, The Sims, and Spore) visited the students for lunch and a preliminary discussion before his evening talk as part of the Krazy! Exhibition through the Vancouver Art Gallery. In his ever-friendly manner, he invited the group to ask questions from the get go, and had helpful advice and insights for people interested in game design.

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