Anticipation for this year’s Develop Conference in Brighton continues to build as organiser Tandem Events announces David Jones.David, creator of legendary titles Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto, and founder of Realtime Worlds (one of the most successful developers in Europe) - as the event’s first prestigious keynote speaker.
Joining the list of developer heroes who have also graced the keynote stage at Develop, such as Peter Molyneux, Richard Garriott, Ken Levine and Tsutomu Kouno, David promises an insightful talk into how to make great games.
David, who has been in the video game industry for over two decades, will share his thoughts on how to make a game successful, drawing on his experience from the award-winning and record-breaking Crackdown through to Realtime Worlds’ upcoming online title All Points Bulletin (APB), the hotly tipped online action game. Currently keeping his cards close to his chest with regards to APB before its launch this year, David promises to reveal more about his talk closer to the conference.
“Develop is the most prestigious development conference in the UK, and I’m looking forward to coming to Brighton as it’s a great opportunity to share some of my experiences of making games – both good and not so good - plus tell a few of the Realtime World’s stories to my fellow developers,” commented Jones.
As well as the announcement of the first keynote presentation, the programme is beginning to take shape for both Evolve on Tuesday 14 July and Develop on Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 July.
Evolve is a new part of the Develop conference, focusing on developing games for new platforms including mobile devices, iPhone and XBLA, new technologies and growing markets like social and casual gaming. It takes place on Tuesday 14 July as a one-day event with three tracks and then as a new track within the main programme on Wednesday 15 July.
“Tandem Event’s philosophy has always been to provide a programme that inspires today’s developers to make better games. The Develop Conference offers a relaxed setting, which people love, but it’s the quality of speakers and the opportunity to share in their experiences that really inspires our delegates.” said Andy Lane, managing director of Tandem Events.
“And with the line-up for both Evolve on the Tuesday and Develop on the Wednesday and Thursday already looking fantastic, I’m confident that this year’s programme will be the best yet.”
Evolve sessions include:
• Panel: The Fight for Playtime: What Do Social Networking Sites Have to Offer the Games Industry?
Limvirak Chea, Google; Chris Thorpe, MySpace; Tom Armitage, Consultant
• How Today's Social Networks Will Change How You Make, Play and Sell Games Tomorrow
Kristian Segerstrale, Playfish
• Taking Your Game to iPhone and Android, Without Killing Your Team
Chris White, Glu
• 10 Things Nobody Tells You About Digital Distribution and Self-publishing That You Must Understand to Succeed
Martyn Brown, Team 17
• User Generated Content – the Legal Consequences
Tahir Basheer, Sheridans
• 20 Great Innovations in Casual, Social and Mobile Games That You Should Steal
Stuart Dredge, Pocket Gamer
Develop sessions include:
• Driving 3D TV’s Using Current Generation Consoles
Andrew Oliver and Aaron Allport, Blitz Games
• Online Games, Virtual Worlds and MMO’s: Raising Money and Making Money
Paul Flanagan, Ariadne Capital
• Usability Testing for Videogames
Jason Avent, Disney and Graham McAllister from Sussex University
• Gold Blend: Audio Code and Design Working Together for the Perfect Flavour
Steve Emney & Ciaran Rooney, Disney Black Rock Studio
• How to Staff and Manage a Flexible, Scalable Development Facility
Simon Gardner, Climax Studios
• How to Communicate with Artists
Arran Green, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
• Painting With Sound: The Future of Procedural Audio
Andy Farnell
• The Edge Panel: Architecture and Games
Alex Wiltshire, Edge Magazine