International gaming luminaries to speak at GCAP09

By Mike Bantick
Friday, 27 November 2009 09:02

Opinion and Analysis

The speaker program for Game Connect Asia Pacific 09 has now been set.  The list of speakers presenting at next weekend’s Melbourne based conference includes international guests such as David Jaffe (Eat Sleep Play), Tim Stellmach (Vicarious Visions) and Jay Wilbur (Epic).

Game Connect Asia Pacific 2009 (GCAP09) runs from Sunday 6th of December through to Tuesday the 8th December at the Crown Promenade Hotel in Melbourne Australia.

The conference line-up this year covers many aspects of the video game industry in Australia, including education, health and the general business of making interactive entertainment in  an uncertain business climate.

International speakers include David Jaffe form Eat Sleep Play, based out of San Diego, California, He is best known for directing the Twisted Metal series and, more recently, God of War. Jaffe’s Twisted Metal: Black and God of War have both ranked into IGN’s “Top 25 PS2 Games of All Time”, with Twisted Metal: Black in ninth place and God of War winning first place as IGN’s choice for best PS2 game of all time. In 2007, David left SCEA to found Eat Sleep Play, however the studio has signed a multi-year deal with Sony to create games exclusively for PlayStation platforms.

Apart from delivering the opening Keynote address:  “Which Side Are You On?  The Design of Momentous Choices’ Jaffe will appear via videolink for a Q&A session hosted by the stars of ABC TV’s Good Game television program.

Another keynote speaker will be Tim Stellmach of Vicarious Visions.  As Design Director at the New York based studio, Stellmach’s latest title is the action-RPG Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.  An 18-year v eteran of the games industry, Stellmach has been principal designer of such acclaimed titles as System Shock and Thief. Tim has also worked on games as diverse as Ultima Underworld, Deus Ex and Guitar Hero.

Rounding out the speakers at GCAP09 is Jay Wilbur, Vice President at Epic Games.  Wilbur makes a return visit to Australia to reveal details of Epic’s Unreal Development Kit.
UDK is a free edition of Unreal Engine 3 that provides community access to the award-winning toolset.

Wilbur will be joined on a panel entitled ‘No point Re-inventing the Wheel. How to Make the Most of Middleware’ by Brian Waddle from Image-Metrics and Tim Mower from Havoc.

The panel will be targeted at smaller developers, with the intention of showing how rapid prototyping can be achieved with smaller teams and less investment.

GDAA President Tom Crago said the panel was shaping as one of the most useful at the conference for Indie developers.

“Here we have a VP from Epic coming down to Australia to tell our development community how they can get the most out of UDK,” said Crago. “I know there will also be a lot of interest in Havoc and Image-Metrics."

Apart from the international flavour, GCAP09 is an important event on any local Australian developer’s calendar.  It is a chance to meet with colleagues, vie for one of the Game Developer Awards, hob-nob with the Press and observe up-coming independent developers or the work of those working at the tertiary level of interactive entertainment.

For more information about GCAP and to view the program in full, visit www.gameconnectap.com