East Coast Game Conference 2011

RALEIGH, N.C., Mar. 29, 2011 -- The East Coast Game Conference, to be held April 13-14 at the Raleigh Convention Center, has announced details around its 2011 Portfolio Critique sessions, Career Lounge roundtables and an all-new "Unreal University" provided by Epic Games based on its industry-leading Unreal Engine 3 toolset. Also coming to ECGC is "Art of the Game," an inaugural exhibit featuring a curated collection of video game artwork, from concept illustrations to 3D environments. Visit the ECGC YouTube channel to hear an update on the 2011 Career Fair and Expo Hall from conference operations director Troy Knight.

"North Carolina is home to a fast-growing and dynamic hub for gaming, immersive learning and digital media, so each year we want to provide a hands-on opportunity for conference attendees to meet industry professionals and hear firsthand how they navigated the frequently shifting landscape of this cutting-edge industry," said Troy Knight, conference operations director for ECGC. "We're really excited about this year's Unreal University presentations with expert instructors provided by Epic Games. Several of the most successful Unreal developers will provide attendees an inside look at how to get started and ship great games using Unreal Engine 3."

This year's Portfolio Critiques offer one-on-one opportunities to obtain feedback and advice from art, design and programming professionals, and Career Lounge roundtables are designed to share best practices with those looking to advance their careers in the game industry. These sessions will be held within the Expo Hall where professionals from the gaming, design, immersive learning/eLearning and CGI animation industries will give attendees insight into their jobs and impart wisdom from decades of collective industry experience. Unreal University will feature Unreal Engine 3 presentations by developers who have been widely recognized for their talent and skills.

Timelines for the Career Lounge, Portfolio Critiques and Unreal University are posted at http://www.ecgconf.com/content/careerfair and http://www.ecgconf.com/content/learning_UDK, respectively.

Unreal University

Exclusive to the East Coast Game Conference, Epic Games is hosting special Unreal University sessions on working with Epic Games' Unreal Development Kit (UDK), the free version of the award-winning Unreal Engine 3 toolset. The sessions will feature instructors from various studios, including Teotl Studios, the developer of "The Ball," the first commercial game release powered by UDK. James Tan and Markus Arvidsson will provide demonstrations and answer questions about working with UDK.

Unreal University will also feature a presentation by the makers of Sp.A.I, a UDK-powered, third-person puzzle platformer, developed by Australia's //No Comment. //No Comment, one of the most talented student UDK teams in the world, will explain how they ramped up production using specific UDK tools and techniques, overcame challenges commonly faced by new teams and ultimately shipped a fun game with commercial potential.

A third session, which will take place in the main keynote hall, will feature the technology behind the DirectX 11 Unreal Engine "Samaritan" Demo unveiled at this year's Game Developers Conference. Epic Games' Senior Graphics Architect, Martin Mittring, will discuss next-generation graphics features developed for the real-time Unreal Engine 3 "Samaritan" demo and how Epic's engineers, in collaboration with NVIDIA, extended the engine to support Direct3D 11 as well as tessellation and displacement mapping. This talk will explain the bumps encountered and overcome along the way, with extensive details on how displacement mapping was leveraged in the demo. The talk will also explain in detail the many other new graphical features highlighted in the demo.

Attendees are welcome to bring their own laptops pre-loaded with UDK, downloadable for free at www.udk.com, to take full advantage of these sessions.

Engage and Connect

Under the theme, Engage and Connect, attendees will have the opportunity to engage with seven extensive tracks comprised of panels, lectures and discussions with industry talent from around the world. New this year, each track is geared toward a specific industry audience, whether that is technologists and artists developing games, individuals working with advanced learning technologies or social network games or professionals interested in sharpening their business acumen.

For a full listing of confirmed speakers and the conference agenda, visit www . ecgconf . com / content / conference .

To register, visit http://www.ecgconf.com/apps/register/.

About East Coast Game Conference

Held in Raleigh, North Carolina, the East Coast Game Conference (formerly the Triangle Game Conference) is a leading East Coast forum for sharing game industry expertise, networking and career building. Serving members who are market-leading companies and prominent industry figures based on the East Coast, ECGC's goal is to engage and connect professionals who have gathered in the North Carolina gaming hub and surrounding region to master the arts and sciences of gaming.

The program features panels and lectures by game industry experts covering game technology, the business of games and advanced learning and simulation technologies as well as an Expo and Career Lounge. For more information, visit www . ecgconf . com. ECGC can also be found on Facebook and Twitter at East Coast Game Conference and @ ECGameCon  

CONTACT:  

Christine Hall

chall @ capstrat . com

919-882-1998