Edinburgh Interactive 2010

A full conference schedule for you.

News by GamesIndustry.biz Contributor

Published on Aug. 23, 2010

Monday 23rd August/... Edinburgh Interactive is now celebrating its tenth successful year, and this year is primed to showcase the continued popularity, growth and significance of video games. This year is more integrated with the world famous Edinburgh Festival than ever, appealing to the press, public and professionals from film, television and interactive media backgrounds alike – offering a larger forum for delegates and consumers.

Edinburgh Interactive is an annual festival celebrating the creative culture of interactive entertainment. Delivering a dynamic schedule across a wide range of industry sectors, Edinburgh Interactive also plays host to the Free Play Public Area and Game Screening Sessions, which are an integral part of the Festival.

The Free Play Public Area, hosted this year at Edinburgh’s Festival Square, is for everyone who has a passion for videogames and would like to come along to play some of the biggest games of the year for FREE before they go on sale.

Chris Deering, Edinburgh Interactive Chairman, said: “Edinburgh Interactive is a very special aspect of the annual Industry calendar, celebrating and expanding the creative culture of games, and drawing energy from the creative underpinning of the Edinburgh Festival. This year also marks a new event partnership between Edinburgh Interactive and the Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, bringing the decision makers from games and television together for the first time. Edinburgh Interactive provides a unique level playing field where key Industry figures mingle with students and members of the public alike in an environment of innovation and enterprise.”

Edinburgh Interactive Conference Schedule

Edinburgh Film House, 88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh, EH3 9BZ

Wednesday 25th August 2010

12:00 - 13:30 Registration & Lunch - Filmhouse Foyer & Café

13:30 - 13:45 Introduction

Chris Deering, Chairman - Edinburgh Interactive

13:45 - 14:30 From lens to living room

Ray Maguire, CEO - Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

Ray Maguire will talk about why Sony is committed to 3D in games, where 3D technology is going and will share some of Sony’s new 3D games.

Chaired by Matt Rothman, Managing Partner - Hemisphere Capital

14:30 - 15:15 From product to service - it's not that simple

Sean Dromgoole, CEO - Some Research & Game Vision

The games industry is at a turning point. There is greater and greater free and micro-monetised activity and for the first time in decades a drop in income from direct purchasing. Game publishers have been quick to react with acquisitions, cuts and rapid changes of direction - but are we in danger of losing the baby with the bathwater. Games are sticky. Well presented and sensitively updated they can provide lifelong relationships for consumers. Relationships that consumers are more than willing to pay their part in...Sean Dromgoole will present an original analysis of the games in people’s lives.

Chaired by Matt Rothman, Managing Partner - Hemisphere Capital

15:15 - 15:30 Comfort Break - Filmhouse Café

15:30 - 16:15 Disruption = Value creation in Games

Paul Heydon, Managing Director - Avista Partners

With a detailed look at the sector and where the value was, is and going by sub-sector, where investors are placing their bets and which companies are getting the best exits. Paul will show how disruptive, fast growing companies are creating the most value faster than ever before.

Chaired by Matt Rothman, Managing Partner - Hemisphere Capital

16:15 - 17:00 Creating a Successful Mobile Game

Igor Pušenjak, President & Founder - Lima Sky

Igor Pušenjak, co-creator of the bestselling iPhone game Doodle Jump, will talk about what it takes to make and market a successful mobile game. Through a combination of addictive gameplay, frequent updates, direct communication with players, and employment of social networking tools, Doodle Jump, created and published by two brothers, has managed to stay in the Top 5 Paid Apps on the App Store far longer than any other app and is currently one of the top selling iPhone apps of all time. This presentation will cover Lima Sky’s humble beginnings on the App Store, lessons we’ve learned, and what Lima Sky is doing today to keep Doodle Jump on top of the charts.

Chaired by Matt Rothman, Managing Partner - Hemisphere Capital

17:00 - 17:45 The Great Debate

"This house believes that the future of gaming lies in game creators dealing direct with consumers without the intervention of publishers..."

Four industry heavyweights lock horns using the most adversarial discussion format developed since the invention of speech. Two teams, each team have two speakers and then it’s for the conference to decide.

Chaired by the tough but fair, Ian Livingstone, Life President - Square Enix Europe

18:00 - 21:00 Networking Drinks Reception in Festival Square

Delegates will have the opportunity to preview the consumer games area in Festival Square, a 2 minute walk from the Filmhouse, and experience what the likes of Nintendo & Sony have in the pipeline in the near future.

18:00 - 20:40 Screenings

18.00 - 18.30 Train2Game

Clive Robert, CEO of Train2Game, will be hosting an evening Games Screening session about the lack of industry relevant and recognised courses available with pathways for successful careers in the industry, a topic which lead him to embark on the creation of Train2Game. The seminar will discuss the skills shortages within the gaming industry, despite its growth, technological advances and soar in creativity over the last five years.

18.45 - 19.15 Musemantik

Maciej Zurawski and Diwakar Thakore, co-founders of Musemantik, will demonstrate Musemantik's pioneering emotion-aware entertainment technology, illustrating how to achieve emotional depth even in highly complex and non-linear games. During the public screening session, Zurawski and Thakore will present various application spaces and discuss some of the underlying principles.

19.30 - 20.30 Microsoft: Kinect Sports

Hot on the heels of Gamescom, Rare Studio’s Kinect Development Director, Nick Burton, will present the first public UK demonstration of selected games to be included on Kinect Sports. Launching in November Kinect Sports utilises Kinect for Xbox 360, Microsoft’s extraordinary new controller-free home entertainment system. In this screening, Nick will provide insights in to how this title was developed and demonstrate Kinect Sports’ track and field, ping pong and football experiences. For gamers wanting a first look at one of the major Kinect for Xbox 360 launch titles, this is an opportunity not to be missed.

20.30 - 20.40 Codemasters Showreel

There will be an exciting showreel from Codemasters that showcases its future releases, including F1 2010 TM, the official game of the 2010 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TM, and a duo of brand new titles for the year ahead.

Thursday 26th August 2010

9:15 - 9:30 Welcome back

Chris Deering, Chairman - Edinburgh Interactive

9:30 - 10:15 Videogaming and TV, now is the time

Michiel Bakker, CEO - Ginx TV

MTV changed music forever, from the way it is consumed to the broadening of artist appeal to new audiences. Despite changing media consumption patterns, is Television about to do for games what it did for music? Michiel Bakker, CEO of Ginx TV and one of the founders of MTV Europe, will outline his vision for the first major worldwide TV channel dedicated to video gaming. He will share some exclusive research on the demographics of games consumers and how this can translate into compelling new TV shows and interactive content, and explain how he sees the same exciting television potential for the games industry as for music videos twenty years ago.