GameX

Philadelphia, PA---Wednesday, May 13, 2009---The GameX Industry Summit today announced its first confirmed keynote speaker, Chris Foster with Harmonix Music Systems, creators of game phenomenon Rock Band. Co-located with GameX (Games & Media Expo), October 23-25, 2009, GameX Industry Summit is presented by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) chapters in New York, New Jersey, Boston, Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Chris Foster, Design Director for Harmonix Music Systems and the lead designer in the forthcoming The Beatles: Rock Band, is the first of four featured keynote speakers to be featured at GameX Industry Summit.

Game industry professionals are invited to the GameX Industry Summit at the Greater Philadelphia Convention Center for two days of games-focused lectures, panels, roundtables and keynotes from the best and brightest minds in the games business. In addition, GameX Industry Summit attendees have access to GameX, the only major game consumer convention in U.S. supported by a major media sponsor, NBC Local Media in Philadelphia – WCAU TV/NBC 10.

Foster’s keynote is entitled “Stone Soup: Collaboration and Communication in Game Design,” focusing on how game companies can derive the greatest potential game design result from an integrated game development team. His keynote will address methods for meeting challenges in game design, and how to utilize team dynamics, personalities and relationships to shape the final game product.

Foster offers, “"Game design may sometimes seem like the art of getting other people to paint your fence for you, but in reality it's about collaborating with others to make the best game possible. It's important to not just learn to work well with others, but to embrace the entire team as a key part of the design process.”

Darius Kazemi, president of Orbus Gameworks and chapter president for IGDA Boston, adds, "We are excited to have Chris Foster speak at GameX Industry Summit, especially given our conference focus on game art, game design, and game audio. Chris brings a special perspective to game design that all game developers can benefit from.”

Foster joined Boston-area Harmonix Music Systems in 2006. He was the designer of the iPod game Phase, before working on the Rock Band series. Before coming to Harmonix, Chris spent nine years at Turbine, where he worked on the original Asheron's Call and was one of the design leads on The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar.

Game industry representatives interested in responding to the GameX Industry Summit “call for proposals” can review proposal guidelines online at www.gamexindustrysummit.com and e-mail their questions and final proposals to: proposals@gamexpo.us. The deadline for final proposal submissions is Monday, June 15.

About Harmonix Music Systems

www.harmonixmusic.com

Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., based in Cambridge, MA, and established in 1995, is the leading developer of groundbreaking music-oriented videogames. Harmonix was founded by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, who formed the company to invent new ways for non-musicians to experience the unique joy that comes from making music and have pioneered music and rhythm gaming in the US.

About GameX Industry Summit

www.gamexindustrysummit.com

GameX Industry Summit is two-day game industry conference presented by the IGDA chapters in New York, New Jersey, Boston, Baltimore and Philadelphia. GameX Industry Summit is co-located at GameX (Games & Media Expo), a national game consumer show and ‘pop culture’ festival produced by Virtual Rush Gaming and NBC Universal, designed to draw from local, regional and national audiences of game players, film and TV fans, comic book buffs and tech enthusiasts.

For more details regarding the GameX Industry Summit, contact Morgan Ogburn, ThemePark Studios, 512/916-9633 or morgan@themeparkstudios.com.

To learn more about the IGDA chapters in New York, New Jersey, Boston, Baltimore and Philadelphia, please visit www.nycgames.org, www.njchapter.com, www.bostonpostmortem.org, www.igda.org/baltimore and www.igda.org/philly.

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