Georgia Gamerz

Keynote speaker Eric Zimmerman to share his “independent game developer’s survival guide”

ATLANTA – The Savannah College of Art and Design-Atlanta will host the fourth annual Game Developers eXchange April 10-11, 1600 Peachtree St. This year’s conference will spotlight alternative gaming and emerging modes of design, production and distribution.

Matthew Maloney, animation professor and academic director of the animation program at SCAD-Atlanta, said, “We’re breaking away from the constricted classification of gaming simply as ‘digital first-person shooters for teenage males.’ We are proud to have representatives from virtually every aspect of the games community involved in this two-day event.” 

Eric Zimmerman, game designer, educator, entrepreneur and co-founder of Gamelab,  will be the keynote speaker at GDX 2008. Gamelab creates and self-publishes innovative single-player and multiplayer games that are distributed online, on mobile phones and through retail, including the hit downloadable games “Diner Dash” and “Miss Management.”

Zimmerman’s keynote address, “Going Indie: An Independent Game Developer’s Survival Guide,” draws from 14 years of experience to share the highs and lows of being an “indie” in the game industry. From cash flow to company culture, he will cover the tangibles and intangibles of what it takes to survive. Along the way, he’ll address bigger questions, such as what’s wrong with the game industry today, why other forms of pop culture seem to have more independent creators, and what might be in store for the future of independent games.

More than 20 industry experts will be on hand to share their expertise and behind-the-scenes knowledge. Among this year’s list of distinguished guests:

Brenda Brathwaite
A 26-year veteran of the video game industry, Brathwaite is an award-winning game designer and professor of interactive design and game development at SCAD. In 2006, Brathwaite was named one of the “100 most influential women in the game industry” by Next Generation magazine and her peers.

Greg Costikyan
Costikyan is CEO of Manifesto Games, a start-up devoted to creating a viable path to market for independently developed games. At the most recent Game Developers’ Conference, he received the Maverick Award for his tireless promotion of independent games.

Chris Crawford
Crawford has written five published books including “The Art of Computer Game Design” and “Balance of Power.” He founded and served as chairman of the Computer Game Developers’ Conference, now known as the Game Developers’ Conference.

Matt Dominianni
Dominianni is the lead machinima director for The Electric Sheep Company, the top virtual worlds developer, and founder of ILL Clan Inc. As a founder of ILL Clan, an award-winning 3-D movie-making team, he created his first machinima short in 1998. He recently directed machinima scenes in Second Life that appeared on “CSI: NY” on CBS, and were seen by 11 million viewers.

Tracy Fullerton
Fullerton is a game designer, author and co-director of USC’s Electronic Arts Game Innovation Lab. Prior to joining the USC faculty, Fullerton was president and founder of the interactive television game developer, Spiderdance Inc., whose games included NBC’s “Weakest Link,” MTV’s “webRIOT,” the WB’s “No Boundaries,” History Channel’s “History IQ,” Sony Game Show Network’s “Inquizition” and TBS’s “Cyber Bond.”

GDX is a two-day event full of activities. Attendees can expect roundtable discussions, interactive gaming workshops, a reception and “Entelechy 2008” — SCAD’s annual student exhibition of interactive and game design artwork.

For the full list of speakers and to register to attend, visit www.scad.edu/gdx. Early registration ends March 13. For more information, call 404.253.2759 or e-mail gdx@scad.edu.