LOGIN Conference Locked In and Engaged
The bags are packed, the badges are printed, and the stage is set for LOGIN 2011. The past several weeks have been a ramp-up of intensity as we've prepared to make LOGIN a productive and enjoyable experience for each of you. It's hard to believe, but it's now year No. 5 for the conference, and we're keeping our strengths — great attendees with perks to match, numerous networking opportunities, cutting-edge learning — at the forefront. For an event to be great, you must keep what works best but be willing to improve through new ideas. At Evergreen Events, we believe in that philosophy. As we've talked about in the past, we've got a new venue in downtown Bellevue, the Meydenbauer Center, amid a vibrant landscape of offices, shops, and locales for bustling nightlife. We've condensed the agenda to create the greatest impact possible for attendees through the strongest possible slate of speakers and sessions. We've also added extra impact through the addition of the Extra Credits Innovation Awards in partnership with the Themis Group, as well as with the addition of the Facebook Game Developer Boot Camp. All changes considered, two things regarding LOGIN won't change: our devotion to quality and our unwillingness to be satisfied with the status quo. Gamification has been gaining more and more attention, and with it, closer scrutiny what the potential is for such a concept in worlds beyond gaming. Scott's views in particular have drawn attention lately, holding to the view that gamification needs genuine gamers involved, not just marketers. His will be a talk that will surely cover a range of fascination and thought-provoking ideas surrounding gamification. Social games are another topic that's on fire, especially when compared to traditional games. If it was a competition, it could be argued that traditional games as a sector are losing that competition. Or, does "iron sharpen iron," so that both market segments are benefiting because they sharing their best ideas and best practices? The power of the editorial review remains strong even in the age of social media, whether you're a small start-up or a AAA publisher. Understanding how ratings are decided upon and how reviews are adapted to evolving online play makes understanding this process just as important as ever. Erik is sure to shed light on this topic for everyone who feels they need to know about this element of the marketing life cycle of a game. Wednesday: Eight Years Young: Keeping a legacy game fresh and relevant | Rahul Sandil (GamersFirst) As many online games start to reach a point of maturity and beyond, how can a company ensure the game remains relevant to modern players with their often increasingly elevated expectations? This is the question that Rahul poses and will help answer for many developers who've got to decide how best to handle an older game. After all, sometimes the best choice isn't to develop a new game but make an older one more successful for longer. No matter what your role in the online game industry, I'm confident you'll find the sessions at LOGIN to be educational, thought-provoking, and enlightening.
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Industry HighlightsLoot Drop Gains Playdom Ex-Program ManagerKaren Clark — the former program manager of social game company Playdom — has officially joined Loot Drop. Aside from Playdom, Clark has also worked on projects like Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2. She also co-founded the online game industry mentorship website, GameMentorOnline. Popstar Defense Experiments With HTML-5, Cross-Platform PlayPlugin-free, cross-platform play isn't yet standard, but there are plenty of companies experimenting with HTML-5 and its ability to play on any platform. This concept is already being tested by the cloud-based company Sibblingz. It's also being experimented with — and announced at Google's I/O Conference, Popstar Defense Lady Gaga Partners With Zynga to Promote New Album on FarmVilleZynga is partnering with Lady Gaga to promote her new album, "Born This Way," slated for a May 23 launch. Zynga is not new to partnerships with music industry heavy-hitters, having partnered with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre in the past. Zynga's FarmVille fans will be able to visit GagaVille, which will, of course, be themed after Lady Gaga's distinctive style. The farm will have a load of new in-game items, such as sheep on motorcycles, crystals, unicorns, and other offbeat objects. GagaVille visitors will also get exclusive access to songs from the album prior to going live. Replaying the Final Assault on Osama bin LadenJust days after the hubbub of the United States' SEAL's raid on Osama bin Laden's compound, in which the infamous leader of al-Qaida was slain, this chapter of history has already been immortalized in a video game. Kuma Games is a developer that creates games and episodic chapters to its game frameworks based on historical or current events. Its first-person shooter game Kuma War 2 has just had a final chapter added to this game based on bin Laden's death. South Korean Lawmakers Pass Measure to Curb Youth Online Gaming AddictionSouth Korea's parliament on April 29 passed a measure to curb what the government sees as a rising tide of dangerous addiction among young online gamers. In specific, the law curtails access to online games for youth under the age of 16 after midnight. Proposed last year by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family last year, the Youth Protection Revision bill was a response to a series of incidences involving negligent parenting and sleep deprivation due to excessive online gaming. Under the "nighttime shutdown" rule, online gamers registered as under the age of 16 will be automatically booted out of gaming sessions from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. Lenovo Backs New Console in a Play for the Chinese MarketLenovo is putting its muscle behind a new console game system targeting the Chinese market, a market with a booming online game industry but no real console presence as of yet. The distinguishing characteristic of this console is its Kinect-type motion controlled interface. The console is entitled "iSec," which stands for "Sports Entertainment Center," which is not a surprise given the physical interface. The system relies on a 3-D depth camera, similar to the Kinect, so hand and body gestures can control the action on-screen. Online Gaming With Offline Family May Be the Way to PlayPlaying online games have accumulated the stigma over the years of creating addiction, fostering social isolation, causing failure in hygiene, and a litany of other functional ailments. A new study by Cuihua Shen, an assistant professor of emerging media and communication at the University of Texas at Dallas, challenges the idea that online games diminish emotional health. In fact, Shen asserts, when played with existing family and friends, online games are emotionally beneficial. Almost Half of All Games Downloads Are MobileMobile games are taking up a larger share of downloads compared to console and PC counterparts — almost half, according to a report by market research company NPD. In fact, even gamers who play online games via their console systems are still spending a majority of their money on mobile games. Sixty percent of consumers in this study said they would still spend at least as much as they usually do on console and portable games for their mobile devices, although 40 percent said they were substituting at least some spending on consoles for mobile games. Seattle's PopCap Games Snaps Up ZipZapPlaySeattle's PopCap Games, a casual and social game developer and publisher, has announced it's acquired ZipZapPlay, a San Francisco-based and venture capital-funded Facebook game developer. ZipZapPlay has previously developed Baking Life among other social gaming titles. ZipZapPlay's offices and 17 employees will not be closed or moved, remaining in San Francisco. ZipZapPlay's founders, CEO Curt Bererton and CCO Mathilde Pignol, will manage game design and development from their current offices. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Capping Online Game Growth and PopularityWith AT&T's announcement that its 16 million broadband customers would be subject to a usage cap starting Monday, May 2, the company joins Comcast, which is the nation's largest broadband service provider, in the stated objective to limit the users who hit the Internet buffet for third and fourth helpings every month. AT&T will limit users to 150 GBs per month for broadband service and 250 GBs per month if they're U-verse (premium plan) plan subscribers. The kicker is that if a user crosses the limit, they will be charged $10 per month, a recurring fee for each additional 50 GBs burned through. |
Sponsorship Opportunities Available at LOGIN 2011Without our sponsors there would be no LOGIN! We are currently seeking sponsors for the 2011 event. Interested? To learn more about sponsorship opportunities at LOGIN visit the sponsorship page on our website, contact Cynthia Freese at cynthia@loginconference.com, or call 1.425.533.5973. |
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