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News aNd iNformatioN about the Game developers CoNfereNCe® series of eveNts www.GdCoNf.Com

GAME DEVELOPERS CHOICE ONLINE Warcraft franchise. The game has
earned its place in the Hall of Fame
AWARDS HONOR RAPH KOSTER, by dominating the MMO landscape,
setting the standard for countless
WORLD OF WARCRAFT other MMOs that followed.
As the title nears its eighth
anniversary, WOrld Of Warcraft
Koster, this year’s Online Game remains one of the top-rated PC
raph Koster.
Legend Award winner, has led a games of all time and continues
prolific career. As the lead designer to thrive globally, with a massive
on Ultima Online and the creative and passionate subscriber base.
director on Star WarS GalaxieS, WOrld Of Warcraft is one of
his contributions helped lay the the most profitable and popular
foundation for the many massively entertainment franchises in
multiplayer games that followed. history, a bona fide pop-culture
Koster’s professional credits fixture. Members of the Blizzard
span nearly every facet of game Entertainment WOrld Of Warcraft
development, including writing, art, team will be on stage to accept
music, programming, and design. the Hall of Fame award.
Koster is considered a thought Previous winners of the Online
leader, and he is a frequent lecturer Game Legend award include mUd
and published author on topics co-creator Richard Bartle and
including game design, community Kesmai founders Kelton Flinn
management, storytelling, and and John Taylor, and Hall of Fame
ethics in game development. His inductees for the awards include
» Raph Koster, a key industry ceremony, which takes place book, A Theory of Fun, published seminal titles such as Ultima
veteran behind the prodigious Wednesday, October 10, at GDC in 2004, is considered seminal by Online and everqUeSt.
MMORPGs Ultima Online and Online in Austin, Texas. educators and members of the art- The 2012 Game Developers
Star WarS GalaxieS, will be These special award game movement, and is one of the Choice Online Awards take place
honored with the Online Game categories recognize developers most popular books ever written at the Austin Convention Center,
Legend Award at the third annual and titles that have had about games. October 9—11, 2012. More news
Game Developers Choice Online significant impact in the world This year’s Game Developers and information about the show
Awards. In addition, Blizzard of online games. Honorees Choice Online Awards Hall of Fame is available at its web site (www.
Entertainment’s influential were selected through open inductee, Blizzard Entertainment’s gdconline.com) or via Facebook,
MMORPG WOrld Of Warcraft will nominations from the online game WOrld Of Warcraft, was released in Twitter, or RSS. GDC Online is
be inducted into the Choice Online community and the distinguished November 2004, 10 years after the owned and operated by UBM
Awards Hall of Fame during the GDC Online Advisory Board. launch of the company’s venerable TechWeb, as is Game Developer.

LEVEL DESIGN, DESIGNER MANAGEMENT, ART DIRECTION
SESSIONS DEBUT AT GDC CHINA
» With GDC China 2012 just a few months away, show organizers In the Design Track’s “The Business of Art Direction: 7 Critical
have revealed the first sessions in its quickly expanding lineup. Precepts,” EA Sports executive art director Rick Stringfellow will discuss
This first update introduces a robust level-design tutorial featuring some essential guidelines that can help developers better manage
developers from Bethesda, Valve, and The Fullbright Company, as well their production pipelines. He’ll examine everything from debugging
as game design talks from companies like EA Sports and Virtuos. difficult digital content to establishing new visual processes, and will
These debut sessions, along with the rest of GDC China, will take give attendees the knowledge they’ll need to streamline development
place November 17—19 at the Shanghai International Convention for all types of games, platforms, and audiences.
Center in Shanghai, China, and will bring together leading developers Finally, Florian Dhesse of outsourcing house Virtuos will host
to share knowledge and ideas that will benefit the game industry in “Improve Your Games’ Quality by Managing Your Designers,” offering
Asia and beyond. tips to help Chinese studios lead and nurture their valuable game
Here are some details of GDC China’s initial sessions:
designers. Drawing from Virtuos’s own experience working in China,
photo courtesy of game developers conference. an interactive tutorial session examining the best practices for their products and better manage game design staff.
Dhesse will outline the methods and tools studios will need to improve
First, the show will host the in-depth “Level Design Workshop,”
successful level design. Bethesda’s Joel Burgess, Valve’s Matthew
More information on these sessions is available on the Main
Scott, and The Fullbright Company founder and BiOShOck 2 designer
Conference track pages on the official GDC China website (www.
gdcchina.com). Those interested in attending this November’s show
Steve Gaynor will discuss fundamental principles such as layout,
can secure their pass now, as online registration is now open. (GDC
flow, pacing, and narrative, and will apply those concepts to a variety
China is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb, as is Game Developer.)
of genres.
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