GDC Vault Adds Free GDC Europe Guild Wars 2, ESA Talks, 65 New Lectures For Subscribers

GDC Vault Adds Free Guild Wars 2, ESA Talks, 65 New Lectures For Subscribers

GDC Vault has debuted both free and subscriber-only videos from August's GDC Europe event in Cologne. Free-to-watch talks feature ArenaNet's Guild Wars 2 and notables from the ESA, Remedy and Crytek on building grassroots political support for games.

Following the successful Europe-wide developer event that ran alongside Gamescom last month, organizers of the Game Developers Conference series of events are making specially recorded versions of the talks available -- while also archiving all of the GDC Europe content in video form for future use and study.

These new free talks debut alongside an update making available over 65 lecture videos from GDC Europe for subscribers at the GDC Vault website. The site features video technology that allows users to simultaneously view a presenter's slides alongside video and audio of their presentation.

The two free GDC Europe-related videos currently debuting on the site are as follows:

- In 'Designing Guild Wars 2's Dynamic Events', ArenaNet's Guild Wars 2 lead designer Eric Flannum and lead content designer Colin Johanson outline how the industry's attitude to content in games in the MMORPG genre has evolved over time.

The duo discuss the inspiration for -- and the implementation challenges of -- their Dynamic Events system in the much-awaited PC MMO, "with the goal of creating an exciting, living, breathing online world that encourages social interaction between players."

- The newly available talk 'Building Grassroots Video Game Activist Networks' features a panel led by the ESA's Richard Taylor, discussing how "governments in Europe and the United States continue their attempts to censor and regulate game content".

Taking examples from the U.S. Video Game Voters Network, the panel, which includes Remedy's Matias Myllyrinne (Alan Wake) and Crytek's Avni Yerli (Crysis 2) alongside Stephan Reichart of G.A.M.E., the German Games Developers Association, discuss censorship issues and the importance of establishing similar European grassroots networks.

In addition to these lectures, GDC Vault's free videos section includes GDC 2010 lectures from Zynga, Ernest Adams, and NCsoft, plus highly rated lectures featuring 2D Boy's Ron Carmel and Bungie's Brian Sharp, as well as a number of other top talks such as the Indie Game Rant.

The free recordings available are a fraction of the content currently being flowed into the GDC Vault, which has recently added several new features. It's now easier to navigate through the free section of the site, with video, audio and slides more clearly split with browsing and searching. In addition, site searches will bring up both free content and Vault Subscriber-only content in the same results page.

Full GDC Vault access, including synchronized video recordings for over 200 of GDC 2010's sessions, 65 talks from GDC Europe, and hundreds of historical video and audio recordings, is available to GDC 2010 All-Access Pass holders, as well as All-Access Pass holders for other GDC events during the year. Similar recording sessions are planned for GDC Online in Austin next month, as well as December's GDC China.

Notably, game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company. More information on this option is available by contacting Suzanne Cunningham or viewing an online demonstration. Individual Vault subscriptions not tied to All-Access passes are planned for trial in the near future.

GDC Vault Adds Indie Gamemaker Rant, New Site Features

Continuing the Game Developers Conference 2010 free video lecture series, organizers have debuted the 'Indie Gamemaker Rant' from the 2010 Independent Games Summit, also adding multiple new site navigation features.

The new lecture, highly rated by GDC attendees, is part of a free update published at the GDC Vault website, and features video technology that allows users to simultaneously view a presenter's slides alongside video and audio of their presentation.

The well-received 'Indie Gamemaker Rant' is now available for free video streaming, and was described by its creators at the time as: "A series of exquisite [five-minute] rants by notable indie game creators. Experience different points of view on indieness, art, beauty, and the future presented by an all star cast of international friends."

As a detailed Destructoid write-up on the hour-long set of microlectures described, presenters on a host of fascinating topics included Adam Saltsman (Canabalt, pictured), Jonatan Soderstrom (aka Cactus), Anna Anthropy (aka Auntie Pixelante), Jarrad Woods (Captain Forever), Offworld editor [and now IGF Chairman] Brandon Boyer, Randy Smith (Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor), Nathan Vella (Critter Crunch), Craig D. Adams (Superbrothers), Tommy Refenes (Super Meat Boy), Robin Hunicke (thatgamecompany), Ryan O'Donnell (Co-Op/Area 5 Media) and Babsi Lippe (Papermint).

Of additional significance to those interested in independent and alternative views on games is the already available free video of the 'Artgame Sessions' GDC 2010 lecture -- including several smaller talks on Far Cry 2, Braid, Mark Essen's games (Flywrench), and Terry Cavanagh and Stephen Lavelle's Judith.

The free recordings available are a fraction of the content currently being flowed into the GDC Vault, which has added several new features with this latest content upgrade. It's now easier to navigate through the Free section of the site, with video, audio and slides more obviously split up while browsing and searching. In addition, site searches will bring up both free content and Vault Subscriber-only content in the same results page.

Full GDC Vault access, including synchronized video recordings for over 200 of GDC 2010's sessions and hundreds of historical video and audio recordings, is available to GDC 2010 All-Access Pass holders, as well as All-Access Pass holders for other GDC events during the year.

In addition, development studios and schools who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company. More information on this option is available by contacting Suzanne Cunningham or viewing an online demonstration. Individual Vault subscriptions not tied to All-Access passes are being considered for a 2011 launch.

GDC Vault Adds Acclaimed Lectures From Amy Jo Kim, Bob Bates

Continuing their Game Developers Conference 2010 free video lecture series, organizers have debuted well-received lectures from Amy Jo Kim (on meta-game design) and Bob Bates (on 'living a creative life' in games.)

The two new lectures, both highly rated by GDC attendees, are part of a free update published at the GDC Vault website, and feature video technology that allows users to simultaneously view a presenter's slides alongside video and audio of their presentation.

The first talk to be made freely available in this set is 'Meta-Game Design: Reward Systems that Drive Engagement', originally presented at the Social & Online Games Summit by Shufflebrain co-founder and veteran social game/community designer Amy Jo Kim.

Kim, whose clients have included Electronic Arts, Sony, Disney, eBay, MTV, Square Enix and Harmonix, presents an in-depth look at 'metagame design', that is, "the practice of applying game-like reward and feedback systems to non-game applications for the purpose of driving loyalty and engagement".

In the 30 minute talk, the designer and consultant examines games like FarmVille and websites like Stack Overflow to see how clever incentivizing can make -- or break -- your product, whether it sits in the game space, web space, or somewhere in between.

The second lecture available for free is 'The Belly of the Whale: Living a Creative Life in the Game Industry' from 25-year industry veteran Bob Bates (Infocom, Legend Entertainment). The designer, who has worked on dozens of games since he started at seminal adventure game creator Infocom in 1986, explains his talk as follows: "Every year, thousands of people enter the games industry, believing they have found their 'dream job.' Five years later, half of them are gone."

As Bates goes on to explain of the inspirational bit practical hour-long lecture: "This talk addresses the problems of leading a creative life in our business, identifying traps and pitfalls, but also offering specific solutions to the challenges we all face."

In addition to these lectures, GDC Vault's free videos section includes talks from Zynga, Ernest Adams, and NCsoft, plus highly rated lectures featuring 2D Boy's Ron Carmel and Bungie's Brian Sharp, Brenda Brathwaite and geoDefense creator Doug Whatley, plus social game experts Neil Young (Ngmoco) and Michael Acton Smith (Moshi Monsters).

The free recordings available are a fraction of the content currently being flowed into the GDC Vault. Full GDC Vault access, including synchronized video recordings for over 200 of GDC 2010's sessions and hundreds of historical video and audio recordings, is available to GDC 2010 All-Access Pass holders, as well as All-Access Pass holders for other GDC events during the year.

GDC Vault Adds Ngmoco, Moshi Monsters Emerging Market Lectures

Continuing their Game Developers Conference 2010 free video lecture series, show organizers have debuted well-received lectures on social/free to play games by Ngmoco's Neil Young and Moshi Monsters' Michael Acton Smith.

The two new lectures, both highly rated by GDC attendees, are part of a free bi-weekly update published at the GDC Vault website, and feature video technology that allows users to simultaneously view a presenter's slides alongside video and audio of their presentation.

Firstly, organizers are presenting Neil Young's Business & Management Track keynote from GDC 2010, 'Things to Unlearn Moving From Traditional Development to the New Digital World'. Young, who is CEO & founder of iPhone/iPad centric publisher/developer ngmoco (TouchPets, We Rule, Rolando) "talks candidly about the challenges that traditional game developers face" in this new market.

Young, who was previously a long-time EA executive (Majestic) discusses "transitioning from long development cycles, packaged goods and the one time sale to the essential new models of games as a service, virtual goods, data driven design & minimum viable products" in this highly-rated GDC lecture.

The second lecture available for free is from the popular Social & Online Games Summit, and features Mind Candy's Michael Acton Smith discussing 'Lessons Learned Building Moshi Monsters to 15 Million Users'. The highly successful webbased game in question, Moshi Monsters, is a social online game for kids (7-11 year olds).

As Acton Smith explains in his lecture description, the title is "an unusual mix between Tamagotchi, Brain Training and Facebook." The game launched in April 2008, and "hit its tipping point in 2009, when 9 million more players joined." The session then goes into detail about what the team learned during this intense period of growth -- also discussion how traffic was acquired, and which acquisition channels have been most effective.

In addition to these lectures, GDC Vault's free videos section includes talks from Zynga, Ernest Adams, and NCsoft, plus highly rated lectures featuring 2D Boy's Ron Carmel and Bungie's Brian Sharp and Brenda Brathwaite plus geoDefense's creator Doug Whatley.