D.I.C.E. Summit Announces "Hot Topics" Sessions and Speakers

CALABASAS, CA – January 26, 2010 – The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences® (AIAS) today announced the last of the speakers for the 2010 D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit®. The event will be held at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, February 17-19, 2010, and features a line-up of industry leaders and decision makers, and visionaries from the disciplines that are shaping the future of interactive entertainment.

“The 2010 Summit truly offers an incredible range of perspectives from all aspects of the games industry,” said Joseph Olin, president of the Academy. “The Hot Topics segments feature some of the medium’s most accomplished voices debating single issues moderated by G4-TV’s Adam Sessler; John Schappert now chief operating officer of Electronic Arts has incredible insight on business of games. Randy Pitchford, Joe Maduriera and Dave Adams have different takes on the challenges of bringing original ideas to life. EEDAR’s Greg Short and Geoffrey Zatkin conclude the sessions with observations on consumers’ reactions to games today. I am thrilled to have so many senior members of the game community share their thoughts this year.

Additional speakers added to the 2010 line-up includes:

• John Schappert, chief operating officer Electronic Arts, founder of Tiburon Studios and with EA for 17 years; he left to run Microsoft’s LIVE software division for 2 years, returning this past July

• Joe Madureira & David Adams, co-founders of Vigil Games, a legendary comic artist and technical guru joined forces in 2005 to create their groundbreaking company, which has released Darksiders and has the highly anticipated MMO in development, Warhammer 40,000. Their topic is “From Pencils to Pixels: the Journey of Creating Original IP For Consoles.”

• Randy Pitchford, chief executive officer & president, Gearbox Games, one of the founders of the company who has produced and directed many best selling games, including the popular 2009 release Borderlands, as well as the Half Life titles and the Brothers In Arms series, will speak on “The Gearbox Software Story: past, Present & Future.”

• Greg Short & Geoffrey Zatkin, CEO and COO respectively, Electronic Entertainment Design and Research, will speak on “Forces at Play: Examining What Has Really Been Impacting the Videogame Industry, and What It Means Going Forward.”

On Wednesday February 17, prior to the opening keynote, there will be a special event, EEDAR Presents Hot Topics, moderated by Adam Sessler of G4-TV. The three debates and speakers are:

• Casual Games: Salvation or Damnation, David Jaffe, Eat Sleep Play and David Crane, legendary game-maker
• Innovation: Story Vs Action, Dan Connors, Telltale Games and Richard Garriott, Hall of Fame recipient
• The Art of Independence, Tim Schafer, Doublefine Games and Chris Taylor, Gas Powered Games

The D.I.C.E. Summit® 2010 is the home of the 13th annual Interactive Achievement Awards® ceremony on February 18th, where industry leaders and members pay tribute and recognize the individuals and products that contribute to the growth of the interactive entertainment software business. Comedian, actor and spirited game enthusiast, Jay Mohr will return for his fifth year as host. The Independent Film Channel will be streaming the Awards, as well as filming the show for a TV broadcast to follow.

Sponsors include: IFC-TV®, Microsoft Game Studios, Nintendo, Sony Computer Entertainment America, G-Net Media, Electronic Arts, Electronic Entertainment Design and Research, Hansoft AB, Gigamedia, MTV Networks, Crytek, Day 1 Studios, Intel, Infernal Engine, Nvidia, Microsoft Games for Windows, Insomniac Games, Unreal Tournament, Boesky & Company, The Guildhall at SMU, The Strong National Museum of Play, UK Trade & Investments, Alienware, Noodle House, PR Newswire, Mary Margaret Network, GameIndustry Biz, and industrygamers.com.

Immediately following D.I.C.E.® this year, will be the Indie Games Challenge winners announcements and celebration. The IGC is a partnership between the AIAS, Gamestop, and The Guildhall at SMU.

Registration ends January 29, 2010 at midnight

For more information and registration: www.dicesummit.org

About the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences:
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) was founded in 1996 as a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote, advance and recognize common interests and outstanding achievements in the interactive arts and sciences. To further enhance awareness of the Academy’s vision, the organization created the D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit in 2002, a once yearly conference dedicated to exploring approaches to the creative process and artistic expression as they uniquely apply to the development of interactive entertainment. With the success of D.I.C.E., the Academy took the exclusive event to Singapore to launch the first ever D.I.C.E. Asia this year. The Academy also conducts an annual awards show, Interactive Achievement Awards, to promote and acknowledge exceptional accomplishments in this field. With more than 20,000 members, including Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, Day One Studios, Epic Games and Insomniac Games, The Academy is the leading advocate of video games worldwide. More information can be found at http://www.interactive.org and http://www.dicesummit.org.