3D Gaming Summit Explores Fast-Growing Game Sectors
The second conference featured leading creatives like Rovio’s David Maisel and Respawn Entertainment’s Vince Zampella
LOS ANGELES — The second annual 3D Gaming Summit: Gaming and Beyond expanded its scope to include fast-growing segments of the games industry like cloud gaming, mobile gaming social gaming, and the impact augmented reality will have on games moving forward. Highlights of the jam-packed one day conference included an Opening Keynote Interview by David Maisel, Senior Advisor to Rovio creator Angry Birds, conducted by John Gaudiosi, Gaming Summit Senior Content Advisor & Co-Founder of Gamerlive.tv; and a Featured Interview with Vince Zampella, (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare) General Manger of Respawn Entertainment, conducted by USA Today’s Video Game Editor Mike Snider.
The Summit was kicked off with opening remarks by Bob Dowling, followed by a research session with Dan Casey, SVP, Strategy & Analysis, Interpret, LLC. Casey’s research suggested that gamers are the single most important market segment when it comes to increasing sales of 3D televisions, displaying nearly double the interest in purchasing a 3D set than non-gamers, and that, contrary to current perceived wisdom, 60% of gamers were unfazed by the need to wear glasses.
In his Keynote, Rovio’s David Maisel examined the challenges of leveraging a casual gaming brand in the merchandising and licensing world and offered his vision of what the in-development Angry Birds movie will look like. Maisel said making the CGI Angry Birds movie in stereo 3D is “obviously a no-brainer.”
In his interview, Respawn’s Vince Zampella reported that the company, which will retain ownership of all its games (and be distributed by Electronic Arts) had already ramped up to 60 employees and predicted that both 3D games and social gaming were in Respawn’s immediate future. “We’re keeping a close eye on what’s developing and where it makes sense,” said Zampella about 3D’s use in gaming.
Thursday’s Gaming Summit events were preceded on Tuesday (due to a scheduling conflict) by an innovative all-3D slide presentation on PlayStation 3’s first year from Sony’s Mick Hocking which stunningly demonstrated that the future is now for 3D gaming.
In-depth 3D Gaming Summit panels included an examination of how companies like Zynga and Facebook are changing the face of social gaming; a discussion of the future of 3D by top game developers; a look at how autostereoscopic devices like the Nintendo 3DS, Sprint HTC Evo 3D and AT&T LG Thrill are introducing audiences to glasses free 3D gaming; the growing use of Augmented Reality technology in tablets, smartphones and gaming devices; and how “Gaming in the Cloud” will change the business of video games.
Between sessions, summit attendees were able to visit the Entertainment Technology Showcase, which featured more than 60 displays showcasing the latest in 3D, mobile and gaming technology while serving as a networking hub for top industry executives.
“We are proud that our 2nd annual 3D Gaming Summit brought some of the industry’s best and brightest minds together to discuss the challenges and growing promise of 3D gaming,” said Bob Dowling, the 3D Gaming Summit conference’s co-chairman.
“The 3D Gaming and Beyond Summit showcased some of the biggest names in the ever-expanding video game business today,” said Conference Content Advisor John Gaudiosi. “Visionaries like Respawn Entertainment’s Vince Zampella talked about the future of interactive entertainment, while David Maisel of Rovio discussed his vision of the “Angry Birds” film. And some of the top minds in gaming today explained why cloud gaming, augmented reality and social games are the future of this $74 billion global industry.”
The 3D Gaming Summit: Gaming and Beyond was co-located this year with the 3D Entertainment Summit and the LA Mobile Entertainment Summit presented by Ortsbo.com, taking place in Hollywood on September 20-22. Together the three conferences comprise the most comprehensive array of experts, research and analysis covering the 3D, gaming and mobile entertainment sectors.
