Technology and Entertainment Gurus Converge at GDC,

Outline Vision for the Future of the Game Industry

High Profile Speakers Include: Nintendo President, X-box Co-founder, Hollywood

Futurist, Sony CG Specialist

SAN FRANCISCO - Feb. 28, 2005 - The Game Developers Conference (GDC) brings

to life the 2005 theme, Future Vision, with a series of talks dedicated

to the road ahead for interactive entertainment. The "vision track" will

include progressive leaders in the fields of music, video games, design

and technology. GDC will take place Monday through Friday, March 7-11,

2005 at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco.

"The vision track is designed to provoke innovation among developers and

set the stage for the future of interactive entertainment," said Jamil

Moledina, director, GDC. "In a business environment where finishing the

current project is the foremost priority, our goal is to provide an environment

that fosters the innate creativity of game developers, and empowers each

of them to establish their own long-term vision of the next decade of games."

Featured speakers include:

· J Allard, corporate vice president and founding member of the Xbox platform

project, is recognized as one of the most promising young leaders of the

entertainment industry. In 1993 he was named in Hollywood Reporter's Top

35 Entertainment Execs Under 35. Allard's session is entitled "The Future

of Games: Unlocking the Opportunity."

· Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, is a unique executive in the games

business since his background is not finance, law, or marketing, but rather

video game creation. His game credits include the classic character Kirby,

as well as the globally popular Earthbound and Super Smash Brothers series.

His session entitled "The Heart of a Gamer," will assess where the game

business stands today, predicting how it will develop over the next several

years.

· Masaya Matsuura, a visionary musician and game developer, blazed ahead

of his time by building an online music community in Japan. In 2004 IGDA

awarded Matsuura with the First Penguin award for taking risks and breaking

new ground in beat-rhythm and music games. He helped bring rhythm to games

with titles like Parappa the Rapper and Vib-Ribbon. Matsuura-san will

be facilitating a session entitled, "The Near Future of Media Distribution."

· Peter Molyneux, co-founder of Bullfrog Productions and founder of Lionhead

Studios, is renowned for creating the new genre "god games" like Populous

(1989) and Black and White (2001) -- games that cast the player as a deity

whose whims influence the activities of a simulated world. In 2005 the

Queen of England recognized Molyneux by giving him an Order of the British

Empire (OBE). Sir Peter Molyneux is the first games developer to be granted

an OBE. His session is entitled "Gamesplay Moves Forward into the 21st

Century."

· Remington Scott, CG special projects supervisor at Sony Imageworks, has

supervised/directed/produced computer generated "Performance Animation"

for visionary feature film directors including Peter Jackson, Hironobu

Sakaguchi, Sam Raimi and the Wachowskis. His work in The Lord of the Rings:

The Twin Towers received the Academy Award for Achievement in Visual Effects

for using a computer motion capture system to create the split personality

character of Gollum and Sméagol. Scott's session is entitled "Feature

Film Performance Animation and Digital Human Acquisition for the Next Generation

Games."

· Tim Sweeney, programmer and founder of Epic Games, has been developing

games and technology from the time of early PC gaming. His 3D genius has

developed many games, including Unreal Tournament, Splinter Cell and Harry

Potter. His accomplishments don't stop there: He was recently named among

GameSpy's 30 Most Influential People in Gaming. Sweeney's session is entitled

"Games Technology and Content Creation for the Next Generation."

· Kenzo Tsujimoto, president and CEO of Capcom, will give a talk named,

"The Japanese Game Industry: Past, Present and Future," examining the

Japanese game industry through the context of Japanese events such as the

Tokyo Game Show, the CESA (Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association)

Game Awards and CEDEC (CESA Developers Conference) organized by CESA.

· John Underkoffler serves as science and technology advisor to film productions

including Minority Report, The Hulk, The Miniseries Taken and the upcoming

live-action adaptation Aeon Flux. His technology-based art and design works

have been exhibited across several continents and have received various

awards. His session is entitled "Fluid Loop: The Splendid Tangle of Science

Design in Cinema, Games and Life."

· Will Wright, Maxis' chief designer, co-founded Maxis in 1987. His ground

breaking game The Sims 2 became the fastest selling PC game ever, selling

more than a million copies in the first ten days worldwide. In 2002 Wright

was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of

Fame. His session is entitled "The Future of Content."

The GDC will feature more than 300 lectures, panels, tutorials and roundtable

discussions across seven content tracks. For a complete list of GDC 2005

event information visit www.gdconf.com.