The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), the professional organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of interactive arts, has announced some of its speakers and panel topics for the 2005 D.I.C.E. Summit (Design, Innovate, Communicate and Entertain.) Addressing the industry's most essential topics for 2005 such as IP piracy, predicting a successful game, taking risks in development and successful branding, this three-day conference will be held January 31 – February 2, 2005 at Green Valley Ranch Resort in Las Vegas, NV.
The D.I.C.E. summit provides an outlet for the top video game designers, developers from around the world and business leaders from the major publishers to discuss the state of the industry, its current trends and its future. This year's summit will include speakers from a range of industries and trades to ensure multiple opinions are addressed and different perspectives heard.
‘"It is part of our commitment to Summit attendees to discuss those issues at the forefront of the advancement of the industry for the coming year," said Joseph Olin, President, AIAS. "In order to do so, we at the AIAS must ensure that our panel topics, speakers, panelists and moderators reflect what and who is and will be most important to people involved in every level of the industry. Looking at this year's line-up we couldn't be more certain that the 2005 D.I.C.E Summit will deliver as promised. "
The Summit will feature the following speakers:
Tim Schafer, video game developer and the creative mind behind such titles as Psychonauts, Day of The Tentacle, Full Throttle, and Grim Fandango, will speak on the importance of risk-taking in the creative development of games
Jack Tretton, executive vice president, Sony Computer Entertainment America, will address the challenges and risks developers and indeed our entire industry face regarding next-generation console games funding and development
Designer Marc Ecko will share his insight on how to take a fashion brand and extend it successfully into the world on interactive entertainment
Jane Buckingham, founder of the "Cassandra Report," will speak on predicting success rate in entertainment properties with today's ever-changing youth
Seamus Blakely, one of the key minds behind Xbox, who now heads up the video game division at Creative Artists Agency, will address the reality of entertainment finance in regards to next-generation consoles
Richard Marks, special projects manager for Sony R&D, will talk about the use of interface design in driving gameplay
BioWare's co-CEOs Ray Mazyka and Greg Zeschuk will share their company's business model and discuss how joint efforts of players and in-house design have proven to be a success
Doug Lowenstein, president of the ESA (Entertainment Software Association,) will lead a panel on protecting IP in the evolving world of online distribution and Peer to Peer gameplay
The 2005 D.I.C.E. Summit will host additional panel discussions, which will be revealed at a later date. Panels will be led by today's top interactive and entertainment industry influencers and will address those issues that will set the overall industry tones for 2005.
"We couldn't be more excited to feature such an incredible lineup of speakers and thought provoking topics for this year's D.I.C.E. Summit," said Ted Price, chairman of the AIAS board. "The 2005 lineup is sure to fuel dialogue no other industry summit can provide, and the AIAS has always made huge efforts to deliver for our attendees each year."
More information and details on the 2005 D.I.C.E. Summit can be found at www.DICESummit.org.