On Saturday everyone is encouraged to attend the lectures and panel discussions at the Game Symposium ("WHERE CULTURES COLLIDE: THE ALCHEMY OF CREATIVITY AND TECHNOLOGY IN MAKING GAMES") at RPI from 9:45 AM till 2:15 PM. This event is also free and open to the public and includes a free lunch (please RSVP to dangel@rpi.edu so they can get enough food).

Following are all the vital stats on the Game Festival and IGDA Gathering and Saturday's Game Symposium and a full program for the festival and game symposium courtesy of event coordinator Don Moore.

Friday

Game Festival, 5-9 PM
Darren Communication Center, RPI Campus, Troy, NY (building #17 on this campus map)
Play 24 student game projects, meet local game studios, the Albany IGDA and RPI Game Development Club!

Albany IGDA & RPI Game Development Club Gathering, 9:15-10 PM
Java++ Café at the corner of 15th Street and College Ave, Troy, NY (a short walk over from the Game Festival)
Informal social gathering, Free Raffle (for IGDA Members, tickets are $1 for non-members), Update on HolyStrike by Bret Dunham

Saturday

Game Symposium: "WHERE CULTURES COLLIDE: THE ALCHEMY OF CREATIVITY AND TECHNOLOGY IN MAKING GAMES"
9:45 AM - 2:15 PM
The Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, RPI Campus, Troy, NY (building #74 on this campus map)
Presentations and Panel discussions

Parking is available on the streets and parking lots near RPI on Sage, College Avenue and 15th Street and in some of the campus parking lots which are okay to park in after 5 pm.

FRIDAY & SATURDAY, April 28 & 29, 2006

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC -- LUNCH FREE SATURDAY

THIS IS AN EVENT FOR STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND STAFF WHO WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT GAMES AND THE GAME INDUSTRY

Sponsored by Vicarious Visions, an Activision Studio; and by The School of Humanities & Social Sciences at Rensselaer

>>>> What's Happening Friday >>>>

Friday, 5 PM to 9 PM, DCC Great Hall

Experience the traditional game bazaar with twenty-four tables and more of teams presenting new games; the Albany Chapter of the International Game Developers Association; and companies with representatives to speak with about careers. The companies, each of which employes Rensselaer alumni, are:

Vicarious Visions, an Activision Studio
Cryptic Studios
1st Playable Productions
Agora Games

>>>> What's Happening Saturday >>>>

Saturday, 9:45 AM to 2:15 PM, The Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies Auditorium Center Auditorium

GAME SYMPOSIUM: "WHERE CULTURES COLLIDE: THE ALCHEMY OF CREATIVITY AND TECHNOLOGY IN MAKING GAMES"

9:45 AM - Michael Lewis '93, Cryptic Studios, Opening Address

10:30 AM - Ian Bogost, Georgia Tech: "How to Do Things with Videogames: Persuasive Games and Procedural Rhetoric" (Abstract Below with Bio)

11:15 PM - "Women in Game Development"
Barbara Ann Ruel, Rensselaer Director of Women in Engineering, Moderator
Tobi Saulnier '84, 1st Playable Productions
Katherine Isbister, Rensselaer

12:15 - Lunch is Free. PLEASE, CONTACT THE DEAN'S OFFICE TO HELP US DETERMINE OUR LUNCH ORDER: dangel@rpi.edu, x6575

12:45 PM - "Activision: Inside the Levels of an Industry Giant", Karthik Bala '97

1:30 PM - "Young Alumni: Making It in the Virtual World" Panel
Kathleen Ruiz, Assoc. Prof. of Arts, Moderator
Michael DelPrete '03
Erin Hoffman '03
Ian Stead '04
Ben Zeigler '05

BIOS:

Karthik Bala '97, Founder and CEO of Vicarious Visions, one of ten studios of Activison. Vicarious Visions has earned critical acclaim with hit titles for top brands such as Tony Hawk, Spider-Man®, Crash Bandicoot®, SpongeBob Square Pants® and Star Wars®.

Ian Bogost, Ph.D., Asst Prof, Literature Communication and Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology , author of Unite Operations," a general theory for understanding creativity under computation, one that will apply increasingly to all creativity in the future.

ABSTRACT: "There has been much talk about educational games and so-called Serious Games in recent years. These are games designed or repurposed to serve "serious" purposes, such as service to educational, governmental, and corporate institutions. These goals may appear more "noble" than commercial videogames, which appear only to serve the ends of leisure. In this talk, I will argue for a different way to understand videogames' power to influence people, an approach I call Persuasive Games, an approach to videogames that inherits from the 2,5000 year tradition of rhetoric. After introducing these general concepts, I will provide examples of commercial, art, and independent games in the areas of politics, advertising, and education."

Michael DelPrete '03, M.A. in HCI fro RPI, President of Agora Studios and Agora Games, an RPI Incubator company.

Erin Hoffman '03, started her career in 1999 designing massively multiplayer text worlds for Simutronics; then as a designer and writer with Taldren, Inc.; Director of Online Communities for GoPets, Ltd., and is now a designer at 1st Playable.

Katherine Isbister, Ph.D. Assoc. Prof. of Communication at RPI is a Social scientist/designer working in Game character design, Founder of the Rensselaer Games Research Lab.

Michael Lewis '93, started Stellar Semiconductor, a 3D graphics acceleration technology and hardware company, in the RPI Incubator. As CTO, Michael led engineering development and systems for rapid, accurate implementation of complex architectures. In 2000, he helped found Cryptic Studios, now with over 60 employees, and its award winning titles: City of Heroes and the follow-on City of Villains.

Barbara Ann Ruel, Rensselaer, is Director of Diversity and Women in Engineering, responsible for the recruitment and retention of a diverse population of faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students for the School of Engineering.

Kathleen Ruiz, Assoc. Prof. of Electronic Arts at RPI, media artist working in simulation, games, sculpture and photography which explore multiple perspectives and the formation of mental geographies.

Tobi Saulnier '84, Ph.D. in EE from RPI, spent five years overseeing product development at Vicarious Visions before founding 1st Playable Productions. Prior to the game industry, Tobi managed R&D in embedded and distributed systems at General Electric Research and Development.

Ian Stead '04, an artist with 1st Playable Productions, formerly worked on cell phone games at Digital Thermite, and is the lead coordinator for the Albany chapter of the International Game Development Association.

Ben Zeigler '05, associate programmer, Cryptic Studios. Formerly President of the Rensselaer Game Development Club.