Carolina Games Summit 2009
The Carolina Games Summit will be held 10 a.m.-9 p.m. on Saturday, February 7th, 2009 at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC. Tickets are available to the public for $10 each and may be purchased online or at the door. The event includes video game tournaments, industry speakers, live music, educational sessions, and exhibition booths. An exciting mix of fun, academic opportunities and career exploration has been created for students, aspiring game developers, educators and professionals alike.
Attendees may participate in sponsored tournaments and enjoy unlimited free play on full-size classic arcades as well as the latest consoles and computer gaming systems.
Building on the continued success of past years over 15 tournaments and numerous speakers from a variety of game development firms and educational institutions will be featured. Due to overwhelming interest, organizers have scheduled two keynote speakers for this year's event.
Insomniac Games' North Carolina Studio Director Chad Dezern and Production Director Shaun McCabe will give an in depth look at Insomniac's production philosophy during their keynote. They'll pull examples from their latest blockbuster titles: Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty and Resistance 2. In addition, they will provide an overview of hiring standards geared toward students interested in joining the game industry.
Media Sunshine's founder and producer Heather Chandler and writer Rafael Chandler will present the lessons they've learned during their combined 22 years in the trenches of the game industry. The husband-and-wife team will wrap up this keynote presentation with a look at their upcoming projects, including the PS3 shooter M.A.G. (Massive Action Game) and the stealth-action title Cipher Complex.
Hands-on training sessions by seasoned game development professionals and college educators will also be returning. The student showcase room will give budding game developers the chance to display their work directly to industry professionals. Rounding out the event, the exhibition hall will be packed with industry and educational representatives.
Visit the official web site, CarolinaGamesSummit.com for a listing of events and additional details. Contact the event organizers, Michael Everett and Tracy Schmeltzer, at (919) 735-5151 or info(at)carolinagamessummit(dot)com for more information on attending, exhibiting or speaking at the Carolina Games Summit.
About Insomniac Games:
Insomniac Games is a wholly independent console videogames developer that has released award-winning hits for the PlayStation(R) game console, the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system and PlayStation(R)3 for 14 years. The company created the first three Spyro the Dragon(TM) games, the Ratchet & Clank(TM) franchise and Resistance: Fall of Man(TM), which combined to sell more than 25 million units worldwide. Insomniac Games recently released Resistance 2, its fourth PS3 exclusive title. In addition to making blockbuster videogames, Insomniac is known for ranking among the top four "Best Small Companies to Work for in America" in 2005 and 2006 and among the Top 10 for 2007, according to the Great Places to Work Institute and Society for Human Resources Management. Insomniac Games announced the opening of a North Carolina-based development studio in January 2009. The new studio, which will be located in the Raleigh-Durham area, will focus on developing both current and new intellectual properties. Additional information can be found on the company's web site at http://www.insomniacgames.com.
About Media Sunshine:
Media Sunshine is an independent game development studio that provides contracting and consulting services to publishers and developers, including Psyonix Studios, SouthPeak Games, 1C Company, and Artificial Studios. Heather Chandler, a producer with experience at Activision, Electronic Arts, and Ubisoft, founded the company in 2005. She was joined in 2006 by Rafael Chandler, a writer who has worked on games developed and published by Sony, Sega, and Ubisoft. Media Sunshine has contributed to the development of Monster Madness: Grave Danger, Two Worlds, Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars, Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run, and Sacred 2: Fallen Angel. Additional information can be found on the company's web site at http://www.mediasunshine.com.
I fixed the comma issue, thanks for noticing that!! I bet that is a problem on a lot of forums I post the press release on. 
Very awesome! I can't wait. 
The fourth annual Carolina Games Summit wrapped up at 9 pm Saturday, Feb 7, with a full crowd experiencing the closing cinematic of the awards ceremony while Entertainment System played a classic gaming score from Castlevania 2. The band's lead guitarist Chris Baines stated, "We have performed at over thirty events and this is one of the most organized we have seen, with attendees representing a friendly and engaged gaming community."
Over 1400 attendees, special guests, and exhibitors made up the largest gaming event in the Carolinas. For twelve hours Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC, was transformed into a mecca for the video game community. A bus left early Saturday morning from Virginia Beach, VA, full of excited ITT Technical Institute students, while professional MLG gamers and members of the PMS and H2O clans flew in from across the country a day before the event.
These two groups represent a unique formula that makes the Carolina Games Summit different than other video game-related events. Visitors to the event can experience presentations from industry visionaries, interact with exhibitors, and plan for their future in the game development career field, or they can dedicate their day to one of eighteen fiercely competitive tournaments.
Michael Everett, creative director of the event, reported that "831 attendees registered for at least one tournament, reflecting about 60 percent of our attendees. This tells us that at least 40 percent of our audience is here to enjoy speakers, exhibitors, and bands while expanding their knowledge of North Carolina's game development industry." Tracy Schmeltzer, the event's producer, added that "It is important to note that while both groups were well represented this year, there are many people who overlap these two groups and get the full benefit from attending a hybrid event like ours."
Highlights of the day included keynote speeches by both Insomniac Games and Media Sunshine. In addition, Len Annetta from NCSU spoke on the benefits of educational games and the various serious game projects his team is working on. Kris Dell of Applied Software, along with Roy Kimmins and Phyllis Jones, both game development teachers in the Guildford County School system, spoke on North Carolina's latest efforts to expand a game development curriculum into the public school system and the tools needed to achieve this goal.
Chad Dezern of Insomniac Games commented on the Summit, "It is a great way to meet people who are playing games, and people who are really involved in game development, and it's a great way for everyone who has an interest in games in North Carolina to meet under one roof."
Robert Rice, CEO of Neogence Enterprises, spoke on the future of mobile games, augmented reality, and massively multiplayer online role playing games. Kwame Hawkins, from the School of Communication Arts, gave attendees an introduction to lighting effects in computer-generated environments. Hands-on sessions allowed attendees to learn perspective sketching from North Carolina State University School of Design professor Timothy Buie or to explore costume and prop design from movie industry veterans, Penny Dreadful Productions.
Inside a packed auditorium the top three winners of each tournament were recognized during the awards ceremony. Wayne Community College Simulation and Game Development Students designed and produced the ceremony complete with custom music videos of each game.
Sponsors of this year's event included, BFG Technology, Chick-fil-A, Cobalt Flux, Coca-Cola, CPU Magazine, DigitalRecruiter.com, FSP, Hampton Inn, Time Warner Cable, Vitamin Water, Wireless Xpress, and this fine video game community.
Tournament results, pictures, and video footage from the event are currently being added to the official web site, CarolinaGamesSummit.com and our official profile on GatheringofGamers.com. The date for the next Carolina Games Summit will be Saturday, February 6, 2010. Contact the event organizers, Michael Everett and Tracy Schmeltzer, at (919) 735-5151 or for more information on attending, exhibiting or speaking at future Carolina Games Summit events.
That URL had a stray comma in it. Try carolinagamessummit.com