Microsoft and Sony to attend Australian show in November
Australian developer show attracts the big guns
Think of Australia, and you might not immediately think of quality video games. (OK, so there’s Melbourne House, now part of Infogrames). But things could change after the forthcoming Australian Game Developers Conference (AGDC) in Melbourne from 3-5th November 2000.
The big software companies from around the world are making a massive presence, especially Microsoft, who will launch their first video game console next year. Microsoft will have a strong influence at AGDC with talks on its forthcoming X-box platform and application programming interface (API) Direct X 8.0. ‘X-box’ is scheduled for a late 2001 release and is set to be a major threat to Sony’s dominance of the video game market. AGDC will feature a talk from Seamus Blackley who is the director in charge of X-box technology from Microsoft. The X-box is going to be the console to watch as it boasts the most impressive specifications and is already being supported by a large selection of developers. With over $500 million dollars allocated towards marketing, X-box’s success looks certain. Microsoft’s support from the development community is reciprocated at this year’s conference with technical information and seminars to ensure positive working relationships at every stage of the game production process. To us consumers, this means that we can look forward to a high level of games right from the launch of the console.
The conference is an ideal place for developers to hear about new technology and even learn how to finance their projects. It is also an ideal opportunity for Australian developers to learn what other companies are working on and simultaneously demonstrate or announce their own products. There will be three days of courses, workshops and keynotes for attendees of the show. There will be talks on large-scale project management, useful considering the ever-increasing costs of coding a game. With Playstation 2 and X-box both using DVD as media, the amount of game information could easily exceed what we are used to today. There will be WAP (wireless application protocol) workshops to help developers understanding of playing games over the Internet via your mobile phone. This is part of the evolution of games and within a few years you’ll be renting the latest releases while on the train.
Mark Breugelmans from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Louis Castle from Westwood will also be speaking at this year’s event. Sony’s aim will be explain how the Playstation 2 will deliver content in the new millennium. Eventually the Playstation 2 will offer broadband connectivity to allow users at home to download and store huge amounts of data. The main advantage of broadband is the speed, which is at least ten times faster than today’s conventional modems and additionally broadband connections are always on. This makes the Internet faster and cheaper than what we are accustomed to and allows for new distribution methods of games and D.V.Ds. It will be important for developers to take into account these factors when making games and programming on-line games that can take advantage of this new technology.
A list of developers has been posted on AGDC’s website http://www.agdc.com.au and even more are to be announced shortly. If you are interested in attending the conference, then have a look at the website for full details on pricing.
The big software companies from around the world are making a massive presence, especially Microsoft, who will launch their first video game console next year. Microsoft will have a strong influence at AGDC with talks on its forthcoming X-box platform and application programming interface (API) Direct X 8.0. ‘X-box’ is scheduled for a late 2001 release and is set to be a major threat to Sony’s dominance of the video game market. AGDC will feature a talk from Seamus Blackley who is the director in charge of X-box technology from Microsoft. The X-box is going to be the console to watch as it boasts the most impressive specifications and is already being supported by a large selection of developers. With over $500 million dollars allocated towards marketing, X-box’s success looks certain. Microsoft’s support from the development community is reciprocated at this year’s conference with technical information and seminars to ensure positive working relationships at every stage of the game production process. To us consumers, this means that we can look forward to a high level of games right from the launch of the console.
The conference is an ideal place for developers to hear about new technology and even learn how to finance their projects. It is also an ideal opportunity for Australian developers to learn what other companies are working on and simultaneously demonstrate or announce their own products. There will be three days of courses, workshops and keynotes for attendees of the show. There will be talks on large-scale project management, useful considering the ever-increasing costs of coding a game. With Playstation 2 and X-box both using DVD as media, the amount of game information could easily exceed what we are used to today. There will be WAP (wireless application protocol) workshops to help developers understanding of playing games over the Internet via your mobile phone. This is part of the evolution of games and within a few years you’ll be renting the latest releases while on the train.
Mark Breugelmans from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Louis Castle from Westwood will also be speaking at this year’s event. Sony’s aim will be explain how the Playstation 2 will deliver content in the new millennium. Eventually the Playstation 2 will offer broadband connectivity to allow users at home to download and store huge amounts of data. The main advantage of broadband is the speed, which is at least ten times faster than today’s conventional modems and additionally broadband connections are always on. This makes the Internet faster and cheaper than what we are accustomed to and allows for new distribution methods of games and D.V.Ds. It will be important for developers to take into account these factors when making games and programming on-line games that can take advantage of this new technology.
A list of developers has been posted on AGDC’s website http://www.agdc.com.au and even more are to be announced shortly. If you are interested in attending the conference, then have a look at the website for full details on pricing.
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