Keynote speakers revealed for Montreal International Game Summit

Montreal International Game Summit organizers officially revealed the five headline speakers who will keynote the sixth annual industry event November 16 and 17.

The official keynote speakers include:

• Yoichi Wada is President and CEO of Square Enix Group, will share his vision of the future of video game development.
• Paul Holden of Media Molecule will speak about challenges encountered in developing LBP.
• Valve's Jason Holtman will talk Steam and the SOURCE engine.
• Heather Chaplin, author of Smartbomb: The Question for Art Entertainment & Big Bucks in the Videogame Revolution.
• Chris Hecker from Maxis/EA will deliver the closing session where he will attempt to answer the question "Can videogames be considered as cultural products in the same way as literature or theatre?"

Full press release is below.

MONTREAL, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS) today officially revealed the five headline speakers who will address the more than 1,500 attendees expected at the sixth edition of the popular industry event. Yoichi Wada, President and CEO, Square Enix, Paul Holden, Lead Architect, Media Molecule, Jason Holtman, Director of Business Development, Valve, Heather Chaplin, Author and Chris Hecker, Technology Fellow, Maxis/EA will be at the Hilton Bonaventure Hotel on November 16 and 17 in Montreal.

(Logo:http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090811/NY59551LOGO )

The official keynote speakers include:

* Yoichi Wada is President and CEO of the Square Enix Group, which has the corporate philosophy: to spread happiness across the globe by providing unforgettable experiences. During his conference, Mr. Wada will share the steps the group has taken in order to build a new, group-wide game development environment in an effort to make full use of the unique individual characteristics of its three core brands - SQUARE ENIX, TAITO and EIDOS and will share his vision of the future of video game development.
* Paul Holden is Lead Architect at British-based studio Media Molecule. Developers of the breakout 2008 hit, Little Big Planet, Media Molecule's Holden will speak about the unique challenges company encountered in developing LBP and its strategy to leverage user-generated content to its fullest.
* Jason Holtman is Director of Business Development for Valve. Among other things, Holtman manages the distribution of Steam, an online platform enabling more than 15 million gamers to access hundreds of games, and video game development via the SOURCE engine.
* Heather Chaplin, is the author of the hit book Smartbomb: The Question for Art Entertainment & Big Bucks in the Videogame Revolution. A professor of journalism at The New School, she also collaborated on All Things Considered as a video game specialist.
* By popular demand, Chris Hecker will be returning to the Summit this year to deliver the closing session. Hecker works at Maxis/EA as Lead Architect solving problems found at the intersection of gameplay, aesthetics, and engineering. This experienced speaker will attempt to answer the question: "Can video games be considered as cultural products in the same way as literature or theatre?" Hecker will attempt to answer this with the help of data, analyses and, of course, plenty of humor.

This fall season promises to be a hot one in Montreal -- something which will be reflected in each of the engaging speaking keynotes at MIGS. In order to get the most out of this year's event, we invite video game industry professionals to join us and take advantage of special "early-bird" prices by registering online before 25th September at sijm.ca.

About MIGS

The summit was set up in 2004 to serve members of the video and electronic games industry. Adapted to the sector's needs, MIGS aims to become the main yearly event for game development specialists from all over the world.

MIGS was created in 2004 to meet the needs of the video game industry which, today, represents 7,000 workers in Quebec. It aims to develop the transfer of knowledge and expertise, to increase the influence of Quebec industry overseas and to encourage exchanges and communication between the industry's stakeholders. Specialist and high-level, MIGS covers numerous fields from artistic creation to design, production, programming and business.

To find out more, register, or receive the MIGS newsletter, consult the website: www.sijm.ca.