Arcade
Game designer, artist, writer and game developer who entered the video game industry in 1981 at the age of 15. She worked with Sir-tech Software for 18 years on the Wizardry series and later the Jagged Alliance series among others before moving on to work with Atari on Dungeons & Dragons. During this time, Brenda had the opportunity to work alongside legends in the game industry and quite literally apprenticed in the ways of game design moving up through the ranks from lowly acolyte to lead game designer to creative director.
Since her days at Atari, Brenda has worked with a variety of companies, including Electronic Arts, Cyberlore, Firaxis and numerous companies in the social media space. She is presently Creative Director at Slide. Brenda develops her games both in analog and digital mediums, depending on the needs of the game. She has worked as a system designer, writer, level designer, world designer, lead designer and creative director throughout the years.
She was named Woman of the Year by Charisma+2 Magazine in 2010 and also was a nominee in Microsoft’s 2010 Women in Games game design awards. In 2009, Train won the coveted Vanguard Award at IndieCade for “pushing the boundaries of game design and showing us what games can do.”
Greg Costikyan has designed more than 30 commercialy published computer, online, social, mobile, and tabletop games, won a number of awards, founded two companies, raised three daughters, written four published novels, and acquired the reputation of the angry middle aged man of the game industry.
The Deputy Director of Development and External Affairs at The Guildhall at SMU. Ron’s branding and communication experiences has been a part of the birth of the ATM business at EDS, the beginning of consulting at IBM and helping a semi-conductor company (with the funny name of Texas Instruments) for over 25 years demonstrate how technology will affect how we live, work, learn and play in the decades ahead.
Media artist and video game designer. With the game collective Kokoromi, she produces and curates the annual Gamma game showcase promoting experimental games in a social context. Previously, Ms. Kelley was Creative Director on the UNFPA Electronic Game to End Violence Against Women. Her career in interactive entertainment has included games as a form of research, art games, mobile applications, AAA next-gen console games, interactive smart toys, handheld games and web communities for girls. She holds an MA from the University of texas at Austin.
“Pop culture provocateur” according to the Austin Chronicle, and an “independent press icon” to Time Out Chicago. After leaving HarperCollins for political reasons, he founded No Media Kings and published five books, the most recent one a post-Rapture graphic novel called Therefore Repent! He also started The Perpetual Motion Roadshow, an indie touring circuit that sent 100 artists on the road between 2003-2007, and currently he is running the Artsy Games Incubator, a writer’s-circle style group helping creators without programming skills make videogames. He lives in Toronto with a crafty ladyscientist and their bafflingly attractive baby.
Author of the book, Gender Inclusive Game Design-Expanding the Market. She has served as the co-chair for the Women in Game Development SIG of the IGDA for 4 years and has been a spokesperson for the female game player for many years. In 2004 she was the Chair of the Women’s Game Conference, the first game conference to specifically address the issues of women and games held in the U.S. Sheri has served as a design consultant to Cartoon Network and as Sr. Game Designer with Sony Online Entertainment. Before coming to Sony, she served as President of her own studio, Sirenia Software, and before that as Director of Product Development for Her Interactive, where she began her research into females and computer games. She has also worked for Origin Systems as a writer and designer on the Ultima PC series.
Lecturer in Game Studies for The Guildhall at SMU with 12 years experience in project management and business development in the games industry. After graduating from USC, she began making games and has shipped over 30 titles in her career. She helped grow an independent development company, led internal studios for publishers and has expanded franchises with external development.
She started her career as a Producer at an independent developer, Xatrix Entertainment, and created games for the PC and LBE. As Executive Producer at an internal studio of games publisher Activision, she worked on many franchises such as Zork, Star Trek and Heavy Gear. She also served as Director of Development for Atari on some of their most successful original and licensed properties including Blues Clues, Thomas the Tank Engine, Dora the Explorer and the Backyard Sports franchise.
An independent game developer and illustrator. He also runs The Independent Gaming Source, a community website for indie games. Currently, he’s working on a title for Xbox Live Arcade called Spelunky.
Game designer who has worked in the game industry for 16 years. For nine years, Eric was the Co-Founder and Chief Design Officer of Gamelab, a game development company based in New York City. Gamelab’s award-winning games include the casual game blockbuster hit Diner Dash. Founded in 2000, Gamelab created innovative games for broad audiences, including singleplayer and multiplayer online games, as well as games in other media both on and off the computer. Gamelab helped create two companies: Gamestar Mechanic, an online site that lets kids create games, and the Institute of Play, a nonprofit that looks at the intersection of games and learning. Eric is the co-author with Katie Salen of Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals (MIT Press, 2004). Eric has taught courses at MIT, NYU, Parsons School of Design, and School of Visual Arts. He has exhibited game artworks at museums and galleries in the US and abroad.
