Square Enix News

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Published on January 16, 2007 @ 06:41 pm

Written by monkeybutt

Hey everyone!

A lot of this is more SE news then Kingdom Hearts. Let's start off with the bad, and get into the weirder. Sadly, that World Hobby Fair that we wanted to get a lot out of, did not end up so great, at least not for us. The trailer was shown, and the playable demos there included included Halloween Town and the Vexen Boss fight which we already know about. Sadly, the trailer has still not been made viewable to the public! You can still view pictures of what the Fair was like here. (It does look fun! Haha.)

Now to the weird news. Chief Strategist for Square Enix, Ichiro Otobe, will be giving a keynote address during the Serious Games Summit during this year's Game Developer's Conference. The conference is called Serious Games Squared and will discuss the gaming company's plans for entry into the "serious games" sector and balancing that with their commercial projects.

The Serious Games Summit is a conference event that will focus on the use of interactive gamimg technology within non-entertainment sectors.

The GDC takes place March 5-9 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Fransisco, CA this year. The Serious Games Summit will be on March 5 and 6.

Serious games that are not for entertainment? Interesting that SE would want into this. You can read the official press release by clicking read more.

Thank you sister site FFRepublic!

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SQUARE ENIX'S ICHIRO OTOBE TO PRESENT OPENING KEYNOTE AT THE SERIOUS GAMES SUMMIT GDC 2007

The Company's Chief Strategist Discusses New Opportunities in the Serious Games Sector

SAN FRANCISCO - Jan. 15, 2007 - CMP's Game Group today announced Ichiro Otobe, chief strategist of Square Enix Co., Ltd., will serve as the opening keynote for its Serious Games Summit GDC (SGS GDC) taking place March 5-6 at the Moscone Convention Center North in San Francisco. Otobe's address, titled "Serious Games Squared," will detail the efforts, strategies, and risks that went into Square Enix's entry in the serious games sector. Otobe will also discuss the company's approach to reconcile commercial entertainment economics with the realities, challenges, and opportunities of the serious games industry. The session will also feature demos of prototype games and titles currently under development.

"I am honored and excited to deliver the opening keynote at the Serious Games Summit GDC," said Otobe. "The serious games market represents a new outlet for our skills as a game developer, and it means that we will be serving totally different customers. As such, there are many different kinds of hurdles that must be cleared in order for it to offer meaningful opportunities. I plan to speak about Square Enix's approach to these challenges, and hopefully provide both business and design inspiration for everyone interested in the uses of games beyond entertainment."

"We are thrilled to make this announcement. This keynote signifies the growing impact serious games can have not only outside of games but within the games industry - even for major companies like Square Enix," said Ben Sawyer, co-founder, Digitalmill, and SGS GDC content chair. "We have constantly taken the approach that serious games gets its core strength from the great work arising from our best industry resources. This year's SGS GDC will speak to this and we look forward to the industry-wide reflection and innovation which will undoubtedly spring from the Summit and this address in particular."

SGS GDC offers advanced seminars on design, production, implementation and assessment issues related to serious games, as well as case studies on game-based solutions and simulations used within non-entertainment industries. Attendees are invited to the annual SGS GDC Reception that will be held March 5 from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. that provides them the opportunity to network with game developers and industry professionals. The SGS GDC speaker line-up, full session descriptions, and registration are now available online at . Press registration is also currently open for the Summit and Game Developers Conference, at www.gdconf.com.

More than 12,500 game industry professionals will convene during GDC, the world's largest games industry-only event dedicated to the advancement of resources, tools and technologies used to create interactive entertainment. The GDC features more than 300 lectures, panels, tutorials and round-table discussions on a comprehensive selection of game development topics taught by leading industry experts.
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