Purbrick Edinburgh Keynote Paves Way For MMO Success
Posted by: Aaron Lockard on July 16, 2007 4:42:04 PM
Linden Labs' Jim Purbrick keynote to explore intricacies of developing a massively multiplayer online game.
The phenomenal rise of virtual societies built around
interactive events such as Second Life and games like EVE Online come
under scrutiny at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival - the world's only
true cultural games event. Linden Labs' Jim Purbrick will explore some
of the more unlikely aspects of running a massively multiplayer online
community.
Now in its fifth year, the Edinburgh Interactive
Festival, which takes place between Sunday 12th August and Tuesday 14th
August, is 'ËœExpanding the Creative Culture of Games'. Newly positioned
to reflect video gaming's rise in popularity and influence, helping the
festival celebrate the best of video gaming here and oversees will be
some of the most influential names across the board in entertainment.
Linden
Labs' Second Life slipped out onto the Internet with little fanfare and
yet its free-form style immediately found armies of creative fans.
Today it boasts almost a million users '" and some of the biggest brands
and companies in the commercial world vie for a digital presence. The
stories behind the cyber-scenes are as bewildering as they are
fascinating.
In fact, Second Life made one of its earliest
appearances at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival in 2004. Now, three
years on, Purbrick will explore the intricacies of developing for
Second Life in the festival's aptly titled 'ËœDeveloping for Second Life'
strand, on Tuesday 14th August at 2.45pm. Purbrick will also examine
the booming industry that has unexpectedly sprung up around Second Life.
EVE
Online also has legions of followers and developer CCP's Hilmar
Petersson is also appearing at the festival. He will front 'ËœExploring
EVE Online' at 11.45am on Monday 13th August and also contribute to the
'ËœVirtual Societies' discussion at 12.10pm on Tuesday 14th August.
CCP
recently announced a major marketing push in a bid to expand EVE
Online's reach beyond hardcore gamers. It currently has around 200,000
subscribers but hopes to increase demand by at least a third by the end
of the year. Unlike the shared model preferred by other Massively
Multiplayer Online (MMO) operators, EVE Online is played on a single
server.
Elsewhere, closer links to the Dare to be Digital
computer games design competition will allow visitors to the festival
to view some of the innovative ideas for this year's contest. The three
winning teams from this year's programme, organised by the University
of Abertay Dundee, will be short-listed for a new 'ËœOnes to Watch' Bafta
Award, presented at the annual Video Games Awards ceremony in London in
October.
Two days of conferences, aimed primarily at the games
industry and the press, run in tandem with a screening programme
offering the public sneak previews of some of the hottest games and
developments in the pipeline. Last year the screenings proved
phenomenally successful, thanks in part to assorted teasers promoted
through GameStation's 25 Scottish stores.
The conference is
staged at the Royal College of Physicians, in Queen Street, Edinburgh.
The screening programme, which is open to the public, will show
trailers and sneak previews of key gaming works in progress.