WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS - 22 november 2005

4th International Video Game Forum
"The New Deal"

IDATE’s International Video Game Forum plays host the representatives of the interactive entertainment sector, and spokespeople from related industries, to debate the outstanding events of the previous year, and to discuss what will be making headlines in the months to come.

This 4th edition of the International Forum comes at a time of deep-seated changes: the launch of new consoles (handheld and home), the development of new mobile gaming services, confirmation of the potential of online gaming… While all of these developments are steering the gaming sector to maturity, it is a process marked by technological and industrial shifts. These shifts require that publishers, in search of critical mass, revise their growth strategies on a regular basis.

IDATE have selected 6 themes which will be the focus of 5 debates between publishers, developers, console manufacturers, market analysts, government spokespeople, etc

8:30 Welcoming delegates

9:00 Forum President’s introduction

Speaker: » Geoffroy SARDIN, Directeur Général Ubi Soft France - Ubi Soft

9:15The history of video games: demonstrations of breakthrough games

Speaker: » Philippe ULRICH, Auteur, producteur, fondateur de CRYO

10:00 Session 1 : Devices, UMTS & Video Games : Technological challenges and future prospects
Video games will be among the pioneer content developed for UMTS handsets. Competition on the handheld console market is heating up. Nintendo is now having to go head to head with Nokia, Sony, Tigers Telematics, Tapwave…and with more and more mobile phone manufacturers.

Chairman: » Laurent MICHAUD, Chef de projet Loisirs Numériques – IDATE

Speakers:
» Alain TIQUET, Group Director, Marketing EMEA & India - nVidia
» Nicolas GAUME, Senior VP, Mobile Games - Lagardère
» Carole FAURE, Manager - Kaolink

11:00 Coffe Break

11:30 Session 2: New generation consoles in the starting block
The release of new generation consoles is imminent. According to IDATE estimates, these new consoles could carry the gaming market to the symbolic threshold of 40 billion euros in sales in 2008.

Chairman: » Fred HASSON, CEO – TIGA

Speakers:
» François RUAULT - Directeur Division Grand Public - Microsoft
» Abrial DA COSTA - Marketing Director - Elektrogames
» Geoffroy SARDIN, General Manager Ubi Soft France - Ubi Soft

12:30 Lunch

2:00 Session 3: Massively multiplayer games : the mass market era
Massively multiplayer games are currently played by 8 million gamers around the globe, of which 60% in South Korea alone. With more than 1.2 million subscribers, World of Warcraft appears to be lending a new dimension to subscription-based gaming in the United States and in Europe.

Chairman: » Pierre CARDE - Directeur - LyonGame

Speakers:
» Thomas BIDAUX, Director of Product Development - NCsoft Europe
» Stéphane CHIRIE, Manager – Orfane
» Jean-Vincent SEGARD, Game produceur et co-fondateur - Orfane
» Hendrik H. HEIMER, Managing Director - NAVUS GmbH

3:30 Session 4: Creation funding & regional policies : The Quebecois example
Several years ago, the province of Quebec rolled out a proactive financing strategy aimed at video game designers. Since then, a great many leading publishers have set up a development structure there. What lessons can France draw from this initiative?

Chairman: » Guillaume DE FONDAUMIERE, President - APOM

Speakers:
» John KROEGER, Head, Computer Games Publishing - Department of Trade and Industry, (UK)
» Charles JOLICOEUR, Directeur de projets, direction des mesures fiscales – Investissement Québec
» Laurent SORBIER, Conseiller référendaire à la Cour des comptes

4:00 Coffee Break

4:30 Session 5 : Is industry concentration inevitable?
The wave of publisher takeovers by the competition, and growing interest in gaming of media conglomerates like News Corp and Turner are expected to shrink the sector to an oligopoly, reminiscent of the one that now dominates the movie and music business.

Chairman: » Paul HEYDON, Managing Director - Unity Capital

Speakers:
» Laurent MAIROT, Directeur à la Direction de la Stratégie et du Développement, Vivendi Universal

5:30 Session 6 : Japan : state of the art
A reporter who has been living in Japan for 10 years will provide the Japanese viewpoint on each of the topics addressed during the day.

Chairman: François HERMELIN, correspondant permanent au Japon pour les magazines de VNU

Speaker: Meguro TASUKU, Journalist - FamicomTsushin

6:30 End of the seminar

7:30 IDATE International Conference opening reception

Scientific coordinator:
Laurent MICHAUD (l.michaud@idate.org)
tel. : + 33 (0)467 144 439

For information:
Aïda Soumaoro (a.soumaoro@idate.org),
tel : + 33 (0)467 144 406

Download seminar program