Calabasas, U.S.A. — The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) unveiled on October 24, new details and opened registration for the 12th Annual D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit and Awards program, at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, February 5 – 8, 2013.

The annual event, which draws some of the brightest and most influential interactive entertainment industry leaders, decision makers and visionaries, is evolving to better reflect the growth of the industry and foster deeper engagement and interaction among conference attendees. Changes include a new Summit format, a larger venue, and the renaming of the annual awards program, now known simply as the D.I.C.E. Awards.

The Academy established the D.I.C.E. Summit to celebrate the core pillars of the interactive entertainment industry: Design, Innovate, Communicate, and Entertain. Those ideals define the revamped 2013 Summit, which will include an all-conference keynote each morning, followed by focused sessions – centered on each of the core pillars – to drive the rest of the agenda. The first speakers announced include: Randy Pitchford, president of Gearbox Software; Jenova Chen, creative director and co-founder of thatgamecompany; and Jesse Schell, CEO of Schell Games and distinguished professor of the Practice of Entertainment Technology at Carnegie Mellon University.

“Interactive entertainment is ingrained in our culture. We’re a $60 billion global industry of individuals and companies who are pushing the boundaries of technology, creativity and artistic expression every day,” said Martin Rae, president, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. “The Academy established the annual D.I.C.E. Summit and awards program to not only celebrate our industry achievements, but to provide a dedicated forum to share ideas and foster innovation. Our industry is maturing, and we’re excited to reflect that with changes, such as the new format and new look for the Awards, so that we remain at the forefront of shaping and moving our industry into the next stage of its evolution.”

Each year, the Academy and the global game community gather at the D.I.C.E. Summit to celebrate the artistic achievements that push the scope of interactive entertainment with the annual Interactive Achievement Awards. These peer-driven, annual awards have become one of the highest honors to bestow upon video games and their talented game makers. This year, the Academy is unveiling a new name for the annual awards, the D.I.C.E. Awards.

“Over the past several years, our members and many supporters independently began referring to our awards program simply as the D.I.C.E. Awards – a nickname celebrating the shared history and principles embodied in the D.I.C.E. Summit moniker,” said Rae. “We began to think that this nickname, coined by our community, would serve as the best and boldest way to represent the awards. It truly encapsulates what we are all about – the celebration of the amazing designers, innovators, communicators, and entertainers within the video game and interactive entertainment industry.”

The 16th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards will be held the evening of February 7, 2013, on the main stage of Hard Rock Hotel’s acclaimed concert venue, The Joint. Call for nominations for the D.I.C.E. Awards will be announced in the coming weeks.

2013 D.I.C.E. Summit Format Changes

The 2013 D.I.C.E. Summit gets underway on Tuesday, February 5, 2013, with a full day of networking events for attendees. New activities this year include a 5K run and whiskey, beer and wine tastings, which join the annual golf, go-kart and poker tournaments.

A new all-conference keynote will kick off each day with a discussion that touches on all of the four pillars of the D.I.C.E. moniker. The rest of each day will offer attendees four separate experiences, each defined by one of those pillars, led by a track keynote at the start of each segment. Concluding each conference track will be a special networking event where attendees will have an opportunity to mingle with attendees and speakers in that section. The three-day event will be capped off with the 16th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards celebration.

First D.I.C.E. Summit Speakers

The D.I.C.E. Summit speaker program is renowned for jump starting the key industry conversations that resonate throughout the year, and impact the trends directly affecting the industry. The first speakers exemplify the types of industry luminaries who will enlighten, inspire and challenge the attendees.

• Randy Pitchford, co-founder, owner and President of Gearbox Software, and the individual who spearheaded the award winning, best-selling original franchises Brothers in Arms and Borderlands
• Jenova Chen, creative director and co-founder of thatgamecompany, and the visionary designer of the award-winning games Flow, Flower, and most recently the critically received Journey
• Jesse Schell, CEO of Shell Games, and Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Entertainment Technology at Carnegie Mellon University, who will be presenting for the first time a follow-up to his provocative 2010 D.I.C.E. Session talk on game-a-geddon, also known as Design Outside The Box.

Registration for the 2013 D.I.C.E. Summit is currently open. Register until November 9, 2012 to get the early registration pricing at www.dicesummit.org.

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The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) recently announced more confirmed speakers for the 2012 D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit. The event will be held at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, February 8-10, 2012, and feature a line-up of industry leaders, decision makers and visionaries from the disciplines that are shaping the future of interactive entertainment.

Kicking off the conference on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 prior to the Wednesday Keynote Opener, will be the “Hot Topics” sessions co-moderated by Adam Sessler, host of G4′s X-Play and Perrin Kaplan, Zebra Partners. The three debates will feature:

• “Is the Publishing Model Broken?”: Michael Pachter, Wedbush Morgan and Jesse Divnich, EEDAR
• “Mobile vs. Console”: Perrin Kaplan, Zebra Partners and Gabriel Leydon, Addmired,
• “Game Journalism”: Adam Sessler, host of G4′s X-Play and Jamin Warren, Kill Screen Magazine

Additional speakers added to the 2012 line-up include:

• Sefton Hill, Co-founder and Game Director, Rocksteady Games who led the creative direction of the highly acclaimed Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Asylum.  His session topic is titled, “Escaping the Asylum”
• TJ Galda, Senior CG Supervisor, Electronic Arts leads art production and has worked on two Academy Award nominated films, Over the Hedge, Kung Fu Panda, Fantastic Four, and many more.  His session topic will cover “Nonlinear Story Telling: Crafting a New Genre”

“I can’t think of a better way to set the tone and kick-off the D.I.C.E. Summit than with the big questions that are top of mind for our industry,” said Martin Rae, president, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. “This year’s Hot Topics line-up will put some of the most brilliant, opinionated minds in the interactive entertainment industry head-to-head in front of an audience of their peers – and with some of the most provocative topics we’ve seen there’s no telling what we’ll hear!

In addition to this powerhouse roundtable, we have some exciting new speakers to announce that will be especially interesting for our creative community.” The D.I.C.E. Summit 2012 is the home of the 15th annual Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony.  On February 9, 2012, industry leaders and members gather to pay tribute and recognize the individuals and products that contribute to the growth of the interactive entertainment industry. Comedian, actor and spirited game enthusiast Jay Mohr will return as host.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/22904000@N07/

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The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) announced recently an exclusive partnership with GameSpot for the 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (IAAs) and the D.I.C.E. Summit.

GameSpot will provide live streaming video of the awards ceremony, as well as exclusive online content from the D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit sessions that take place throughout the week. The 15th Annual IAAs will take place Thursday, February 9, 2012 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas and will once again be hosted by comedian, actor and gamer Jay Mohr.

This partnership brings together the Interactive Achievement Awards, the industry’s highest form of recognition of the year’s best accomplishments in interactive entertainment, with GameSpot, voted as the most influential video game media site in a 2011 EEDAR poll of console owners. The IAAs are supported by every major video game publisher and developer in the industry.

The renowned annual event, the D.I.C.E. Summit, is dedicated to exploring approaches to the creative process and artistic expression as they uniquely apply to the development of interactive entertainment. The conference features a stellar line-up of speakers both endemic and non-endemic.

This year’s speaker line-up includes Bethesda’s Todd Howard, Activision Publishing’s Eric Hirshberg, Eat Sleep Play’s David Jaffe, Epic Games’ Tim Sweeney, among others.

“The Academy is excited to be bringing the D.I.C.E. Summit sessions, and our Interactive Achievement Awards – the industry’s highest form of recognition – to the GameSpot audience,” said Martin Rae, president, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. ”GameSpot is part of a dynamic media institution known for its successful programming and longstanding partnerships.

We look forward to working with the GameSpot team on a stellar show and conference and sharing it with their audience and fans.” ”The D.I.C.E. Summit provides a great opportunity for our audience to see the game creators, they love speaking their mind,” said John Davison, VP of Programming, GameSpot.

“Both the awards and the conference sessions provide a unique insight into the creativity and passion that drives the games business. GameSpot viewers will have the best seat in the house as they watch these unfold live.”

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