GDC 2013 organizers are highlighting design lectures on recent hits from Japan, including Dragon's Dogma, La-Mulana, Tokyo Jungle, Rune Factory 4, Puzzle & Dragons and Zero: Escape: Virtue's Last Reward.
These design lectures on acclaimed Japanese games, simultaneously translated by the notable game industry translators 8-4, will take place during GDC's main conference on Wednesday-Friday, March 27-29 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA.
In the 'Behind the Scenes of Dragon's Dogma,' lecture, director Hideaki Itsuno will discuss Capcom's open-world action RPG through "untold development stories, humor and inspiring ideas" and touch on "marketing and post-release product support strategy."
Next, Takumi Naramura will discuss how his team at Nigoro used feedback from its audience before and after La-Mulana's release in 'Commun-indies: Making the Most of Your Indie Community.' Their support spans from before the game's initial 2005 release to beyond its 2011 WiiWare, 2012 PC remake release, and its 2013 successful Steam Greenlight campaign.
In 'RPG Development: Inspiration and Perspiration,' Marvelous AQL's Yoshifumi Hashimoto will draw on his experience helping to produce RPGs such as Rune Factory, Harvest Moon, and Muramasa: The Demon Blade to discuss "best practices for developing and innovating in the genre."
From Crispy's president Yohei Kataoka will come a lecture on 'Tokyo Jungle and Japan's Gaming Potential.' He will also share how his team with no previous game development experience released a quirky, cult hit first-party downloadable title for Sony.
In GungHo president Kazuki Morishita's '100% Fun: Keeping Players Engaged,' attendees will learn the company's guiding principles for maintaining games such as its free-to-play mobile hit Puzzle & Dragons and engaging millions of users worldwide.
Lastly, Spike Chunsoft's Kotaro Uchikoshi will revisit 999 and the follow-up Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita hit in 'Visual Novels: Narrative Design in Virtue's Last Reward.' He will look at the unique aspects of the genre and discuss its future potential, noting that lessons from "visual novel creators over the years could very well be applied to other video game genres to great effect."
The schedule builder of GDC 2013 is available online for attendees to plan their week of can't-miss lectures and tutorials, including those just highlighted.
GDC still offers over $100 discounts to select pass purchases made by March 20th, at 11:59pm EST, with prices increasing for onsite registration. GDC 2013 itself will take place March 25-29 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
