Nintendo, Microsoft GDC speakers booked

Typically, industry gatherings and conferences, regardless of the business, are anchored by a single keynote address to set the tone for the event. With tracks that range from massively multiplayer to mobile, CMP Group's Game Developers Conference often eschews this format. In 2006, EA's Will Wright, Nintendo's Satoru Iwata, and Sony's Phil Harrison delivered keynotes at the event. In 2007, the roster of top events included Harrison's unveiling of PlayStation Home and Wii cocreator Shigeru Miyamoto's acceptance of a lifetime achievement award.

Today, CMP Group revealed that Microsoft vice president of Xbox Live, software, and services John Schappert will deliver a keynote at GDC 2008 next month in San Francisco. Schappert's address will be titled "A Future Wide Open: Unleashing the Creative Community," and will focus on Microsoft's Xbox 360 strategy for the coming year, as well as the increasing importance of the online factor to gaming and game distribution. The keynote address will be the first from Microsoft at GDC since 2005.

Schappert will be joined by a trio of Nintendo speakers giving presentations at the event. With Wii Fit having hit Japan in December, project lead Takao Sawano will be delivering a talk titled "Wii Fit: Creating a Brand New Interface for the Home Console." Sawano's session will delve into the philosophical, cultural, and practical challenges associated with creating a fitness game for the Wii.

Two other sessions delivered by Nintendo brass were also announced. "Planning the Wii Menu: From Pre-Launch to WiiWare" will be given by Nintendo's Network Group team leader Takashi Aoyama and will focus on the Mario Factory's effort to bring original downloadable games to its popular console. In a not-quite-postmortem of the Wii-exclusive Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Kirby and Smash Bros. creative developer Masahiro Sakurai will deliver a talk titled "Building Characters: The Super Smash Bros. Brawl Postmortem."

GDC 2008 runs from February 18 to 22 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.