Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from the last Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here CES 2007, Las Vegas Convention Center, North Hall Sunday, January 7th 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM Track I- GP7 The Massively Multiplayer Gaming Explosion - from the PC, the Console and Mobile The multiplayer game universe is growing into a full-fledged digital society of friends and distant strangers playing card games for hours a day, mobile gamers joining in for a quick hand while at the airport to hardcore gamers who are playing action games in online competition. There are now millions of individuals online, committed, involved and addicted to one gaming or social universe or another. Role playing may have a larger meaning in the online, virtual world than in real life. When it started – nearly decades ago – the online universe was a powerful Net force in text-only formats. Now in today’s advanced graphical broadband environments, PC gamers, console gamers and mobile casual gamers are all equally involved. With these numbers and the progressive expansion of the technology, the possibilities of how people relate to each other online will be endless. In this session, we will explore the state of online games, how the market is evolving from a marketing and distribution as well as technological perspective. Scott Hartsman, Senior Producer/Creative Director, EverQuest II, Sony Online Entertainment LLC Rich Wickham, Director for Windows Graphics and Gaming Technologies, Microsoft Corp. Dr. Lars Buttler, CEO, Trion World Network Joshua Hong, Chief Executive Officer, founder, K2 Network Robert Ferrari, Senior Director, Global Business Development, Turbine Inc. Jack Emmert, co-founder, Cryptic Studios Steven L. Canepa, Vice President, Media & Entertainment Industry, IBM Corp., Moderator Rich Wickham, Director, Strategic Planning, Windows Graphics & Gaming Technologies, Microsoft: As Director of Strategic Planning for the Windows Graphics and Gaming team, Wickham drives online gaming strategy for the Windows platform. Wickham and his team are charged with the task of understanding and sizing marketplace trends, fostering a vibrant Windows online gaming ecosystem and improving online gaming on the Windows platform. Wickham is an established expert on gaming business models and the expected growth in the online market, especially concerning MMOGs and emerging markets. Wickham joined Microsoft in 2003, following a nine-year career as an attorney in private practice and in the Unites States Air Force. His legal practice included technology transactions, including software industry mergers and acquisitions, as well intellectual property and scientific litigation. Jack Emmert is co-founder of Cryptic Studios, the creators of City of Heroes for which he is lead designer. City of Heroes which debuted in 2004 has received numerous awards including Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year from Computer Gaming World, SpikeTV, Billboard Magazine, Games Magazine, and the E3 Critics Award. In its praise of the game, Computer Gaming World wrote, "City of Heroes blows a superpowered gust of fresh air into an increasingly stale sword-and-sorcery MMO world". Jack is a long time gamer and comic book aficionado. His first foray into gaming was, of course, Dungeons & Dragons(R). His professional career in the hobby game industry started at a local comic book store in the outskirts of Philadelphia, Showcase Comics. He earned his first Master's degree (ancient history) from the University of Chicago, and his second Master's degree in Latin and Ancient Greek from Ohio State University. During this period Jack also wrote supplements for a variety of gaming lines, including Deadlands, Hell on Earth, DC Universe, and Marvel Superheroes. He left academia in July 2000 to co-found Cryptic Studios, and design the hit MMP games, City of Heroes(R) and City of Villains(TM). Jack is currently working on the much anticipated Marvel MMORPG. Dr. Lars Buttler is a Founder and the CEO of Trion World Network, Inc., the publisher and developer of original entertainment and games for the broadband era. Dr. Buttler helms strategy and business direction for Trion as the company sets out to define the future of entertainment. Under his leadership, Trion develops groundbreaking new capabilities and content for broadband, the greatest entertainment and mass media platform. Prior to founding Trion, Dr. Buttler was the Vice President for Global Online at Electronic Arts, the world’s largest independent developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software. Dr. Buttler led EA’s strategy for online games and services and ran EA’s Online Studio, home to the pioneering Ultima Online MMOG franchise. Before EA, Dr. Buttler served as Vice President for Leveraged Buyouts at the Carlyle Group, the premier global private equity firm, focusing on large-scale investments in entertainment, media, and telecommunications. Prior to Carlyle, Dr. Buttler served as President of Wingcast Europe, a joint venture of QUALCOMM & Ford Motor Co., and a leading wireless in-vehicle media platform & interactive service network. He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering from Dortmund University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and earned an M.B.A from Harvard Business School. Robert Ferrari, Executive Director of Business Development, Turbine Entertainment Software: Robert Ferrari serves as the Executive Director of Business Development at Turbine Entertainment Software - a global developer, operator and publisher of online entertainment. In this role, Robert manages strategic marketing, business development, digital distribution, and channel sales for Turbine's products and services. Robert is a seasoned executive with more than 15 years of sales and marketing experience in the convergence industry, driving the growth and profitability of global corporations and start-ups. He has experience in a broad range of industries related to software development, content creation and delivery, and digital device platforms in the PC, Gaming, CE, and Mobile industries. Robert also serves on the board of Convergence Ventures. Joshua Hong, Chief Executive Officer, Founder, K2 Network: Joshua Hong co-founded K2 Network in 2001. Prior to establishment of the company, he was vice president of strategic planning and growth at Kali, developer of one of the first network-based multiplayer game systems. In 2004, Mr. Hong co-founded Item*Star, China's leading digital game item trading platform, and serves as its CFO, and co-founded Game Networks in the United States, the game industry's first cross-industry conference for broadband ISPs, content aggregators, service providers and game developers. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur in the online games industry, Mr. Hong was a management consultant at Accenture. He holds a B.S. in industrial engineering from Purdue University and an M.B.A. in finance, accounting and international business from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.