For the first time in its history, CGDC will move to Southern California in 1998, at the Long Beach Convention Center May 4-8. Besides having outgrown the Westin Santa Clara convention Center, CGDC director KoAnn Vikoren cited the huge number of game development companies in Southern California and a commitment to building stronger ties with the entertainment industry as part of the decision to move the conference. Vowing to alternate locations between Northern and Southern California each year, the conference also announced dates at the San Jose Convention Center March 15-19, 1999.

Demonstrating the CGDC's reputation as the game development industry resource, the CGDC is partnering with two other events serving the game development community. The CGDC will sponsor the official game development track of the upcoming E3 conference in Atlanta, June 19-21. Some of the most popular CGDC classes will be taught by experts who regularly speak at the conference, combining to create a high-impact developer track in the context of the world's largest game publishing conference. In a separate deal made possible through Miller Freeman's recent merger with Blenheim PLC, CGDC announced it will co-produce Develop!, the most successful developer conference in the U.K., October 18-19. The move will enable CGDC exhibitors in the U.S. access to the exploding European games industry in conjunction with the same organization that produces the successful ECTS conference.

Conference news isn't the only story Miller Freeman unveiled at the Computer Game Developers' Conference. Game Developer magazine, already one of the most respected developer publications, announced it has re-launched with a new look-and-feel and expanded coverage beyond programming to include design, animation, art, game testing, production, sound design, and management. A new guest column titled "Soapbox" will feature game luminaries such as Sid Meier, Chris Crawford, Nolan Bushnell and Dani Bunten Berry, and new columns will be penned regularly by 3D graphics expert Brian Hook and Ben Sawyer, author of The Ultimate Game Developer's Sourcebook.

Complementing the magazine's new push will be a huge Web site especially for game developers called Gamasutra (http://www.gamasutra.com). The site will make its debut at E3 and will feature the best of the Computer Game Developers' Conference and Game Developer magazine, with articles, papers, newsgroup and live chat discussions throughout the year.

Taking the concept of community off-line, CGDC, Game Developer and the Computer Game Developers Association will begin hosting quarterly networking events in hotbeds of game development across the U.S., including Austin, Seattle, New York and San Francisco.

"When you build a conference based on the needs of the community it serves, rather than merely trying to exploit an emerging market, the result is a wonderful combination of meaningful information exchange and commerce," said Vikoren.

The CGDC is owned and produced by Miller Freeman, Inc., in cooperation with the Computer Game Developers Association (CGDA). MFI is the world's largest producer of technical conferences and trade shows --including the Software Development Conference and the Web Design & Development Conference -- and is well known for its quality technical programs and networking events for developers of all types of software. In the game development market, MFI's offerings include the CGDC, Game Developer Magazine, and Gamasutra, the website for game developers (launching in June 1997).