Warren Spector, Founder/President and Project Director, Junction Point Studios

During his keynote that kicked off this year's Montreal International Game Summit, Warren Spector drew upon his many years in the games biz to shine a spotlight on some of the issues and choices confronting the video game industry. Warren contends that the choices made by the industry at this critical point in its history will determine whether the industry moves deeper into mainstream culture or stays on the margins of society.

According to Warren, it is currently the best of times and the worst of times for the video game industry. While sales and revenues of games are at record levels and next generation hardware promises more realistic graphics than we could have previously imagined; the industry also faces challenges in a skyrocketing development costs, a glut of new games being released, and the declining quality of life for developers who are working longer hours and facing more pressures than ever before.

Warren urged show attendees to think about how we should respond to a plethora of issues, most notably, how we extend the content offerings which will help further diversify the gamer audience, how we respond to growing government and legislative interest in game content, and what can we can learn from MMOs to find new game styles and delivery systems?

Warren believes that the future is in our control. The crux of his argument is that the industry must offer fresh, new, content, tackling new genres and new types of gameplay experiences. He is putting the onus on developers and publishers to make the right choices to help propel the industry further into a successful future.

Download Warren Spector presentation (PowerPoint)

Neil Young, Vice President and General Manager, Electronic Arts

Neil Young's keynote presentation was titled "Can a computer game make you cry?" This question was asked by EA co-founders more than 20 years ago and it still helps drive the company forward even today.

Neil spoke to the audience about EA's categorization of a "hit" game, dissecting three key ingredients which are absolutely required to produce a commercial and critical hit. The first required element is high quality execution, on the game design, development and marketing of a game.

The second required element is to feature one to three in-game innovations. Neil assured the audience that not all innovation manifests itself as entirely new games, in fact one of the great challenges is creating innovation inside of existing franchises. Neil peppered his talk with specific examples of incremental innovations which have helped franchises maintain their hit status, such as the GameFace technology of Tiger Woods 2004; the Gravity Gun of Half Life 2; 3-D open world of GTA 3; and the dual wielding feature of Halo 2.

Neil talked about next generation game development at EA, estimating that 50% of the processing power for next generation consoles will be dedicated to rendering, while 50% will be dedicated to the underlying game play processes. (This compares to 80% rendering; 20% game play processes on current generation).

The third magic ingredient for making a hit is to broaden the audience appeal for the game. Neil talked about the need to put the IP of games at the center of cultural storm with books, TV, movies, comics all spinning off from the game. He also talked about the ability to broaden audience appeal by taking advantage of HD performances, not just how characters look but also how they move and act.

Although EA still hasn't answered the question, "Can computer games make you cry?" the industry is learning more about what it may take to have gamers reach for a box of tissues while also holding a controller.

Highlights of day 2