I'd like to send a huge thanks to our news editor, Chameleon, for his time in covering the event for Sumea, and also to Free Play for holding another fantastic event. We have three sessions for the first part of our coverage.

9:30am Keynote Lecture Jonathan Blow (USA)

What does it mean to be an independent game artist? What are the practicalities of shaping an idea into a good prototype? Jonathan Blow discusses his landmark game Braid.

Last week was the opening of the "Hits of the 80s - Aussie Games That Rocked the World" exhibition at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) down in Melbourne. The exhibition, described as a way to "Discover the games of the pioneering Beam Software (Melbourne House) in this secret history of Australia's place in the rise and rise of the videogame" included displays of highly influential games and publications by Beam / Melbourne House as well as old consoles, and was opened by none other than Alfred Milgrom, founder of Beam Software (Melbourne House).

Mark Morrison, producer at Infogrames Melbourne House, joins Phil and Mike to chat about Infogrames' new game for Playstation 2, Grand Prix Challenge. Also joining Mark Morrison is Adam Boyle (lead programmer). They give a brief history on Infogrames Melbourne House, then talk about many aspects concerning the game from the 3D engine, licensing issues, and developement. They also play the intro theme to Grand Prix Challenge at the end.

DOWNLOAD IT NOW (6.58mbs)