Silicon Valley IGDA

Steve Meretzky:
adventure game luminary, currently
VP Game Design at Playdom, publisher of Mobsters. Number one game on
Myspace.

It’s hard to have a serious conversation about gaming without mention
of Steve.
It’s also hard to have a humorous conversation about gaming without
mention of him.
Steve’s contributions to the industry began in 1981 at the legendary
adventure game company Infocom,
where his titles included Planetfall, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the
Galaxy (a collaboration with Douglas Adams),
Leather Goddesses of Phobos and Zork Zero. Prior to joining Playdom,
Steve co-founded Boffo Games and held senior creative posts at Blue
Fang Games,
Floodgate Entertainment and WorldWinner.com. Over his prolific
career,
Steve also consulted with teams at Activision, Blizzard, Disney, EA,
Harmonix, Hasbro and Legend, to name a few.
A former board member of IGDA, Steve is co-organizer of the annual
Casual Games Summit at the GDC and the annual Game Designers
Workshop.
Steve holds a BS in construction project management from MIT, but
otherwise assures us that he did not waste his four years there.

Titles include
Infocom
-       Planetfall (1983)
-       Sorcerer (1984)
-       The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1984) w/Douglas Adams
-       A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985)
-       Leather Goddesses of Phobos (1986)
-       Stationfall (1987), Infocom
-       Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz (1988)
-       Lane Mastodon vs. the Blubbermen (1988)
Activision
-       Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2: Gas Pump Girls Meet the Pulsating
Inconvenience from Planet X! (1992),
(under the “Infocom” label)
Legend Entertainment
-       Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers Get All The Girls (1990)
-       Spellcasting 201: The Sorcerer’s Appliance (1991)
-       Spellcasting 301: Spring Break (1992)
-       Superhero League of Hoboken (1994)
Boffo Games
-       Hodj ‘n’ Podj (1995), Virgin Interactive Entertainment
-       The Space Bar (1997), Rocket Science Games, SegaSoft
WorldWinner
-       Word Cubes (2001)
-       SwapIt! (2003)
-       Skillgammon (2004)
-       Haunted Mine (2004)
-       Paint Buckets (2005)
-       …more than 25 more…
Awards:
Game Developers Conference, Winner of the Game Design Challenge (2008)
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Best Online Game
(2005):
Hitchhiker’s Guide (20th anniversary edition)
PC Gamer One of the 10 Funniest PC Games of All Time (2003):
Hitchiker’s Guide
PC Gamer One of the 10 Sexiest PC Games of All Time (2003): Leather
Goddesses
+ 40 More…

Dave Castelnuovo cofounder Bolt Interactive.

Title: Pocket God
Number one game on the iPhone for numerous weeks.

Dave Castelnuovo is a veteran flash developer, entrepreneur and
consultant, and is half the team behind the iPhone sensation Pocket
God.
Castelnuovo founded Bolt Creative in 2001 as a flash development
company and game studio,
and helped to lead the indie charge onto the iPhone in 2008 and 2009.
Castelnuovo has worked with a variety of internet technology companies
throughout his career,
as well as leading game publishers such as Electronic Arts.

Moderator: Joseph Gilby
Titles  include:
Vice President Product Development for Looking Glass Studios
-       System Shock 2, EP
-       Thief: The Dark Project, Thief II: The Metal Age,Thief (Gold) EP
-       Flight Unlimited II+ III EP
Vice President of Game Development, Flipside Inc. publisher of:
-       Hoyle series multiplayer online games,
-       You Don’t Know Jack: Louder! Faster! Funnier!
-       a plethora of downloadable casual games

Introduction: Ann Burkett
Chair SVIGDA