Game Developers Conference 2008 - (Page 43) Game Outsourcing Summit time submission rates being non-negotiable and online as only some of these components force us to look at ways to work smarter and more efficiently. What is behind these issues and how do we match them? Territories such as India, China and Eastern Europe are being targeted by publishers and service companies alike as they strive to lower costs but each new country brings new challenges. What are these and how do we overcome them? How long can this quest for more testers be sustained? How long before we reach a total saturation point where vast warehouses full of QA staff are not enough? What can we learn from other outsourcing industries and their process and practices, and how much of their development processes have they been able to automate? Finally, will we ever get to a point where user tested content is as feted as user generated content? A cargo cult in room 101–Dealing with Localization and global outsourcing ben Wibberley (babel Media) 4:15-4:45pm There are areas of outsourcing such as localization that do not require the huge headcounts that QA and art are demanding, but are nevertheless rarely kept as in-house departments. We not only ship our titles to global markets and have to localize for them as many generate huge retail revenues, but also increasingly developers and service companies are springing up in all over the globe. The prices some of these vendors offer may be attractive but dealing with all this can be a very painful and expensive exercise particularly if not planned for correctly. This lecture will explore not only the practical aspects of localization and QA with tips for avoiding pitfalls but how to effectively manage working with a global network so it does not become your worst nightmare. Xin chung (Vykarian), Jay Minn (AristoDigital), Jeff selbig (sierra online), Manvendra shukul (Lakshya Digial pvt. Ltd.), Donghao Wu (shanghai Multimedia industry Association) 5-6pm A team of talented artists are waiting overseas to get started. What now? How best to communicate with offshore talent? What are the problem areas to avoid? How do you manage the quality of the vision? What about time difference? Where is my Skype headset? This panel will discuss from both the client and provider perspectives how best to manage the art development process when working with offshore groups. Communication, quality, speed, personnel management and travel will be some of the topics discussed. Art specific processes— the 24 Hour Work Day Game Outsourcing Summit coffee break 4-4:15pm Visit www.gdconf.com for daily coverage of GDC 2008 43 http://www.gdconf.com/?cid=GDC08_showguide http://www.gamesetwatch.com
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