"Austin is a hotbed for game development. It also has one of the richest music communities in the world. It should not be a surprise that Austin is home to some of the industry's top game audio professionals," said Christopher V. Sherman, Executive Director of The Game Initiative. "The Game Audio Conference (GAC) is designed to elevate game audio development education, strengthen the community, and foster professional growth of the individual. By providing advanced game audio sessions within a social environment, the GAC strives to push the boundaries of game audio development. Plus, you can expect great parties as well."

GAC direction is provided by an expert "GACian" advisory board consisting of the following industry leaders:

• Randy Buck, Audio Director, Midway Studios Austin
• Linda Law, Vice President, The Fat Man
• Dave Murrant, Sound Design Manager, Sony Computer Entertainment America
• George Sanger, The Fat Man
• Marc Schaefgen, (Conference Chair), Studio Audio Director, Midway Studios-Austin
• Scott Selfon, Senior Audio Specialist, Microsoft Game Technology Group
• Lori Solomon, Game Marketing Manager, Dolby Laboratories
• Matt Tullis, Game Developer, Support Engineer, Dolby Laboratories

Scheduled GAC sessions include:

• Pre-production for Game Audio
• Large Scale Dialog Management
• Multi-channel Audio
  Creating Audio for Mobile Games
• The Lone Wolf
• When Audio is the Game Experience
• Music Design for Large Persistent Worlds
• Sound Source Acquisition and Library Maintenance

In addition to the Game Audio Conference, The Game Initiative is hosting three conferences concurrently: Game Writers Conference (Sept. 6-7) at http://www.GameWritersConference.com , Austin Game Conference (Sept. 6-7-8) at http://www.GameConference.com and Casual Games Conference (Sept. 6-7-8) at http://www.CasualGamesConference.com . Registration to GAC grants full access to all 4 events. All events take place at the Austin Convention Center.

Concurrent Event Highlights also include:

• -- 5 detailed online game development tracks - 5 tracks over three days, including Games in Asia; Multiplayer Business/Production; Multiplayer Design; Multiplayer Tech/Art and Multiplayer Service and Support. Plus focused roundtables, workshops and keynotes.
• -- LivePitch 1-on-1 - Now in its 4th year as a respected industry matchmaking initiative LivePitch at the AGC puts indie game developers and unsigned projects in front of the world's leading game publishers. The application process is now open. Go to http://www.LivePitch.com for details.
• -- Technology Pavilion - Taking place September 7th and 8th, the Tech Pavilion showcases the latest tools, technologies, products and services to attendees.
• -- Machinima Theater - In partnership the Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences the theater showcases the convergence of filmmaking, animation and game development. The theater is sponsored by BioWare.

Early Registration Now Open - Save 40 Percent Before July 21st

The Game Audio Conference is affordably priced, with online registration for professionals just $295 until July 21, 2006, a discount of 40 percent off the onsite registration price of $495. Student registration is $250 until July 21st. Conference details and registration information are available at http://www.GameAudioConference.com