By John Gaudiosi

Electronic Arts’ BioWare studio has come a long way since first launching Mass Effect on the PC. What began as an epic single-player experience has expanded into a new cooperative gameplay mode with Mass Effect 3. Up to four players can engage in exclusive co-op firefights on top of the epic conclusion of the single player campaign. And speaking of Epic, that game studio’s Unreal Engine 3 technology continues to push the visuals and gameplay experience of the franchise thanks to BioWare’s many technical implementations over the years. By John Gaudiosi

William M. "Trip" Hawkins III - founder of Electronic Arts and father of the 3DO console - needs no introduction to serious gamers. But three decades after writing the blueprint for the PC and video game business, his latest creation - social games start-up Digital Chocolate  - is rewriting the rules again.

Originally a developer of games for mobile phones, the company has shifted its focus to Facebook and other social networks to tremendous success. It’s garnered more than 20 million monthly users within a year with hits like Millionaire City , MMA Pro Fighter  and NanoStar Castles . Here, Hawkins explains why he believes social gaming and virtual goods are the future of interactive entertainment.

By Matt Ployhar

It’s in the nation’s best interest to have a bright gaming future. Sound like a pretty bold declaration? Well, there are several things that have occurred over the past few years that have led up to my position that I’d like to share. You can then draw your own conclusions.

The keys to our future well-being are all about our ability to innovate. I originally started thinking in this direction when I was attending a private games summit a little over two years ago with several key industry execs. During the lunch conversation, several games ISVs (independent software vendors) observed that they couldn’t get their hands on enough H1B work visas and permits for foreign workers and students. The key reason they had to look outside the U.S. was that they could not fulfill the demand in their respective companies for employees with strong computer science, math and science skill sets.

Whether 3D moves beyond a stylistic evolution and becomes a revolution, though, has yet to be seen. As some developers and players note, the unique visual effect of 3D -- with the initial disorientation of viewing a scene with an illusion of depth and then continuing to direct the action -- can take some getting used to. However, the PC games that have made the jump to 3D run the gamut, including StarCraft II, Call of Duty: Black Ops, World of Warcraft and Duke Nukem Forever.

PC developers need to spend much less time tweaking the rendering effects in their games, as opposed to more than several months to rewrite a console game engine from the ground up to support 3D. And Mick Hocking, a vice president at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and the head of the company’s 3D initiative, says that while some of the technology used to produce high-quality 3D displays has existed for a long time, it’s only recently become available at a consumer price point.

Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney

By John Gaudiosi

Twenty years ago, a very smart college kid named Tim Sweeney started releasing Shareware games that he made at his mom’s house. And at the 2012 D.I.C.E. Summit (i.e., Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) in Las Vegas, Sweeney, the founder of Epic Games, was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. Sweeney, who has been at the forefront of pushing technology forward with Unreal Engine 3, talks about how advances in processing power will continue to advance games. 

Having sold more than 9 million­­ copies of medieval hit-man simulator Assassin’s Creed II, publisher UbiSoft opted to take a bold step with its sequel, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. Unsatisfied with simply letting players stalk targets through ancient Rome’s streets and make acrobatic getaways, Ubisoft decided to add eight-man online head-to-head support to a leading franchise known primarily for its story-driven solo campaigns. It was a potentially fatal gamble, but Arnaud Mametz, lead designer at UbiSoft Annecy , reveals how the series successfully made the jump without committing career suicide.

Heracles vs. FC Twente goal celebration screenshot courtesy of http://www.footballmanager.com.

By John Tyrrell

 Second only to the terraces surrounding the hallowed turf of the nation’s football (soccer) grounds, the pub is the next most popular setting for British football fans. So it’s fitting that the offices of Sports Interactive Limited, the creators of the world’s foremost and multi-million-selling football management simulation series, should be right on top of an establishment with big-screen match coverage and a solid draught beer selection. The William Blake Pub in central London has borne witness to many impassioned discussions about football - and probably just as many again about the game’s virtual progeny, the revered Football Manager series.

In Football Manager 2011, players manage their favorite team from some 50 global leagues, buy and sell players and interact with the press and plan tactics - all with the ultimate goal of topping the league and filling the boardroom trophy cabinet at the end of the season. The game’s 3D match engine lets players watch every bout in real time, taking the game far beyond its previous 2D top-down presentation toward something ever closer to the real thing.