VentureBeat’s GamesBeat 2011 conference to address intersection of gaming and mobile

VentureBeat‘s annual video game event — GamesBeat — will focus on the intersection of games and mobile, two of the hottest markets in the technology sector. The event will feature a keynote speech by Nolan Bushnell, father of the video game industry.

To embrace the enormous synergy between mobile and games, GamesBeat will be co-located with MobileBeat on July 12-13, 2011 at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco and will feature overlapping sessions with MobileBeat. Dean Takahashi, lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat, is organizing the conference content.

This conference on the future of games provides two full days of networking opportunities and insightful panels from executives from the hottest games companies focused on igniting the enormous potential of the mobile market in a way that monetizes users and raises more awareness of the growing clout of the gaming industry. Comprehensive sessions will cover the potential impact that the iPad 2, Android tablets and other new gadgets — driven by 4G LTE high-speed wireless, dual-core and quad-core chips, and new user interface software — could have on mobile gaming, and how companies in the industry can take advantage.

Hear perspectives on the gaming industry from an elite group of leaders, including:

Nolan Bushnell, Founder of Atari Corporation
Trip Hawkins, Founder of Digital Chocolate & Electronic Arts
David Ko, SVP of Mobile of David Ko, Zynga
Steve Perlman, Founder and CEO of OnLive,
Si Shen, Co-founder and CEO of Papaya-Mobile
Peter Relan, Founder & Chairman of YouWeb
Daniel Terry, Chief Executive of Pocket Gems
Neil Young, Chief Executive of Ngmoco
Rich Wong, Partner of Accel Partners
Bing Gordon, Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Tim Chang, principal at Norwest Venture Partners
Tim Merel, managing director at Digi-Capital

More speakers will be announced in the coming days.

“GamesBeat comes at a critical time for the leaders and pioneers in the games industry,” said Matt Marshall, founder and editor-in-chief of VentureBeat. “There are hundreds of millions of gamers among Facebook’s 600 million users, but analysts believe the number could be as much as 10 times higher for mobile. GamesBeat will provide the opportunity to address the business implications of this imminent fusion head on.”

This year’s event will include “Who’s Got Game?”, the premier startup competition for the games industry. The competition will showcase the top 5 to 7 coolest games startups, which will be selected based on freshness, innovation, and potential for business success. Submissions are open until June 21.

VentureBeat is offering a joint pass for GamesBeat and MobileBeat that allows for full access to both events.

Full information on GamesBeat 2011, including the agenda, is available at: http://events.venturebeat.com/gamesbeat2011/.