Apple Announces Worldwide Developers Conference

The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2012 is slated for June 11 – 15, 2012. As stated by the name, it’s focused on developers, and gives them a look at iOS and OS X developments (OS X – not Mac OS X). It also gives them access to Apple engineers. Games are one of the focuses.

While it’s a conference that is not intended for end-users, the Apple Design awards will also be handed out. They recognize the best of the OS X and iOS apps, and games are right in the mix, as evidenced by the 2011 winners:

iPhone Developer Showcase
– Infinity Blade (Chair Entertainment Group, LLC)
– Cut the Rope (Chillingo Ltd) (Cut the Rope – ZeptoLab UK Limited (iTunes))

iPad Developer Showcase
– Osmos for iPad (Hemisphere Games, Inc.) (iTunes App Store)

Mac Developer Showcase
– Anomaly Warzone Earth (11 bit studios S.A.) (Mac App Store)

That’s a wide variety of games – Infinity Blade is a first-person sword/fighting-based 3D game. Cut the Rope is a physics puzzle game. Osmos for iPad is another physics-based game. Anomaly Warzone Earth is a tower defense game. Mac gaming (and iOS gaming) is something that is picking up steam with Apple – back in February, Apple announced OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion that includes Game Center.

It should be noted that Anomaly Warzone Earth was the Game of the Year Runner-Up in the Mac App Store for 2011. Not an easy feat given how crowded the tower defense genre is.

Games are also prominently listed in the tracks:

Graphics, Media, and Games

iOS and OS X deliver an unparalleled lineup of technologies and tools for creating innovative graphical applications, engaging audio and video experiences, compelling games, and media-rich books.

Extend the viewing experience of your app with AirPlay. Learn new ways to use the Graphics tools….. Dive into specialized frameworks such as OpenGL, OpenCL, OpenGL ES, GL Kit, Scene Kit, Core Animation, Core Graphics, and Core Image and learn to how to deliver rich 2D and 3D graphics, smooth animations, fast parallel computation, and stunning photo, video, and image effects.

….Understand the key ingredients of the best games and learn about using Game Center to create an incredible gameplay experience.

If you didn’t register already, you won’t be able to – AppleInsider is reporting that tickets sold out in two hours.

Links:
https://developer.apple.com/wwdc/
About WWDC 2012