GDC 2013 adds details on DirectX 11, Intel gestural tech, Facebook dev days

GDC 2013 organizers are highlighting new details for the March show's Developer Days, including a multi-company DirectX 11 rundown, and sponsored Dev Days from Intel on gestural technology, and Facebook on its ecosystem. Taking place on the first two days (Monday, March 25th and Tuesday, March 26th) of the San Francisco show, these full-day events offer GDC attendees a chance to learn about key development tools and platforms directly from the companies that make them. In the multi-company presented 'Advanced Visual Effects with DirectX 11,' companies including NVIDIA, AMD, Crytek, and Crystal Dynamics will convene the day-long tutorial on the Direct3D technologies used in DirectX 11 and 11.1 and the ways they can be applied to cutting-edge graphics. Along with hearing from tech experts at NVIDIA and AMD, Crystal Dynamics will offer a session on Tomb Raider on DirectX 11, and Crytek will speak about the rendering technologies of Crysis 3 with regard to Microsoft's technology. Elsewhere, Intel's sponsored Dev Day will offer a full day of learning how to use its Perceptual Computing SDK for 'Natural, Intuitive, and Immersive Gaming' with the goal of taking game interaction beyond the mouse and keyboard, and toward gestures, finger and hand tracking, and face recognition. Discussing tangible workflow solutions for Intel's event will be Slant Six Games' Robert Butterworth, who has shipped over 21 titles, including Star Wars & Spyro franchise titles and Resident Evil: Raccoon City. Other speakers will also demo some engines already using the SDK, including Unity and OGRE. Along the way, attendees will receive a Creative Gesture Camera to continue building and experimenting on their own. Facebook will also offer a sponsored Developer Day, with talks on present ecosystem trends, new products, mid-core game building with Unity, and best practices for integration and discoverability. The end of the day will also include Facebook game developer panel, where multiple speakers will share major trends for social games in 2013, as well as Q&As with the Facebook team. Facebook's Developer Day speakers from the company and elsewhere specialize in a myriad of fields, including growth and engagement features, monetization, iOS and Android support, payments, and their game ecosystem. All of the above events are open to attendees with passes including Summits & Tutorials and All Access passes, with those selecting the talks during the registration process getting priority. And GDC still offers over $100 discounts to select pass purchases made by March 20th, at 11:59pm EST, with prices increasing for onsite registration. GDC 2013 itself will take place March 25-29 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. For more information on GDC 2013, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS. Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech.