<Find out why there really is no difference between casual and hardcore gamers, and what it will take for the rest of the world to become players of casual games in the third panel from Digital Media Wire's LA Games Conference 2008.
Casual Games: What's Next Now that Everyone's Involved? Peter Blacklow, Pres., WorldWinner (Liberty Media subsidiary), EVP, Digital, GSN Kate Connally, Vice President, AddictingGames, MTV Networks Eric Lavanchy, Director of Gaming, Endemol USA Matt Turetzky, VP, Non-PC Games, RealNetworks, Inc. Dave Madden, EVP, Sales, Marketing & Bus. Development, WildTangent Moderator: Mike Vorhaus, Managing Director, Frank N. Magid Associates

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We are live blogging from the LA Games Conference. This session of the conference focuses on How to Win the Social Game - Harnessing the Power of Online Communities and Social Networks.

Panelists include: Craig Alexander, Vice President, Product Development, Turbine Ranah Edelin, Vice President, Electronic Arts Mike Goslin, Vice President, Disney Online Studios Scott VP Creative and User Experience, Gaia Online Gabe Zichermann, CEO, rmbr.com Moderator: Eric Goldberg, Managing Director, Crossover Technologies

Eric kicked things off by introducing the panel and asks them to describe their demographics.

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If your audience includes teens, you might want to check out what Habbo has learned in their survey of over 50,000 teens worldwide, with insight into how US teenagers are similar to – and different from – teenagers worldwide in this research presentation from Digital Media Wire's LA Games Conference 2008.
The 2008 Global Habbo Youth Survey Emmi Kuusikko, Director, User & Market Insight, Sulake Corporation / Habbo Hotel

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Will the connected home be a winner-take-all world or one big happily family of interconnected devices? And where do consoles and set-top boxes shake out in these scenarios? Both extremes are represented in this first panel from Digital Media Wire's LA Games Conference 2008.

Battle for the Digital Home: Is the Console Entertainment Hub of the Future or Fighting to Stay Alive?
Erin Turner, Sr. Director, Web Services & Publishing, Trion World Network Steven Roberts, VP & GM, Games & Strategic Initiatives, DIRECTV Mike Yuen, Senior Director, Gaming Group, QUALCOMM Internet Services Josh Krane, SVP, Interactive & New Media, G4 Moderator: Ted Cohen, TAG Strategic/Chairman, Mobile Entertainment Forum Americas

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We are live blogging from the LA Games Conference. The conference is being held at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, California. John Welch, Co-Founder and CEO of Playfirst, is giving the opening remarks. He's running through 20 slides really fast providing an overview of Playfirst, a large publisher of casual games like Diner Dash, Wedding Dash, Dairy Dash, and Pet Shop Hop. All people read, watch and listen to diverse genres of media on diverse platforms. Are games really any different? Casual games got started with Bejewled and others like it. Then we moved to $20 downloadables. The casual game sector is projected to grow to $5B by 2010.

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