Torchlight now available

After a number of false starts and technical problems yesterday it looks like both publisher Perfect World entertainment and developer Runic Games have sorted out all the problems with the digital release of their game, Torchlight. Now users can visit both web sites and purchase the game for right around $20. In addition the game is also available via Steam.

Torchlight was developed by Runic Games, whose collective experience includes Diablo, Diablo II, Mythos, Hellgate London, and the wonderful RPG FATE. Taking a page for that latter title, Torchlight refines and improves on core elements like pets, fishing, retirement, and oodles of side quests and equipment to sort through. New to the formula are three brand new charcter classes, a much improved pet system, better fishing, even more loot, plenty of side quests, new types of weapons. and a light but compelling main storyline that revolves around the most powerful magical substance in the world: Ember.

You can get your copy of torchlight by visiting Steam, the Torchlight web site or the Perfect World site. Also worth noting is this brand new launch trailer.

China Game Developers Conference 2009 speakers

The organizers of the China Game Developers Conference (CGDC) 2009 and Howell International Trade Fair Ltd. announced that 10 more speakers have been lined up for its event. These speakers will include representatives from such companies as Blizzard Entertainment, EA, Ubisoft, Microsoft, THQ, NCSOFT, NEXON, Giant Network, Shanda Games, Tencent, The9, Netease, Perfect World, 9 You and Kingsoft. All CGDC speakers will be announced over the course of the next few weeks.  But you probably want more specifics, right? Here’s a partial list of speakers:

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Taewon Yun, Platform Operation Director, Blizzard Software Development (Shanghai) Company Ltd. - Case study: Balancing game data using tools

David Kristofer Fried, Senior Game Designer, Ubisoft Shanghai - Lecture: Cultural Philosophies of Game Design

Lei Zhang, Senior Audio Expert, Ubisoft Shanghai - Lecture: Mixing in the Game Audio

Ben Mowery, Director, Scaleform - Lecture: Designing Game User Interfaces with Flash Workflow

Yuxin Ren, Senior Executive Vice President, Tencent Corporate - Lecture and Panel: Innovation and development on “ComeStayPay mode”

Quan Chen, NVIDIA PhysX Tech Support Engineer - Lecture: Effectively using a physics engine application in online games

Jerry Mao, Vice President, Object software - Lecture: Effectively using a physics engine application in online games

Yongquan Li, R&D Technical Director - QWD1 Lecture: Effectively using physics engine application in online games

Xinchun Gu, Senior Development Manager, The9 Co., Ltd. - Lecture: Applications of P2P technology for online games

Shiying Wang, Director and Producer, The9 Co. Ltd - Lecture: Social Psychology in Online Games

Conference registration has started, with a 10 percent early bird discount for those who register before June 10, 2009. For more information on conference passes check out www.chinagdc.com.cn.