Matthew Hawkins has been involved in video games on a local level for over ten years now, and has basically done it all. On the developmental side of things, Matt’s biggest claim to fame is being the former lead game designer at Ubisoft's short-lived and semi-experimental NYC studio. From there he formed his own company, Pixel Jump, which produced cell phones games, well before the iPhone jumpstarted the indie dev scene that's thriving today.

On the journalism end, credits include Nickelodeon Magazine, EGM, and Giant Robot. Currently he's an editor for GameSetWatch, where he concentrates on the intersection of games and film, music, plus the stage, artists who are inspired by gaming, and game culture as a whole. These interests has not only resulted in the creation of the FORT90ZINE, a print version of his online writings, which has been credited for kickstarting the gaming zine renaissance that’s currently in effect, but several indie gaming/art shows in Queens and Manhattan that Matt organized and promoted throughout 2010.

He’s also provided consultation for traditional media houses that seek a better understanding of games, taught game design at SVA, and is currently the east coast representative for the game culture collective, Attract Mode. For more information: http://www.fort90.com

Matthew is a panelist on the Extending Game Culture Panel.