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With the first-500 pass deadline almost due, 'future of games' conference, GDC Next organizers have revealed Double Fine's crowdfunded adventure game Broken Age and Grand Cru's 'Minecraft vs. Clash Of Clans'-esque Supernauts as the latest in the 'GDC Next 10' lecture series.
As part of the Los Angeles event's cutting-edge content, each game's creator will be invited to give a world-exclusive talk about the concepting, inspiration, and design behind the title.
Each 'GDC Next 10' game has been picked by GDC's organizers as a game to watch for the future -- one that is doing something decidedly different in today's increasingly crowded game market.
This week's first inductee to the Next 10 is Double Fine's crowdfunded point-and-click adventure game revival Broken Age [trailer]. Their GDC Next session will explore their research and design for rethinking the classic adventure genre for the modern era.
With a compelling speaker line-up yet to be revealed, the studio will examine what classic adventure games did well, what fans of the genre liked about them, and how they can take advantage of all the advancements in dev technology and technique since the genre's heyday.

The fifth annual Independent Games Festival China has concluded, after some 250 entries were boiled down to a core 14 finalists, including eight for the main competition, and six student competition entries.
Entrants came from all over Asia and Australasia, from countries as diverse as Singapore, India, Taiwan, Australia, and indeed, China itself. The awards were judged by a team of five veterans, including Richard Tsao of Ubisoft Chengdu, Kevin Li of Tipcat interactive, and IGF chairman emeritus Simon Carless.
The ceremony, held on Monday the 16th in Shanghai, brought these various countries together under one roof, to celebrate the region's innovative spirit. Stage fright upon receipt of awards abounded, but that only added to the endearing nature of the general environment. Indeed, one nominee, Muhammad A.Moniem (Coated), brought his entire family with him to the event.
While only nine of the 14 finalists received awards, all were present at GDC China's IGF pavilion, and were a main attraction during the event's proceedings, alongside GDC China's independent games summit.
Without further ado, here are the winners of the 2013 IGF China awards:

While early-rate pricing is rapidly running out, 'future of games' conference GDC Next organizers have added more exciting talks, including Sega's move to free-to-play with Sonic and veteran Tom Hall (DOOM, Rise Of The Triad) on Diner Dash's mobile efforts, as first-500 registration is almost filled.
GDC Next is the spiritual successor to GDC Online, and will take place alongside the App Developers Conference on November 5th-7th, 2013 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
This new event aims to highlight the future of video game development, with tracks including 'Next Generation Game Platforms', 'Free To Play & New Business Models', and 'Smartphone & Tablet Games', as well as cloud and indie game tracks.
Newly announced sessions for GDC Next include 'The Evolution of Sonic: Dashing into a Freemium World,' where Sega director of online services Ethan Einhorn will explore the company's transition into mobile and new monetization models with titles such as Sonic Dash and Sonic Jump, discussing changes made to the gameplay and design at different stages in the products' lifecycles.

[Ahead of November's GDC Next, GDC's Director of Online Community Patrick Miller reached out to many games industry luminaries to see where they think the future of video games is headed. This interview is the latest installment of a multi-part series that will run up until shortly before the 'future of games' conference, which takes place in Los Angeles, CA from November 5-7, co-located with the App Developers Conference.]
One of the hallmarks of a forward-thinking game creator is the readiness to look outside of video games for creative inspiration -- and few developers are as well-known for looking to other media as Quantic Dream founder David Cage. Read on to learn about the influence he draws from cinema, working with high-profile actors on Beyond: Two Souls, and why indies are the future of the industry.

[Ahead of November's GDC Next, GDC's Director of Online Community Patrick Miller reached out to many games industry luminaries to see where they think the future of video games is headed. This interview is the fourth installment of a multi-part series that will run up until shortly before the 'future of games' conference, which takes place in Los Angeles, CA from November 5-7, co-located with the App Developers Conference.]
In an industry as young as ours is, few devs have the experience that Warren Spector has -- or, for that matter, the resume. System Shock, Ultima, Wing Commander, Deus Ex, Epic Mickey -- naturally, I wanted to know where he thought the future of games was headed.
Read on to see what Spector has to say about game dev education, multi-act careers in the industry, personal influences, and the importance of game design in the future of video games as a medium.

'Future of games' conference GDC Next, taking place in Los Angeles this November, has announced it will be picking ten innovative, yet-to-debut games to make up its ‘GDC Next 10’ showcase.
As part of the eventÂ’s cutting-edge content, each gameÂ’s creator will be invited to give a world-exclusive talk about the concepting, inspiration and design behind the title. Each 'GDC Next 10' game has been picked by GDC's organizers as a game to watch for the future, and a title that is doing something decidedly different in todayÂ’s increasingly crowded game market.
The first inductee to the Next 10 is Doki-Doki Universe [trailer] by HumaNature Studios, and studio founder Greg Johnson (also the veteran creator of Starflight & cult classic Toe Jam & Earl) will be presenting a session that describes how his team dealt with the challenges of developing an emotional, interactive story game.

Game Developers Conference Next organizers have added new sessions to the November 'future of games' event, including Ubisoft's Jill Murray on new narrative and gameplay options for female characters in games and Gamesbrief director Nicholas Lovell on a model to welcome more players into F2P designed games.
GDC Next is the spiritual successor to GDC Online. The new event aims to highlight the future of video game development, with tracks including 'Next Generation Game Platforms', 'Free To Play & New Business Models', and 'Smartphone & Tablet Games', as well as cloud and indie game tracks.
It will take place alongside the App Developers Conference on November 5th-7th, 2013 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Organizers are announcing two new talks today, as follows:
Ubisoft Quebec's director of narrative design Jill Murray will present 'Binders Full of Women: Diversifying Feminine Archetypes in Games.' The Assassin's Creed III : Liberation scriptwriter will discuss new narrative and gameplay options brought by a range of characters and personalities inspired by real women in history, and contemporary women important to game developers you know.
Attendees will gain insight to help them research and create female characters, as well as suggestions for drawing narrative design and game mechanics from such characters. The bulk of the talk will consist of real women's stories, from the outwardly heroic to the quiet heroism of the ordinary.