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For the latest update on the Game Developers Conference 2012, show organizers have detailed several sessions within the Education Summit, featuring adventure game veteran Brian Moriarty (pictured) on "sinister" game courses, a look at university based game incubation, and a series of rant sessions from the industry's leading educators.

These sessions join a host of other talks within the show's Education Summit, which will explore experimental educational techniques and influential game research that educators can bring back into the classroom.

As one of GDC 2012's eight specialized Summits, the Education Summit will take place during the first two days of the show -- from Monday, March 5 through Tuesday, March 6 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Those interested in checking out any of the Summit content can do so by registering for an All Access or Summits & Tutorials pass on the official GDC website.

Here are the newest education-focused talks to be added to GDC 2012's Education Summit:

- In a session exploring experimental game design curricula, adventure game veteran Brian Moriarty (Wishbringer, Beyond Zork, Loom) will share his "sinister" method for teaching students about game development.

Moriarty's talk, "Lehr und Kunst mit Perlenspiel," will detail how he plunges his students deep into the trenches of game design, tasking them with developing five complete games over the course of a seven week term. He will argue that this peculiar strategy is surprisingly effective at equipping students with the knowledge they need to succeed in the game business.

- Elsewhere, regular GDC speaker and former IGDA executive director Jason Della Rocca will host "Incubating Indie Games at University." Here, Della Rocca will look back on a recent eight-week course at Montreal's Concordia University, in which indie developers and university staff worked together to develop a number of diverse game prototypes. The session will detail lessons learned from the experience, and will illustrate the importance of bridging the gap between game development and academia.

- In "Game Educators Rant!," a group of leading teachers, scholars, and professors will share their insight and speak out on topics of their choosing, ranging from students, schools, pedagogy, the future of game education, and much more. Of course, given the nature of GDC's rant sessions, the panelists are almost certain to explore some unexpected and unusual issues. Speakers will include prominent game designer and researcher Ian Bogost, UC Santa Cruz' Michael Mateas, storied developer and writer Jesse Schell, WallFour's Adam Russell, and New York University's Jesper Juul.

With GDC 2012 a couple of weeks away, the show's first-ever GDC Play showcase is starting to take shape, and organizers are highlighting some of the creators showing new games or studios there.

As outlined previously, GDC Play is a new program that gives emerging game developers a chance to show off their games to a host of specially invited industry decision makers, in addition to the 19,000-strong GDC attendee base.

The showcase itself will take place Tuesday March 7th through Thursday March 9th in the Esplanade Ballroom in the South Hall of Moscone Center in San Francisco, and all GDC attendees are welcome to check out the products and companies on display at specially designed IGF Pavilion-style kiosks and meeting rooms.

In addition, GDC 2012 All-Access Pass holders and exhibitors can also sign up in the recently announced GDC Business Matchmaking software and book meetings with GDC Play companies right now, or can turn up on site to check out the kiosks.

The GDC Play hall will also be home to the recently announced 'History Of 3D Games' exhibit from the Bay Area-based Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment, also free to all GDC attendees.

Here are the first set of organizer-highlighted companies at the first-ever GDC Play showcase:

- The intriguing Australian indie gaming firm Current Circus will host a booth at GDC Play to demonstrate its commitment to developing games for the Kinect hardware and other depth-sensing cameras. With body-controlled projects such as Beat Booster, the firm is looking for game publishers and investors to help it distribute and expand.

Game Developers Conference 2012 show organizers have unveiled a trio of newer sessions for the Localization Summit, featuring Square Enix on multi-language development, Crytek on minimizing risk, and a series of microtalks on the key issues surrounding game localization.

These sessions join a number of other exciting talks for the event's Localization Summit, which will cover topics ranging from emerging translation strategies, tips for maximizing ROI, and how to expand a game's global reach.

As one of GDC 2012's eight specialized Summits, the Localization Summit will take place during the first two days of the show -- from Monday, March 5 through Tuesday, March 6 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Those interested in checking out any of the Summit content can do so by registering for an All Access or Summits & Tutorials pass on the official GDC website.

Here are the newest localization-focused talks to be added to GDC 2012's lineup:

- In "Audio Localization Done Right: Simultaneous Scripting and Recording," Square Enix audio programmer Hikaru Taniyama and localization translator Masaharu Shibayama will showcase the Final Fantasy creator's internal localization tool to demonstrate how to enable simultaneous audio script translation and multi-language recording. Through this presentation, the speakers will demonstrate some key tips for streamlining the localization process and allocating developer resources.

- Elsewhere, Crytek localization manager Judith Matz will shed some light on what localization entails, and what other developers should take care of before the process takes place. The talk, titled "Crysis Management: Localization from a Developer's Perspective," will pinpoint critical localization risks that arise during game production, and will offer some strategies to prevent these risks from turning into real disasters.

- Finally, the Localization Summit will host its very first series of microtalks on the key issues facing the discipline. During "Localization Microtalks: Around the World with Five Topics in Sixty Minutes," speakers from U-Trax, NekoNeko, GamersFirst, Quirkat, and Monotype Imaging will discuss marketing, typographic considerations, indie adaptations, and much more.

Today, Game Developers Conference 2012 show organizers have chosen to detail the brand-new Games for Change @ GDC Summit, which features talks with Eidos life president Ian Livingstone, Sojo Studios on its charity-focused WeTopia, a panel of designers on how games can explore love as a thematic focus, and more.

This new Summit, scheduled for Tuesday, March 6th, and organized in partnership with the non-profit group Games for Change, will examine how video games can serve as critical tools in humanitarian and educational efforts.

In addition, the Summit gives funders, NGOs, government agencies, and educators a chance to meet and collaborate with some of the leading developers from the independent and commercial sector to further the development of games that promote social good.

Those interested in checking out the notable content within Games for Change @ GDC can do so by registering for an All Access for Summits & Tutorials pass on the official GDC website passes page.

The following are some of the major talks on offer at Games for Change @ GDC:

- In "From Dungeons to Downing Street - How Games are Growing Up for Good!," Games Workshop co-founder and Eidos life president Ian Livingstone will outline how video games can help players learn about solving puzzles, making decisions, and more. He will also discuss his efforts to demonstrate the positive elements of video games, and improve the perception of the industry within the UK government.

- Elsewhere, Sojo Studios founder and CEO Lincoln Brown will detail WeTopia, a recent social game that donates much of its profits to charitable organizations around the world. The talk, "WeTopia: Game Companies & Nonprofits Creating New Business Models," will examine the game's hybrid business model and its numerous relationships with private investment partners and non-profit charity groups.

- In the panel, "How Designing for Love Can Change the World," six notable game designers will explore how video games can explore love as a primary thematic element. Within this session, speakers such as Social Chocolate's Jane McGonigal and Chelsea Howe, Zoonami's Martin Hollis, Heart Shaped Games' Scott Brodie, The Tiniest Shark's Mitu Khandaker, and Namco Bandai's Michael Molinari will work with UC Santa Cruz's Jane Pinckard to explore how game mechanics can revolve around love and affection, how these games can affect a player's emotions, and more.

- According to Jan L. Plass from NYU's Games for Learning Institute, even the most educational-focused video games need finely-tuned mechanics to capture a player's attention. In his talk, "AAA Game Mechanics Inspiring Learning and Assessment Mechanics," he will consider what educational games can learn from blockbuster, AAA releases, and will showcase some strategies for designing game mechanics based on the learning sciences.

Game Developers Conference 2012 show organizers have revealed major new Japanese-helmed talks giving postmortems of Super Mario 3D Land and Resident Evil Revelations, also detailing the other translated talks for the event.

Once again this year, GDC is the only Western conference to feature a series of Japanese-language talks from some of the region's most influential developers. In order to bring this content to GDC's English-speaking attendees, the show has partnered with prominent localization firm 8-4, which has sourced speakers and will provide simultaneous English translations for all of these Japanese talks.

With this expanded partnership, GDC has ramped up the amount and quality of the simultaneously translated Japanese and English presentations. These talks will all take place between March 7 through March 9 in the San Francisco Moscone Center's North Hall, Room 132, and are part of GDC's robust Main Conference.

Here are the latest Japanese-language talks to be featured at GDC 2012, including two major new announcements:

- As part of GDC's Game Design track, Nintendo game director Koichi Hayashida will detail the use of stereoscopic visuals drove the design and development of the recent 3DS hit Super Mario 3D Land. In his talk, "Thinking In 3D: The Development of Super Mario 3D Land," Hayashida will share his insight on developing for and understanding the fundamentals of 3D-enabled devices. In addition, he will share several key development philosophies learned from Mario creator and legendary Nintendo designer, Shigeru Miyamoto.

- Elsewhere in the Game Design track, Capcom producer Masachika Kawata will host "Revealing the Truth About Resident Evil Revelations." Here, he will explain why Capcom chose to bring this major franchise to Nintendo's newest 3DS handheld, and will delve into how the team made some key changes to the game's controls and design, while maintaining the series' classic survival horror feel.

- In yet another Game Design talk, Mikio Watanabe, the vice president and COO of shoot 'em up game developer Cave, will host "Retro and Japanese Social Games on Smartphones." This session will detail how Cave adapted several of its classic bullet-hell shooters to modern smartphones, while simultaneously exploring the current Japanese mobile game business, and what Western developers should be careful of when bringing their games to Japan.

In addition to the above sessions, GDC 2012 will also feature translated Japanese-language talks featuring Groove Coaster and Space Invaders Infinity Gene creator Reisuke Ishida on unique game design, Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune on the future of Japanese development, Sony's Yoshiaki Yamaguchi on developing Gravity Rush for the PlayStation Vita, and a special Classic Game Postmortem from Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada.

The Game Developers Conference will continue its examination of the industry's most influential landmark titles as the Classic Game Postmortem series returns to the show's Main Conference for a second consecutive year.

After its acclaimed debut as part of GDC's twenty-fifth anniversary celebration last year, the series returns to GDC 2012 with postmortems of the original editions of seminal games such as Alone in the Dark with designer Frederick Raynal, Fallout with producer, lead programmer and designer Tim Cain, Gauntlet with creator Ed Logg and Harvest Moon with producer and co-designer Yasuhiro Wada.

As part of GDC 2012, these talks will take place March 5 through March 9 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California. The following are the notable Classic Game Postmortem talks to be featured at the upcoming show:

- Infogrames' atmospheric 1992 action-adventure title Alone in the Dark is widely considered the forefather of the survival horror genre, establishing conventions like claustrophobic areas, stories revealed through expository items, and giving players limited ammunition to deal with hordes of monsters.

Its cinematic presentation and fixed third-person camera angles went on to influence many non-survival horror releases, too. Alone in the Dark's designer Frederick Raynal will share how he and his team crafted the seminal game and helped spawn a genre that still scares millions today.

- The Fallout series has changed development or publishing hands a number of times (most recently to Bethesda Softworks), switched perspectives, and jumped from turn-based to real-time gameplay, but the series' survival and consistently high quality games are a testament to the strengths of the original.

Interplay Entertainment's first Fallout in 1997 offered players a post-apocalyptic open world filled with distinctive characters, moral dilemmas, and quests that could be solved in multiple, oftentimes-unconventional ways. Tim Cain, producer, lead programmer, and one of the primary designers for the beloved game who is now at work at Obsidian on the new South Park RPG, will deliver a talk on how he helped create a franchise that set a new standard for open-world RPGs and still resonates with players.

- Atari's 1985 title Gauntlet was the first video game to bring the now-pervasive multiplayer feature of class-based heroes to arcades and later to consoles. The game also was one of the pioneers of the co-op dungeon crawling/looting game.

Ed Logg, designer of Gauntlet who was also responsible for helping to design ground-breaking games including Super Breakout, Asteroids, Centipede, and Millipede, will share his thoughts on creating the game that popularized the phrase "Wizard needs food badly" and paved the way for class-dependent experiences like World of Warcraft, Phantasy Star Online, and others.