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[The organizers have just opened nominations for the 2008 Choice Awards, so if you're a developer and would like to vote on the best games of the year, with winners showcased at the big GDC ceremony in March - now's the time.]
The 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards has now opened nominations for the best games of 2008, with awards given out at GDC 2009 and Gamasutra members able to help decide nominees.
Next year’s 9th Annual Award Ceremony, will be hosted on March 25th, 2009 in the Esplanade Room in the South Hall of San Francisco’s Moscone Center, as part of Game Developers Conference 2009.
The Choice Awards, the most prestigious honors in video game development, are now available for you to nominate, after logging on with your main Gamasutra.com user ID. (You can register for free if you do not currently have one.)
The Game Developers Choice Awards recognizes excellence in the art of game creation in any genre or platform. Last year's event saw Valve's Portal the recipient of three major honors, including Game of the Year, with three awards also going to 2K Boston/2K Australia's BioShock.
The 2009 award categories currently open for nominations until January 5th, 2009, are:

[In her latest Bosslady Blog update, Game Developers Conference event director Meggan Scavio discusses the announcements of GDC China and GDC Europe, and reveals the first lectures from GDC, including Braid's David Hellman, MGS' David Wu and FF Tactics composer Hitoshi Sakimoto.]
There is so much going on around here these days, I don’t even know where to start. I know…reverse chronology!
Let me take you on a journey to the future. Picture it: October 11, 2009, Shanghai. Do you see it? Are you there? You’ll know because you’re at GDC China. That’s right -- we launched GDC China back in 2007, ran into, let’s call them 'hurdles' in 2008, and are forging our way back in 2009. Keep your ears and eyes open for more information. The first GDC China exceeded all expectations -- and without sounding too cheerleadery, I predict the second one will be even better.
OK, now stay in the future, just in the not-as-distant one. Picture it: August 17, 2009, Cologne. That’s right, GDC Europe. Now this gets a little complicated, see if you can stay with me. GCDC, run by Frank Sliwka, was the developer event that was co-located with Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany. Frank is now going to run GDC Europe, which is being presented in conjunction with gamescom in Cologne and is supported by BIU, the largest European publisher trade body. GDC Europe will be a truly pan-European developer conference and will follow the model of the GDC in San Francisco.
Last but by no means least is GDC Canada. Vancouver. May 2009. Be there!
New Sessions Announced!
Now we arrive at GDC in San Francisco. March, 2009. Today, we announced our first round of conference sessions, and there are some real gems:

The organizers of the inaugural AI Summit at the 2009 Game Developers Conference have announced initial speakers and sessions for the landmark two-day artificial intelligence summit, including notables from EA Maxis, Ubisoft Montreal, Rockstar Leeds, Nintendo and more.
The event, which is taking place on March 23rd and 24th, 2009 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco as part of Game Developers Conference, promises to give attendees an inside look at key AI architectures and issues within successful commercial games.
Key speakers already announced for the Summit include EA Maxis' Soren Johnson, AI programmer/designer for Spore and AI professionals from EA Montreal and Ubisoft Montreal, as part of a panel "exploring ways to manage the gap between designers and AI programmers to help establish better practices for this important (and inevitable) collaboration."

Organizers for March 2009's GDC Mobile summit have revealed a focus on emerging platforms such as Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android, as well as initial speakers from EA and Indiagames, for the mobile-specific game event taking place on the first two days of GDC 2009.
The GDC Mobile conference (created by Think Services) gathers creators, publishers, technology providers, handset manufacturers, and distributors to discuss the future of the medium.
This year's program will cover six tracks encompassing the entirity of mobile gaming: New Platforms, Game Design, Programming, Deals & Distribution, Production, and Original Innovation.

[Ever wondered how talks get selected for GDC? Game Developers Conference event director Meggan Scavio reveals this year's GDC advisory board and submission process.]
Every summer, the GDC advisory board gathers to discuss the direction of the next event. The board is made up of 17 of the most dedicated, brilliant people in the industry. And I’m not just saying that because they might read this.
You may have heard of some of them, for example Blizzard’s Rob Pardo, Electronic Arts' Lou Castle, veteran creator Mark Cerny, Bungie's Chris Butcher, MGS's Laura Fryer, and Maxis’ Chris Hecker. See, it’s true. Smarties.
Anyhow, during this meeting they talk about everything from networking opportunities (“wouldn’t it be cool to have a roundtable follow a thought-provoking lecture so the attendees can discuss what they just heard?”) to session formats (“what if we gave speakers 3 minutes each to present their cool idea or technology”).

Think Services, co-organizer of the Game Developers Conference Canada has announced that next year's inaugural expo will run from May 12 - 13, 2009 at the Vancouver Convention and Exposition Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The organizers have also opened the call for proposals on lectures, roundtables, and panel sessions, and will accept submissions through midnight, Friday, November 28, 2008.
GDC Canada, which has an extensive local advisory board including representation from BioWare, EA Black Box, Threewave, Radical, Next Level Games and more, will emphasize the challenges and opportunities of creating games with long production cycles, large development teams, and multi-platform releases.

Game Developers Conference organizer Think Services has opened registration for next year's GDC event, to be held in San Francisco's Moscone Center from March 23 to 27, 2009.
Also announced was the addition of new summits falling under the GDC umbrella. These summits, which take place on the Monday and Tuesday of GDC week, are aimed at providing specialized coverage for various crucial development categories and practices.
In addition, the traditional Wednesday to Friday main conference, including major keynotes and existing Audio, Business, Game Design, Production, Programming, and Visual Arts tracks will continue for 2009.
Newly established Monday-Tuesday summits include the AI Summit and Localization Summit, bringing the total summit count to nine, as follows: