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GameSetWatch, Jim Munroe Create 'GDC The Game'

For this year's recently concluded Game Developers Conference, Think Services' alt.gaming weblog, GameSetWatch, decided to try a little journalistic/interactive experiment.
They recruited Canadian author and game creator Jim Munroe, whom, as his Wikipedia page explains, is a former editor at Adbusters Magazine and a HarperCollins-published author ('Flyboy Action Figure Comes With Gasmask').
In the game field, he founded the Artsy Game Incubator project, and his poignant illustrated text adventure, 'Everybody Dies', took third place at IFComp last year and picked up a number of other media honors.

Game Developers Choice Awards To Air On G4 Tonight

Video game-oriented television network G4 will exclusively broadcast Game Developers Choice Awards highlights on U.S. television tonight at 6:30 and 8:00 PM ET.
The awards originally took place Wednesday, March 25 during Game Developers Conference 2009 in San Francisco.
G4's program X-Play, featuring host Adam Sessler -- and billed as "the most watched video game series on television" -- will air a half-hour highlights show of the proceedings beginning this evening.

BioWare's Doctor Duo To Deliver GDC Canada Keynote

The founding doctors of BioWare have been confirmed to deliver a keynote speech at the first Game Developers Conference Canada in Vancouver this may.
Dr. Gregory P. Zeschuk, BMSc, MD, MBA, Vice President, Entertainment and Miscellaneous, BioWare and Vice President, Electronic Arts, and Dr. Raymond A. Muzyka, BMSc, MD, CCFP, MBA, General Manager and CEO, BioWare and General Manager and Vice President, Electronic Arts, have titled their address "Emotionally Engaging Narrative: Gaming's New Frontier."
The talk will take place on the second day of GDC Canada, which runs May 12-13, 2009.
Edmonton, Canada-headquartered BioWare is known for its story-centered games; currently, it is known to be developing the single-player RPGs Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2, and the MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic.

2009 GDC Europe Announces Advisory Board

GDC Europe has appointed its advisory board, selecting industry execs, tech experts and consultants to ensure the event meets the needs of the European audience.
IGDA chair Bob Bates, a 23-year industry veteran, joins the board, and in addition to Stormfront Studios vet Don Daglow, Streamline Studio founder Alexander Fernandez is also participating.

GDC Canada Adds Skate, God Of War Writer Lectures

The 2009 Game Developers Conference Canada, taking place from May 12th-13th in Vancouver, BC, has added a number of sessions featuring high-profile speakers from Electronic Arts, plus notable game writers Susan O'Connor and Marianne Krawczyk.
EA technical art director Richard Burgess-Dawson will present "Shooting in San Vanelona: the Visuals of EA's Skate," a talk for artists and visual engineers the paradigms, methods, challenges and tricks behind the visuals of EA's acclaimed skating title. Burgess-Dawson will explain how lighting, surfacing, geometry, post FX, shadows, streaming and particles contribute to the cohesion of the nine square-kilometer world.

GDC Europe 2009 Opens Registration

Registration for the 2009 Game Developers Conference Europe is now open, organizers announced today.
The event takes place August 17 to 19 in Cologne, Germany. Registrations will be accepted until the second day of the conference, August 18. Discounts will be applied to those who sign up by July 29, said show caretaker Think Services.

GDC 2009 Attendance Exceeds 17,000, Dates For 2010 Confirmed

The 2009 Game Developers Conference, held last week at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, saw attendance of more than 17,000.
That figure was released by conference organizer Think Services, which pointed to the results as indicative of the overall industry's fundamental strength.
"The success of this past week in San Francisco proves the resilience of the games industry," said event director Meggan Scavio. "It is a testament to the spirit of our more than 20 year old conference and community, and evidence of video games' continued evolution into a mainstream form of entertainment, that the various constituents of the industry were able come together at GDC as they did [last] year."

Fallout 3, LittleBigPlanet Reign Supreme At Choice Awards

Bethesda Softworks' epic post-apocalyptic open-world adventure, Fallout 3, received the Game of the Year Award at the 9th annual Game Developers Choice Awards, presented at a ceremony this evening the 2009 Game Developers Conference. Bethesda also received the Best Writing award for the game.
Media Molecule's imaginative user creation-centric platform game LittleBigPlanet, which was first unveiled at GDC 2007, was the recipient of the most awards of the evening, taking four awards for Best Game Design, Best Technology, Best Debut Game and Innovation Award.
Other winners at the Tim Schafer-hosted event included Ubisoft's hauntingly beautiful update of the Prince of Persia franchise, which won the prize for Best Visual Arts, and Ready at Dawn's portable action-adventure, God of War: Chains of Olympus, winner of the Best Handheld Game award. EA Redwood Shores' shocking horror title, Dead Space, won the prize for Best Audio award.

11th Independent Games Festival Awards Topped By Blueberry Garden

Erik Svedang's Blueberry Garden, a charming exploration game set in an ever-changing ecosystem, received top honors - the $30,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize for Best Independent Game - at the 2009 Independent Games Festival Awards.
The winners were announced this evening at the eleventh Annual IGF Awards ceremony, hosted by the Game Developers Conference at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.
The IGF awards are often referred to as the Sundance Festival of the video game industry, and offer both global exposure and over $50,000 in cash prizes to each year's winners.
Previous breakout IGF award-winners include titles such as Braid, Audiosurf, Castle Crashers, and World Of Goo, and this year's awards saw 226 Main Competition entries from all over the world - and over 450 entries in total.

G4 To Broadcast 2009 Game Developers Choice Awards

Gaming-oriented television network G4 will exclusively broadcast the 9th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards on U.S. television, G4 and conference organizer Think Services announced today.
The awards take place Wednesday, March 25 during Game Developers Conference 2009 in San Francisco. G4's program X-Play, featuring host Adam Sessler -- billed as "the most watched video game series on television" -- will air the proceedings on Friday, April 10 at 6:30 PM.
As recently revealed by Think Services, this year Double Fine Productions founder and veteran game designer Tim Schafer (Grim Fandango, Psychonauts) will once again preside over the evening. Schafer previously hosted the 2007 Choice Awards.

GDC 2009 Additions Include Ono, Journo-To-Designer Panel, Interaction Innovations

Organizers of this month's Game Developers Conference have revealed notable, late-breaking new talks from Capcom' Yoshinori Ono on Street Fighter IV, MIT's David Merrill on new forms of interaction, and a panel of journalists-turned-developers on crossing over to another side of the industry.
Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono will present a talk called "IV Style: Returning to the Roots of a Fighting Game Classic," discussing how the Capcom team approached the design and development process of the anticipating fighting game -- and promising "a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse into the inner workings of Japanese development."

Think Services Game Group Founds German Office For GDC Europe

Game Developers Conference organizer Think Services (also parent of Gamasutra) has established a new office in Germany to handle GDC Europe.
Think Services Game Group European business development VP Frank Sliwka will head the new office, and serve as conference director for GDC Europe and the International eSports Conference.

Game Developers Conference Director Clarifies GDC China Confusion

Following recent confusion, Game Developers Conference organizer Think Services has clarified that its conference in Shanghai this October is the only official GDC event scheduled for China -- despite an unrelated upcoming event going by "ChinaGDC."
Think Services (which publishes Gamasutra) has scheduled its GDC China for October 11 through 13 in Shanghai.
The unlicensed naming overlap has roots in a 2007 deal that saw Think Services work with IDG China for the first GDC China event, GDC executive director Meggan Scavio said in a statement:

GDC 2009's Game Design Challenge Tackles 'My First Time'

2009 Game Developers Conference organizers have revealed that 'My First Time' is the theme for this year's Game Design Challenge, with Infocom veteran Steve Meretzky, Portal co-creator Kim Swift and Habbo lead designer Sulka Haro twinning 'sex and autobiography' in their game concepts.
The longrunning event, organized and MC-ed by Gamelab chief design officer Eric Zimmerman, is taking place on Wednesday, March 25 from 2:30 to 3:30pm at this year's GDC, held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

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