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Game makers take note: You still have time to register for Game Developers Conference 2017, and as the conference draws closer we're announcing even more sessions for the Main Conference that you'll want to check out.

Today we're highlighting a number of cutting-edge sponsored sessions from Nvidia, AMD and other influential technology firms. If you're looking for an opportunity to learn about how the latest hardware and software works -- and how you can best use it to make games -- you'll want to keep these talks on your radar.

For example, Nvidia is sponsoring a fascinating GDC 2017 session on "Deep Learning for Game Developers." Make time to check it out, and you'll learn how to leverage deep learning to create, develop, market, run and tune higher quality and more appealing games for mobile, console and PC.

As the 2017 Game Developers Conference draws nigh, organizers would like to quickly let you know about a few of the fantastic talks on the craft of storytelling in games that are taking place at the conference next month.

Each of these talks is part of the GDC Game Narrative Summit, one of eight that will take place Monday, February 27th and Tuesday, February 28th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA -- the first two days of the conference.

Each Summit offers a comprehensive overview of a specific game industry discipline, and the Game Narrative Summit is no slouch in that department: for example, consider that the top ten movie franchises of all time and seven of the all-time top 10 game franchises are character–based. In his GDC 2017 Game Narrative Summit talk on "Creating Franchise Characters," veteran game designer Bob Bates will look at what these franchise characters have in common.

Do you think it's a coincidence that Harry Potter, James Bond, Luke Skywalker, Frodo Baggins, Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker, and Dominic Toretto are all orphans? Find out what else they have in common in this Game Narrative Summit session geared at helping writers create memorable characters of your own.

As the 2017 Game Developers Conference draws nigh, organizers want to make sure you don't miss out on one of the more intriguing talks of the show -- about the auto-generated selfies in Square Enix's Final Fantasy XV!

Prasert "Sun" Prasertvithyakarn is a lead game designer at Square Enix, and in his GDC 2017 talk on "Prompto's Facebook: How a Buddy-AI Auto-Snapshots Your Adventure in FFXV"  he'll explain how the system works and why it's so important to the narrative of the latest Final Fantasy.

See, Prasertvithyakarn believes photos are what make a trip. In Final Fantasy XV, one of your camera-maniac best buddies, Prompto, will automatically take a picture of your adventure in the game for you. The snapshot he takes is not the classic screenshot that most users are familiar with. Instead it is a picture what Prompto actually sees in the game, enhanced with some fun features. Since no one does the same play, no one will have the same picture as you; the image represents your unique adventure.

Heads up, game makers: Organizers of the 2017 Game Developers Conference are very excited to announce that a game industry luminary is coming to the show next month to offer up a fresh behind-the-scenes look at the making of a classic game.

Warren Spector, the veteran game designer known best for his work at influential studios like Origin Systems and Ion Storm Austin, is coming to GDC 2017 to present a Classic Game Postmortem on the pioneering game Deus Ex!

So if you aren't already registered to attend GDC 2017 next month, do so quickly -- the deadline to register for passes at a discounted rate is today, January 18, at 11:59 PM Pacific!

Spector directed development of Deus Ex, the critically-acclaimed cyberpunk "immersive sim" released in 2000 that achieved critical acclaim, commercial success, and influence over a generation of game developers. He went on to oversee development of its sequel as studio director of Ion Storm Austin before departing to found Junction Point, the Disney-backed studio where he oversaw development of Epic Mickey 1 & 2.

With just over 24 hours to go before early registration for Game Developers Conference 2017 ends tomorrow -- Wednesday, January 18th at 11:59 PM Pacific, conference organizers are encouraging anyone interested in attending to register now at a discounted rate.

This year GDC will once again feature a fantastic, diverse lineup of lectures, panels, and tutorials during the show proper, and show organizers will continue to debut new sessions as the event draws ever closer.

To give you a sense of what a great event GDC can be, organizers want to quickly remind you about just a few of the many notable sessions taking place at this year's show.

Organizers of the 2017 Game Developers Conference have some exciting news to share today: a remarkable Japanese game designer is coming to the show next month to give attendees a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a remarkable game.

Yutaka “Yoot” Saito, the talented game designer known for his idiosyncratic approach to game development, will be delivering a Classic Game Postmortem on his remarkable Dreamcast game Seaman at GDC 2017!

Saito’s game development career took off in the early ‘90s when he created the game that was published by Maxis as SimTower, but it was after he founded his own studio Vivarium that he really came into his own. Under the Vivarium banner Saito developed the groundbreaking virtual pet game Seaman (lending his own face to the titular Seaman), its striking sequel Seaman 2, the pinball strategy game Odama, and the airport baggage management puzzle game Aero Porter.

Results from the fifth annual Game Developers Conference State of the Industry Survey are in, revealing trends in the games industry based on the feedback of more than 4,500 game developers ahead of GDC 2017 in February and March.

The survey has revealed that game developers are feeling optimistic about Nintendo’s upcoming Switch console, and are unsure about the prospects of mid-cycle console refreshes like the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox’s “Project Scorpio.”

Download the 2017 State of the Industry Survey here!

On the VR front, game developer interest has shifted from the Oculus Rift to the HTC Vive, which is now the most popular VR platform to make games for. Ten percent of VR game developers say they’re working on a game that’s exclusive (on an either timed or permanent basis) to one VR platform -- and the majority of them are for the Vive.

The 2017 State of the Industry Survey is the fifth entry in the ongoing series of yearly reports and serves as a snapshot of the games industry and illustrates industry trends ahead of GDC in San Francisco. Organized by the UBM Tech Game Network, GDC 2017 takes place February 27th through March 3rd at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California.