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Organizers of the 10th annual GDC Online have announced that the call for submissions for this October's show is now open through midnight PT on May 2. As in previous years, the show is looking to coordinate lectures, panels, tutorials, and roundtables that cover pressing topics relating to online game creation and beyond.

GDC Online, which will take place October 9-11, 2012 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, TX, focuses on development of connected games, including social network titles, free-to-play web games, kid-friendly online titles, and large-scale MMOs.

Submissions should address the most pertinent development challenges for online and connected games with submissions related to the following tracks: Business & Marketing, Design, Customer Experience, Production and Programming.

In addition, GDC Online welcomes new members to its advisory board this year. Bill Dalton, technical director at Zenimax Online, community expert Valerie Massey, iWin vice president Laralyn McWilliams and Zynga principal software engineer Robert Zubek will all join the event's board for 2012.

The call for submissions is also open for the standalone summits at GDC Online 2012, which this year includes the return of the ever-popular Game Narrative Summit and the Smartphone & Tablet Games Summit, alongside two new summits: the Game Dev Start-Up Summit and the Gamification Day.

The new Game Dev Start-Up Summit presents a comprehensive step-by-step look at the issues, challenges, and realities of a new game studio as it forms and gets off the ground. The growth of social, online, free to play, and other niches and genres have created unprecedented opportunity for entrepreneurs. This one-day program will identify the challenges and arm attendees with knowledge that can, together with creativity and passion, help new ventures succeed.

Attorney Jim Charne will serve as the advisor for the Game Dev Start-Up Summit. Charne has provided legal representation for clients in all phases of the computer software and video game industry since the mid-1980s, and has been chair of the Legal and Business tutorial at the Game Developers Conference since 1998.

The new Gamification Day at GDC Online will discuss the debatable and sometimes problematic process of building game-like incentives into non-game applications, to address issues like productivity, health, marketing, and customer engagement. The day-long program will bring fresh discussions about the integration points between games and technology and highlight inspired, successful case studies from today's forward-thinking businesses.

At this month's Game Developers Conference 2012 in San Francisco, video game artist group iam8bit teamed up with the show's organizers to host the irreverent and exciting "Super Magnetic Game-O-Matic," a creative event featuring top artists from throughout the industry.

Throughout the conference, show attendees re-arranged giant word magnets to create some far-fetched game ideas, while professional artists rendered their own interpretations of the concepts they found interesting -- or just plain strange.

Now that the event has come to a close, show organizers have showcased the results via an exclusively filmed YouTube highlights reel, including timelapse shots of the sketchers in action, as well as a hi-res Flickr gallery of the art created.

The featured artists for the event specialized in all kinds of artistic disciplines, from UI design to concept art, and represented a wide range of companies from all over the game industry.

The notable list of artists at the event included Blizzard Entertainment's Ben Thompson, Weta Workshop's Greg Broadmore, Double Fine artists Levi Ryken and Derek Brand, and much more. The subjects of their "Game-O-Matic" contributions might have been a bit more silly than their typical professional work, but their talent shone through all the same.

From this exciting mix of artists came fantastic and quite often hilarious renderings of game pitches like "Extreme Nanny Adventure Karting," "Tyler Perry's 3D Dino Ninja Revolution," and "Meat Gravity Tale - 4D Space Edition," to name a few.

UBM TechWeb Game Network's 2012 Game Developers Conference, the world's largest and longest-running event serving professionals dedicated to the art and science of making games, hosted a record-breaking 22,500 game industry professionals last week at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, a 17 percent increase in attendance over the previous year's event.

Following the success of the show, organizers have announced that GDC 2013 will return to the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco from Monday, March 25 to Friday, March 29, 2013, - with a call for lecture submissions to open this summer.

GDC kicked off with two days of tutorials and summits focusing on specific emerging platforms and topics, including Smartphone and Tablet Games, Social and Online Games, Independent Games and more. The proliferation of free-to-play business models, new funding options and the explosive growth of mobile device games were frequent themes.

Summits highlights included Kickstarter's Cindy Au's timely talk on crowd source funding (Independent Games Summit), PopCap Games' Giordano Bruno Contestabile's presentation discussing lessons learned in moving Bejeweled Blitz to a free-to-play model (Social & Online Games Summit), and prominent game designers exploring the emotional impact of game design elements (Games for Change @ GDC Summit).

The main conference kicked off on Wednesday with GDC's first-ever "Flash Forward," a session that saw nearly 100 main conference speakers each take the stage for a forty-five second brief overview of their sessions in front of thousands of attendees. The popular Game Design Challenge saw three designers' ideas for creating a 60-second game on this year's theme "upgrading humanity." Richard Lemarchand of Naughty Dog won the Challenge with a game that attempted to first invoke and then eliminate shame.

With just a couple of days to go until Game Developers Conference 2012, show organizers have detailed some of the numerous companies hiring at the event's robust Career Pavilion.

Developers from all over the industry will be recruiting new talent throughout the show, and the Career Pavilion gives GDC attendees the chance to interact with these companies face-to-face.

The final exhibitor list [PDF] includes traditional game developers, social companies, mobile studios, and much more. Regardless of their interests or discipline, attendees should have no problem finding a company that appeals to them.

The Career Pavilion is open to all GDC pass holders, and will take place Wednesday March 7 through Friday, March 9 in the West Hall of the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Those interested in purchasing a pass can do so on-site starting March 4 (Student passes are only available on March 9).

Here are just a few of the notable companies recruiting at next week's show:

- Metal Gear Solid studio Kojima Productions has big plans for GDC, as the company hopes to expand beyond Japan and staff up for a brand-new office in Northern California. The company is hiring in nearly all disciplines, spanning artists, engineers, designers, and more.

- The social networking giant Facebook is looking to connect with the developers at GDC to help bolster its open platform and enhance its web and mobile services. Specifically, the company is looking for new engineers for mobile development and game partnerships.

- Resistance studio Insomniac Games will exhibit at this year's Career Pavilion to find new staff to fuel its multiplatform projects and an upcoming Facebook title. The developer is seeking programmers, animators, artists, and more.

- The Santa Monica-based Riot Games has seen great success with its action strategy game League of Legends, and the studio now aims to be "the most player-focused company in the world." At GDC 2012, the studio hopes to fill positions positions for both engineers and producers.

This year's Game Developers Conference is almost upon us, and today show organizers have highlighted the Game Career Seminar, which offers lectures, panels, and presentations to help new and aspiring developers kick-start their careers in the game business.

This one-day program will take place Friday, March 9 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, and will give attendees the chance to learn about the industry and network with leading professionals and HR representatives, both within sessions and at the show's robust Career Pavilion.

The Game Career Seminar is open to all GDC pass holders, including Expo Pass holders, as well as with a special one-day Student Pass for currently enrolled students over the age of 18 -- available on-site on Friday, March 9 for just $75.

The following are a few highlights from this year's Game Career Seminar:

- In the two-part session "Killer Portfolio or Portfolio Killer," a panel of artists hailing from Firaxis, Epic, Irrational, Naughty Dog and Valve will help attendees perfect their art portfolio, and hopefully score a job working on games.

The first session will focus primarily on the dos and don'ts of artist portfolios, and will allow the audience to ask the panelists for specific tips and insight. The second segment will instead focus on one-on-one portfolio reviews, giving attendees a chance to get advice and criticism specific to their needs.

- In another panel, leading game professionals such as 343 Industries' Frank O'Connor, Loot Drop's Brenda Brathwaite, Riot Games' Travis George, ex-Portal designer and Airtight Games developer Kim Swift, and Microsoft's Chris Charla will reveal what it takes to secure a job at the top companies in the industry.

The session, "Breaking Into Game Development: Ask the Pros," gives attendees a chance to speak directly with the leading minds behind some of gaming's most influential games and projects. The panelists' expertise spans big-budget development, social gaming, and more, providing a wide range of experience from all realms of the business.

GDC 2012 is less than a week away, and show organizers have chosen to highlight a new batch of notable and eccentric game developers at the first-ever GDC Play showcase.

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 latest organizer-highlighted companies at the band new GDC Play showcase:

- Mobile gaming company 2clams will host a kiosk at GDC Play to showcase its location-based iOS games. One such title, conTAGion, puts players in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, where their real-world location determines how the game plays out. At GDC Play, the studio is looking to find new developers and investors to grow its mobile gaming business.

- The UK browser and mobile game studio 4T2 Multimedia will attend GDC Play to demonstrate its partnerships with major brands around the world. In 2011, the company released Lego: Hero Factory Breakout, a single player browser game created as a tie-in to Lego's popular toy line (pictured). Now, the publisher is seeking new publishers for future branded partnerships.

- Elsewhere, the Canadian studio Frima will show off original IP titles such as A Space Shooter for Free! and Zombie Tycoon. The multiplatform developer is currently seeking out new partners, platform holders, and publishers interested in exploring new projects and business opportunities.

- The UK developer Tag Games will exhibit at GDC Play to discuss its latest projects on both social and mobile platforms. Previously, the studio has developed original titles and projects based on popular IPs such as Doctor Who and True Grit. At next week's showcase, the studio hopes to find new partners to develop projects for smartphones, handhelds, the web, and more.

Today, Game Developers Conference 2012 organizers are highlighting the show's new Advocacy Track, which will cover key issues facing the game industry, spanning White House-led initiatives to gender equality and beyond.

This special mini-track is new to the conference this year, and aims to improve the game industry by shedding light on pertinent social or cultural issues in the game biz that sometimes don't get sufficient attention.

The sessions within this track will are open to All Access and Main Conference pass holders. Those interested in checking out these sessions can register for a pass on the official GDC website (online registration ends next Wednesday, February 29).

Here are just a few of the Advocacy Track's most notable sessions:

- In "Games to Address National Challenges," Constance Steinkuehler Squire, a senior policy analyst for the U.S. President's White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, will detail how the Obama administration hopes to use video games to improve learning, physical health, mental well-being, and more.

Throughout the session, she will explore the government's interest in games, review trends in game-related government investments, detail what game R&D looks like on the Federal level, possible partnerships in this sector, and future trends for the medium.

- In a talk addressing gender equality, Mare Sheppard of the indie game studio Metanet Software (N+) will explain why the game industry needs to view itself as a single community, rather than a segmented population with "others" and rigidly defined social structures.

Her intentionally provocatively-titled talk, "Why I Hate Women in Games Initiatives," will specifically look at women in the game industry, noting that video game professionals need to embrace diversity in order to remain fresh, creative and adaptive. She will also consider what the industry needs to do to find a proper solution to this problem.