We're letting the Nintendo fans that Masahiro Sakurai, the brains behind titled like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, will be holding a talk in Japan later this month. Wondering just what sort of topics Sakurai-san's got brewing? Details are available in the full article.

The new lineup for the board of directors of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) was recently revealed. Joining the 10-man team will be designer and professor Brenda Brathwaite, consultant Mark DeLoura, and THQ/Big Huge Games studio manager Tim Train. Other details regarding the new board of directors can be read in our full article.

The Game Developers Conference is gearing up not only for conferences and lectures but parties as well. We know that these game developers play hard and party even harder. General events are lined up for the whole week. Find out more on the events after the jump!

The largest annual gathering of video game developers, the Game Developers Conference, will be held next year on February 18 to 22 at the San Francisco Moscone Center. The event, minus a Jack Thompson debate, will feature six game summits for the community. Read about the summits in the full article.

The first Games Convention Asia Conference (GCAC) coming September 6, 2007 will have numerous regional game industry leaders to speak at the two-day conference, so goes the official announcement made earlier today. The press release named Joonmo Kwon, CEO of MMORPG tycoon Nexon and Nexon Mobile, to be one of those to speak at the GCAC in Asia and Pacific (A&P) commercial hub Singapore.

 

The event will be held alongside an open-to-all GC Asia Exhibition which will run up to September 9 - two days longer than the conference - in an effort to spur exposure of the region's most reputable game companies to investors, retailers and the public alike. But more importantly, Asian game developers will be able to tout their best products to international publishers.

In addition to Mr. Kwon, who will be addressing attendees on Mobile Development, James Miller (Lead Program Manager, Microsoft, USA) will prime the region's developers in the views of third-party publishing. And because A&P is a region of oft-outsourced game developer studios, a panel consisting of Charles Speyer (COO, Glass Egg Media, Vietnam), Alexander Fernandez (CEO, Streamline Studios, Netherlands) and Bob Bates (Board of Director, IGDA, USA) will tackle issues with outsourcing and its overall effect to the game industry.

Other discussions will express opinions on the growing trend of game financing, often the source of funds for independent game developers the world around. As of press time, the GCAC is accepting registrations online, reachable through the Read link provided below.

The recent outbreak of anti-video game movements and ideals pressed the Entertainment Consumers Association to build defenses around the gaming consumer. This came at a critical moment in gaming history as the ordinary gamer didn't have an official body to represent him against those that may attempt to hinder one's right to responsible entertainment.

 

The ECA was established to protect the consumers of the gaming community, just as the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) enveloped the developers of the industry, the Entertainment Software association (ESA) represented the publishers, and the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) spearheaded movements for the game retailers.

In an interview with GoNintendo, Hal Harpin dived into the ECA's objectives and its history, all the while hinting the ECA's views and opinions that gamers might find helpful and could relate to. The ECA is currently concentrating on monitoring developments of anti-games legislations nationwide, including updating a tracker frequently for "potential" laws as they pass through the legislative process.

Interestingly, they are also mindful of the fear of violence in video games that seem to come from people who hardly had any gaming experience. They provide the needed education for interested parties to see the pluses and minuses of gaming, while slowly dropping the non-gamers' irrational fear of games.

But perhaps more interesting than most is the ECA's view of infamous anti-video game advocate Jack Thompson. Harpin cautiously answered GoNintendo's question about their perspectives and opinions of the Florida lawyer and said:

With the resignation of Doug Lowenstein, the former president of the publisher’s trade association, I may be close to the top of his hit list. Jack is definitely not a fan, let’s put it that way. My thoughts on Jack are that he is an extraordinarily effective communicator and advocate. He’s able to pull together groups of otherwise disparate people and channel their support for his side of the argument. To-date, we, as a people, haven’t given him near enough credit, nor concerned ourselves with uniting against him and other anti-games groups. The time has come to do just that, and we need member support in order to be effective in combating them.

For those who have been keeping up, Jack Thompson has declined to show up for a debate in the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX). You know why? Because he wasn't allowed to send out a press release or say anything about it. Kotaku got hold of this info and released some pretty interesting facts about it.

Still, you have to wonder why the guys at PAX were keeping Thompson's appearance a secret. PAX said that they did this for both Mr. Thompson's security and to avoid what would've been hordes of people rushing over to see the debate.

Penny Arcade was hoping to get a knowledgeable opponent for JT to debate with, such as Entertainment Consumer Association (ECA) president Hal Halpin or Jason Della Rocca who many know to be the executive director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA).

Mr. Thompson's response to the entire issue seems to be typical of his usual responses. Be sure to read the full letter before you make any judgments on the situation.

... I would be delighted to do the [debate], but Penny-Arcade's position that this must be kept "under wraps" and that I cannot tell the media and others about the event is both absurd and troubling.

For Penny-Arcade to take the position that there must be a news blackout on this strikes me and others as hypocritical to the max. You guys are the ones who think that even adult entertainment materials should be marketed and sold to children because of "freedom of expression," and yet I am not allowed to tell media and others of this debate?  Come on, how transparently double-standard-bound in your machinations can you all be?

If you want me to come to Seattle and address 6000 hostile people as to why the United States is the only backward nation in the world when it comes to the distribution of adult video games to children, then I will be happy to do it.  But your position that only Penny-Arcade gets to tell the world about this event and in the way that only you all get to decide is patently ridiculous. 

Man up and realize what the First Amendment is really all about, Robert and I'll be happy to celebrate it with all my "admirers" in Seattle, including Gabe.

I've been in far more hostile environs than what you offer. You all need to grow a pair of what a kid can cut off in Manhunt 2.

It's always heartwarming to see game developers getting their dues for all the long hours and backbreaking work they put into making video games for us to enjoy. Such was the case when developers Massive Entertainment, Funcom, and Vendler Game Consulting became the first few to receive Nordic Games Awards in an inaugural ceremony held during the two-day games conference.

Massive's World In Conflict took the title of Most Innovative Game Technology from hopefuls Alan Wake of Remedy and Funcom's Age of Conan - the latter, however, bouncing back to take home the Most Promising Nordic Game Project award.

It's to note that Age of Conan went up against nominees coming from all over the Nordic region, with Alan Wake and World in Conflict in the roster which makes the Most Promising Nordic Game Project award all the more important. Nothing better than being called out as the best in your own playing field, after all.

The final award, bestowed upon by IGDA president Jason Della Rocca, was for Best New Nordic Game Talent - and Vendler Game Consulting walked off with the win, leaving behind nominees Lockpick and Gogogic.

Congratulations to all developers, and more appreciation for the guys behind the code!

According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, the game just isn't going "Sony's way" this time around. Publishers, analysts and even PlayStation 2 gamers have claimed that there's something just not right about the PlayStation 3, and it clearly takes form in it being in last place.

 

Supposedly being Sony's successor to the still popular PS2, the PlayStation 3 still has a lot of ground to cover: it has to beat the PS2's still growing sales point, overtake Microsoft's early bird Xbox 360, and divert developer attention from the lower priced and mass-market appealing Nintendo Wii.

Top of the news report however, is the fact that Japanese developers are looking down on the PlayStation 3. Kyoshi Shin of the International Game Developers Association in Japan mentioned that many developers were now focusing on developing for the Wii, since it has higher probability of selling to more customers, provided its humongous user base.

"When people talk about the PS3 on chat forums, they say it's like going to a very expensive restaurant and not getting anything to eat," Shin said. The temperamental Eastern sentiment is shared by the Japanese chapter of the IGDA, although no one is ruling out the possibility that the PlayStation 3 can still win.

Analysts have stated time and time again that Sony needs to place short term changes in their strategy to augment their long term performance. Since the PlayStation 3 has a lifetime of 10 years, the console should beat the competition by half that time - about the same time Microsoft and Nintendo put out their new consoles for the next five-year generation.

"It's clear Sony is struggling with PS3 sales. The key question is: how is Sony going to persuade those 100 million PS2 owners to buy the PS3?" said Geoff Keighley, editor of GameSlice. The major sentiment is that Sony boost the console's immediate value by dropping the price point to manageable standards. In short, they suggest a price cut.

According to sources, Sony already loses money on every PlayStation 3 sold, so it wouldn't hurt for Sony to lose a little bit more to immediately distribute its console to install a larger hardware base than the competition. This is Sony's primary strategy after all: "lose money or break even selling consoles but make loads of cash selling games." Question is, when will they start?

It seems that Jack Thompson has said another mouthful about the Virginia Tech Massacre in a recent interview on MSNBC. He has singled out Counterstrike in this specific interview and went on about how it should not have been released to the public. Yup, it's more of the same.

What should interest most people is the fact that Jack Thompson actually called Jason Della Rocca, the executive director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), an "idiot" and a "jackass". This was because of a statement Della Rocca gave: "It’s so sad. These massacre chasers — they're worse than ambulance chasers — they're waiting for these things to happen so they can jump on their soapbox."

Those are pretty strong words coming from Mr. Thompson who has recently settled with Take-Two Interactive. Check out the full interview and listen in on what Thompson had to say.