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[Over at big sister site Gamasutra, we've 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:

Tags: awards, gdc, nominations

Finger Gaming parent Think Services has announced its flagship European event, Game Developers Conference (GDC) Europe for August 17th-19th 2009, alongside new German consumer games event GamesCom, with former GCDC head Frank Sliwka joining Think Services to run the event.

Think Services also runs game industry events including next March’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco and September’s Austin GDC, as well as the recently announced GDC Canada, while also operating Gamasutra.com and Game Developer magazine.

Frank Sliwka, who formerly worked at GC organizer Leipziger Messe, where he was conference director for the GC Developers Conference (GCDC) and national/international advisor, will join the Think Services Game Group as Vice President of European Business Development and Event Director, GDC Europe.

In association with the announcement, Think Services is acquiring the business of Global Games Media (GGM), the Sliwka-headed organization specializing in marketing, business development, and event management for the international game industry.

Sliwka will lead the management of GDC Europe, bringing with him years of game industry conference and event management experience. The event will take place August 17-19, 2009 in Cologne, Germany, alongside the GamesCom event, which recently changed its dates to August 19-23, 2009.

“We are thrilled to present GDC Europe during GamesCom,” Kathy Schoback, Executive Vice President, Global Events, Think Services, said. “A world class game developer event belongs at the premier European game industry event. With the support of Koelnmesse, BIU (the German Trade Association of Interactive Entertainment Software), and the City of Cologne, Europe’s most significant games gathering will definitely be a great success, and we couldn’t be more excited to have Frank Sliwka bring his deep experience to helping deliver GDC Europe.”

“We are pleased to welcome the European development community to GDC Europe during GamesCom,” noted Oliver P. Kuhrt, Executive Vice President of Koelnmesse GmbH. “The team in charge of GDC Europe, Think Services and Frank Sliwka, are professionals who are renowned for organizing internationally respected developer events and who have deep industry experience, strong networking connections, and know how.”

More information on GDC Europe will be unveiled in the near future via the official GDC Europe website.

Tags: europe, gamescom, gdc, think services

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, who also runs Gamasutra) 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.

The lectures announced so far include ‘The iPhone Bag Of Tricks,’ a hands-on session covering the day-to-day aspects of iPhone development, presented by G3 Studios CEO Guido Henkel; and ‘Social Games for Android, iPhone, Java, C++ and Objective C? Where do you fit in?’, presented by Pick Up And Play president and CEO Paul Foster.

Other notable speakers announced for the event include EA Mobile Europe marketing director Tim Harrison, Indiagames founder and CEO Vishal Gondal, Amplified Games president and CEO Tom Hubina, and School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech associate professor Blair MacIntyre.

In addition, the IGF Mobile competition, which is giving out $30,000 to the most innovative independent mobile games, including a new $10,000 Best iPhone Game award, will have its awards during GDC Mobile once again this year.

GDC Mobile 2009 will take place on March 23rd and 24th during Game Developers Conference 2009, which will run from March 23rd to 27th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California.

For more information on the GDC Mobile summit and other lecture highlights, please visit the official GDC Mobile 2009 site.

Tags: ea mobile, g3 studios, gdc, gdc mobile 2009, pick up and play

ngmoco and GDC Team Up To Offer $10,000 ‘Best iPhone Game’ Prize at Independent Games Festival During Game Developers Conference 2009

Think Services, organizers of the Game Developers Conference and the Independent Games Festival, and operators of this website, FingerGaming.com, have entered a new partnership with high-profile iPhone game publisher ngmoco. The deal will add a $10,000 ‘Best iPhone Game’ prize to 2009’s Independent Games Festival Mobile (http://www.igfmobile.com), and increase the maximum amount of prizes in the hotly contested indie mobile competition to a record $30,000.

The partnership with ngmoco, the Kleiner Perkins-funded iPhone publisher co-founded by former EA executive Neil Young, includes a Gold Sponsorship of the IGF Mobile event, which is now in its second year. The mobile-centric indie event, originally created by Think Services and Founding Sponsor Nvidia, is expanding to include iPhone games this year. With last year’s Grand Prize winner Critter Crunch already a successful title on Apple’s handheld, organizers are expecting a surge in iPhone game entries.

“ngmoco is proud to support the independent development community and burgeoning micro-studios who are dedicated to creating device defining “only on iPhone” games”, Alan Yu, Vice President, Artist & Repertoire, ngmoco, said. “As gamemakers, we’ve long admired the IGF for showcasing and highlighting innovation and independent thinking in games.”

Follow the link below for more information.

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Tags: contest, game developers conference 2009, gdc, igf, ngmoco, nvidia