Taking place alongside next month's GDC Online event in Austin, TX, the 3D Stereoscopic Games Summit has revealed speakers from Disney, Sony, Blitz, Crytek and more on the rise of 3D gaming.

The Summit, taking place on Tuesday, October 5th and open to GDC Online All-Access Pass holders, as well as Summits & Tutorial pass-holders, will be the first GDC event to explore the world of 3D stereoscopic gaming in depth.

With 3D-capable movies such as Avatar and Alice In Wonderland topping the worldwide box office for multiple weeks and engine companies and console manufacturers alike touting the rise of 3D in gaming, we'll be gathering industry experts to explain and demonstrate the latest advances in the area.

Should you be building 3D support into your games now? What are the key hardware penetration and technical barriers to 3D becoming a defacto standard in the video game industry?

Speakers and advisors led by Blitz Game Studios' Andrew Oliver (Dead To Rights: Retribution) will be exploring these questions in the 3D Stereoscopic Games Summit. Some of the session highlights for the one-day Summit include the following talks:

- The lecture 'Implementing Stereoscopic 3D in Disney/Pixar's Toy Story Midway Mania' sees Walt Disney Imagineering and Schell Games creators examine the work done to create the motion ride and Wii-exclusive 3D game. Along the way, "...stereo rendering issues will be discussed such as ghost-busting, eye point issues, off-axis projection, and the creation of (and iteration on) content for a 3D stereo rendered attraction."

- 'Introduction to Stereoscopic 3D Rendering' has Sony Computer Entertainment America's David Coombes "covering the techniques used to generate stereoscopic 3D game content", from the hardware manufacturer's perspective, currently putting a lot of hardware and software effort into 3D stereoscopic gaming for PS3. The lecture will "also cover the display options that are available as well as some practical tips for optimization."

- In the closing session, 'Experts Debate: Stereoscopic 3D Gaming Here to Stay?', the day's speakers, including notables from Nvidia, Schell Games, SCEA, the S-3D Gaming Alliance and more will discuss "the potential and pitfalls of the 3D gaming landscape", from tech through gimmicky approach issues and beyond.

In addition, the event includes a post-Summit mixer sponsored by engine company Crytek, who will be presenting a sponsored session on their much-publicized move into 3D stereoscopic gaming with the latest version of CryEngine.

The 3D Stereoscopic Games Summit will be one part of GDC Online, which will take place October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas and also features a main conference based around social games and MMOs, plus Summits on iPhone and iPad games, as well as on game narrative.

To learn more about the other lectures and summits for GDC Online, for which registration is now open, please visit the official GDC Online website.

GDC Online organizers are reminding potential attendees that today is the last day to save up to 40% on passes to the October 5th-8th event in Austin, TX, fully detailing the comprehensive exhibit floor, Summits, keynotes, a PlayStation Home developer day and more.

The Austin, Texas based GDC Online conference -- formerly known as GDC Austin -- is mainly focused on the development of online games, including free-to-play titles, social network games, and traditional MMOs, with a veteran online game industry advisory board evaluating and selecting the lectures.

There are now more than 120 panels, lectures and tutorials currently scheduled for the event -- including the recently announced keynote from Civilization II designer and now Zynga chief game designer Brian Reynolds (FrontierVille), and just-debuted track keynotes from Blizzard on Battle.net, Raph Koster on social design trends, and European browser game giant BigPoint on its rise to success.

These lectures join a full set of highlighted lectures including Main Conference talks on October 6th-8th from Relic, Sony Online, Carbine, KingsIsle, IMVU, Disney, Playdom, BioWare Austin, Hangout Industries, Broken Bulb Studios, CCP, Gaia Online, Playfish, InstantAction, Ubisoft and a host of other notable companies at the leading worldwide online game-specific conference.

One of the other major advantages of attending GDC Online is the comprehensive list of nearly 90 exhibitors with whom attendees are able to get product demonstrations, meet, and interact on the vibrant GDC Online Expo Floor. These include major firms like Epic, Rackspace, Gaikai, Offerpal, Vindicia, Trinigy, ARIN, Versant, Rixty, Softlayer, and many other notable companies in the space.

Vendor-led sessions will also provide notable takeaway for many attendees, with a just-confirmed PlayStation Home developer day -- presented by Sony and giving full information on the console-based online world platform. Also confirmed are sessions by Playspan, Offerpal, Hi5, Autodesk and a host of other firms in the process of being scheduled and announced on the website.

Finally, the four Summits taking place at GDC Online on October 5th and 6th cover some major emerging areas in the video game space, with an iPhone Summit, iPad Summit, 3D Stereoscopic Gaming Summit and the Game Narrative Summit all presenting major speakers, themes, and takeaway relevant to both those making online games and devotees of these particular submarkets.

GDC Online will take place October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. To learn more about lectures across all tracks and summits for the event, for which reduced-rated registration is only open until the end of Wednesday, September 1st, please visit the GDC Online's official website.

A day before the GDC Online early deadline, the major October 5th-8th Austin-based event has added track keynotes from Blizzard's Greg Canessa (on Battle.net), Playdom's Raph Koster (on social mechanics), and Bigpoint's Heiko Hubertz (on the rise of Europe in online gaming).

The Austin, Texas based GDC Online conference -- formerly known as GDC Austin -- is sharply focused on the development of online games, including free-to-play titles, social network games, and traditional MMOs, with a veteran online game industry advisory board evaluating and selecting the lectures.

There are now more than 120 panels, lectures and tutorials currently scheduled for the October 5th-8th event -- and following the announcement of a keynote from Civilization II designer and now Zynga chief game designer Brian Reynolds (FrontierVille), three track keynotes are debuting.

The brand-new track keynotes across the GDC Online Main Conference, which takes place from Wednesday October 6th to Friday October 8th, and for which majorly discounted passes are only available until Wednesday, are:

- In a production track keynote called 'Battle.net: A Postmortem', Blizzard's Battle.net project director Greg Canessa and technical director Matt Versluys will present an extremely rare lecture from the World Of Warcraft and Starcraft II creators, "sharing lessons learned from building and launching the new iteration of an online game service that connects and powers all Blizzard titles."

- Playdom's VP of creative design Raph Koster -- a stalwart of online game design from Ultima Online through Star Wars Galaxies to his current work in social games -- presents a design track keynote, 'Classic Social Mechanics: The Engines Behind Everything Multiplayer'.

He explains: "Many lessons are available to us from both anthropology and the history of games that demonstrate that sometimes, social mechanics are just old wine in new bottles", looking at underlying mechanics and principles that drive sociable gameplay in everything from Facebook games to sports.

- Major online game firm Bigpoint's CEO and founder Heiko Hubertz will discuss 'Europe: The Next Big Thing in Gaming' in his business track keynote. Hubertz, whose firm is working on the Battlestar Galactica MMO and has already built up a powerhouse European presence through browser games, outside of the 'hot' social network game market, explains how Europe "offers lucrative opportunities to global-minded... studios looking to significantly broaden their communities of players, particularly for those developing browser-based games outside Facebook."

These lectures join just-debuted talks with lessons from APB, Habbo and even Cow Clicker, with a full set of highlighted lectures including talks from Relic, Sony Online, Carbine, KingsIsle, IMVU, Disney, Playdom, BioWare Austin, Hangout Industries, Broken Bulb Studios, CCP, Gaia Online, Playfish, InstantAction, Ubisoft and a host of other notable companies at the leading worldwide online game-specific conference.

GDC Online will take place October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. To learn more about lectures across all tracks and summits for the event, for which reduced-rated registration is only open until Wednesday, September 1st, please visit the GDC Online's official website.

Organizers of this October's GDC Online (formerly GDC Austin) are rolling out more major new talks, including ex-Realtime Worlds exec Joshua Howard on 'self-inflicted wounds' in game creation, Sulka Haro on the $500 million Habbo Hotel economy, and Ian Bogost on his satirical Facebook title Cow Clicker.

The Austin, Texas based GDC Online conference is focused on the development of online games, including free-to-play titles, social network games, and traditional MMOs, with a veteran online game industry advisory board evaluating and selecting the lectures.

There are already more than 80 panels, lectures and tutorials currently scheduled for the October 5th-8th event -- and following the announcement of a keynote from Civilization II designer and now Zynga chief game designer Brian Reynolds (FrontierVille), a number of other notable talks are debuting:

Some of the newly announced highlights from notable sessions across the GDC Online Main Conference, which takes place from Wednesday October 6th to Friday October 8th, and for which 'early registration' passes are only available until Wednesday, are:

- In 'Self-Inflicted Wounds: When We Are Our Own Worst Enemy', U.S.-based ex-Realtime Worlds executive producer Joshua Howard (APB) will discuss "common management and organizational failures that leaders talk themselves into accepting, which almost always end up impacting a game's success." Along the way, the former Carbonated Games exec "will provide techniques that anyone can use if they find themselves on a project that has already made one of these mistakes."

- The lecture 'From $0 To $500 Million A Year - The Evolution Of Habbo's Virtual Economy' sees Sulake's lead designer Sulka Haro discuss ten years of microtransactions in the company's online world Habbo Hotel. The online world for teenagers has more than 15 million monthly users, and collected more than $60 million in revenue in 2009, primarily from micropayments, as the amount of value traded in the economy is now over $500 million a year. The talk "examines how Habbo's economic system has evolved, including learnings from the recent addition of taxation into the economic structure of the game."

- Satirical Facebook game Cow Clicker has created a stir in recent months, and its creator, game designer writer and academic Ian Bogost is giving a lecture called 'Making A Mockery: Ruminations On Cow Clicker'. In it, he explains that the title "has enjoyed surprising success among players, developers, and the general public." As a result, the session covers the creation and reception of Cow Clicker, "as well as the lessons it invites us to chew on."

These lectures join recently announced talks from Relic, Sony Online, Carbine, KingsIsle, IMVU, Disney, Playdom, BioWare Austin, Hangout Industries, Broken Bulb Studios, CCP, Gaia Online, Playfish, InstantAction, Ubisoft and a host of other notable companies at the leading worldwide online game-specific conference.

GDC Online is operated by the UBM TechWeb Game Network, as is this website, and will take place October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. To learn more about lectures across all tracks and summits for the event, for which reduced-rated registration is open until September 1st, please visit the GDC Online's official website.

GDC Online organizers have confirmed industry veteran and Zynga chief game designer Brian Reynolds to discuss smash hit title FrontierVille and the future of social game design in a keynote at October's show in Austin.

In his keynote address, 'Bears and Snakes! The Wild Frontier of Social Game Design,' Reynolds will explain how his Facebook title FrontierVille "treads new territory" by combining the classic techniques of traditional game design with the social gaming expertise that Zynga has gained from their FarmVille and Mafia Wars titles.

Reynolds, whose career has spanned more than 20 years with companies such as Firaxis and Big Huge Games, and who has co-created titles including Civilization II, Alpha Centauri and Rise of Nations, will also confront the challenges of taking familiar social game models and making them more entertaining for gamers and non-gamers.

With the massive gains and rapid progress of the social game space, Reynolds will offer his take on why games like FrontierVille -- which currently has 30 million monthly unique users on Facebook alone, according to Appdata.com -- are only the first step towards other exciting opportunities for the video game medium.

"Social games are increasingly attracting traditional game developers, while also providing key learnings to leverage social features in all types of games," noted Izora de Lillard, Event Director, GDC Online. "We are proud to present Brian Reynolds at GDC Online with a talk that will inspire traditional and social game designers alike."

Reynolds joins a host of other major speakers for the 2010 Game Developers Conference Online event, with design talks from Relic, Sony Online and Carbine, notable lectures from KingsIsle and IMVU, and in-depth lectures from Disney and Playdom already confirmed.

The full session list for the October 6th-8th Main Conference includes over 50 talks from Sulake, BioWare Austin, Hangout Industries, Broken Bulb Studios, CCP, Gaia Online, InstantAction, Ubisoft and many more, with co-located Summits on October 5th and 6th including one and two-day events on game narrative, iPhone and iPad gaming and 3D stereoscopic gaming.

GDC Online will take place October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. To learn more about lectures across all tracks for the event, for which reduced-rated registration is only open until September 1st, please visit the GDC Online's official website.

UBM TechWeb Game Network, organizers of the Game Developers Conference Online (formerly GDC Austin), have announced the nominees for this October's first annual Game Developers Choice Online Awards, revealing that Riot Games' League of Legends is leading the pack, having been nominated for a total of five awards.

Other titles being honored with multiple nominations include We Rule (ngmoco), Champions Online (Cryptic), Dungeon Fighter Online (Nexon) and Nightclub City (Booyah) with three award nominations apiece.

The all-star list of nominees also includes nominations in new game and in-operation game categories for top companies like Blizzard (for World of Warcraft), Playfish (for FIFA Superstars) and Zynga (for Farmville and Treasure Isle).

The Game Developers Choice Online Awards will be held on the evening of October 7, 2010 as part of the 2010 Game Developers Conference Online (GDC Online), which is taking place at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas October 5-8.

The Game Developers Choice Online Awards - a sister event to the Game Developers Choice Awards which take place at GDC in San Francisco every year - is the first award ceremony honoring the accomplishments of the creators and operators of online games.

This includes categories around community support and continued innovation in the field with awards in audio, design, visual arts, among other categories. These categories are nominated and voted on by the game development community, with the distinguished GDC Online Advisory Board helping to pick the special awards.

The nominees of the Game Developer Choice Online Awards run the gamut of online titles, from expansive and hugely popular MMOs such as Blizzard's World of Warcraft, through addictive social network-based titles like Farmville by Zynga. The most honored nominee is Riot Games' critically acclaimed League of Legends, a multiplayer online battle-arena game that combines role-playing, strategy, and action elements to create a captivating online experience.

The complete list of nominees for the 2010 Game Developers Choice Online Awards are as follows:

Best Online Game Design (new)
- We Rule (Newtoy/Ngmoco)
- Champions Online (Cryptic)
- Zoo Kingdom (Blue Fang)
- Dungeon Fighter Online (Neople/Nexon)
- League Of Legends (Riot Games)

Best Online Visual Arts (new)
- GodFinger (Wonderland/Ngmoco)
- Papermint (Avaloop)
- League Of Legends (Riot Games)
- Star Trek Online (Cryptic)
- Love (Quel Solaar)

Best Online Audio (new)
- Nightclub City (Booyah)
- Champions Online (Cryptic)
- We Rule (Newtoy/Ngmoco)
- Music Pets (Conduit Labs)
- Aion (NCSoft)

Best Online Technical (new)
- Global Agenda (Hi-Rez)
- Aion (NCSoft)
- Love (Quel Solaar)
- League Of Legends (Riot Games)
- Champions Online (Cryptic)

Best Social Network Game (new)
- Nightclub City (Booyah)
- NanoStar Siege (Digital Chocolate)
- FIFA Superstars (Playfish)
- Social City (Playdom)
- Treasure Isle (Zynga)

Community Relations (ongoing)
- Wizard101 (KingsIsle Entertainment)
- Free Realms (Sony Online Entertainment)
- EVE Online (CCP)
- Guild Wars (ArenaNet)
- World of Warcraft (Blizzard)

Best New Online Game (new)
- League Of Legends (Riot Games)
- Dungeon Fighter Online (Neople/Nexon)
- We Rule (Newtoy/Ngmoco)
- FIFA Superstars (Playfish)
- Nightclub City (Booyah)

Best Live Game (ongoing)
- EVE Online (CCP)
- World of Warcraft (Blizzard)
- Dungeon Fighter Online (Neople/Nexon)
- Farmville (Zynga)
- League Of Legends (Riot Games)

(Those awards marked 'new' were eligible to games launching in North America in Open Beta or full version in the 12 months to May 2010, whereas the 'ongoing' awards are open to any game currently operating in the market. One additional category has yet to be decided - the Audience Award, which honors the favorite game of the worldwide online game community, will open in September.)

"The world of online gaming has expanded and evolved massively in just a few years, and those creators who have pushed the category forward deserve to be recognized for their creations," says Simon Carless, Global Brand Director, UBM TechWeb Game Network. "We're delighted to have set up the Game Developers Choice Online Awards to recognize these talented, sometimes underappreciated developers and honor the social past, present and future of the game industry."

The Game Developers Choice Online Awards will also be honoring landmark titles and deeply influential figures in the vibrant online gaming world with the Online Game Legend Award and the Hall of Fame award. This year, organizers will be presenting the Online Game Legend award to Dr. Richard Bartle, co-creator of the original MUD (Multi-User Dungeon), the seminal virtual world credited with pioneering online games over 30 years ago.

In addition, the Choice Online Awards organizers have also announced that Electronic Arts' Ultima Online - the Origin-created game that is now the longest continually running massively multiplayer online game in history - will be honored with the first ever Hall of Fame award for online games at the ceremony. Both Bartle and key Ultima Online creators will be present for the ceremony, and will also be giving lectures at GDC Online itself on their work.

More information about the Game Developers Choice Online Awards is available at the official website for the GDC Online awards. GDC Online takes place in Austin, Texas from October 5-8, 2010. Information about sessions and registration, which has a September 1th early deadline, is available at the GDC Online website.

Organizers of this October's GDC Online (formerly GDC Austin) have announced key speakers for its iPhone and iPad Gaming Summits, including Words With Friends/We Rule's David Bettner, Pocket Legends' Cinco Barnes and more.

The two new Summits, focusing on Apple's portable gaming devices, take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 5th-6th in Austin, Texas alongside the larger GDC Online event, to provide a lexicon of key facts and advice for all those working in the iPhone and iPad game areas.

From key business learnings through top technical takeaways, some of the developers who are even now surging to major success on the iPhone, iPad and other mobile platforms are shaping this inaugural GDC Summit on the subject.

Some of the newly announced highlights of this year's iPhone and iPad Gaming Summit talks, chosen by a distinguished Summit advisory board including Gamevil's Kyu C. Lee, Canabalt's Adam Saltsman, GeoDefense's David Whatley and Backflip's Julian Farrior, include the following:

- The lecture 'Turn Based: The Power and Potential of Asynchronous Gaming in Mobile' sees Newtoy co-founder David Bettner, one of the minds behind smash iPhone hits Words With Friends and We Rule, explaining why "turn based gaming, previously confined to the living room, has been liberated. At its core, it's gaming meets text-messaging and it allows you to play with your friends anytime, anywhere, in a way never before possible."

- Successful indie Arash Keshmirian of Limbic Software (Tower Madness) is presenting 'App Store Survival - Launching and Sustaining a Successful Franchise', outlining "strategies for developing a game that not only thrives at launch but holds players attention and can become an enduring franchise." Attendees will learn how to analyze and hone initial concepts (including revenue models) for the best chance of success, managing a launch and an ongoing marketing calendar, and a host of other notable tips.

- In 'Surviving and Thriving as an iPhone MMO Developer', Cinco Barnes, previously lead designer of Star Wars: Galaxies, discusses how his company abandoned their charter to create large-scale PC MMO games and leveraged their advantages to find profitability in the mobile games biz via games like acclaimed persistent iPhone online game Pocket Legends.

- 'Fun Meters: Data Driven Design For TILT' sees noted player experience expert Nicole Lazzaro discuss her popular iPad/iPhone title TILT, with plenty of information on "how to use data to make your game more fun, what data we collected, how data from real players is different from Betas, viral web mechanics' effect on App Store positioning, [and] answers to such mysteries as why advanced players continually replay."

Additional confirmed lectures include a panel on getting your game noticed by the press with representatives from SlideToPlay, IGN, and 148Apps, some analysis on 'rapid development in the mobile games space' from NewToy's Vijay Thakkar, a look at mobile social games in Asia from DeNA's Tomoko Namba, and much more still to be announced.

The iPhone Games Summit and the iPad Gaming Summit will be just one part of GDC Online, which will take place October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas and also features a main conference based around social games and MMOs, plus Summits on game narrative and 3D stereoscopic gaming.

To learn more about the other lectures and summits for GDC Online, for which early, reduced-price registration is only open until September 1st, please visit the official GDC Online website.

Organizers of this October's GDC Online (formerly GDC Austin) have announced several major sessions for the conference, featuring speakers from Sony Online Entertainment, Carbine, and Relic.

The Austin, Texas based GDC Online conference is focused on the development of online games, including free-to-play titles, social network games, and traditional MMOs, with a veteran online game industry advisory board evaluating and selecting the lectures.

There are already more than 70 panels, lectures and tutorials currently scheduled for the October 5th-8th event -- and organizers have newly announced a number of important talks in the 'Design' track, which discusses trends, strategies, and techniques to help developers create more successful online games.

As its official description explains, the design track -- unique to online game conferences worldwide -- focuses on "improving player retention, satisfaction, and lifetime value, applying principles of MMOs to new genres and platforms, and designing games for a wide range of audiences."

Some of the newly announced highlights from notable sessions in the GDC Online design track and elsewhere include:

- 'I'm a Special Snowflake: The Art of Participatory Story Telling in MMOs' sees Tim Cain, the design director of MMO developer Carbine Studios, drawing from his experience in the industry "to discuss the art of taking storytelling from single-player RPGs to the world of massively multiplayer online games."

Using his work writing for games like Fallout -- the seminal Interplay title that Cain also produced and lead programmed -- and Arcanum, Cain will showcase an "exclusive first look at Carbine Studios' work" regarding storytelling in the NCSoft-formed studio's unannounced MMO.

- In 'Surviving Social Media: Advice From The SOE Playbook', Sony Online's Linda Carlson will discuss best practices for interacting with your online game players while avoiding pitfalls and money sinks. As she says: "Learn from real-world examples of SOEs experience in developing a comprehensive social media program. We've experimented so you don't have to!"

-Relic Entertainment's Brian Wood will present 'Lead Into Gold: How Company of Heroes Online Turns Losers Into Winners,' which will examine the company's free-to-play RTS game project, and explain "the core design changes made to the original Company of Heroes with regards to the tutorials, reward mechanisms, customization and expanded mission content to ensure that this highly competitive, hardcore multiplayer game is successful in the free-to-play market."

These newly announced GDC Online lectures join other design track talks from Playdom, Schell Games, PlayStation Home, Bioware Austin, Habbo, CCP Games and many more -- to be showcased from October 6th-8th during the GDC Online Main Conference.

The overall event will also host the first ever Game Developers Choice Online Awards, which celebrates the accomplishments of the creators of persistent online games of all kinds, from traditional MMOs to social network titles, and has just awarded Ultima Online and Richard Bartle for their services to online games.

GDC Online is operated by the UBM TechWeb Game Network, as is this website, and will take place October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. To learn more about lectures across all tracks for the event, for which reduced-rated registration is open until September 1st, please visit the GDC Online's official website.

Game Developers Conference Online organizers have announced Richard Bartle as the recipient of the first ever Online Game Legend Award and Ultima Online as the first Hall of Fame game, as part of the Game Developers Choice Online Awards taking place October 7, 2010 at GDC Online in Austin -- recognizing landmark titles and deeply influential figures in the vibrant online gaming world.

These special awards were picked after open nominations from the online game community, by the distinguished GDC Online Advisory Board - including game industry veterans Playfish's Sebastien De Halleux, Schell Games' Sheri Graner Ray, and Nexon's Min Kim.

Organizers will be awarding the Online Game Legend award to Dr. Richard Bartle, co-creator of the original MUD (Multi-User Dungeon), the seminal virtual world credited with pioneering online games over 30 years ago.

Bartle, who worked with fellow MUD programmer Roy Trubshaw at the UK's Essex University starting in 1978, was responsible for greatly extending, fleshing out and popularizing the text-based multiplayer game, in which players logged onto a mainframe, socialized with one another, fought enemies and formed lasting friendships and relationships.

After commercializing MUD in the 1980s, Bartle continues to consult in the game industry and teach at Essex University as a Visiting Professor. His research on player personalities types in online games - 'achievers, explorers, socializers and killers', has led to the popular online 'Bartle Test', and the influence of both his actions and theories in the online game industry have been profound and long-lasting.

In association with his acceptance of the Online Game Legend award, Dr. Bartle will also be presenting a special talk on his work at GDC Online. The lecture, titled The History of The Multi-User Dungeon, will see him sharing his unique perspective and hands-on experience with the next generation of online game developers.

Choice Online Awards organizers have also announced that Electronic Arts' Ultima Online, the Origin-created game that is now the longest continually running massively multiplayer online game in history, will be honored with the first ever Hall of Fame award for online games.

The persistent world installment for the seminal Ultima game franchise, which launched on September 25th, 1997, has now been operating for almost 14 years - and was a key part of the wave of late 1990s subscription-based MMOs which brought the genre to much wider attention.

Some of Ultima Online's most important features included in-game events affecting the entire lore of the world, and progressive features for their time such as item crafting and persistent player housing. Continued upgrades of in-game content and even the game engine have helped to keep the game fresh for players, some of which have subscribed continuously for over a decade.

In honor of the game's induction, the Hall of Fame award will be accepted on stage by key members of Ultima Online's original development team: Rich Vogel, Launch Producer, Starr Long, Associate Producer, and Raph Koster, Lead Designer. Joining them will be Eugene Evans, GM of BioWare Mythic, the current home of Ultima Online within Electronic Arts, who will introduce key team members from the game's development history.

In celebration GDC Online will present a special lecture, 'Then and Now: Ultima Online Over Time'. The lecture will be co-presented by Rich Vogel, currently at BioWare Austin and the original producer of Ultima Online, and Calvin Crowner, the current Ultima Online game producer. The duo will talk about the history of the title, contrast their work on the game throughout its history, and provide anecdotes and specific takeaway from many years of work.

Both of the above awards will be presented at the Game Developers Choice Online Awards ceremony taking place on the evening of Thursday, October 7th during GDC Online (formerly GDC Austin) in Austin, Texas. Additional finalists will be announced in the near future.

More information about the Game Developers Choice Online Awards is available at the official website for the awards. GDC Online as a whole takes place in Austin, Texas from October 5-8, 2010, and information about sessions and registration is available at its official website.

Organizers of this October's GDC Online (formerly GDC Austin) have announced details of the Game Narrative Summit, including a keynote from Bungie's Joseph Staten on '10 Years Of Halo Storytelling... And Beyond', plus major Harmonix and 2K Games lectures.

The Summit, known as the Game Writers Summit in previous years, aims to cover all facets of the game narrative development process, from writing scripts for major console titles to integrating stories into ARGs and Facebook games, and takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 5th-6th in Austin, Texas.

Some of the newly announced highlights of this year's Game Narrative Summit, chosen by distinguished Summit advisory board including Ubisoft's Richard Dansky, Microsoft Game Studios' Tom Abernathy and Blindlight's Lev Chapelsky, include the following:

- Bungie writer and design director Joseph Staten will keynote the Summit with a talk titled, "Writing The Whirlwind: 10 Years On The Frontlines Of Halo Storytelling...And Beyond." Staten will discuss his lessons learned working on Bungie's flagship franchise, and how those lessons "are fundamentally changing the writing and story design for Bungie's next universe of games."

- In an intriguing lecture called "Get in the Van: Storytelling in the Rock Band Series," Harmonix design director Chris Foster and senior writer Helen McWilliams will discuss how the company's rhythm games - from The Beatles: Rock Band through Rock Band 3 -- tell stories in unconventional and unexpected ways.

Topics discussed will include "structural and implicit narrative, storytelling within the context of a party game, using real history as story and gameplay elements, tonal accuracy within writing, and using the word rock as few times as humanly possible."

- Experienced comics writer Antony Johnston (Daredevil, Wolverine, Wasteland), who also has experience writing games for EA and Sega, discusses how games can learn from comics in "From Comics To Consoles," focusing on "the similarities and differences between comics and games, the effect of transmedia on both media, and what games writers can learn from studying -- and writing -- comics."

- Another notable lecture is "I Don't Want To Know: Delivering Exposition In Games" sees 2K Games' Greg Kasavin (Spec Ops: The Line) discussing how to hook players through game narratives. The session promises to "examine a variety of expository techniques that can be used to strengthen game openings, build intrigue, parse out information at a sensible pace, and immerse the player in the experience."

The Game Narrative Summit will be one part of GDC Online, which will take place October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas and also features a main conference based around social games and MMOs, plus Summits on iPhone and iPad games and 3D stereoscopic gaming.

To learn more about the other lectures and summits for GDC Online, for which registration is now open, please visit the official GDC Online website.

As momentum builds for GDC Online (formerly GDC Austin) in Texas this October, organizers have announced key new lectures from the world's leading online game firms, including Zynga, Disney, Playdom, Tencent, and more.

The Austin, Texas-based GDC Online conference and expo -- taking place October 5-8, 2010 -- is focused on online games of all kinds -- including social network titles, free-to-play web games, kid-friendly online titles, large-scale MMOs, and more.

With a leading advisory board guiding the evaluation and choice of lectures, and the newly announced GDC Online Awards honoring the leading games in the space, the conference is a must-attend for those working in online games.

Some of the highlights from newly announced sessions -- as the August 4th alumni registration deadline for GDC Austin 2008/2009 attendees and speakers approaches -- include:

- 'AAA To Social Games -- Making the Leap' sees Playdom VP John Donham, most recently at Metaplace and a 20-year veteran of online games, discussing why "developing games for social networks is a dramatic shift from making titles for PCs, consoles, or even the Internet." The session will "provide you with a solid basis for revising your strategy as you approach social game development."

- In 'Scalability for Social Games: YoVille, Mafia Wars and Farmville', Zynga's Robert Zubek expands on his GDC 2010 Summit talk from the leading Facebook game firm to "describe architectures and proven techniques for building scalable server infrastructure, particularly for social web games, operating on the web and social networks."

- A practical lecture called 'MMO 101: Building Disney's Server System', Disney Online Studios' director of architecture and R&D Roger Hughston presents on the system underlying titles like World Of Cars and Pixie Hollow Online This technical discussion -- "with heavy emphasis on server systems" -- will describe approaches that have been taken in the Disney Online Studios in the development of their MMO environments, including "candid discussion about what is good, bad, and ugly."

In addition to the main conference content, GDC Online will present specialized Summit programs, with in-depth business and technical advice on major up-and-coming facets of the game industry, including the 3D Stereoscopic Games Summit, the iPhone Games Summit, the iPad Gaming Summit, and the Game Narrative Summit (formerly the Game Writers Summit).

A vibrant GDC Online Expo Floor -- something no other online game-specific conference boasts -- also enables attendees to get all the latest information from game tool, engine, middleware, payment, and virtual currency firms exhibiting at the show, as well as recruitment-specific areas and other notable vendors.

GDC Online is scheduled for October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. To learn more about the newly announced lectures across all tracks for GDC Online, for which registration is available now, please visit the official GDC Online website.

Organizers of GDC Online (formerly GDC Austin) have announced the first set of lectures for this October's pre-eminent conference related to online games, including a 'Live' track featuring Sony Online, Wizard101 and IMVU speakers.

The Austin, Texas-based GDC Online conference and expo is keenly focused on development of connected games including social network titles, free-to-play web games, kid-friendly online titles, large-scale MMOs, and more, with a leading advisory board guiding the evaluation and choice of lectures.

While there are already over 25 confirmed lectures across the entire event, organizers are focusing on the 'Live' track, which discusses the vital topic of successful strategies for online games post-launch.

The rise of swiftly iterated social games and microtransactions have led to a wide array of new techniques and technologies that can help increase fun, profitability and retention, and the 'Live' track will deal with many of these.

Some of the highlights of the GDC Online 'Live' track, as announced thus far, include:

- In 'From Shadowbane to Wizard101: Strategies for Expanding Player Communities and Sustaining Enthusiasm After Launch', J. Todd Coleman & Josef Hall of KingsIsle Entertainment will reference their 10 million registered-user online game and previous experience, identifying "sustaining community that transcend genre and generation, the importance of always having new content in queue, and strategies for communicating milestones and methods for remaining engaged in public conversation."

- 'Surviving Social Media: Advice From The SOE Playbook' sees Sony Online Entertainment's Linda Carlson discussing how the Free Realms and upcoming DC Universe Online creators "identify the best outlets for ROI, implement efficiencies in time and money, involve all departments for the common good, craft audience-specific messaging, proven strategies to engage and motivate fans, manage multiple games in social media, maintain brand strength" -- with "plenty of war stories and scars to prove points!"

- IMVU's Brett Durrett will present 'Building A Successful Business After Launch through Rapid Iteration', showing how, by "creating systems that utilize A/B testing, instant customer metrics and a sophisticated deployment process IMVU is able to shorten the iteration loop and deploy new software to production up to 50 times per day" - leading to an avatar-heavy online environment with over 100 million registered users.

In addition to the main conference content, GDC Online will present specialized Summit programs, with in-depth business and technical advice on major up-and-coming facets of the game industry, including 3D stereoscopic games and iPad development.

The event is also hosting the first ever Game Developers Choice Online Awards -- honoring the accomplishments of the sometimes overlooked creators and operators of persistent online video games -- from large-scale MMOs through free-to-play titles to social network games.

GDC Online will take place October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. To learn more about the newly announced lectures across all tracks for GDC Online, for which registration is now open, please visit the official GDC Online website.

Organizers of the Game Developers Choice Online Awards at GDC Online in Austin this October are reminding that nominations for the awards -- honoring the best MMOs and social games -- are only open until June 30th.

The first-ever awards ceremony, being held at GDC Online (formerly GDC Austin), will honor the accomplishments of the sometimes overlooked creators and operators of persistent online video games -- from large-scale MMOs through free-to-play titles to social network games. The awards span excellence in live services, technology, game updates, online game design, and more.

In addition, two special awards will honor outstanding individuals and games in the space, with the Online Game Legend Award being given to a person who's changed the world of online games forever, and one particular all-time classic online game being inducted into the GDC Online Awards' Hall Of Fame.

After award finalists are announced, the worldwide community of online game players will also have the opportunity to designate their favorite online game in the Audience Award category.

Nominations are now open, and game professionals with free Gamasutra.com user accounts can put forward their favorite online games for the awards. The GDC Online Awards are a sister event to the Game Developers Choice Awards which take place at GDC San Francisco every year.

The award categories and this year's Special Award winners will be determined by the GDC Online Advisory Board. This group includes notables like BioWare Austin's Gordon Walton, Metaplace's Raph Koster, Playfish's Sebastien De Halleux, and Nexon's Min Kim.

Winners for the Game Developers Choice Online Awards will be selected by a specially selected subset of the International Choice Awards Network (ICAN). This is the same group of over 500 handpicked leading industry creators that pick the Game Developers Choice Awards winners at GDC in San Francisco every year.

The full list of categories for the first annual Game Developers Choice Online Awards (part of the UBM Techweb Game Network, as is this website) include:

Regular Awards

The Best Online Game Design Award honors the overall excellence of design in an online game that launched in public beta or full version in the year to May 2010. This category recognizes the best social-specific gameplay mechanics, quest design, and other major game design elements.

The Audience Award honors the favorite game of the worldwide online game community. After initial developer-specific nominations, members of the public will be able to vote on their favorite currently operating online game, with options from the Game Developers Choice Online finalists and beyond.

The Best Online Visual Arts Award recognizes the overall excellence of visual art in online games that launched in the 12 months to May 2010 - including, but not limited to, character and animation design, interface design, and 2D or 3D art creation and direction of all kinds.

The Best Community Relations Award honors the currently operating online game that provides the highest quality community feedback and experience, including customer support, forum moderation and leadership, weblog and information updates, real-life events, and other community outreach.

The Best Online Technical Award recognizes the overall excellence of technology in an online game that launched in the 12 months to May 2010. This includes excellence in complexity of network infrastructure, persistent world coding, graphics technology, artificial intelligence, or any other elements.

The Best Social Network Game Award recognizes the best game that launched on a social network such as Facebook or MySpace in open beta or full version in the year to May 2010, honoring the most outstanding title in terms of overall depth, execution and quality in the space.

The Best Audio for an Online Game Award recognizes the overall excellence of audio in an online game that launched in the 12 months to May 2010 - including sound effects, musical composition, and overall sound design for an online title.

The Best New Online Game Award recognizes excellence in any online-specific game, including MMOs, free to play titles and social network games that launched to the public in open beta or full versions in the twelve months ending May 2010.

The Best Live Game Award recognizes the best currently-operating online game - distinguishing itself by that exceptional new content through expansion packs, patches, or other updates in the last 12 months, as well as a vibrant player community, high-quality community management and network operation during that period.

Special Awards

The Online Game Legend Award recognizes the career and achievements of one particular creator who has made an indelible impact on the craft of online game development.

The GDC Online Awards Hall of Fame recognizes a specific online game that has resulted in the long-term advancement of the medium, pioneering major shifts in online game development and games as a whole.

More information about the Game Developers Choice Online Awards, which will take place on October 7th in Austin, is available at the official website for the event. The awards are co-located with the market-leading GDC Online event, which takes place from October 5th-8th at the Austin Convention Center, and for which registration is now open.

As this October's GDC Online -- formerly called GDC Austin -- prepares for first content announcements, the Texas-based show has added Playfish and Electric Bat execs to BioWare, Nexon, SOE, and Zenimax notables on its Advisory Board.

The GDC Online Advisory Board, which is also helping oversee the newly revealed Game Developers Choice Online Awards, is intimately involved in selecting content for the October 5th-8th show at the Austin Convention Center.

Board members individually rate each GDC Online lecture submission. They also meet in person multiple times yearly to decide final lectures and keynotes from submissions and invitations -- making sure GDC Online remains the leading worldwide game industry event to concentrate specifically on social games, free-to-play titles, MMOs, and more.

At last week's GDC Online board meeting in Austin, existing board members were joined by new recruits in the form of Sebastien de Halleux, VP of EA Interactive and Playfish co-founder, and Cindy Armstrong, Webzen and SOE veteran and Electric Bat Interactive CEO.

Following Electronic Arts' $300 million acquisition of social game company Playfish in November 2009, De Halleux -- who helped head up the Pet Society creator -- now works on "monetization, business development, and relationships" with key partners across the division's three business units, Playfish, Pogo and EA Mobile.

Armstrong, who has been a high-profile executive in the online games space for many years -- previously as CEO of Webzen America and Vice President of Business Development at Sony Online Entertainment -- is currently president and CEO of Electric Bat Interactive, who are working on online 'layered reality gaming' including WebLords and Weblings.

The duo joins leading figures from the online game industry on the active Advisory Board which includes Gordon Walton and Rich Vogel of BioWare Austin (Star Wars: The Old Republic), online design notable Raph Koster (Metaplace), Nexon America VP Min Kim (MapleStory, Combat Arms), and Schell Games' Sheri Graner Ray (the newly announced The Mummy Online).

Also represented on the board are Sony Online Entertainment's John Blakely (DC Universe Online, PoxNora), ex-Disney and current Hangout Industries exec Mike Goslin, EA Mythic GM Eugene Evans (Warhammer Online), ICO Partners' Thomas Bidaux, and Zenimax Online's Matt Firor.

Following last week's Advisory Board meeting, first lectures for GDC Online should be announced in the near future, with invitations in the process of being extended to many more of the online game industry's leading players.

More information on the major online game event, which will include an Expo Floor with the major companies in the space, the GDC Online Awards, and co-located Summits on notable topics like iPad/iPhone games and 3D stereoscopic games, is available at the official GDC Online website.

Organizers of this October's GDC Online conference (formerly known as GDC Austin) have announced that they will host the first annual Game Developers Choice Online Awards, to recognize the rich history, technical excellence, and continued innovation in the arena of online games.

The new awards ceremony will honor the accomplishments of the sometimes overlooked creators and operators of persistent online video games - from large-scale MMOs through free-to-play titles to social network games. The awards span excellence in live services, technology, game updates, online game design, and more.

In addition, two special awards will honor outstanding individuals and games in the space, with the Online Game Legend Award being given to a person who's changed the world of online games forever, and one particular all-time classic online game being inducted into the GDC Online Awards' Hall Of Fame.

After award finalists are announced, the worldwide community of online game players will also have the opportunity to designate their favorite online game in the Audience Award category.

Nominations are now open, and game professionals with free Gamasutra.com user accounts can put forward their favorite online games for the awards. The GDC Online Awards are a sister event to the Game Developers Choice Awards which take place at GDC San Francisco every year.

The award categories and this year's Special Award winners will be determined by the GDC Online Advisory Board. This group includes notables like BioWare Austin's Gordon Walton, Metaplace's Raph Koster, Playfish's Sebastien De Halleux, and Nexon's Min Kim.

Winners for the Game Developers Choice Online Awards will be selected by a specially selected subset of the International Choice Awards Network (ICAN). This is the same group of over 500 handpicked leading industry creators that pick the Game Developers Choice Awards winners at GDC in San Francisco every year.

The full list of categories for the first annual Game Developers Choice Online Awards include:

Regular Awards

The Best Online Game Design Award honors the overall excellence of design in an online game that launched in public beta or full version in the year to May 2010. This category recognizes the best social-specific gameplay mechanics, quest design, and other major game design elements.

The Audience Award honors the favorite game of the worldwide online game community. After initial developer-specific nominations, members of the public will be able to vote on their favorite currently operating online game, with options from the Game Developers Choice Online finalists and beyond.

The Best Online Visual Arts Award recognizes the overall excellence of visual art in online games that launched in the 12 months to May 2010 - including, but not limited to, character and animation design, interface design, and 2D or 3D art creation and direction of all kinds.

The Best Community Relations Award honors the currently operating online game that provides the highest quality community feedback and experience, including customer support, forum moderation and leadership, weblog and information updates, real-life events, and other community outreach.

The Best Online Technical Award recognizes the overall excellence of technology in an online game that launched in the 12 months to May 2010. This includes excellence in complexity of network infrastructure, persistent world coding, graphics technology, artificial intelligence, or any other elements.

The Best Social Network Game Award recognizes the best game that launched on a social network such as Facebook or MySpace in open beta or full version in the year to May 2010, honoring the most outstanding title in terms of overall depth, execution and quality in the space.

The Best Audio for an Online Game Award recognizes the overall excellence of audio in an online game that launched in the 12 months to May 2010 - including sound effects, musical composition, and overall sound design for an online title.

The Best New Online Game Award recognizes excellence in any online-specific game, including MMOs, free to play titles and social network games that launched to the public in open beta or full versions in the twelve months ending May 2010.

The Best Live Game Award recognizes the best currently-operating online game - distinguishing itself by that exceptional new content through expansion packs, patches, or other updates in the last 12 months, as well as a vibrant player community, high-quality community management and network operation during that period.

Special Awards

The Online Game Legend Award recognizes the career and achievements of one particular creator who has made an indelible impact on the craft of online game development.

The GDC Online Awards Hall of Fame recognizes a specific online game that has resulted in the long-term advancement of the medium, pioneering major shifts in online game development and games as a whole.

More information about the Game Developers Choice Online Awards, which will take place on October 7th in Austin, is available at the official website for the event. The awards are co-located with the market-leading GDC Online event, which takes place from October 5th-8th at the Austin Convention Center, and for which registration is now open.

GDC Online organizers are reminding that the call for submissions for the leading online game-focused conference -- taking place this October 5-8 in Austin, Texas -- are only open until this Wednesday at midnight EDT.

The event, formerly known as GDC Austin, continues to accept submissions through midnight EDT on May 19th to present lectures, roundtables, tutorials and panel sessions at the largest worldwide industry event to concentrate specifically on social games, free-to-play titles, MMOs, and more.

To address the unprecedented growth in the online and social game space over the last year, development and business-oriented submissions for GDC Online are being sought after, in content tracks including Business and Marketing, Design, Production, and Programming.

Notably new to this year's event is the "Live" track, which will discuss successful post-launch strategies to help increase profitability and retention. This topic covers metric-driven live development, design patterns for viral mechanics, and the balance between customer service and community relations.

GDC Online is keenly focused on development of connected games including social network titles, free-to-play web games, kid-friendly online titles, large-scale MMOs, and more, with a leading advisory board guiding the evaluation and choice of lectures. In addition to the main conference content, GDC Online will present specialized Summit programs, with in-depth business and technical advice on major up-and-coming facets of the game industry, including 3D stereoscopic games and iPad development. Submissions are now also being accepted for these Summits, including the iPhone Games Summit, the Game Narrative Summit, the 3D Stereoscopic Games Summit and the iPad Gaming Summit, following the recent announcement of these events on the first two days of the conference.

"While the name of the conference has changed, GDC Online will continue its heritage of presenting the most knowledgeable speakers on the vital online game space, alongside other emerging markets", said Izora de Lillard, event director of GDC Online. "This October, Austin, Texas will be the epicenter for established developers and industry trailblazers to come together, learn, and continue to grow the connected gaming space."

GDC Online will take place October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. To learn more about the submissions guidelines and conference topics for GDC Online, for which registration will open in the near future, visit the official GDC Online website.

2010 GDC Online organizers have announced that the call for submissions is open for the leading online game-focused conference, which takes place this October 5-8 in Austin, Texas.

GDC Online, formerly known as GDC Austin, is now accepting submissions through midnight EDT on Wednesday, May 19th to present lectures, roundtables, tutorials and panel sessions at the largest worldwide industry event to concentrate specifically on social games, free-to-play titles, MMOs, and more.

To address the unprecedented growth in the online and social game space over the last year, development and business-oriented submissions for GDC Online are being sought after, in content tracks including Business and Marketing, Design, Production, and Programming.

Notably new to this year’s event is the “Live” track, which will discuss successful post-launch strategies to help increase profitability and retention. This topic covers metric-driven live development, design patterns for viral mechanics, and the balance between customer service and community relations.

GDC Online is keenly focused on development of connected games including social network titles, free-to-play web games, kid-friendly online titles, large-scale MMOs, and more, with a leading advisory board guiding the evaluation and choice of lectures.

In addition to the main conference content, GDC Online will present specialized Summit programs, with in-depth business and technical advice on major up-and-coming facets of the game industry, including 3D stereoscopic games and iPad development.

Submissions are now also being accepted for these Summits, including the iPhone Games Summit, the Game Narrative Summit, the 3D Stereoscopic Games Summit and the iPad Gaming Summit, following the recent announcement of these events on the first two days of the conference.

"While the name of the conference has changed, GDC Online will continue its heritage of presenting the most knowledgeable speakers on the vital online game space, alongside other emerging markets", said Izora de Lillard, event director of GDC Online. "This October, Austin, Texas will be the epicenter for established developers and industry trailblazers to come together, learn, and continue to grow the connected gaming space."

GDC Online will take place October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. To learn more about the submissions guidelines and conference topics for GDC Online, for which registration will open in the near future, visit the official GDC Online website.

Organizers of this October's GDC Online game conference in Austin have confirmed Summits to run parallel with the major event, including one and two-day events dedicated to game development on Apple’s iPad, 3D stereoscopic games, iPhone games and video game narrative.

The summits, to be held on the first two days (October 5th and 6th) of the four-day event, will present key in-depth business and technical advice in these major up-and-coming facets of the game industry, ahead of the online game-centric Main Conference content.

The newly revealed topics to be presented at the Game Developers Conference Online (formerly known as GDC Austin) this October include the following:

iPad Gaming Summit

Debuting at GDC Online, the one-day iPad Gaming Summit, paired with the iPhone Games Summit, will provide an abundance of key facts and advice for all those working on the iPhone and iPad platforms.

Sharing key business learnings to top technical takeaways from developers already surging to major success on this already extremely competitive format platform, the iPad Summit provides a springboard into the world of iPhone/iPad game development.

3D Stereoscopic Gaming Summit

In another Summit debut, the one-day 3D Stereoscopic Gaming Summit will be the first GDC event to explore the world of 3D stereoscopic gaming in depth.

With 3D-capable movies such as Avatar and Alice In Wonderland topping the worldwide box office for multiple weeks, and graphics engine companies and console manufacturers alike touting the rise of 3D in gaming, the 3D Stereoscopic Gaming Summit will gather industry experts to explain and demonstrate the latest advances in the area.

Sessions will cover how to build 3D support into future games, potential technical barriers and solutions, and an analysis of key trends surrounding hardware adoption and penetration.

iPhone Games Summit

Returning to Austin after its successful debut in 2009, the third iPhone Games Summit will once again bring together top game developers from around the world to share ideas, best practices and discuss the future of this revolutionary platform.

This one-day summit, paired with the iPad Summit on the following day, will focus on driving business and marketing strategies and how to truly succeed through micro-transactions through the iPhone 4.0 operating system and beyond.

With advice from successful iPhone game companies, leading speakers and advisors in the space this event will be a must-attend for those in the space, or just looking to learn more about this space.

Game Narrative Summit

The 2010 Game Narrative Summit, evolving in name and intent from the long-running Game Writers Summit, is dedicated to exploring the state and future of storytelling in video games - all the way from emerging independent and social game experiences to the biggest AAA game titles.

The two-day event will span all facets of the game story-making process and will bring together experts from the writing, design and creative game communities to showcase what interactive entertainment can do with storytelling - and why it's so vital to the future of video games.

Sessions will address the art of writing scripts that seamlessly integrate into major console and online game titles with the new breed of story experiences, centered in anything from ARGs to Facebook games.

Summit Call For Submissions To Open Soon

"With this new batch of specialized summits, GDC Online proves once again that this event is at the forefront of the emerging technologies and platforms of the future," says Izora De Lillard, Event Manager of GDC Online. "Alongside the key online game event this October, we're proud to present these summits on the new technologies that make a difference in today's game business."

In addition to these Summits, the three days of GDC Online main conference sessions will offer a host of business, marketing, design and technical content vital to those making social network titles, free-to-play web games, kid-friendly online titles, larger-scale MMOs, or experimenting with other online gaming genres.

GDC Online 2010 takes place at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas from October 5th to the 8th. The call for submissions for both GDC Online summits and main conference sessions will open in the near future, and more information will be available at the GDC Online website in the near future.