COLOGNE -- Over 1,500 game professionals representing more than 45 different countries congregated at the Cologne Congress Center East in Cologne, Germany for three days of learning, networking, and inspiration at Game Developers Conference Europe 2010 (GDC Europe). Thanks to a strong lineup of speakers, ranging from famed game developer Warren Spector of Disney’s Junction Point, to Hermen Hulst of Guerilla Games, the show presented an esteemed selection of 170 European and international speakers, a total of 40 exhibitors and sponsors and 275 media representatives covering game development on PC, social networking sites, consoles and mobile platforms. GDC Europe returns to Cologne, Germany on August 15-17, 2011. 

If you think game developers have cookie cutter backgrounds, you haven’t met Jennifer Canada, a former Rice University opera performance and political science double-major who, for a time, abandoned playing video games all together. Today, The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University alumna is a designer for Insomniac Games.

Playing virtual golf just became more realistic. The United States Golf Association (USGA) has entered into a long-term relationship with online high-definition golf destination World Golf Tour (WGT), putting golf on the forefront of technology and marketing innovation in the sports industry. YuChiang Cheng, CEO of WGT, talks about this new deal as well as the technology behind this golf simulation in this exclusive video interview.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Bethesda Softworks, a ZeniMax Media company, showed media behind closed doors at the St. Regis Hotel during GDC 2010 a new third-person perspective Unreal Engine 3 game from inXile Entertainment. Bethesda Softworks will publish Hunted: The Demon’s Forge for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

SAN FRANCISCO -- WHA Entertainment was on hand at GDC 2010 to show off its new Kick-Ass videogame based on the Lionsgate Entertainment movie, which is based on the cult comic book hit from the writers of Wanted (another comic book-turned movie). Kick-Ass will be released for the PlayStation Network and iPhone April 15th. Randall Batinkoff, who stars in the movie alongside Nicolas Cage, is a producer on the videogame and was on hand at the St. Regis Hotel to demo the game.

The success of 3D movies like the Oscar-winning Avatar and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is proof that audiences are embracing the 3D revolution. No longer a tawdry gimmick, 3D technology is driving advances in storytelling, visuals, and visceral experiences. Of course, experiencing 3D in your local Cineplex is one thing, but bringing it home to your living room is another. Over the past year or so, NVIDIA has been driving advances in 3D digital entertainment, through our large ecosystem of display, content, and hardware partners. Today, NVIDIA has announced the latest addition to its 3D solutions, a software technology called 3DTV Play, that lets gamers connect their compatible GeForce-based desktop or notebook PC to a full HD 3D TV.

SAN FRANCISCO -- OnLive, Inc., the pioneer of on-demand, instant-play video games, announced at GDC 2010 that the PC and Mac versions of its game service will begin rolling out to consumers on June 17, 2010 during the E3 2010 show. The OnLive® Game Service is a revolutionary, on-demand videogame platform capable of delivering the latest and most advanced games instantly via a broadband connection on virtually any PC or Mac, via a small browser plug-in, or on an HDTV, via OnLive's MicroConsole TV Adapter. The OnLive Game Service enables an entirely new way to discover, explore, purchase and experience video game content. Additionally, the game service offers instant access to purchase or rent new release games on an à la carte basis from many of the world's leading publishers including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft 2K Games, THQ and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Sony has huge plans for God of War 3, including a major marketing blitzkrieg that is on-going with Slurpees at 7-11, television commercials and spinoffs like comic books and novels. There’s even a Hollywood movie in development at Sony Pictures. Sony used GDC 2010 to celebrate the March 16th launch of God of War 3 early by featuring the game at its large booth on the show floor, having playable versions at its PlayStation Blog Lounge at the W Hotel, and throwing a God of War 3 party.

SAN FRANCISCO -- NVIDIA and Epic Games announced the addition of NVIDIA 3D Vision technology support to Unreal Engine 3. Today’s announcement means that licensees of the world’s most successful game engine will be able to take full advantage of integrated 3D Vision technology support and offer an unprecedented level of immersion in their upcoming games.  Epic’s popular Unreal Development Kit (UDK), a free version of Unreal Engine 3, will also benefit from the addition of 3D Vision support, bringing a theater-quality 3D development platform to the more than 200,000 current users worldwide.

SAN FRANCISCO -- LucasArts used GDC 2010 to announce that everyone’s favorite pirate, Guybrush Threepwood, is heading back to the Caribbean in Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge.  Coming this summer for Xbox LIVE Arcade, PlayStation Network, iPhone, iPod Touch and Windows PC, the new game follows on the success of The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition and adds exciting new gameplay features to make this the most complete Monkey Island experience yet. The game publisher held a part to celebrate the new game at the Tonga Room.

SAN FRANCISCO -- While most game developers struggle to monetize even three percent of their users through direct payments for virtual currency, new numbers released by Offerpal Media at GDC 2010 show that alternative payment methods enable developers to monetize significantly larger portions of their user base. Derived from a study conducted by comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, as well as from Offerpal’s own network-wide monetization performance, the numbers verify that social gamers are enthusiastic about alternative, or indirect, payment methods as a way to earn virtual currency for free rather than having to pay for it directly.