Registration has opened for the 2009 Games for Health Conference, to be held at the Hyatt Harborside Hotel in Boston on June 11th and 12th. The conference brings together game developers and health industry professionals to discuss how serious games can improve and advance health care and recovery programs. Initial response received by the conference's organizers suggests that this year's event will see Games for Health's largest-ever turnout. The 2009 Games for Health Conference will ...

MMO platform creator Simutronics, most well-known for its licensing of HeroEngine by BioWare Austin for Star Wars: The Old Republic, has announced Kiz and Zaloli as new licensees. According to the firm, toy and game firm Kiz is licensing HeroEngine to build KizPlanet, to be marketed with its forthcoming line of toys, KizPal and KizMoto. In addition, Zaloli, a new game studio based in Colorado, will build "a groundbreaking new science-fiction MMO", according to the ...

The 2009 Game Developers Conference, held last week at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, saw attendance of more than 17,000. That figure was released by conference organizer Think Services (also Gamasutra's parent company), which pointed to the results as indicative of the overall industry's fundamental strength. "The success of this past week in San Francisco proves the resilience of the games industry," said event director Meggan Scavio. "It is a testament to the ...

Independent developer Curve Studios has integrated Hansoft management tools into its production process, Hansoft has announced. Founded in London in 2005, Curve Studios is responsible for multiple Buzz! titles published by Sony, and is currently developing the sidescrolling action game Explodemon! for PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and PC. Said Curve Studios' head of production Graeme Puttock, "Hansoft is a great asset to Curve Studios, helping us keep our commitment of constantly delivering high quality ...

In a likely to be controversial manifesto, the veteran developers that cluster around the Project Horseshoe invitation-only mini-conference have produced a list of problems -- and solutions -- for video games' continuing strides towards the pantheon of great art. Consisting of industry notables such as legendary Infocom designer Steve Meretzky, Hidden Path Games executive producer Jeff Pobst, renowned game artist Jason Rohrer, and many more, Project Horseshoe is a unique conference inviting 50 experienced game ...

The Game Audio Network Guild, a non-profit group dedicated to advancing and recognizing game audio, announced the winners for the 7th Annual GANG Awards, for which a ceremony was held last week in San Francisco, California. EA Redwood Shores' Dead Space received awards for Audio Of The Year and Sound Design Of The Year, while Wataru Hokoyama, the composer behind Japan's photography and safari simulation PS3 game Afrika (coming stateside as National Geographic: Africa), was ...

Following Sony's $99 price cut announcement for the PlayStation 2, analysts have weighed in, with EEDAR suggesting a 30% sales boost, but previous Gamasutra and Sony comments casting doubt on a major boost. In comments released after the announcement, analyst firm EEDAR's Jesse Divnich noted: "We are extremely pleased to see that SCEA today announced a $30 retail price cut for their PlayStation 2 hardware in the United States market. EEDAR estimates that PS2 software ...

Bankrupt Mortal Kombat publisher Midway is now under fire from government-appointed trustees for its intentions to pay up to $3.755 million in bonuses as part of a "Key Employee Incentive Plan". Both the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors and the United States Trustee, the latter of which oversees bankruptcy cases, filed objections to the plan, which proposes rewarding 29 key employees with bonuses for the completion for the completion of three milestone. The first goal ...

Square Enix will optionally use Vasco's authenticator device and one-time password security for its online content and services, including multiplatform MMORPG Final Fantasy XI, which the company claims will be a first for an online game in Japan. Starting April 7th, players who purchase Vasco's Digipass GO6 authenticators can secure their FFXI accounts so that they can only be accessed with a one-time password generated by the small device, which fits on a keychain ring. ...

Indie studio The Behemoth (Alien Hominid, Castle Crashers) has carved out an incredibly well-defined niche for itself, thanks largely to its games' retro 2D gameplay and striking artwork by Dan Paladin. It recently revealed its next console game prototype via a teaser trailer and a Japanese public show appearance. Beyond definitely looking like a Behemoth game, few details are known about the project -- but producer John Baez answered a few questions for Gamasutra, including ...