As reported by Gamasutra, the Game Developer's Association of Australia (GDAA) will be hosting the Game Connect: Asia Pacific conference later this year in Brisbane.

The conference will run from 30 November to 2 December 2006, and is designed to allow Asian Pacific game companies to compare notes and share ideas. Game Connect replaces the Australian Game Developers Conference this year, which is normally held in Melbourne.


Information about speakers should be posted on the GDAA's website as the conference date nears. The Game Connect: Asia Pacific website is live, but currently contentless.

The Guild Wars website has announced that over 4,000 players have been banned from their servers for using bots to gather gold and loot. The free-to-play MMORPG, focused primarily on combat, has long been plagued by individuals 'farming' in-game loot and then selling it for real money on eBay - a problem for many popular MMORPGs:


Many players believe that the game's policy of not charging monthly fees (unlike most MMORPGs) gives it greater freedom in cancelling accounts, since bannings incur no loss in revenue.

The father of modern horror? Hollywood hack? Regardless of your cinematic persuasion, few people would disagree with the notion that iconic director Wes Craven has mastered the ability to appeal to an audience. However, the Nightmare on Elm Street director raised more than a few eyebrows at the inaugural MI6 game-marketing conference held in San Francisco last week, having delivered a speech on fostering customer loyalty, brand marketing, and creating anticipation for a product from his perspective as a film director.

What made Wes Craven’s appearance truly newsworthy was his post-conference interview with San Jose Mercury News writer Dean Takahashi, in which the director 'unofficially' tossed his charred fedora into the game development ring. Confessing to being a casual gamer, the softly-spoken Craven declared that he was currently in talks to develop an original game, but did not wish to elaborate on the details of that project.

With every self-respecting developer salivating at the thought of tapping into the twisted mind of Wes Craven, the directors own remarks on the state of modern gaming could potentially signal something a little less... blood-soaked. Craven professed that the industry should be attempting to embrace a wider variety of themes, saying "I haven't found many educational games, but a lot of things, like world politics, could be done in a really funny way." Takahashi also mentioned that Craven expressed a desire to see "games that can teach something, like a simulation on how to combat world health problems".

Wes Craven Presents 'The Oppressive Government And World Health Simulator'?

Sounds like a laugh riot.

Bill Tiller, Art Director on the Curse of Monkey Island and a host of other LucasArts games, recently announced that the first title from his new studio, Autumn Moon Entertainment, has finally been signed to a world-wide publishing deal with German Publisher Crimson Cow.

A Vampyre Story is a point and click adventure game very much in the vein of LucasArts' classic adventures -- Monkey Island, Sam and Max, Day of the Tentacle, and the rest. It utilises a combination of semi-cell shaded 3d character art and luscious, hand drawn backdrops. It's a fusion that works amazingly well and should make for one of the most beautiful adventure games yet seen on the PC, one with a distinctly Tim Burton-esque flavour.

The game tells the tale of Mona, a woman who has been kidnapped and infected with haemophagia (turned into a vampire for the less scientifically minded) by the no doubt evil and devious Baron Shrowdy Von Kiefer. Mona must come to terms with what she has become in order to free herself, with the help of a friendly bat called Froderick no less. No further information has been released as yet.

It'll be quite some time before A Vampyre Story finds its way to the shelves. The game has only just gone into full development since the deal with Crimson Cow has gone through and so it'll likely be a couple of years before release. It's certainly a title worth keeping an eye on.