With the 2009 Future Play Conference now partnered with the Game Developers Conference® (GDC Canada), there will now be even more opportunities for participants to benefit from influential speakers, thought-provoking panel discussions and valuable networking opportunities.

University of Calgary Professor Jim Parker has been a long-time participant in Future Play.

"I have a high regard for the role of Future Play in the game research and development vista in Canada," he says. "I was an early participant in Future Play, since 2004 in fact, when it was still named the Game Technology Conference, and I have been enthusiastic ever since. It has been the home of many innovations, such as the game contest in 2007 and in acting as host for the Canadian Game Studies Association in its early stages."

Continues Parker, "What I think is important is that it is a broadly-based conference, having participation from academics and industry, game studies and technology. There is nothing else like it in Canada, and I am excited to see it connect with GDC Canada this year."

The Future Play 2009 conference will be taking place this May 12th to 13th in Vancouver British Columbia alongside GDC Canada. Since its inception in 2002, Future Play has provided a home for cutting-edge researchers, game developers and theorists to share their ideas with an audience that includes industry-experts, students, investors and government officials involved in the digital media and games industry. Future Play focuses on the three major themes of future games development, future games impacts and applications and future games talent.

Future Play 2009 is sponsored by Algoma University, the North American home of the Masters of Science in Computer Games Technology Degree, with support from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.

www.futureplay.org