Iwata to give GDC keynote address

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata will deliver a keynote speech, called "The Heart of a Gamer," at the Game Developers Conference next month in San Francisco. During his talk, Iwata will address the current state of the game industry and predict key developments for the next several years--especially as they pertain to Nintendo's future.

Iwata will also discuss ways that developers can tap into gamers' emotional reactions to enhance interactive games. Iwata has said that such considerations went into the design of the DS and will be a major component of Nintendo's next-generation console, code-named "Revolution."

"Satoru Iwata is a global icon in the game industry, and we are honored to have him share his knowledge and experience," said GDC director Jamil Moledina.

The 19th annual GDC takes place March 7-11. Iwata's speech is scheduled for March 10 from 10:30 to 11:30am. This year's GDC features a series of platform keynote addresses; Microsoft's corporate vice president, J Allard, will speak March 9. For more on the conference, visit the GDC Web site.