Iwata headlining GDC 2009

Think Services' annual Game Developers Conference is on course to attract industry illuminati to the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco from March 23-27. Today, show organizers revealed that one of the biggest players in the industry will usher them in. Providing the main conference keynote address this year will be Satoru Iwata, president of game-industry front-runner Nintendo.

Iwata's keynote address will be titled "Discovering New Development Opportunities." The Nintendo executive is expected to give his presentation at 9:00 a.m. PST on March 25 in the Esplanade Room of the Moscone Center's South Hall.

The talk marks Iwata's first appearance on the GDC's center stage since 2006, when he revealed The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the DS, as well as the addition of Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 games to the Wii's Virtual Console. He also discussed one of Nintendo's key design philosophies: disrupting traditional game development to advance the medium. The following year, the Wii's chief designer, Donkey Kong creator Shigeru Miyamoto, was given a lifetime-achievement award for his three decades in the industry.

GameSpot will be on hand to provide extensive coverage of the event, including Iwata's keynote. For more information, check out GDC 2009's official Web site.