It looks like Nintendo is readying the next generation of DS  with the help of nVidia. According to reports from Bright Side of News, the company has already started to work on the next iteration of the handheld gaming console that will debut sometime next year.

Graphics processor specialist Nvidia has announced that it has signed up to be a primary sponsor for next month's Nordic Game Conference in Malmö, Sweden. The Nordic Game Conference will take place on May 15 and 16 at the said venue.

"Having Nvidia on board as a Primary Sponsor is a great privilege for us and a recognition of our conference and its rising status as one of the key industry events in Europe," commented Tom Felices, project manager for Nordic Game 2007.

"With the latest round of 'next gen' consoles already a familiar fixture in the marketplace, it's up to the PC as usual to provide the next 'next generation' gaming experience," said Darryl Still, NVIDIA Director of Content Management, EMEAI. Still added that Nvidia is "working closely with games studios to realise this ambition," and that Nvidia's search for "the most exciting, innovative talent" keeps leading the company back to the rapidly growing games industry in Nordic territories.

"That's why we're delighted to be a primary sponsor of the Nordic Game event," he said. "We're looking forward to sharing our time in Malmö with many of the most inspirational and creative people in the games industry."

More than two weeks would still have to pass before the Market for Home Computing & Video Games Industry Excellence Awards (MCV Awards) happens, but the event has already sold out. To be attended by over 600 industry executives from all aspects of the gaming industry, the prestigious awards honors excellence across 15 categories.

The event will be held at the London's Brewery venue in Chiswell Street on Thursday April 19th. It will start with pre-event drinks at The King's Head, Chiswell Street from 5 pm, care of Sennheiser and Gem Distribution. At 6pm, a champagne reception sponsored by IGA Worlwide will follow, and then the awards proper happens.

Sounds like a lot of boozing, huh? Well, the event is a celebration, as the industry itself chooses the winners of the awards. MCV Awards recognizes effort, innovation and commercial success. Every major company will be attending the event. Pub landlord at the London's Brewery Al Murray will even be performing, so you can expect more to be there because of them.

There are 17 coveted awards to be competed for by the finalists. The categories include awards for Star Store, Games Publisher, Marketing Team, Sales Team and Game Campaign. The event is sponsored by Xbox 360, Nintendo, Nvidia, Kiss FM, System 3, Mice Domino and GamerTV.

Nvidia's VP of content Roy Taylor recently granted an interview with the folks from Next-Gen, and when asked about what he thought of the notion that "graphics don’t matter" in games, he replies that it's all "nonsense." (Hmm... we could have sworn that he was quoted for having said "bollocks" instead, but perhaps Next-Gen has toned it down?)

According to Taylor, it is "ridiculous to say that graphics don't matter," and that it may be the equivalent of somebody saying that "the quality of my TV screen doesn't matter." He went on to say that if graphics truly were unimportant, then you should "watch '24' in black-and-white on a seven-inch screen."

Of course, this doesn't mean that Taylor is a detractor of quality gameplay. He said that "sometimes graphics have been applied, not at the expense of gameplay, but without equal consideration to [gameplay]." Instead, what he tried to point out is that both are important.

He stressed that having quality graphics is the best way for a game to elicit emotions from the player. According to him, these emotions are the basis for emotional attachment towards a game, and these emotions can reach the player more effectively if you have detailed facial expressions and character animations.

Lastly, he expressed his sentiments regarding the necessary balance between graphics and gameplay. "I think we can do a lot better, but I think we'd like to see graphics encompassing the gameplay."

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has announced the winners of its 58th Annual Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards. This year is the first time that the Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards was held at the International CES.

Needless to say, a lot of companies related to video games were quick to announce that they received the said award. Given that we're in a middle of a console war right now, anything that could help add to bragging rights seems very welcome.

The list of recipients include Microsoft, AMD, Sony, Nintendo, and Nvidia for their contributions to everything tech and gaming.

To get a list of this year's Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards recipients, click on the "Full Article" link below.

Early registration to the Game Developers Conference and the London Games Summit, which will follow GDC in London this year, has been extended from September 15th to September 22nd. The two gaming meetings will begin on  October 2nd and carry on through to the 4th for GDC London and branch out to October 4th through 5th for the following Games Summit.

Both the GDC and the Games Summit in London will take place at the world-famous BAFTA Headquarters (Yes, the same place that gives out the TV awards) at 195 Piccadilly. You can register for the fee of £75, versus the £100 charge for registration through October 2nd so get your registration in early if you wish to attend!

GDC London focuses heavily on techniques for game development, so unless you are a game developer then joining the conference probably won't be that beneficial to you. However, if you plan to go into game development or programming it could be worth a try if you can cough up the cash. The registration fee includes two days of tutorials sponsored by IBM and NVIDIA, with the IBM tutorial covering Cell Broadband Engine application processing and the NVIDIA tutorial covering DirectX10 programming.

Visit: [London Games Summit Website]