Think Service has already slotted in a number of Japanese heavyweights to deliver sessions at this year's Game Developers Conference. In addition to collecting his Lifetime Achievement Award, Mr. Metal Gear himself, Hideo Kojima, will deliver a talk titled "Solid Game Design: Making the 'Impossible' Possible," while high-riding Nintendo president Satoru Iwata will expound upon his company's billions with "Discovering New Development Opportunities."

　　However, those won't be the only Japanese game makers speaking at the event, which takes place March 23-27 in San Francisco. Show organizers have tapped Grasshopper Manufacture CEO Goichi Suda (aka Suda51) and Sony's Team Ico lead Fumito Ueda for a panel addressing Eastern and Western game design philosophies. Representing the West on the panel will be Bethesda Softworks lead designer Emil Pagliarulo and Mark MacDonald, executive director of localization firm 8-4Ltd.

　　Titled "Evolving Game Design: Today and Tomorrow, East and West Game Design," the panel discussion will focus on influential game-design trends impacting developers operating out of both Japan and the West. The panel will also take a crack at projecting future developments that will impact the gaming industry in the years to come.

　　The panel will be of especial note for those looking for new information on Team Ico's latest project. Rumors arising in August indicated that Sony was gearing up to debut the studio's follow-up to 2005's Shadow of the Colossus at last year's Tokyo Game Show, but that didn't come to pass. Sony worldwide studio head Shuhei Yoshida did say at that time, though, that the Team Ico mystery game will be unveiled "soon."