Programming games for the Pebble smart watch A dungeon crawler on your wrist? David Drake has been developing MazeCrawler for the Pebble smart watch, and shares the secrets of creating games for this new type of device.

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  The secrets of networking -- and getting your game funded Seth Sivak writes on how effectively networking is key to attracting venture capital -- and how to grow, cultivate, but not abuse the network of people you know while seeking investment.

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2 Veteran Square designer Akihiko Yoshida leaves after 18 years Akihiko Yoshida, the veteran video game artist who has designed characters for Square Enix for nearly two decades, has announced his departure from the company in a rather unique manner.

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  Two years on, Microsoft Studios Victoria shuts down Nearly two years after Microsoft originally opened a game development studio in Victoria, Canada, the company has now shut the studio down, with around 30 jobs lost according to reports.

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2 Blog: Thematic storytelling through UI design Menus can be more aesthetically integrated and a better fit for the game they're a part of, argues Declan Kolakowski, who uses the example of SUDA51's Killer7 to show us how.

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3 Tearaway is the weirdest 'hardware showcase' piece ever Leigh Alexander gets her fingers into Tearaway -- as Media Molecule tries to show off what the Vita can do with its touchpads and cameras, the result is unexpectedly (and brilliantly) unsettling.

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1 Former Psygnosis/Studio Liverpool devs unite to form Firesprite The new studio has already helped Sony ship The Playroom and is now moving on to work on a new project.

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9 Patent troll crackdown measure approved by House Patent troll haters, take heart: The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill explicitly designed to punish companies for abusive use of patents today.

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23 How Hipster Zombies performed on iOS, Ouya, Samsung Apps and Android A well-rated game, but not a huge success -- a familiar story for indie mobile games. This blog post breaks down one game's numbers and the ratings across three platforms and four stores.

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4 Atari's bankruptcy escape plan is court-approved The U.S. branch of Atari just got its bankruptcy exit strategy approved by both its creditors and the U.S. justice system.

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7 Watch a Valve engineer experiment with his mouse, butt controllers Ben Krasnow published videos this week with details of his latest game controller experiments, plus a promise to share more info about his work on virtual reality with Valve at a later date.

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4 If a game's not unique, what's the point? asks Frozen Endzone dev Gamasutra talked to Ian Hardingham from Mode 7 Games about taking the core concept behind Frozen Synapse, and recreating it on a more widely accessible basis for Frozen Endzone.

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11 How horror games capitalize on fear of the unknown We all know the phrase "fear of the unknown," but how does it work in the context of a game? This blog post explains how horror games create different types of scares.

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16 Developers weigh in with early ID@Xbox impressions The ID@Xbox announcement didn't really give much information on what the program is like. Gamasutra got in touch with a few different studios to get a general impression of how ID@Xbox is currently faring.

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18 'Roguelike-like'? More like 'Procedural Death Labyrinth' Lars Doucet (Defender's Quest) suggests the creation of a new genre to help frame the design conversation around the important elements of what's often called a "roguelike."

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  Here's how to apply for Samsung's new mobile game network for kids Samsung has teamed up with Fingerprint, a children's mobile tech company, to create a mobile games network specifically for kids, with the aim to provide a safe environment for them to play games in.

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2 Insomniac kills Outernauts browser game to focus on mobile version Last year, Insomniac took a dive into the social games space with browser game Outernauts. Now the company has been forced to close down the online game, in favor of working on a mobile version of the game.

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13 Blog: What is intellectual property? As a developer, you know that you want control over your intellectual property. But what precisely, from a legal standpoint, is IP? This blog by a game dev-turned-attorney, explains.

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  Video: Frozen Endzone's unique take on the strategy genre Gamasutra editor Mike Rose talks to Ian Hardingham from Mode 7 Games about tactical American Football-esque game Frozen Endzone, in this latest video interview.

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2 Techniques for working with voxels Post-Minecraft voxels have become an important tool in the game production box. This post explains what they are, how they work, and how you can make them work in your game.

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9 In the fight for job stability, Stardock finds its own solution Galactic Civilizations studio Stardock has put into place the Stardock Staffing Company, with the goal of retaining and recruiting the best, most experienced game developers.

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  This Week in Video Game Criticism: A Rogue for All Seasons This week, our partnership with game criticism site Critical Distance brings us picks from Zach Alexander on topics including the player's idealized self as avatar and the storytelling of Rogue.

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1 Your game can change the world: How games can heal players "Games are effecting your players and society whether or not you’re designing them to," writes Brendan Bozzi, who runs down games that, "just by playing them, help heal mental or physical illnesses."

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  Sony, Tencent, Blizzard, Ubisoft to speak at this week's GDC Taipei Summit The second annual GDC Taipei Summit begins December 5th, 9 a.m. UTC, with onsite registration available starting opening day at the Taipei International Convention Center.

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5 Facebook games on the decline? No one told that to Pretty Simple Games Though notable companies have shied away from the social game scene, Pretty Simple's Criminal Case has met the challenges of Facebook and come away with a 6 million DAU game.

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