2 Two charities unite to help hospitalized disabled kids play games This week the charitable organizations AbleGamers and Gamers Outreach announced a partnership that will see them working together to provide more accessible video games to hospitalized children.

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  NIS America chief: Microsoft isn't very supportive of Japanese devs "Honestly speaking, Microsoft's approach to Japanese games hasn't been very supportive," NIS America chief Takuro Yamashita tells MCV. "Their whole structure isn't really geared towards niche games."

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  IGDA grants the National Videogame Museum $4k to help pay for student visits The National Videogame Museum in Frisco, Texas has received a $4k grant from the International Game Developers Association that will be used to help cover the costs of visits by low-income students.

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  Video: How Bungie localized Destiny for the world At GDC 2015, Bungie's Tom Slattery explains the studio's move to build an internal localization team for Destiny and details how it worked, as well as some of the challenges faced along the way.

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  How Raw Data was born: College dreams and a jury-rigged VR headset "I remember when I went off to college...thinking, 'I love virtual reality. It doesn’t exist right now, but my goal in life is to figure out how to have a job in this nonexistent industry.'"

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  Get a job: PikPok is hiring a Sr. Programmer PikPok is looking for a talented Sr. Programmer to join it at its New Zealand-based development studio.

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  Report: WB winding down Lego Dimensions ahead of schedule The toys-to-life series was originally planned for a three-year arc, but sources say that development of the game is ending after just two.

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  Blog: How EVE Online changed the design of citizen science games I asked developers and scientists how they go about designing citizen science games. The conversation revealed some issues that the game industry could help solve.

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  Registration is now open for GDC 2018! This will be the 32st edition of GDC, the world's largest and longest-running event for game developers, and you can register right now by visiting the official GDC 2018 website!

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  Blog: VR music tips for the game composer Strategies for implementing music in VR projects were offered during the Virtual Reality Developers Conference this year, so let's look at some of the best tips.

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  Google Play devs giving away IAP revenue to combat hunger crisis It's hoped the gesture will make Google Play users more aware of the hunger crisis affecting around 815 million people right now.

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  Blog: Working with generic room-based matchmaking Most major platforms offer similar generic room-based matchmaking. In this post I explore how they work, and discuss the pros and cons of using those systems.

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  Mixed-reality startup Magic Leap secures $502M in funding Magic Leap has spent most of its time working behind closed doors, but that hasn't stopped investors from splashing the cash.

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  Blog: How do video game tutorials teach us? The following is a condensed form of my master's project, which investigates early video game levels and tutorials to try and identify how to teach effectively.

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  Building a need for sleep into survival game Distrust In the survival game Distrust, which was inspired by the 1982 film The Thing, players must stay warm and well-rested. Staying awake too long causes madness, but sleep makes a monster draw ever closer.

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  New website aims to provide game trailer specs for all major platforms The current version covers platforms like Steam, the Sony and Xbox storefronts, and Apple's App Store, as well as some useful pointers on getting the display of those ESRB and PEGI ratings right.

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  Heads up, Unreal devs: Improbable pushes its UE4 SDK into open beta Improbable announced today that its flagship product, the virtual world-building platform SpatialOS, has been updated -- and with that comes an open beta for the platform's Unreal Engine integration.

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35 Don't Miss: Pay-To-Flay: Examining microtransactions in a $60 game In this 2015 feature, we examine how F2P monetization mechanics are seeping into premium game design by looking at Mortal Kombat X and asking: how do you monetize without compromising game design?

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8 Activision patents matchmaking tech that can push players to buy upgrades Update Activision patented tech for "driving microtransactions in multiplayer video games" that can match people up w/ more experienced foes to get junior players to buy in-game items like loot boxes.

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  Video: A game designer's overview of the neuroscience of VR At GDC 2017, game dev vet Noah Falstein offers an overview for VR game designers of the basic neuroscience of immersion, motion, and emotion -- along with practical tips on making better VR/AR games.

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  Get a job: Deck Nine Games is hiring a Mobile Programmer Deck Nine Games is looking for an experienced programmer to join its team and help it grow and innovate modern story-based adventure games across a number of platforms in Westminster, Colorado.

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4 UK government comments on rising loot box-related gambling concerns Though it notes that it recognizes the risks of flirtations between gambling and gaming, the government itself will rely on The Gambling Commission's ongoing observation.

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3 EA closing Visceral Games and overhauling its Star Wars game Update Electronic Arts is closing down the studio and handing its Star Wars project to EA Vancouver to shift it from a linear adventure to a 'broad experience.'

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  Indiegogo opens digital marketplace for successfully crowdfunded projects Indiegogo has opened up an online storefront with the sole purpose of peddling the wares created through successful campaigns on its crowdfunding platform.

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1 Report: UK dev Sumo Digital is preparing to go public LittleBigPlanet 3, Snake Pass, and Crackdown 3 developer Sumo Digital is preparing to go public in an IPO worth nearly $200 million.

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