Almost everyone has heard of the tragedy that befell Haiti after a magnitude 7 earth quake struck leaving over 150,000 dead, and even more wounded.  Many charities and aid organizations have been collecting donations to help the poor souls in Haiti.  The game industry wants to lend a helping hand, too.  The folks over at IGN.com have rallied companies throughout the industry to donate tons of fantastic gaming related items - all to be auctioned off in order to benefit Haiti.

Zipper Interactive, creators of the popular SOCOM game series, have made their first sortie into PS3 territory with their massive first-person-shooter, MAG.  The game promises huge 256 player battles delivered exclusively online, on PlayStation Network.  This technological feat, along with player customization, and the fine-tuned trappings of a current-gen FPS attempt to edge this past competition like Modern Warfare 2. 

Does Zipper Interactive succeed?  Hit the jump for the full review.

Jonathan Soderstrom, aka Cactus, gave a presentation on how to abuse players “just for fun.”  Cactus is well known in the independent game community for creating unusual games within YoYo Game’s “Game Maker” software.  They often involve trippy visuals and 100% unique gameplay. 

Why should you abuse your players you ask?  Cactus supplies the reasons!

Hit the jump for more details!

Slick Entertainment's Scrap Metal

The dynamic duo that make up Slick Entertainment, Kees Rijnen and Nick Waanders, gave a presentation on their journey to their first indie game launch.  Their first title built under Slick Entertainment is titled “Scrap Metal” and will be released tomorrow, March 10^th on XBOX Live Arcade.  The fast paced racing combat game was built completely on internal proprietary tools by only two people.

Hit the jump to read more!

Sean Murray, the resident programmer for 2008 studio startup “Hello Games,” was on hand to represent his team and to tell us a bit about the team’s transition from working at a big studio to their current indie lifestyle.  The group of four friends, that includes David, Grant, Ryan and Sean, has collectively worked at studios like Criterion, EA, Kuju and more.  After working on titles like Burnout and Geometry Wars they felt comfortable leaving as what Murray described as “Young Industry Veterans.”  Today, they are working on launching their first title, Joe Danger! 

The “Wolfire Experiment” is what John Graham calls his public relations tactic.  I can only describe Graham as a PR pioneer within the indie developer community.  His role as PR Manager on Wolfire’s flagship title, “Overgrowth,” has allowed him to develop some refreshing strategies on how to get your game out there to the masses.