Editor's note: I'm going to start today's News Pop! off with a bit of sad news. I was quite honestly hoping to have a nice story for you, our readers, about tonight's Vortex Competition presentation at George Brown's School of Design, but unfortunately that was impossible. The presentation was cancelled due to a lack of attendance and neither Jason MacIsaac nor Sean Gaudron spoke. Because of tonight's low attendance, the Compeition may see a “retooling” in order to make it more accessible. Either way, I'm still hoping to hear MacIsaac's presentation some time in the near future. Here's today's News Pop!.

Women in Games International is teaming up with Savannah College of Art and Design to present its next regional conference, entitled “Advancing Your Career in Game Development”. The conference will be held on the College's campus, at The River Club, 3 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd in Savannah, GA, on Thursday, April 26^th from 1-7:30 pm and coincides with the college's annual Game Developer's eXchange conference (GDX). The conference will consist of an opening keynote address, panels and roundtable discussions with industry experts, and will provide useful information for women and men, as well as both new and veteran game developers. The keynote speaker will be Jennifer MacLean, General Manager of Games for Comcast Interactive. Her keynote address is entitled “Everything I Need to Know, I Learned by Playing Games”, and will explain how games like Halo, Everquest, and Civilization teach attendees everything they need to know for personal and professional success. Registration for the conference will be $50 USD and $20 USD for students. The fee also includes admission for GDX 2007, which is taking place on Friday, April 27^th at Trustees Theater (also on campus). For more information, go to www.scad.edu/gdx.

THQ announced a new Worms game today, for PSP, Nintendo DS and wireless handsets. Worms: Open Warfare 2 will let players battle each from all over the world using wireless connections. The sce narios players will be placed in will vary quite a bit, from famous battles of the past to sci-fi adventures. The game builds upon the success of last year’s Worms: Open Warfare. In addition to the classic Deathmatch mode, the game also includes robust new single and multiplayer modes such as Rope Race, Fort, Puzzle and Campaign modes that challenge players to use new strategies and teamwork to defeat their enemies. Also, there's a new Firing Range for players to test their skills with. For more information on Worms: Open Warfare 2, you can check out the game's website at www.wormsopenwarfare2.com.