Newsbrief: Serious Games Association, a new international trade group serving the non-entertainment games industry, has opened its membership to students, developers, publishers, tool providers, analysts, and other professionals. The association will cater to those working in the field of "serious games," or game-like software for educational, corporate, defense, political, advertising, charity, or other non-entertainment purposes. Those who sign up for a membership ($35 annual cost for individuals) will be able to receive an SGA newsletter, list their products in the association's Serious Games Directory, access research from the serious games market, and more. They can also have their games receive awards and certification from the Serious Play Conference, which will serve as a gathering for SGA members. The annual trade show returns to Redmond's DigiPen Institute of Technology this August 21-23.