E3’s revamping – Is it IGF’s time?

IGF = Independent Gaming Festival

It’s a contest held every year at GDC

GDC = Game Developer’s Conference

The problem with the IGF is that they claim to be all for the indie-developer, but in fact all the rewards go to games that re-invent the wheel in the best way. Am I complaining about creativity – Hell no!

What I am complaining about is the fact that this festival only awards innovation. Not all independent games are innovative, but that doesn’t make them any less better then the ones that are.

From here it seems like the IGF is in the bed with commercial game studios. The IGF finds the creative games and the commercial game studios bid for the rights to this game and within a couple years copy the game mechanics for their own games. It appears that IGF doesn’t want to give coverage of indie-games that could compete with commercial games on any level.

Bottom line is the IGF should either change its name or add additional categories that award the kick-ass non-innovative games! E3 changed its format to better suit the industry at large and now it’s time for the Independent Games Festival to do the same.

For those interested in what categories the IGF currently has they are (excluding Mod & Student based games):

  • Technical Achievement: Scores will be based on the technical mastery and innovation demonstrated by each Entered Game’s game engine and code base.
  • Excellence in Visual Art: Scores will be based on the innovation, quality, and impressiveness of each Entered Game’s appearance and visual effects.
  • Excellence in Audio: Scores will be based on the innovation, quality, and impressiveness of each Entered Game’s music and sound effects.
  • Innovation Award: Scores will be based on the overall innovation and skillfulness demonstrated by each Entered Game’s video game design.
  • Best Web Browser Game: This category is open ONLY to those Entered Games that Sponsor determines qualify as Web Browser Games (defined below). Scores will be based on the overall innovation, quality, impressiveness, and enjoyability of each Web Browser Game. A
    Web Browser Game: is an Entered Game that must be playable within Internet Explorer 6.0 and Mozilla 1.0 browsers using either the Flash, Java, Shockwave, or Virtools plug-ins.
  • Audience Award: Public voters will download demonstrations of the games and vote for their favorite – the game with the most votes will win the award. Entered Games must have a playable public demo when asked by the Nominating Committee (likely to be around January 2007) to be considered for this category, but do not need to submit a public demo with initial entry..
  • Seumas McNally Grand Prize: This Category is open to all Entered Games. Scores will be based on the overall innovation, quality, impressiveness, and enjoyability of each Entered Game.

    • The Future is Now

    While I love to ponder what the future maybe bring, there are certain times when I have to remember I live in the present. This time Phil Harrison (Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s executive VP of development) said in Wired Magazine “I’d be amazed if the PlayStation 4 has a physical disc drive.” While this is probably true, why is it that these people always chop off their heads? How can you sell Blue-Ray or the PS3 when one of the VPs is going out and talking about the PS4 and how Sony’s technology is already obsolete!?

    Now I understand that companies have to think about the future, but  I’m tired of companies filling our heads with speculation! Let me enjoy the present, it’s the only time that I can live.

    America’s VideoGame Expo

    PR: With the recently announced changes to the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Lunar Tide Communications, Inc., is pleased to offer America’s VideoGame Expo (VGXPO) as an alternative venue where the game industry can communicate directly with their target audience – the consumer. Publishers and developers searching for additional locations to show off their products can look to VGXPO as a perfect opportunity to put the hottest games in the hands of gamers at a reasonable cost.

    “VGXPO organizers and its advisory board members lament that the videogame industry has matured past the need for a mega-event such as E3,” said Ed Fleming, Director of the VGXPO. “However, we see this as a transformation-catalyst for the industry – what the industry needs now is something that can be used to showcase products, promote game makers and celebrate the rich history of the industry directly with consumers.”

    “We believe that America’s VideoGame Expo offers a new kind of value proposition and is an opportunity to do more with marketing dollars. We looked at other industries for inspiration – the shows with the most impact and longest lasting power are consumer-focused direct marketing events,” stated Fleming. “Be it the International Auto Shows, Comic-Con, TGS, or localized events such as hobby shows or home and garden conventions; these are huge events that have survived for decades and run the gamut of industry players. Direct marketing at events such as these are a proven return-on-investment.”

    “As the professional organization that recognizes excellence in games among its members, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences supports the efforts of America’s VideoGame Expo to create a venue that promotes interactive entertainment directly to consumers,” stated Joseph Olin, President, AIAS. “Providing game players an opportunity to see and experience the widest range of games possible benefits all of us who love great games”

    “It seems we’ve come full circle… I started making games over 20 years ago, back then the ONLY kind of expo was for gamers. I have very fond memories of being shoulder deep in gamers all eager to be the first to try a new game. The energy and excitement they generate fuels the passion that makes game development so fun,” said David Perry, CEO of GameConsultants.com.

    Unlike any other event, VGXPO is a gaming festival that celebrates the positive impact that videogames have on American culture. When a gamer comes to VGXPO he will have the opportunity not just to play & buy the latest games (and the retro classics) but also have the opportunity to meet the people responsible for their creation.

    “For NVIDIA consumer-oriented game shows represent an important part of our marketing strategy,” explained Bill Rehbock, Director of World Wide Publisher Relations and Consumer Awareness at NVIDIA. “Consumer events such as VGXPO are a great fit with our strategy, and will become more and more important for the industry as a whole.”

    “It’s time for a show that’s about games and the people who play them, and not just a giant party where everyone’s showing off their best pre-rendered video and earning kudos for best booth babes,” offered game industry veteran Bill Kunkel. “It’s time for an event where the smallest developers are considered just as important as the big publishers, and both groups get to show their wares directly to consumers and receive direct feedback from those same consumers. In short, it’s time for a show like VGXPO.”

    VGXPO is scheduled to take place from October 27-29, 2006 at the Valley Forge Convention Center, outside of Philadelphia, PA. For tickets or exhibiting options be sure to visit on the web at www.VGXPO.com

    —————

    Sucessful? For some reason I don’t think so… Maybe it’s because the 2005 exhibitor list is much longer then the 2006 list. The good thing is that it’s cheap. But I don’t think developers are going to ditch E3 for this, not this year at least. Maybe in 2007 if E3 flops.

    The good thing is that since it takes place in October any game for the Holiday release will be almost completed so you’ll be playing a solid demo.

    Free your clutter

    Going off of the last post – because I thought about how to bring the reviews/articles over to the blog, I also thought how can I improve the Our Picks page on the website. Previously this page contained tons of subpages going from – Our Picks – Liked/DisLiked Reviews – Game Reviews – Video Game Consoles – Reviews, geez!

    Page after page after page! Well I cut out all of those pages and put all the reviews on the Our Picks page. At first glance it looks slopy. But then when you start to use it, it’s very fast, easy, and overall efficient. Instead of annoying the reader by forcing them to visit this page then that page it’s very simple.

    I’d say mission accomplished.

    Games need to be simple, especially indie games. If you don’t have tens of millions of dollars why are you wasting years on developing one game that will only sell x amount, when you could be developing smaller games that take less time to create and each sell x amount. 

    Which do you think is more efficient 2 years for x amount or 6 months for x amount? Indie developers sometime spend years creating games that only sell hundreds of copies! Don’t bother creating these titles unless you really want to waste time.

    You have no way of competing with commercial games so why do you bother to play on their league? Until you’re ready stay small and grow fast.

    Use what you have

    I’ve added two pages on the right, Video Game Articles and Video Game Reviews. At first glance one may think that the content on these pages is new but in fact it isn’t.

    I questioned whether or not people who visit my blog go to the parent site www.stuffwelike.com. So at first I thought why not bring over all the game reviews onto the blog. Well that would have taken me weeks. I decided to dedicate two pages with links to each individual review/article.

    The great thing about this is that it adds a ton of content to this blog with minimal amount of time investment.

    Now because this blog is about game development and not my site – how about you tell me how this method could be used in game dev?

    Write code that can be reused in future titles, create art that can be reused, figure out if things are being effective (demos, websites, etc) and doing what they were originally intended to do, etc. Always adapt to a changing environment. I had no idea that I would start a game blog months ago but now that this is a popular blog, why not use that to my advantage? Figure out ways that you can do the same.