By Derek Yu
Gamma IV marked a nice interlude at the midpoint of GDC (following the Independent Games Summit). I’ve never been before, but I left feeling more than ever that games are work great for shows, galleries, and parties when they’re created for those spaces. Here are the six games that won the chance to be in the show:
4Fourths – That’s got to be the sickest trailer for a game ever (by John Likens). Anyway, Mike and Greg’s 4Fourths is a 4-player game where teams of two cooperate to destroy nukes before they fall onto a city. In each team, one person controls the thrusters and one person controls the laser. You can also shoot the other team, which is easy to do accidentally or on purpose. Great fun, and it looked fantastic projected big.
Faraway – Far and away (h’yuk) the game I played most at Gamma IV, Faraway is an addictive highscore game from Steph Thirion, who created Eliss for the iPhone. Like Eliss, Faraway has a great minimalistic audio-visual design. The game, which has you playing a comet trying to make constellations, requires a lot of skill and practice. You can be seriously good at this game, as was evidenced by Colin Northway’s “constellation domination” throughout the conference. I wish I was playing it right now!
Poto & Cabenga – There’s no video for Honeyslug’s Poto & Cabenga, unfortunately. In this game, you control both Poto & Cabenga at the same time, with one button. The way it’s handled is really clever (you can read about it in more detail here), and the character designs are great. I can’t wait until they release it on the internets.
B.U.T.T.O.N. – I had no clue what B.U.T.T.O.N. was about when I started playing, so I was holding a drink in one hand with the notion that I could play a one-button game with the other. Then the screen instructed all the players to do five push-ups. Thankfully, being me, I did twenty push-ups, finished my drink (whiskey and snake’s blood), and still won (sorry, there were no witnesses!). You can’t tell from the above video, but the game actually has pretty nice graphics! Fun party game.
GAMMA IV – The Game – IGF Nuovo Award Winner cactus released a really fun, trippy Gamma game, aptly titled Gamma IV – The Game. It was projected behind the DJ, which was a good idea. It will make you think of swastikas and then you will have a seizure.
Silent Skies – I didn’t get a chance to try Michael Todd’s Silent Skies, unfortunately. But I enjoyed watching the planes do loop de loops from afar.
None of these games are playable as of writing, but a lot of the games that didn’t make it are. There were around 150 entries this year, so plenty of great ones didn’t make the cut. You can check them out at the Gamma IV forums. Continue reading    
By costik
I am weary. I am tired of being me. I am tired of being the angry middle-aged man of the game industry. I would like to hang it up, like an old coat, and shut it in the closet. But I guess I can't put it aside.
I attended the IGF Awards this evening. In general, I love the IGF. Not unreservedly, of course; it is not without flaw. But it is, by and large, a Good and Fine Thing, and has been instrumental in creating and sustaining independent games as a movement. I was quite looking forward to it.
You can find a video of the ceremony here.
And award winners here, since I'm not actually going to talk about that
My first intellectual discontinuity came when I approached the awards venue and discovered Steve Petersen, one of the designers of the Champions RPG, working to ensure that only VIPs got into the VIP line; apparently my speaker badge authorized me to sit in the VIP area. I elected to sit instead with the plebes.
I was basically okay through most of the proceeds, snarking to myself a bit at the lame scripted "jokes" of the presenters and the intellectual discontinuity created by their adoption of tuxedo and gown. A tux does not say "indie" to me. But I understand that to the average American it says "class," and perhaps this is understandable as some sort of external index of respect.
Cactus, by the way, was perfect.
When the presenters were swept off the stage to make room for some chickie from IGN (that lickspittle shih-tzu of the major publishers that sustains its existence by posting reworded press releases and raving about big-budget releases while providing only occasional and condescending coverage of indie games) I sighed deeply, but reminded myself that the IGF depends on corporate sponsorships, and no doubt had received a nice piece of change from this corporate entity in return for their right to grant, and brand, the IGF's most important award.
After some forgettable blather, we were then subjected to a video, presumably prepared by the sublime idiots at IGN, about what they claimed were the "top five indie games not in the top five indie games." This consisted of short gameplay videos from five imaginary games. These imaginary games were supposedly humorous, but consisted of a) really stupid game ideas, b) implemented in a really stupid way, with c) really stupid graphics. Haha. Indie games are stupid. (At 38:40 in the video linked above.)
Did ANYONE at IGN consider that they were basically totally dissing the games their spokesperson was just about to issue an award to?
Did ANYONE at CMP consider that they had, in exchange for a corporate sponsorship, just set up a situation that totally undermined the gravitas of the event as a whole?
Did ANY of the idiot audience members who tittered at this inane video realize that, in context, it was essentially insulting the whole enterprise of indie gaming?
I stalked from the room in fury.
I was the only person to do so.
I don't like living in my skin sometimes. Apparently, I was the only person in that room filled with thousands who was revolted and offended to the core. I am a fool.
I was about to write: We deserve better. But of course, I created no game last year that I could have submitted to the IGF, so it would be inappropriate for me to take on the mantle of "indie game creator" or to have the temerity to speak for those who are. But I can say they deserve better; they deserve to be treated with a degree of respect, and indeed, the whole structure of the IGF ceremonies, and the prominence it receives within the GDC awards as a whole, and even the noxious tuxedo-and-gown garb of its presenters, is calculated with the idea of promoting a degree of respect.
Why then should CMP, and for that matter IGN, however gormless they may be, think it remotely acceptable to undermine that respect with this jejune, unfunny, disrespectful, noxious, subversive, lame, and repulsive piece of juvenile "humor"?
Ha ha.
Die, motherfuckers.
And so to bed.
By IndieGames.com - The Weblog
 Here's our link round-ups for articles about the second day of Indie Games Summit talks, happening at the Game Developers Conference in San Franscisco this entire week:
Gamasutra: Exploratory Development
"Game development is one of the highest-pressure, most anxiety-inducing careers there is. An exploratory development process can be a solution, but only if it's managed with confidence and honesty, say ThatGameCompany's Kellee Santiago and Robin Hunicke."
Gamasutra: Ninjabee's Top 10 Development Lessons
"Ninjabee's art director Brent Fox shared a top ten list of development lessons learned from releasing games on Xbox Live Arcade and other platforms, offering useful advice for other indie developers during his lecture at GDC's Independent Games Summit in San Francisco."
Gamasutra: A Brief Postmortem Of Today I Die
"In a short talk during the Indie Games Summit at GDC in San Francisco, Daniel Benmergui (I Wish I Were The Moon) discussed the process of making the game that put him on the map, and is an IGF Nuovo finalist this year, Today I Die."
Gamasutra: Refenes' and Saltsman's Baffling $350 App Store Success
"I absolutely hate the iPhone App Store,' declared indie developer Tommy Refenes during his segment of the Indie Game Makers Rant at Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this week."
GameSpot: Indie developers spew rapid-fire rants
"The Indie Gamemaker Rant session was an orderly procession of five-minute spiels from a dozen people with an interest in the independent development community."
Edge Online: Semi Secret Talk Canabalt, Flixel
"Semi Secret Software's Eric Johnson gave a candid post-mortem of their hit game at GDC's iPhone Game Summit, closing out by revealing that Flixel, the flash game API used to create Canabalt, is being ported to iPhone for native development, including an Actionscript to Objective-C translator to accelerate Flash to iPhone ports."
Boing Boing: How The Indie Fund Could Change Game Dev Destiny
"Opening the 2010 Independent Games Summit, 2D Boy co-founder Ron Carmel took to the stage to explain why the fund was needed, with Braid artist David Hellman illustrating the strange over-complex steamwork behemoth of traditional business models that no longer serve the indies best." Continue reading 
By IndieGames.com - The Weblog
 2D Boy's Ron Carmel calls relationships between indies and publishers "a system that never worked". At the Independent Gaming Summit at the 2010 Game Developers Conference, he explained why -- and further detailed the Indie Fund, a new alternative for independent games funding.
When software development began to be conisdered as an engineering field, design came before building -- the "waterfall approach", as Carmel says, involving big design documents that everyone scrutinizes before implementing. But in the 1990s, people realized that system is less than ideal, and agile practices emerged that emphasized iterative over upfront design.
This is not only easier but more cost-effective in both the short and long-term, Carmel points out. "I think we're facing the same kind of situation in the game industry today in comparing retail games to digitally-distributed games," he says.
What are the problems caused by this mismatch? For one, publishers give too much money; for digital games the budgets are much smaller (for example, 2D Boy's World of Goo had a budget of only $120,000.) Large budgets on smaller games are less efficient -- publishers not only invest too much, but they take too much in return, and the result is developer as "tenant farmer." Continue reading
By Simon Carless
 In this round-up, Gamasutra highlights some of the notable jobs posted in its industry-leading game jobs section this week, including positions from Sledgehammer Games, Crystal Dynamics and more.
Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly.
It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on online worlds, cellphone games, 'serious games', independent games and more.
Some of the notable jobs posted this week include:
Activision Minneapolis: Associate Producer
"Great games start with great people. Join Activision Minneapolis to help take some of the biggest brands in the business to the next level, our portfolio includes, Bakugan, Monster Jam, Cabela's, Rapala, iCarly and many more household names. We run a flat organization where innovation, passion, personal responsibility and individual contribution are valued and rewarded appropriately. If you are a success oriented, proven high achiever, we want to hear from you." Monolith Productions: Staff Software Engineer, Engine
"As a Senior Engine generalist you will work closely with the Game Team leads and the rest of your peers on the Core Technology Team to develop state-of-the-art runtime technology for the PS3, XBOX 360 and PC. Your domain will span the entire engine and your responsibilities will include both optimizations of current-gen systems and design and implementation of pivotal new technology for the next generation of consoles."
Rockstar North: Graphics Programmer
"Rockstar North, one of the world's leading video game developers, is a community of creative individuals from a variety of backgrounds. We are based in Scotland out of modern, spacious, purpose-built studios at the heart of Edinburgh. We develop original game titles and are proud to be the developer of the phenomenally successful Grand Theft Auto series. Rockstar North has been part of the Rockstar family since 1999."
Sledgehammer Games: TEA - Concept Artist
"Check out our brand new studio, headed up by industry veterans Glen Schofield as Vice President and GM and Michael Condrey as Vice President and COO, the leaders of the Dead Space franchise. They are joined at Sledgehammer Games by many award winning developers from across the industry. Sledgehammer Games is actively recruiting top industry talent to join their development team. Our studio based in sunny Foster City and is walking distance to plenty of restaurants and shopping, or one of our two free gyms."
Crystal Dynamics: Environment Artist
"Crystal Dynamics is an award winning, leading game studio located in the heart of San Francisco’s Bay Area. Founded in 1992, Crystal Dynamics has grown into a world class development studio by developing key franchises. Crystal Dynamics is poised to lay the groundwork for the next generation of innovative and technologically stunning projects. Want to be on the front lines of these brand new projects? We're hiring across all disciplines, apply today!"
To browse hundreds of similar jobs, and for more information on searching, responding to, or posting game industry-relevant jobs to the top source for jobs in the business, please visit Gamasutra's job board now. 
By IndieGames.com - The Weblog
In this round-up, Gamasutra highlights some of the notable jobs posted in its industry-leading game jobs section this week, including positions from Sledgehammer Games, Crystal Dynamics and more.
Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly.
It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on online worlds, cellphone games, 'serious games', independent games and more.
Some of the notable jobs posted this week include:
Activision Minneapolis: Associate Producer
"Great games start with great people. Join Activision Minneapolis to help take some of the biggest brands in the business to the next level, our portfolio includes, Bakugan, Monster Jam, Cabela's, Rapala, iCarly and many more household names. We run a flat organization where innovation, passion, personal responsibility and individual contribution are valued and rewarded appropriately. If you are a success oriented, proven high achiever, we want to hear from you." Continue reading
By Simon Carless
In this round-up, Gamasutra highlights some of the notable jobs posted in its industry-leading game jobs section this week, including positions from Sledgehammer Games, Crystal Dynamics and more.
Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly.
It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on online worlds, cellphone games, 'serious games', independent games and more.
Some of the notable jobs posted this week include:
Activision Minneapolis: Associate Producer
"Great games start with great people. Join Activision Minneapolis to help take some of the biggest brands in the business to the next level, our portfolio includes, Bakugan, Monster Jam, Cabela's, Rapala, iCarly and many more household names. We run a flat organization where innovation, passion, personal responsibility and individual contribution are valued and rewarded appropriately. If you are a success oriented, proven high achiever, we want to hear from you."
Monolith Productions: Staff Software Engineer, Engine
"As a Senior Engine generalist you will work closely with the Game Team leads and the rest of your peers on the Core Technology Team to develop state-of-the-art runtime technology for the PS3, XBOX 360 and PC. Your domain will span the entire engine and your responsibilities will include both optimizations of current-gen systems and design and implementation of pivotal new technology for the next generation of consoles."
Rockstar North: Graphics Programmer
"Rockstar North, one of the world's leading video game developers, is a community of creative individuals from a variety of backgrounds. We are based in Scotland out of modern, spacious, purpose-built studios at the heart of Edinburgh. We develop original game titles and are proud to be the developer of the phenomenally successful Grand Theft Auto series. Rockstar North has been part of the Rockstar family since 1999."
Sledgehammer Games: TEA - Concept Artist
"Check out our brand new studio, headed up by industry veterans Glen Schofield as Vice President and GM and Michael Condrey as Vice President and COO, the leaders of the Dead Space franchise. They are joined at Sledgehammer Games by many award winning developers from across the industry. Sledgehammer Games is actively recruiting top industry talent to join their development team. Our studio based in sunny Foster City and is walking distance to plenty of restaurants and shopping, or one of our two free gyms."
Crystal Dynamics: Environment Artist
"Crystal Dynamics is an award winning, leading game studio located in the heart of San Francisco’s Bay Area. Founded in 1992, Crystal Dynamics has grown into a world class development studio by developing key franchises. Crystal Dynamics is poised to lay the groundwork for the next generation of innovative and technologically stunning projects. Want to be on the front lines of these brand new projects? We're hiring across all disciplines, apply today!"
To browse hundreds of similar jobs, and for more information on searching, responding to, or posting game industry-relevant jobs to the top source for jobs in the business, please visit Gamasutra's job board now. 
|
