IGDA Newsletter - August 2003

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IGDA Newsletter - August 2003
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=============================
0: A Word From Kathy Schoback


1: IGDA News
- 25 GDC Europe Student Scholarships Awarded
- Ongoing Volunteer/Contribution Opportunities
- IGDA and the Tokyo Game Show
- Articles/Interviews Update
- Columns Update


2: Chapter Updates...


3: From the Wires
- Game Makers Aren't Chasing Women
- Arcade Addicts Joust With Past
- Violent Video Games: Jones vs. White Debate
- Are Games Good?
- France offers grants for games
- Justifying Academic Interest
- Educators Turn to Games for Help
- Japan Government Investigates Video Games
- Sega names new HitMaker president
- 25 Smartest Moments in Gaming
- Experts: Games industry faces major change
- Greece warned over gaming mess
- Afghan City Closes Video Game Store
- iDevGames Kicks off the uDevGame 2003 Contest
- To Kill an Avatar
- Regulating Video Games: Must Government Mind Our Children?
- Video games as teaching tools?
- Indies Show They've Got Game


4: Logistical Bits
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=============================
0: A Word From Kathy Schoback
=============================


Dear Members and friends,


Last month, I used the privilege of this "soapbox" to encourage members to
think about what you derive from your membership.


This month, the board of directors is beginning an initiative to answer the
second part of that question: what should be the focus of the IGDA?


The years since the organization's transition to a professionally-run
nonprofit have seen an upswell of activities under the IGDA umbrella. Any
developer with initiative and the desire to see a project done could jump
into the figurative sandbox and do good work within the current
organization's structure. We have also seen unprecedented membership growth.


However, the IGDA is now facing growing pains. While managing limited
resources is certainly one of our challenges, at a more fundamental level,
with so many initiatives having been sprouted it is difficult to tell what
the IGDA truly "stands for." Is it improvement of the craft? Agitating for
change in the industry? Working to set industry-wide standards? Or,
building social networks via chapters? We may be any number of these
things, but we're beginning to realize that we can't be all of these things
equally well.


This is where the board needs your guidance. Go to the online poll and tell
us what attributes you most associate with the IGDA. We will use that
"snapshot" of our collective self-image to help establish our focus for the
future.


http://www.igda.org/Forums/showthread.php?threadid=6358


As always, debates and anecdotal feedback to support your opinion is welcome.


With great appreciation -


Kathy Schoback
Chairperson, IGDA
Director of Product Operations, Eidos



=========================================
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==============================================



============
1: IGDA News
============


25 GDC Europe Student Scholarships Awarded
------------------------------------------
The recipients of the 2nd annual GDC Europe Student Scholarships have been
announced. The students represent a diverse range of disciplines and
cultures, and include students from Asia, Europe, North America and South
America. They will have access to seminars, panels and special events at
GDCE, Europe's premier conference exclusively devoted to video game
development and related activities.


http://www.igda.org/newsroom/press_080603.php




Ongoing Volunteer/Contribution Opportunities
--------------------------------------------
Various committees are still looking for volunteers and contributors. Check
out the volunteers page for details on the following opps:


- Online Games White Paper
- Funding and Assistance Resource Listings
- Quality of Life White Paper


http://www.igda.org/community/volunteers.php




IGDA and the Tokyo Game Show
----------------------------
The IGDA's Tokyo chapter is supporting the conference program of the Tokyo
Game Show, to be held September 26th. The chapter's coordinator, Kiyoshi
Shin, has worked with TGS to bring over IGDA board member alumni Graeme
Devine and David Weinstein to participate in lectures and a panel
discussing game development methods to survive in the global market. They
will be joined by Sega legend Yu Suzuki.


Check the TGS and IGDA Tokyo chapter websites for further details:


http://tgs.cesa.or.jp/english/tgs.html
http://www.igda.jp/




Articles/Interviews Update
--------------------------
The following articles and interviews have been added for the month of July:


- Article: Nuts and Bolts of Business Formation
by Aaron Gumbinger, Haas & Najarian
http://www.igda.org/articles/agumbinger_bizforms.php



- SIGGRAPH 2003 Summary Report & Pictures
http://www.igda.org/blogs/realitypanic/archives/000030.html



- SIGGRAPH Curricular Challenges and Opportunities Group Notes
http://www.igda.org/academia/IGDA_2003_SIGGGRAPH_EducatorsForum_Notes.pdf




Columns Update
--------------
Our monthly columns have been updated for August:


- The Ivory Tower:
Games and Rhetoric: a rhetorical look at gameplay
http://www.igda.org/columns/ivorytower/



- Famous Last Words:
Is a "Ten Percentery" Worth Ten Percent?
http://www.igda.org/columns/lastwords/



- Culture Clash:
Never Ending the Story - Is it time for new rules about replayability?
http://www.igda.org/columns/clash/



- The Games Game:
The Path to Designer
http://www.igda.org/columns/gamesgame/




==================
2: Chapter Updates
==================


Vancouver
Meeting, September > On Dilemmas in Video Games with Steve Bocska
http://www.igda.org/vancouver



DC & Vicinity
Meeting, August > Next Meeting: August 23- TeqCorner, McLean, Virginia
http://www.igda.org/dc/meetings.htm



New Jersey North
Report, August > August '03 - It's Not Dark Over Here
http://blender.rutgers.edu/~njigda/meeting_200308.shtml



Phoenix
Report, August > Meeting Report for 2003 August
http://igda-phx.org/resources.php?id=6



Toronto
Meeting, September > Next IGDA Toronto Social Event
http://www.igda.org/toronto/



Colorado
Report, September > MMOG Discussion and Networking Shmoozer
http://www.coloradogamedev.org/20030804.html



Portland
Meeting, August > August PAGDIG Meeting - Bravetree & Garage Games
http://www.pagdig.com/



Mexico City
Report, July > Minuta 2da reunión
http://www.igda.org/mexico/minuta2.php



Phoenix
Report, July > Meeting Report for 2003 July
http://igda-phx.org/resources.php?id=5



New Jersey North
Report, July > June '03: Stuff, Stuff and More Stuff
http://blender.rutgers.edu/~njigda/meeting_200306.shtml



North Carolina Triangle
Report, July > Game Audio at King's Barcade
http://www.igda.org/nctriangle/meeting_jul03.htm



Colorado
Report, July > Mini Discussion Groups
http://www.coloradogamedev.org/20030707.html



Portland
Report, July > June 2003 Meeting Report
http://www.pagdig.com/meeting02.htm




=================
3: From the Wires
=================


Game Makers Aren't Chasing Women
http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,59620,00.html



Arcade Addicts Joust With Past
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,59948,00.html



Violent Video Games: Jones vs. White Debate
http://justicetalking.org/viewprogram.asp?progID=414



Are Games Good?
http://www.msnbc.com/news/934628.asp



France offers grants for games
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3084677.stm



Justifying Academic Interest
http://www.buzzcut.com/article.php?story=2003072021145918



Educators Turn to Games for Help
http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,59855,00.html



Japan Government Investigates Video Games
http://www.gamepro.com/gamepro/famitsu/games/news/30159.shtml



Sega names new HitMaker president
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=dev&aid=1872



25 Smartest Moments in Gaming
http://www.gamespy.com/articles/july03/25smartest/



Experts: Games industry faces major change
http://www.geartest.com/sections/games/gamesindustry.html



Greece warned over gaming mess
http://www.gamespot.com/all/news/news_6072320.html



Afghan City Closes Video Game Store
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2910430,00.html



iDevGames Kicks off the uDevGame 2003 Contest
http://www.idevgames.com/content/article.php?id=131



To Kill an Avatar
http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/July-August-2003/feature_hunter_julaug03.html



Regulating Video Games: Must Government Mind Our Children?
http://www.cato.org/tech/tk/030624-tk.html



Video games as teaching tools?
http://money.cnn.com/2003/07/09/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm



Indies Show They've Got Game
http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,59728-2,00.html




==================
4: Logistical Bits
==================


Thanks to our Partners!
-----------------------
The IGDA extends its sincerest thanks to all our Partners! Without their
support the IGDA simply would not survive - let alone thrive.


Academy of Art College
Alias|Wavefront
Art Institute of California - San Diego
Butterfly.net
Charles River Media
Criterion Software
Digital Media Center at Seneca College
Digital Media Collaboratory at UofT at Austin
Discreet
Havok
Institute for Information Industry, Taiwan
Kaydara
Mary-Margaret.com
Microsoft Research
NDL
NXN Software
Quazal
Real Networks
SN Systems
Sun Microsystems
University of Abertay Dundee
Universirty of Derby
Virtools
Xbox Advanced Technology Group


Further details and a complete list of Partners are available online:
http://www.igda.org/partners




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-----------------
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Contact Information
-------------------
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