============================ IGDA Newsletter - April 2005 ============================ ================= Table of Contents ================= 0: A Word From Jesse Schell 1: Members-Only Party at E3 - Must RSVP... 2: IGDA Forms Dedicated Group for Mobile Game Developers 3: IGDAwiki - a sandbox for game developers 4: Game Writers' SIG - Call for Volunteers 5: New articles/lists/etc: Sex, retail myths, scholar reports... 6: Columns Update 7: Chapter Meetings/Reports x: Logistical Bits & Subscription Info ================= =========================== 0: A Word From Jesse Schell =========================== Dear Members and friends, Each year, most of us look forward to E3 with a combination of excitement and dread. We know it is often a hideous death march towards marketing hype, cut corners, and inhuman crunch times - everything we hate about games. At the same time, it is a spectacular celebration of innovation, excitement, and passion - everything we love about games. One thing is certain: the game industry wouldn't be the game industry without the bizarre mix of bitter and sweet that is E3, and the IGDA will be there to celebrate: All IGDA members are invited to our annual members-only party at the Hotel Figueroa on Tuesday May 17 from 6-10pm (more info below). If you've been putting off joining or renewing, this awesome party is a perfect excuse to sign up today! I look forward to seeing you there. - Jesse Schell Chairperson, IGDA Asst. Professor of Entertainment Technology, Carnegie Mellon University CEO, Schell Games ******************************************** ** Ad: Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) ** ******************************************** 17-20 May, Los Angeles, California, USA E3's 2005 conference and workshop program offers unique opportunities for face-to-face interaction with game industry leaders in technology, business strategy and marketing in an environment created especially to help you put your ideas into motion and reach your goals faster. Whether you're a designer, manager or strategist, we have sessions covering a wide variety of topics designed to be of great interest and value to you. Register now to take advantage of early bird prices. IGDA members enjoy a 20% discount. http://www.e3expo.com/ ******************************************** ========================================== 1: Members-Only Party at E3 - Must RSVP... ========================================== The IGDA is happy to announce our second annual "members only" party at E3. With so much of E3 focused on the media and retailers, we want to give actual game developers a chance to connect, chill out and have some fun. All IGDA members are invited, but RSVPing is required before May 11th: http://www.igda.org/events/rsvp_e3party_05.php Details: Tuesday, May 17th - 6pm to ~10pm Hotel Figueroa (Club Fes & Room Tangier) 939 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles Food and drinks will be served. Ambient beats will be provided by FR33SONICK. Must be an IGDA member. Must RSVP. Must be 21+. No exceptions. As space is limited, no guests are permitted. Full details and RSVP are online: http://www.igda.org/events/rsvp_e3party_05.php This party is sponsored by: - GameJobs.com - http://www.gamejobs.com/ - Mary-Margaret.com - http://www.mary-margaret.com/ - Korea IT Industry Promotion Agency - http://software.or.kr/ ******************************* ** Ad: German Pavilion at E3 ** ******************************* The German American Chamber of Commerce welcomes you to visit the German Pavilion in Kentia Hall, booth #6015. Come to learn about one of the leading countries in the entertainment industry and its companies. Press conference scheduled on May 18th, 2pm (bottom part of 515B). http://www.e3.german-pavilion.com/ ******************************* ======================================================== 2: IGDA Forms Dedicated Group for Mobile Game Developers ======================================================== In response to industry growth and attention, the Mobile Game Development Special Interest Group (Mobile-SIG) has formed to offer an independent and balanced knowledge source for developers. The Mobile-SIG will serve as a balanced voice for developers, publishers, researchers and aggregators of mobile games, offering a shared ground for industry-wide views, collaboration and experimentation on development, limitations and opportunities in the mobile games sector. In the next few months, the Mobile-SIG plans to issue a new online e-zine focusing on successful game launches, marketing of games and opportunities and challenges observed in current projects. SIG work is already in motion on a series of whitepapers on new technologies, value chain relationships and the differences in fixed and mobile development studios. For more info and details on how to get involved, check out the Mobile-SIG site: http://www.igda.org/mobile =========================================== 3: IGDAwiki - a sandbox for game developers =========================================== "IGDAwiki" is the IGDA's all-purpose wiki. The primary goal/function of IGDAwiki is to facilitate collaboration among the various IGDA groups (ie, special interest groups, committees, chapters, etc). The open and collaborative nature of wikis provides a highly functional space for teamwork, etc. As a secondary, more long-term goal, we hope that IGDAwiki can serve as a shared space for game developer collaboration and an open repository for industry knowledge. Registering an IGDAwiki account is open and free to all IGDA members and registered users. Simply log into your MyProfile page - http://www.igda.org/membership/myprofile.php - and click on the "enable wiki account" link. This will set up your IGDAwiki account and enable you to log in and contribute to IGDAwiki. IGDAwiki is read-only for anyone who has not enabled their wiki account. http://www.igda.org/wiki/ ========================================== 4: Game Writers' SIG - Call for Volunteers ========================================== The Game Writers' SIG has big goals and a lot to do, and is looking for volunteers from the professional game writing community to get involved. The SIG has two over-arching goals: - Improve industry exposure and conditions: get the word out to game companies about what game writers do, what their value is and how to best use them. - Provide resources to writers: help out writers working in the industry, or those interested in it, so that they can do their best work. Jump online to review the SIG's current iniatives and add your name to the list of volunteers on a project: http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/GWSIG_Current_Initiatives ================================================================ 5: New articles/lists/etc: Sex, retail myths, scholar reports... ================================================================ A bunch of random updates, articles and listservs have spawned in the wake of GDC... - Quality of Life Summit Report and Proceedings http://www.igda.org/qol/IGDA_2005_QoLSummit_Proceedings.pdf - Mailing List: Sexuality and Games http://www.igda.org/censorship/sexuality.php - Article: Fallacies and Myths of the Retail Channel http://www.igda.org/articles/hhalpin_retail.php - Mailing List: Game Education/Training http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_edu - Mailing List: Diversity in the Game Industry http://www.igda.org/diversity/ - Student Scholars report on GDC05 experience http://www.igda.org/scholarships/reports_gdc2005.php ================= 6: Columns Update ================= Monthly columns have been updated: Famous Last Words ----------------- "It's a Big World Out There!" http://www.igda.org/columns/lastwords/lastwords_Apr05.php Culture Clash ------------- "They Shoot Aliens, Don't They? - Fixing industry xenophobia" http://www.igda.org/columns/clash/clash_Apr05.php The Games Game -------------- "The l33t Speaketh" http://www.igda.org/columns/gamesgame/gamesgame_Apr05.php The Ivory Tower --------------- "Seniors Gaming: An interview with Mihai Nadin" http://www.igda.org/columns/ivorytower/ivory_Mar05.php =========================== 7: Chapter Meetings/Reports =========================== Complete list of chapter reports and upcoming meetings: http://www.igda.org/chapters/updates.php Melbourne Meeting, May 4 > Next Chapter Meeting http://www.igda.org/melbourne New York City Meeting, May 2 > Hi-res vs. Lo-res Graphics: A Game Design Debate http://www.igda.org/nyc/debate.html San Francisco Meeting, April 26 > 4orty2wo Entertainment on I Love Bees, ARGs and video games http://www.igda.org/sf DC & Vicinity Meeting, April 21 > Social Event at Dave & Busters http://www.igda.org/dc/meetings.htm Colorado Report, April 4 > Indie Game Development http://www.coloradogamedev.org/20050404.html Seattle Report, March 24 > Quality of Life and the Future - Evan Robinson http://www.igda.org/seattle/reports/03_2005r.htm Ottawa Report, March 24 > Business Meeting http://www.igda.org/ottawa/ North Carolina Triangle Report, March 23 > Rainbow Six: Lockdown Event a Success http://www.igda.org/nctriangle/summary.htm ================== x: Logistical Bits ================== Newsletter Subscription ----------------------- You can update your newsletter subscription details via your MyProfile page: http://www.igda.org/membership/myprofile.php If you need help, contact us. Thanks to our Partners ---------------------- The IGDA extends its sincerest thanks to all our Partners! Especially those who just joined us, or recently renewed their commitment to support the game development community: - GameJobs.com - Hybrid Graphics - IBM - ionForge - Korea IT Industry Promotion Agency - Mary-Margaret.com - SN Systems - Sony Computer Entertainment America - University of Derby - Web Technology Corp. Without their support the IGDA simply would not survive - let alone thrive. Further details and a complete list of Partners are available online: http://www.igda.org/partners Contact Information ------------------- Please contact us if you have questions, comments or input: http://www.igda.org/contact.php RSS Feeds for IGDA News and Chapter Updates ------------------------------------------- The IGDA web site has RSS feeds for IGDA news (eg, org announcements, committee work, etc) and chapter updates (eg, upcoming meetings, event reports). Those using RSS readers can point to: IGDA News: http://www.igda.org/igda_news_rss.php IGDA Chapter Updates: http://www.igda.org/igda_chapters_rss.php ------- - end - -------