=========================== IGDA Newsletter - July 2002 =========================== =============================== 0.0 A Word From the Chairperson 1 IGDA News 1.1 SIGGRAPH 2002 - the IGDA Presence 1.2 GDC Europe Coming Up Fast... 1.3 New Sponsors & Studios Support IGDA 1.4 Chapter Updates & News 1.5 New Site Content: Event Reports, Legal Column, Member Profile 2 From the Wire - ELSPA Investigator Talks on Pirate Raids - Paper on Male Dominance of Game Playing & Development - Games Produced by Hate Groups on the Rise - Japanese Study Finds Negative Correlation Between Playing Games, Brain Activity - Nintendo Cleans Up America - The Pirates of WarCraft III - FTC Follow-Up Report on the Marketing of Violent Entertainment to Children - Write to Your Congressperson - Cool School: Games and Shopping 101 - Female Animators Discuss Female Characters - Video Games Sales to Top $31 Billion in 2002 - Game Appreciation: Love of Pac-Man, Game History and Art - Dance Dance Revolution Used in Gym Class - GDC 2003 Call for Abstracts - Electronic Games Banned in Greece 3 Events, Benefits & Services Update 3.1 Updated Member Benefits 3.2 Upcoming Events 4 Logistical Bits 4.1 Thanks to our Sponsors and Partners! 4.2 IGDA Registration 4.3 Contact Information ======================================== =============================== 0.0 A Word From the Chairperson =============================== Dear IGDA Members and friends, Summer months always pass by so quickly, and many of you will be narrowing in on those fall releases. I can't wait to play some of those games, so hurry up! :-) It's been a busy month for the IGDA as well, if you caught the ABC Nightline report last week on video game violence, you would have seen Jason Della Rocca, our program director, representing our industry voice. Although much of it was edited, I'm proud that the IGDA can serve as such a voice for you all. If you joined or renewed your membership (and what better reason to join than for getting your voice heard) this month, you'll be amongst the first to get our new membership card. Now you're card-carrying members! This will be a year-long process, so bear with us! Finally, I'm sure some of you are down in Texas for SIGGRAPH too. Remember to stop by the IGDA stand and say hello! More importantly, there are two game industry oriented sessions we're holding down there that should be on your "must attend" list. Read on below for details. See you in 30! Graeme Devine Chairperson, IGDA ================ 1 Community News ================ 1.1 SIGGRAPH 2002 - The IGDA Presence ------------------------------------- The IGDA will be hosting two sessions during the upcoming SIGGRAPH conference: "The Fate of Play: Game Industry Revolutionaries Speak Out" and "Game Development, Design, and Analysis Curriculum". The IGDA will also have a small stand in the lobby area of the convention center for membership and chapter info. SIGGRAPH has set up a handy link for game developers with all the content they deem "must see": http://www.igda.org/Endeavors/Events/events.htm#siggraph http://www.siggraph.org/s2002/gamescontent/ 1.2 GDC Europe Coming Up Fast... -------------------------------- GDC Europe is fast approaching (August 27th to be exact). The IGDA will be hosting an Academic Day to further developer-academic relations and look into such topics as curriculum, games and learning, and research initiatives. The IGDA will also be involved in several "classic" sessions on business topics, etc. Finally, don't forget that all IGDA members receive a 10% discount when registering. All the info is online: http://www.igda.org/Endeavors/Events/events.htm#gdce http://www.gdc-europe.com/ 1.3 New Sponsors & Studios Support IGDA --------------------------------------- The IGDA is proud to announce that two new Studio Affiliates have signed up: Sega Development Studios and Carbon 6 Entertainment. Also, a new batch of sponsors have recently pledged their support for the association: Microsoft Research, Havok, Mary-Margaret.com. And both NXN and Alias|Wavefront have renewed their sponsorships recently. While the bulk of the IGDA's funding continues to be caring developers, it is truly encouraging to see these studios and sponsors understand the importance of the work being done and supporting those efforts. 1.4 Chapter Updates & News -------------------------- Many IGDA chapters have had meetings in the past month or so, with several providing great summary reports: - Tokyo developers heard from the creators of ICO: http://www.igda.org/Chapters/tokyo/Seminar/2ndseminarEng.htm - Amsterdam hosted an event for the local students: http://www.igda.org/Chapters/amsterdam/meet_your_industry.htm - Boston had a BBQ at Steve's: http://www.igda.org/Chapters/boston/boston_summary_Jun02.htm - Industry legend Derek Smart came to speak in South Florida: http://www.igda.org/Chapters/miami/miami_summary_Jun02.htm - Montreal had a casual event in the sun: http://www.igda.org/Chapters/montreal/montreal_summary_Jun02.htm - Lithuanian developers met up for a second time: http://www.igda.org/Chapters/lithuania/report01.htm - Paris discussed artificial intelligence: http://igda.paris.free.fr/paris/chapter_report_jun02.htm Many chapters (such as Seattle, North West UK, San Jose, Utah, Houston, Malaysia, Switzerland, and others) will hold meetings in the coming weeks. Check the Chapter Calendar for dates and details: http://www.igda.org/Chapters/chapters_calendar.htm 1.5 New Site Content: Columns, Event Report ------------------------------------------- - New "Miller Time" game dev column: this month, Scott talks about the importance of writing and biz terminology: http://www.igda.org/Columns/millertime.htm - New "Famous Last Words" legal column: this month, Jim talks about cash flow problems: http://www.igda.org/Services/Legal/lastwords/lastwords.htm - A Visit to "Game On": The First UK Exhibition to Explore the History of Video Games - read the summary report: http://www.igda.org/Endeavors/Events/events_gameon2002.htm =============== 2 From the Wire =============== ELSPA Investigator Talks on Pirate Raids http://www.igda.org/About/Press/news_item.php?nid=401 Paper on Male Dominance of Game Playing & Development http://www.igda.org/About/Press/news_item.php?nid=400 Games Produced by Hate Groups on the Rise http://www.igda.org/About/Press/news_item.php?nid=399 Japanese Study Finds Negative Correlation Between Playing Games, Brain Activity http://www.igda.org/About/Press/news_item.php?nid=398 Nintendo Cleans Up America http://www.igda.org/About/Press/news_item.php?nid=396 The Pirates of WarCraft III http://www.igda.org/About/Press/news_item.php?nid=395 FTC Follow-Up Report on the Marketing of Violent Entertainment to Children http://www.igda.org/About/Press/news_item.php?nid=394 Write to Your Congressperson http://www.igda.org/About/Press/news_item.php?nid=393 Cool School: Games and Shopping 101 http://www.igda.org/About/Press/news_item.php?nid=392 Female Animators Discuss Female Characters http://www.igda.org/About/Press/news_item.php?nid=391 Video Games Sales to Top $31 Billion in 2002 http://www.igda.org/About/Press/news_item.php?nid=390 Game Appreciation: Love of Pac-Man, Game History and Art http://www.igda.org/About/Press/news_item.php?nid=389 Dance Dance Revolution Used in Gym Class http://www.igda.org/About/Press/news_item.php?nid=387 GDC 2003 Call for Abstracts http://www.igda.org/About/Press/news_item.php?nid=386 Electronic Games Banned in Greece http://www.igda.org/About/Press/news_item.php?nid=385 ======================================== A word from our sponsor: Alias|Wavefront ======================================== As the world's leading innovator of 2D and 3D graphics technology, Alias|Wavefront develops software for the film and video, games, interactive media, industrial design, and visualization markets. Games customers include Core Design, Electronic Arts, Factor 5, LucasArts Entertainment, Nihilistic Software and Westwood Studios, among others. Find out more at http://www.aliaswavefront.com/maya/. ======================================== ==================================== 3 Events, Benefits & Services Update ==================================== 3.1 Updated Member Benefits --------------------------- - IGDA Membership Card All new and renewing IGDA members will now receive a membership card. Expect to receive your membership card within a month after renewing/sign-up. Not only is the card a symbolic representation of being part of the community, but we will leverage the card during events like GDC, at local chapter meetings and so on. You can view a test example online: http://www.igda.org/images/card.jpg 3.2 Upcoming Events ------------------- SIGGRAPH http://www.siggraph.org/s2002/ 21 -26 July, San Antonio, TX IEMA Executive Summit http://www.executivesummit.com/ 23-25 July, Dana Point, CA Computers and Games http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/%7Ecg2002/ 25 - 27 July, Edmonton, Canada National Conference on Artificial Intelligence http://www.aaai.org/Conferences/National/2002/aaai02.html 28 July - 1 August, Edmonton, Canada Assembly http://www.assembly.org/ 1-4 August, Helsinki, Finland ELT Labs/IC2 - Game Development Workshops http://www.eltlabs.org/workshop/index.htm 1-3 August, The University of Texas at Austin Game Developers Conference Europe (10% member discount) http://www.gdc-europe.com/ 27-29 August, London, UK ECTS http://www.ects.com/ 29-31 August, London, UK ================= 4 Logistical Bits ================= 4.1 Thanks to our Sponsors and Partners! ---------------------------------------- The IGDA extends its sincerest thanks to all our sponsors and partners! Without their support, and the continued backing from the developer community, the IGDA simply would not survive - let alone thrive. Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP Alias|Wavefront Gamasutra.com Gama Network GameDev.Net Game Developer magazine Game Developers Conference GIGnews.com Intrinsic Graphics Jostick101.org Mary-Margaret.com Microsoft Research Get more info online: http://www.igda.org/About/Sponsors/sponsors.htm http://www.igda.org/About/Alliances/alliances.htm 4.2 IGDA Registration --------------------- Your support is critical to the success of the IGDA, and our industry. Our membership is made up of programmers, designers, artists, producers and many other development professionals who see the importance of working together to advance games and game development as a craft. There are dozens of reasons to join the IGDA, ranging from personal career advancement to more lofty industry-wide goals. What are you waiting for? Join today! http://www.igda.org/Membership/membership.htm Or refer a friend to win prizes: http://www.igda.org/Membership/Referrals/referrals.htm 4.3 Contact Information ----------------------- Contact our membership coordinator if you have questions, comments or input. Liz Wakefield IGDA membership coordinator liz@igda.org