=========================== IGDA Newsletter - July 2007 =========================== ================= Table of Contents ================= 0: A Word From Mitzi McGilvray 1: Latest issue of Casual Games Quarterly 2: IGDA Leadership Forum: Early Bird Deadline, + Tim Schafer 3: LinkedIn Private Group for IGDA Members 4: Event Action: Sandbox, AustinGDC, VWF, Leadership, FuturePlay, E3, etc 5: Columns Update 6: Chapter Meetings/Reports x: Logistical Bits & Unsubscribe Info ================= ============================== 0: A Word From Mitzi McGilvray ============================== Happy Summer, Last week I attended Casual Connect in Seattle. This conference brought back some great memories of how the game industry used to be in the late 1980's. The venue was small and intimate. There was no "glitz". Modest tables were draped with a banner noting the name of the company they represented. Each table was staffed with *real people* who actually worked for the company. There was not a booth babe to be found anywhere at the conference. Best of all, it was great meeting up with old friends, and making new friends. This conference gave me a fantastic trip down memory lane, realizing that casual gGames really are the closest we'll get to "the good old days". Small, close-knit teams with modest budgets and where every member of the team *must* contribute or the game will not finish on time. Miss a date even by a few days and your competition will scoop you. This intimacy is about to go. Big companies have started pouring real dollars into the "Casual Entertainment" business as it is considered a growth area in our industry with a forecasted $13 billion dollars of revenue in 2011. The dynamics are about to change drastically. Where does that leave us? Well, only the future will tell. If you'd like more information about the casual games space, be sure to check out the amazing resources of the IGDA's Casual Games SIG at http://www.igda.org/casual/ Best Wishes, - Mitzi McGilvray Chairperson, IGDA VP Casual Games, TikGames ************************************************* ** Ad: WIGI-Austin Conference - "She Got Game" ** ************************************************* Women in Games International is teaming up with the Austin Game Developers Conference to present the WIGI-Austin conference, entitled "She Got Game," scheduled for Saturday, September 8, 11am to 5pm at Austin Convention Center. WIGI-Austin will explore both the past and present experiences of the women working in our industry, as well as a bigger discussion about the current state of the industry, and where it appears to be headed. Keynote speaker is Dona Bailey, creator of the Centipede video game, one of the first video games to incorporate artificial intelligence. Register online today: http://www.womeningamesintenational.org/ ************************************************* ========================================= 1: Latest issue of Casual Games Quarterly ========================================= From the Editor: In this issue, Steven Davis introduces a conceptual framework for designing networked multiplayer games, Kenton White makes a case for casual games developers getting a bit more serious, James Smith gives us an overview of the titles that have led the market over the past quarter, and Jason Akel interviews Exent Technologies' Yoav Tzruya. We're also happy to bring you part 2 of Kane Minkus' article on communicating with your sound designer. Finally, we close the show with a post-mortem of Virtual Villagers, from Last Day of Work's Arthur Humphrey. http://www.igda.org/casual/quarterly/2_3/ (Note: due to a tech glitch, this news is being posted a bit later than it should have. Sorry.) ============================================================ 2: IGDA Leadership Forum: Early Bird Deadline, + Tim Schafer ============================================================ The early bird pricing deadline for the IGDA Leadership Forum (November 8-9, San Francisco) is fast approaching. To save $50 on the registration price, be sure to register before the August 1st deadline. http://www.igda.org/leadership/ The Leadership Forum is focused on advancing the state of the art in game production and management, and will feature two complimentary tracks: The Production Track will focus on the nuts & bolts of game production, while the Leadership Track will address advanced team management and motivation techniques. In addition to great industry leaders and production gurus like Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk (BioWare), Don Daglow (Stormfront), Mike Capps (Epic Games) and Jamie Fristrom (Torpex Games), legendary game designer Tim Schafer (Double Fine Productions) has been added to the line up. Full program and speaker details are at: http://www.igda.org/leadership/?page_id=3 The IGDA Leadership Forum is made possible by the kind support of: - Autodesk - http://www.autodesk.com/ - Electronic Arts - http://www.ea.com/ - Hansoft - http://www.hansoft.se/ - NPD - http://www.npd.com/ ========================================== 3: LinkedIn Private Group for IGDA Members ========================================== The IGDA has set up a private group for members at the popular social networking site, LinkedIn. Joining the group will allow you to find and contact other IGDA members on LinkedIn. The goal of this group is to help members: - Reach other members of IGDA without the need for a network reference - Accelerate careers/business through referrals from IGDA group members - Know more than a name ­ view rich professional profiles from fellow IGDA group members If you are a member, you can use this URL to join the private LinkedIn group: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/3268/698CF17E5C35 So far, nearly 700 IGDA members have joined the private group! If you are not a member, you must first become an official member of the IGDA, the request to join the group. ========================================================================= 4: Event Action: Sandbox, AustinGDC, VWF, Leadership, FuturePlay, E3, etc ========================================================================= Member discounts at upcoming events and related event action include: - 2007 Intel Game Demo Contest running until August 15 - 10% member discount at Develop in Brighton (July 24-26) - $100 member discount at Sandbox Symposium in San Diego (August 4-5) - $25 member discount for Austin GDC (September 5-7) - 15% member discount for Virtual Worlds Forum in London (October 24-25) - $45 member discount for IGDA Leadership Forum in San Francisco (November 8-9) - $50 member discount for FuturePlay in Toronto (November 15-17) Full discount details and links available online: http://www.igda.org/events/ Also, check out the trip "report" from the executive director's visit to the new E3: http://www.realitypanic.com/archives/319 ================= 5: Columns Update ================= Monthly columns have been updated: Famous Last Words ----------------- "The 'Bugger Off' Agreement" - On intentionally one-sided publisher agreements http://www.igda.org/columns/lastwords/lastwords_Jul07.php Culture Clash ------------- "Stupid People Tricks - Foot + mouth + industry" - Looking at the need to be smarter in handling mainstream press http://www.igda.org/columns/clash/clash_Jul07.php The Games Game -------------- "Summer Job Scams" - Don't get suckered into paying for a job http://www.igda.org/columns/gamesgame/gamesgame_Jul07.php =========================== 6: Chapter Meetings/Reports =========================== Complete list of chapter reports and upcoming meetings: http://www.igda.org/chapters/updates.php Japan Friday, September 28 > CEDEC 2007 site open! : CESA Developers Conference http://cedec.cesa.or.jp/ Michigan South Saturday, July 28 > Xbox Live Arcade - what it takes and 2007 InterFace Conference http://www.igda.org/smichigan/ Silicon Valley Friday, July 27 > July Pizza Social at Kapp's! http://www.siliconvalleyigda.org/ Salt Lake City Report, July 10 > Petz Vet Localization Postmortem http://www.igda.org/slc/jul07mr.htm Austin Report, June 29 > Summer Picnic Reports http://www.igda.org/austin/archives/2007/06/igda_summer_pic.html Seattle Report, June 21 > An Evening with Xbox Live Arcade and Microsoft Live http://www.igda.org/seattle/reports/06_2007r.htm Montreal Report, June 12 > The Birth of Boogie http://www.igda.org/montreal/archives/2007/06/the_birth_of_bo.html ================== x: Logistical Bits ================== Unsubscribe/Subscribe to Newsletter ----------------------------------- You can unsubscribe or 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: - A K Peters - AMD - Austin Community College - Flashpoint Academy - Korea IT Industry Promotion Agency - Reachin Technologies - SimGame Exchange 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 - -------