Text Version
February, 2010
IGDA Perspectives
This month’s Studio Profile features CGBot’s founder and industry veteran Segio Rosas.
Tell us about the game development community in Mexico.
The game industry in Mexico is in its infancy, and for the most part the talent is very green, but it is being fueled by a large and avid community of gamers.
Generally speaking, it is probably twenty years behind the United States and ten Years behind China. There are a handful of indie developers working on a variety of things from xbox live arcade to facebook games. There are some larger players, with headquarters outside of Mexico that have opened branch offices, like Gameloft in Baja California. Mexican universities are now starting to form video game curriculum, and I've worked with several of them. I think the Mexican game industry is headed for critical mass.
So, how long has CGBot been around?
Officially since January 2007, but I planted the seeds and started doing some research before that.
How many people are on your staff?
20
How many of those would you call game developers?
18 game developers, 2 administrative staff
What does "game developer" mean to you?
It means having passion for games and having the willingness to put a lot of hard work into making them.
What makes your studio different from any other?
It is unique. We’re the only outsource company in Mexico, that I’m aware of. Most art outsourcers doing what we do are in Asia, India, Europe, etc. This gives us a unique time-zone advantage when working with North American clients.
What can you tell me about the projects you are working on?
Everything currently in production is of course under NDA, but previous work that I can talk about includes: NFS: Undercover, Ghostbusters Wii, Vin Diesel's Wheelman. We're working on everything from next-gen console games to casual games like Facebook and iPhone.
What's the best part of your job?
Getting to work on something I'm passionate about.
What challenges do you face?
Well, the economy is taking a toll on the game industry in general, coupled with hiring and training new talent in order to grow CGBot.
What made you decide to get into Game Development?
To tell you the truth, I didn’t know that a career in games was a possibility. I was in college at Texas A&M studying architecture, messing around on 3D. My roommate told me, "I have a friend that should see your work." That friend turned out to be Richard Garriott.
What do you see as the future of the game industry?
For games, social networks. I think something like Facebook will be the future's game console. For game production, distributed development is key. I think more and more games will be produced by multiple teams coming together, each with their own expertise.
If you were going to give some advice to a new entry into the industry, what one thing would you say to them?
Focus on a high quality bar. There are a lot of people trying to get into the industry and competition is tough. You only get one shot to make a good impression. Once you're in, focus on the distinction between work and play. Sometimes, playing is your work and sometimes it's just playing. To have a long career as a developer try to reach a balance between work and play early.
Why is it important to be part of the greater game development community and how does IGDA help you connect?
In many ways the game industry is a small, tight-knit community, but it seems different studios work in different ways. You can learn a great deal from the experience of colleagues at other studios. The industry can also be very volatile, and knowing people at other game companies is never a bad idea. The IGDA helps to bring the game developing community together. Local IGDA happy hours really help when it comes to networking and catching up with old friends.
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FRONTLINES
Ross A. Dannenberg
Attorney
IGDA Perspectives recently spoke with Ross Dannenberg, Principal Shareholder at Banner & Witcoff Ltd. of Washington D.C.
Ross was recently named to the Steering Committee of the Intellectual Property Rights Committee. The Intellectual Property Rights Committee’s mission is to support the understanding and proper use and protection of intellectual property in game development.
What do you see as the future of the game industry and how will the legal community help define our future?
The fun part about the game industry is that it's very difficult to predict the future or where it's going. When a new technology is developed, the laws often don't catch up for years. As attorneys, it's our responsibility to makes existing laws work with new technologies (and vice versa) in a manner conducive to continued development and business success.
Describe your role as Steering Committee member on the IGDA Intellectual Property Rights Committee.
Well I'm new to the position so I'm still getting settled in. But it's not too unlike my position as Chair of the American Bar Association’s IP Section Committee on Computer Games and Virtual Worlds. We're advisors, coordinators, and thought leaders, and are a resource for committee members as well. We’re half sounding board, half activist.
What do you hope to accomplish?
I think one big item is to update the IP resources that are available to IGDA members.
What makes you excited about your involvement?
Before becoming an attorney I was in software development. It's great to stay involved with game development and find out what is coming down the pike—both from a business perspective but I also like finding out what the new games will be!
What's the most interesting trend you are seeing in Game Development?
Well there's always a latest trend. I’m currently fascinated by mob-based games, where decisions are made by the masses, and individual decisions are constantly beyond your reach. That, and I'm somewhat addicted to social gaming—from Mafia Wars to Xbox Live (my gamertag is just "Aviator"—I was in the beta test way back when).
Where do you go to get industry information?
I read various legal blogs (including my www.patentarcade.com), Gamasutra.com, wired.com, and just generally scan the news sites daily. I also monitor newly filed lawsuits on a daily basis.
What tools do you use to help you in your job?
My tools are very different from developer's tools. For example, I use RFCexpress.com to monitor video game lawsuits. Otherwise, as an attorney, it's pretty mundane stuff.
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to do what you do?
Don't expect success overnight, but don't give up either. I ran my blog for at least two years with very little acknowledgement before things started to happen professionally as a result. Then I was appointed to the ABA committee chair position, I started getting invited to speak at conferences, etc. It takes time to build something meaningful.
Why is the IGDA community important?
IGDA is a great resource and network. Even as we rely more and more on technology, never forget that business is based on personal relationships and an element of trust. IGDA provides a venue for building both.
Ross Dannenberg handles a wide-range of intellectual property issues, with experience in Internet, e-commerce, telecommunications, and computer software-related issues. With a background in computer science, Ross has prepared and prosecuted hundreds of patent applications in a variety of technical fields, including mobile and traditional telecommunications, computer software, video games, and Internet and business method inventions. He also has experience with intellectual property protection of video games, including patent and copyright protection, copyright clearance, and licensing, and has experience with entertainment, copyright, trademark and domain name related matters.
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Game Design Aspect of the Month
We are happy to announce the introduction of a new column: Game Design Aspect of the Month, or GDAM. Each month, game designers and other industry professionals offer their views on a particular game design issue. GDAM is currently edited by Sande Chen and Altug Isigan, founding members of the Game Design SIG.
January’s topic was Mechanics That Artificially Lengthen Gameplay. Please consider participating in GDAM by submitting an article for February’s topic, Emotive Games, or suggesting other topics.
Motivating Players in an Engaging Way (Part II)
In Part I, scholar Altug Isigan asks why not all motivational game mechanics are necessarily engaging and why they often feel like they are wasting our time. In Part II, he elaborates on how pure action can become a source of boredom and frustration if increasing tension is not taken into consideration.
The Boredom of Pure Action
Often writers and designers will confuse increasing tension with “pure action”. They will think that the more guns explode (the more swords are swung, the more people die etc...) the more tension we have. This is wrong. It is often the case that such scenes will only equal to progress in time, but as we've seen already, progress in time does not necessarily translate into a rise in plot. Actually in many cases it is an invitation to boredom and frustration. Consider the following example:
An ill-minded man with a butcher knife in his hand secretly enters the bathroom of a young woman which, unaware of all this, is taking a shower. With a sudden move the man opens the shower curtain and frantically stabs the young woman to death. Just as he is finished, he realizes that a neighbor, an old prostitute, has witnessed the scene. He immediately goes to the neighboring home and kills her. Just as he is finished, he realizes that another neighbor, a middle-aged nun, has witnessed the scene. He immediately goes to the neighboring home and kills her. Just as he is finished, he realizes that another neighbor, a young cheerleader, has witnessed the scene. He immediately goes to the neighboring home and kills her. Just as he is finished, he realizes that another neighbor, an old cleaning lady, has witnessed the scene. He immediately goes to the neighboring home and kills her.
We have a lot of “pure action” in this sequence. However, instead of giving a feeling of progress, after the murder of the first eyewitness the action feels like it marks time. The reason for this is that the action after the murder of the first eyewitness does not cause a rise in plot and brings stagnation to the story. The action causes progress on the horizontal axis (Time) only, but does not seem to contribute much to progress on the vertical axis (Plot). Expressed through a graphic, the storyline looks like this:
A lot of games seem to suffer from this problem. The repeating action does not contribute to a rise in the plot [1]. However, the problems that come when action does not help increasing tension get worse when the resulting stagnation is combined with a badly designed reward schedule. In that case, not just the story feels frustrating, but also the achievements that we unlock through repeated action fail to feel rewarding. This can have various reasons:
• the reward feels too insignificant or does not translate in any usefulness in regard to overcoming the game's challenge
• the system that prolongs to get the rewards feels arbitrary, inorganic to the conflict and/or biased towards the business model
• the reward is in a too far future and feels relatively insignificant because we can't see the immediate result of our actions.
Whatever the reason is, it is a very frustrating situation for a player since all action seems to be completely stripped from any meaning. In other words, failure in both increasing tension and meaningful/functional reward will be devastating for the player's experience and a sure way to see her quit playing.
Conclusion
Increasing tension is a very important quality of any good game. I tried to point out in this article how this quality requires player actions to be articulated under a causal chain that gradually brings more complexity to an initial problem. Motivational mechanics like reward schedules are an important part of games, however, their usefulness will be achieved to the degree the designer manages to shape them into a narratively compelling experience.
Notes
[1] The problem we describe here is not to be confused with another problem called 'weak story'. A weak story fails to produce tension because it fails to establish a conflict at all. Hence, the feeling that the story just marks time is there right from the beginning and lasts until the end of the story (if anybody ever plays it that far). Stagnation however can occur over certain sequences despite the otherwise very strong presence of conflict. The problem can be fixed by removing the scenes that cause stagnation. In the case of weak story however, the effort to fix the story must go into the creation of a stronger conflict, which is an intervention on a much more fundamental level.
Altug Isigan is a scholar at the Eastern Mediterranean University, Department of Radio-TV and Film, in sunny Famagusta, Cyprus, where he is writing a dissertation on narrative in games. You can read more of his work at his blog, the Ludosphere.
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An Emotion-Based Approach to Successful Game Design
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Famous Last Words
By Jim Charne, Attorney at Law
Composers’ Use Their Game Music for Demos
Dear Jim:
I have a question that's been bugging me for a while.
When a composer produces music and sells the full rights to a publisher, does the composer retain some sort of automatic right to post up a few tracks for demo purposes, for the
purpose of landing new work?
And is there some sort of legal limit to how long those demo tracks can be? (especially if the publisher is selling a soundtrack CD).
Game Composer
Dear Composer:
The first place to look when investigating rights is your contract with the game publisher (or developer if you were to be working as a free-lancer for a developer).
It is always a good idea when negotiating your deal to reserve the right to use segments of your work as demos for business development purposes – both on a demo reel and on your web site.
Some publishers will permit this, if it is requested by the composer or his or her lawyer, during contract negotiations. If the publisher does agree, expect some limitations.
For example, the consent may limit the number and length of the segments that may be used for demo purposes – especially if they are to reside on your web site.
The consent may permit streaming only – no downloads.
The consent may also prohibit your use of the work until after launch of the game. I believe this is reasonable because the publisher wants to control all aspects of the launch and pre-launch publicity.
If you cannot or do not negotiate these rights, however, all may not be lost.
The first thing to consider is to approach the publisher or developer and request permission to use the segments. If you are on good terms, there is a reasonable chance that permission will be granted. You have shown yourself to be a reliable and talented supplier. They may want to use you and your talents in the future. This becomes a relationship issue.
There is no reason for the publisher or developer to want to antagonize you over what is really a reasonable request.
But there is no obligation to grant your request. And if the request is denied, on the surface, no right exists for you to use the material.
Generally, music dev agreements provide that music deliverables are “work for hire” under United States copyright law.
Those words mean that, for copyright purposes, the publisher or developer is treated as the author of the work. As composer, you have given up all rights and claims for copyright purposes. Any unauthorized use of your work by you is an infringement of the copyright owner’s rights. Even though you are the composer, you are not the copyright proprietor.
Under these circumstances, a composer can be an infringer of his or her own work.
But in this circumstance, all is not necessarily lost.
United States copyright law provides for “fair use.” I regard “fair use” as the intersection of a copyright owner’s right to control use of his or her property, and the free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment.
Under certain circumstances, certain uses of someone else’s copyrighted work is permitted.
But “fair use” is both narrow and widely misunderstood. The issue is not simply whether a use is “non-commercial” or limited to “8 bars” or “5 seconds” any other objective measurable.
The copyright law sets four tests that must be applied to determine whether a use is a fair use.
These are:
1. the purpose and character of the use;
2. the nature of the copied work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the copied work; and
4. the effect of the taking upon the copied work's value.
It is always best to ask an experienced copyright lawyer to help with this frequently complicated analysis.
A good discussion of these the four tests can be found in wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use
One important consideration when relying on “fair use” is that it is a defense to a claim of infringement. The only time you would assert “fair use” is after you’ve been threatened with a claim, or worse, after a claim is filed.
So in the context of this discussion, I would hope that composers would use it only as a very last resort! It is not an absolute. A claim that a use is a “fair use” may fail!
A far better strategy is to think ahead when negotiating a deal in order to reserve rights to use music for demo purposes.
Failing that, requesting permission is a good strategy in maintaining the relationship with the publisher or developer.
But when all else fails, a fair use analysis may, in the end, provide the means for reproducing music for demo purposes.
Jim Charne practices law in Santa Monica, CA (www.charnelaw.com) where he represents developers, designers, composers and other clients in the games industry. Jim has been a frequent speaker at GDC, is active in IGDA from whom he received an “MVP” Award at GDC 2006, in 2010 will chair the Practicing Law Institute video game law segment the week after GDC at its annual Entertainment Law Symposium in New York, and is a member of the Advisory Board of G.A.N.G. Jim served as President of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences from 1998 to 2001.
Is there language in your contract that has you scratching your head? Found something confusing or worse? Send it to “Famous Last Words” for developer-oriented analysis.
Famous Last Words is intended for general educational and entertainment purposes and is not legal advice. Every situation and circumstance is unique. Anyone entering into a software-related contract should have an experienced lawyer who can provide counsel throughout the process.
©2010 Jim Charne. All rights reserved.
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QA SIG Topic of the Week Discussion
When things look down and your team is stuck in a bad place, what are some low-to-no cost ways to pull them out of it (improve morale, boost productivity, etc.)?
Chuck McFadden
Chocolate is the easy answer. You can never go wrong with chocolate.
In my experience, the vast majority of testers consist of core gamers: people passionate about videogames in all their forms. So, naturally, when I try to motivate them, I tie the motivations around videogames. For example, I would keep a grab bag consisting of recent game releases or videogame-related schwag in my office. Whenever a tester wrote up an important bug, the lead would send him/her over to pick from the grab bag. This encouraged the testers to research their bugs well enough to impress me (because I would have to agree that the bug was worthy of a grab bag pick), it empowered the leads to reward their testers on-the-spot for a job well done, and it fed into what testers are really passionate about: videogames.
I never made this a "serious" competition, as that would breed resentment and effectively break down morale. It was always seen as a friendly way to encourage the testers to do a good job. And, generally, they all appreciated it (even those who rarely earned a pick from the grab bag).
One company I worked at had a “bug 1000” tradition. Basically, every 1000th bug in a title's database would be written as a joke. Whoever landed the 1000th bug was allowed to be creative and write up a fictitious bug. The results were usually really entertaining. Of course, we'd keep the internal dev team aware of the joke so they didn't overreact when they saw the bug report. It got to the point where some actually looked forward to the joke bug as much as the testers did. Some of our testers would plan for days, pre-writing the bug in a Word doc in advance of the 1000th bug actually showing up. What made this such a good idea was it motivated the testers to write a good quantity of bugs (as they approached the 1000th bug, the daily bug counts would marginally rise) when the game already has so many reported bugs that the testers might otherwise find it difficult to find new ones. This isn’t to say that we encouraged quantity over quality, but it did play a role in keeping a healthy, productive balance between the two.
Another way to motivate your testers is to simply engage them. Don't treat them like numbers in assembly lines. Show respect for what they do and for who they are. For example, I like to spend time every day talking with the guys. We'll talk about videogames, usually. But, I'm sure you could talk with them about sports or . . . whatever. My only interests lie in videogames, so that's what I stick with. Recently, I whined about my inability to earn a tactical nuke in Modern Warfare 2 (I get sooo close!). But the conversations have been about the games they're testing and the difficulties of repeating a particularly evasive bug. I don't talk with them because I have some managerial motivational secret agenda: I just enjoy talking about videogames. But, I think they respond to the little chats. At the very least, it breaks the monotony of testing the same level for the 10th hour in a row while being less fattening than a bar of chocolate.
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A rose by any other name...
The game industry has opened up in a big way over the past few years. In addition to traditional PC and console platforms, we have new iPhone and browser based social games being released every day. These new platforms have the advantage of being relative simpler to develop for at least to the extent that they do not require a huge team of developers to create a successful game. As a result, there are more and more small studios making small games for a broader market. This is liberating for individual developers frustrated by being a small cog in the vast faceless machine that many of the largest studios have become. It is also a low barrier of entry into the industry for new teams wanting to make a living making games.
These expanding markets for games means that now instead of three or four thousand games coming to market every year tens or possibly even hundreds of thousands of game are being released annually. As is often the case, new opportunities bring with them new challenges. The one I want to address here is, “With all these games out there how can I be sure the name I pick for my game will not get me into hot water?”
The name used with a game is, in legal terms, a “Trademark.” Basically, a name used to identify goods (or services) in the market place. A trademark can be registered with various government agencies. But it is the use of the name in commerce that actually creates the trademark, not the registration. The registration allows the holder of the trademark to better enforce their rights. If the name you select for your game is already in use, you may well be forced to rename your game, pay the trademark holder a license fee for the right to continue to use their “mark” or fight it out in court in a effort to clear their claim in favor of yours. None of these are good options for a small studio looking to get a solid financial start.
As with many questions, the answer is,”It depends.” The cost benefit analysis is always something that should be taken into account. Ideally, a full commercial name search would be obtained and then analyzed by a qualified intellectual property attorney, who would then provide a written opinion letter as to the viability of the name before moving forward. A comprehensive search that includes the Federal, state, Domain Name and expanded common law databases, which includes, Dun and Bradstreet, Brands and Their Companies, Thomas Register, Library of Congress, News File, Domain Names and Digital Common Law - Internet Content reviewed by counsel could easily cost thousands of dollars. For a small company this may not be an option. But there is really no excuse for not doing a search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office [http://uspto.gov/] MobyGames, domain names and Google.
And when you are searching keep in mind that a trademark only applies within a specific class of goods or services. This means that if there is an auto shop, consulting firm or other business outside of the game industry that uses the name you are interested in, you are still most probably clear to use it. Also remember that it is the use of the name in connection with goods or services “in commerce” that triggers the trademark status. So, your internal use of the name or even an announcement that you intend to use the name on your game in the near future may not be sufficient to protect that name from use but another who gets their game to market first. The only way to secure a trademark in advance is my registering it with the Patent and Trademark Office under an “Intent to Use” status which gives you from six months to a few years to get your game to market while protecting the intended Trademark.
There is a great deal of information on trademarks available, from the simple to the arcane. This article I wrote several years ago entitled, “Just what are these games made of . . . legally speaking?” [http://www.gameattorney.com/gamearticle2.htm] might be a good place to start. It’s really a good idea for anyone who makes games - which are, after all, comprised entirely of intellectual property - to have a decent understanding of exactly what that means. It’s also a good idea to know who to go to for more information when you think you may be getting in over your head and close to the edge!
GL & HF!
Tom Buscaglia, The Game Attorney
www.GameAttorney.com
© 2010
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2009 Accessible Game of Year
Fully accessible mainstream games are the core mission for the accessible gaming movement. AbleGamers selects one game to represent the most accessible game of each calendar year. This year is no different, one video game stood out from the rest with accessibility options far beyond what most companies are willing to include.
AbleGamers is proud to present Bioware with the “2009 Mainstream Accessibility Award” for their smash hit “Dragon Age: Origins” with a score of 9.8 out of 10.
Dragon Age: Origins offers some of the most astounding accessibility options seen in any game this year. With only one accessibility complaint, Bioware far exceeded expectations for an accessible title. However, the relatively small font size was immediately addressed by Bioware, bringing the number of accessibility problems to zero.
"The Dragon Age team is honored to win this award. We try to appeal to as broad of an audience as we can and accessibility is certainly part of this effort. It makes me proud to have the game this well received by this community," said Dragon Age: Origins Executive Producer, Mark Darrah to AbleGamers.com.
News of the award spread quickly as one user, Templar Night from escapist Magazine, said “What makes this award better than gamestop or destructiod best game of the year award, is that this one taught me something.”
The following is a breakdown of the accessibility in Dragon Age: Origins:
• Multiple levels of subtitles - You are given the option of no subtitles, only subtitles, or subtitles plus ambient noise subtitles. In addition, even when selecting no subtitles as your option, the game places subtitles in the interactive cut scenes at the top of your screen.
• Extreme mobility options - Users can control the characters from multiple camera angles allowing for various play styles. Players can use the keyboard or both mouse buttons to control the cameras and the characters themselves. There are precise movements needed in some situations, but most actions are very forgiving and easily managed. Moreover, there is no need for a mouse sensitivity option and on-screen keyboards work perfectly.
• Colorblind friendly - With the addition of improved fonts, all status bars are easily read no matter the color impairment.
• Cognitive friendly - Perhaps the most underrepresented disability in mainstream games, cognitive impaired gamers can pause the action quickly and as often as necessary in the heat of the battle. Orders can be issued during the pause, allowing anyone to keep up with the game no matter the level of cognitive impairment.
• Extra accessibility - Ambient noises, subtle movements, clearly marked terrain, multiple levels of difficulty, and many other small accessibility options.
What makes this title so exceptional is the level of options given to the gamer to choose their level of accessibility. Options are the key component to adding accessibility without harming the overall gameplay of any title. As long as developers like Bioware continue to add accessibility in layers of options that enhance their gaming titles, disabled gamers will continue to be able to play great titles such as Dragon Age: Origins.
AbleGamers congratulates Bioware and the DA: O team on an outstanding video game, chocked full of accessibility and hours of fun.
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Los Angeles Chapter of IGDA Reboots;
1st Meeting Draws More than 100 for Panel Discussion, Networking
Los Angeles activities for IGDA members got a reboot recently, kicking off 2010 with a panel that took a look at the future of casual game market, estimated to be worth over $13.5 billion in 2010. More than 100 local members of the community turned out to network and find out!
A local steering committee had been meeting weekly since early December to demonstrate interest in applying formally for a charter for the LA Chapter. Meetings will now be held the second Thursday of each month, offering panels that will explore current industry topics and great opportunities for networking. At the first meeting, attendees could even win door prizes.
Chris Hood, Chair & Coordinator, IGDA-Orange County, and CEO, BooHag Studios, has been providing guidance to the LA Committee. Current steering committee members are:
• Belinda M. Van Sickle - President, GameDocs
• Dan Fish, Production Assistant, Tecmo; Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Jamison Selby, Senior Producer, TimePlay Entertainment
• Jeannie Novak, CEO, Indiespace; Lead Author & Series Editor, Game Development Essentials
• Josh Green, Assistant Project Manager, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
• Krissie Franco, Executive Vice President of Production, Hydrogen Whiskey Studios
• Louise Nemschoff, Owner, Nemschoff Law Offices; Entertainment Law Consultant
• Luis Levy, Account Executive, The Bohle Company
• Derek Asato, Vice President, The Bohle Company
• Mary-Margaret Walker,- Founder & CEO, Mary-Margaret Network
• Sharan Volin, Contract Game Programmer, Zero G Games
• Stephen Peacock, CEO, The Mad Peacock Consulting
• Sue Bohle, CEO, The Bohle Company
• Tom Sloper, Instructor, University of Southern California (USC); Mogul, Sloperama Productions
Local sites for meetings in the LA basin are needed! If you can volunteer or know about a location that can accommodate 100 – 150 people or more, please let us know.
The Steering Committee is also looking for meeting topics. If you have ideas, contact Jeannie Novak at jeannie@indiespace.com.
If you have suitable give aways for door prizes, just show up!
The Steering Committee is looking for more members. If you are interested in being a part of the local steering committee, running for the board, or are just willing to volunteer some time, occasionally, contact sue@bohle.com
Our thanks to the speakers for the first round table discussion titled, "Beyond Facebook and the iPhone: The Future of Casual Game Development." Panelists were:
• Quinn Dunki - Founder, One Girl One Laptop Productions
• Zack Ford - Co-Founder & CTO,Zero G Games
• Christopher Ulm - CEO, Appy Entertainment
• Cynthia Woll - Founder & CEO, Cul de Sac Studios
“With the tremendous rise in popularity of social networks and mobile applications, I felt it made sense to have some experienced members of that segment take a look at where the casual game market is going,” said Jeannie Novak, Indiespace, who organized and moderated the panel.
Rich Media Institute, Marina Del Rey, a contract development and production studio and space that can be rented for projects was host.
Social gatherings already in place for IGDA members will continue. Justin Lloyd, Chief Evolutionary Officer, Infinite Monkey Factory hosts an informal gathering monthly the first Wednesday of every month at Finn McCool's, 2702 Main St., Santa Monica, CA 90405. Contact Justin if you want to be included on his invite list: justin@infinitemonkeyfactory.com
If you would like to start a social gathering in your part of the region – and heaven knows we are spread out over many miles in Southern California, let a member of the steering committee know.
Join us. The plan is to grow the IGDA in Los Angeles, making the chapter a central force in advancing the careers of game industry professionals in our region.
We look forward to seeing you and being a part of the new IGDA Los Angeles!
Box:
Next Meeting, LA Chapter
Thursday - February 11, 2010
Time: 6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Topic: Why So Serious? The Truth About Game-Based Learning
Panelists:
Bjorn Billhardt, Chief Executive Officer, Enspire Learning
Kevin Perry, Director of Production, Alelo
Starr Long, Executive Producer, Disney Learning
Lucien Vattel, Executive Director, GameDesk
Location: Alelo
12910 Culver Boulevard, Suite J
Los Angeles, CA 90066
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So you made a kickass game, and you are ready to make some money. Now what?
• You may need people to register for accounts to play your game. This means users will give you their personal information.
• You want people to pay you. This may mean you will collect payment (e.g., credit card) information directly from your customers.
• You want good behavior from people who play your game, so you probably want to implement certain policies to ensure such conduct.
This article will discuss game-related privacy issues generally. Each situation is different and you should consider discussing privacy issues related to your game with your attorney. While the laws are often complex, there are industry safe harbor programs to facilitate your compliance. Understanding the laws is the first step to creating good online information privacy practices.
Legal Issues/Considerations
Having a privacy policy in place is essential. Not only is it required by law in some instances, your marginal consumers will actually read the fine print. A good privacy policy discloses what information is collected, how you collect it, and how that information is used (e.g., shared with third parties for advertising purposes.) If the game targets certain audiences (e.g., children), there are laws that specify what must be contained in your privacy policy, as well as what you can do with the data. The Federal Trade Commission Act and various state laws impose an obligation to take reasonable steps to protect personal information that is collected.
COPPA
If your game is geared towards children, your website’s privacy policy must comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (“COPPA”). Generally, COPPA requires you to (1) post a link to the site’s privacy policy on the homepage and everywhere personally identifiable information (“PII”) is collected, (2) in most instances, obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting PII from kids, and (3) give parents the choice not to have their child’s information collected or shared with third parties, as well as certain other obligations.
Foreign Law
Suppose your game becomes a worldwide phenomenon and is played by people around the world. In that fortunate case, the collection and use of personal information may be subject to strict laws in those jurisdictions. For example, the EU has more comprehensive laws that provide stronger protection of personal information than here in the U.S. Accordingly, your policy may need to be tailored to the non-U.S. audience.
People Issues
In-Game Considerations
Certain bad behaviors within the game concern privacy, such as account hacking, cheating, and scamming . You will need to design procedures and implement policies to address such bad behavior. Well-behaved users need a way to contact you to alert you of the naughty ones, and you need a method to consistently determine whether bad behavior truly happened (e.g., users can lie).
In addition, your game may provide users with the ability to generate their own content. You may want to consider a policy and agreement addressing the use and ownership of such user-generated content.
Abuse Outside of the Game
People-related privacy issues also abound outside of the game. You should probably educate your users regarding the management and protection of their passwords. If you provide a venue for your users to socialize with one another (e.g., bulletins, forums or chat rooms), you should make them aware of the risks involved in disclosing personal information in such public places and disclaim any responsibility for the use or misuse of information that users share publicly. On the flip-side, you need to make sure your internal security measures are appropriate and adequate to prevent any abuse or misuse of information by your internal team.
System Issues
Account Security
You will likely build security into the game to protect it against copying, but you should also build in security features to help players protect their personal information. Encryption techniques should be used when transmitting sensitive data and is even required by law in certain jurisdictions. If hackers access your servers containing users’ credit card information, you may be required by certain state laws to notify each and every person affected.
Passwords
Since a password is the key to accessing a player’s account and personal information, good password protection techniques are essential. Two-way authentication between game players and servers can protect players from sending their information to phony servers, and prevent the share of personal information to hackers. It is also good practice to re-authenticate players before to any password change.
Conclusion
Privacy should not be an afterthought. The first step is to put together a privacy policy, terms of use and end user license agreement (and not just copy and paste them from another website!). Ideally, your privacy needs should be considered at the design stage of development. There are plenty of good resources online, and a number of websites provide good samples. It is also a good idea to discuss your game site’s specific needs with a lawyer who can prepare policies specifically tailored to your game.
Amy Cano and Renee Reimonenq are attorneys in Nixon Peabody LLP’s Interactive Entertainment & Media practice, based in Los Angeles, California. If you would like to learn more about Nixon Peabody or Amy and Renee’s practice group or to discuss our favorite videogames, please feel free to contact Amy (acano@nixonpeabody.com or 213-629-6063) or Renee (rreimonenq@nixonpeabody.com or 213-629-6120).
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Austin Event
IGDA coordinated with several local and state organizations that support our industry to put on a networking event and briefly talk about what we offer to the studios. Each organization gave a brief overview of how they were currently supporting game development in Austin. The event was attended by studio leadership from the Austin area. A wide array of studios were in attendance, from the established to the new bootstrapper, each representing the exciting variety found in Austin's game development community.
On the panel Tony Schum spoke for the Austin's Chamber of Commerce, Jim Butler represented the City of Austin, Kristy Bowden from Digital Media Council, Jennifer Bullard from IGDA Austin, Lindsay Muse of South by Southwest's Screenburn and Leah Smith represented the Texas Film Commission. Each person gave a brief overview of what their organization did throughout the year to support the game development community and provided highlights to upcoming events. Studios were encouraged to get in contact with these individuals to find out more about the resources available to developers.
After the presentation we took questions and suggestions from the audience. The audience was grateful that we formed a "Jedi Council" on their behalf and work diligently in supporting the community. Amy Goldenburg moderated the Q&A session, answering the questions that came up and soliciting feedback from the community. It became evident that most people knew what IGDA Austin did, but were not completely aware of all the resources at their disposal.
The entire evening was a great success, from the networking event to the great suggestions during the Q&A and after. It was enlightening to discuss ideas for building the community and future events with several of the attendees. This is an annual event, allowing the studios to provide feedback on the past year's events, learn about new opportunities and give feedback to the organizations that work hard to develop and grow the Austin game development Community.
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Quality Assurance SIG
By Cat Wendt
The IGDA initiated an election formalization process for the SIGs, which have been given enough latitude to choose between several different methods (developed to make sure that each SIG could pick something that would fit their individual needs).
Our options were:
1. The SIG elects a chair directly. The chair will appoint steering committee members.
2. The SIG elects at least 3 steering committee members. The chair is then appointed by the elected steering committee.
3. The SIG elects a chair directly. The steering committee is comprised of the runners up.
We decided to test the waters by sending out a Topic of the Week (TOW) discussion request, asking the SIG members for their thoughts, feelings and concerns regarding each of the election methods. Once everyone had the opportunity to voice their opinions, we followed up with a survey in order to quantify the level of support for each option.
The vast majority of our members (87.5%) decided that they preferred to elect members of the steering committee, and then have the committee appoint a chair (option #2).
On January 12th, we sent a detailed email out to the SIG mailing list, describing the election timeline (call for nominations, deadline for nominations, date nominations will be posted to the SIG website, election start date, election end date, date election results will be announced and the date elected members will take office). The message also explained the requirements and qualifications for nominees, the expected time commitment required for nominees and a description of how to apply.
In the coming weeks, we expect to process the nominations. Ideally, we'll be able to move on to posting the nominations to the QA website as planned. However, in the event that there are issues with the applications or there aren't enough nominees, we'll consult with the IGDA leadership as well as our SIG members to decide how to proceed.
We've made a point of communicating frequently with the IGDA leadership and passing along information to the SIG throughout this process. Regular email updates are being sent out to keep everyone aware of upcoming deadlines, and any changes in the proceedings. I believe this has helped our members better understand the elections process and feel that we've kept things sufficiently transparent. Though holding elections for the very first time has been a bit cumbersome, I feel confident that we're helping to improve things for our SIG long-term.
What's the goal of the QA SIG?
To elevate the awareness of QA as part of the development process, improve and standardize QA practices, create a community for QA people (or those responsible for getting QA into the game creation process) to get together and work out the issues that affect them most. For more information on becoming a member of the QA SIG please visit: http://www.igda.org/qa
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Announcements
We have recently sent out notices regarding two important IGDA programs and one quality of life issue that should be of interest to our community. If you have not had the time to review these announcements, please do so at the below links.
Healthcare
http://www.igda.org/igda-health-care-program-announcement
Lifetime Membership
http://www.igda.org/lifetime-membership-0
Rockstar Concerns
http://www.igda.org/igda-regarding-overtime-concerns-rockstar-san-diego
Autodesk at GDC 2010 - Live from the AREA or in San Francisco
See the latest in Autodesk digital entertainment creation solutions and get inspired by the work and insight of leading visionaries in game development. Learn how Autodesk products and workflows can help you:
* Carry your vision through the production process
* Raise the creative bar
* Improve production efficiency
Learn more: http://area.autodesk.com/gdc2010
Autodesk Education Summit @ GDC
Autodesk will be hosting the Autodesk Education Summit, taking place on Tuesday, March 9th (starting at 530pm) during the 2010 Game Developers Conference, where educators are invited to learn about our products and programs, and be inspired by leaders in the game industry. Special guests will include speakers from Double Helix, Fundi 3D and HP. For more information, or to reserve your spot, please email Jennifer.goldfinch@autodesk.com
India Game Developer Summit
The highly individualistic nature of the Indian Software Developer, coupled with their tolerance for divergent personalities make them a natural fit into the Game Development culture. With the mission to build a robust community and spur the careers of Game Developers, Saltmarch Media, producers of the blockbuster Great Indian Developer Summit, is announcing the first and independent annual India Game Developer Summit (IGDS): http://www.gamedevelopersummit.com/ . IGDS features outstanding educational sessions, powerhouse speakers, and a multitude of opportunities for vendors and solution providers. Through its diverse tracks, focuses on covering industry leading methodologies in game development, design, production, programming, visual arts and writing. If Gaming is in your grain, then IGDS is for you. To avail of a special 50% discount on the delegate registration fee use code "EBIGDA10". A special 30% discount is available for vendors looking to leverage the sponsorship and expo opportunities at the show. Send an e-mail to jasmind@saltmarch.com for more details.
Calendar
February, 2010
Casual Connect Europe 2010
Hamburg, Germany
February 10, 2010 to February 12, 2010
Christian Game Developers Conference Winter Retreat
Yamhill, OR, United States
February 25, 2010 to February 27, 2010
India Game Developer Summit 2010
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
February 27, 2010
March, 2010
Game Developers Conference® 2010
San Francisco, CA, United States March 09, 2010 to March 13, 2010
Women in Games 2010
Bradford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
March 25, 2010 to March 26, 2010
PAX East
Boston, MA, United States
March 26, 2010 to March 28, 2010
Defense GameTech Users' Conference
Orlando, FL, United States
March 29, 2010 to March 31, 2010
April, 2010
International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU)
Valencia, Spain
April 07, 2010 to April 10, 2010
International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies (WEBIST)
Valencia, Spain
April 07, 2010 to April 10, 2010
Indie MMO Game Developers Conference (IMGDC)
Las Vegas, NV, United States
April 09, 2010 to April 11, 2010
Game Play: A Juried Exhibition of Game
Omaha , NE, United States
April 12, 2010 to April 21, 2010
Nordic Game 2010
Sweden
April 27, 2010 to April 29, 2010
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More focus on Value, and YOU!
The IGDA has been changing a great deal over the last several months, and you can expect to see a continued focus on member needs in 2010. In the coming year we will be working hard to increase the value of your membership. Our Webinar Series has been very well received, and we intend to expand it for 2010. We have 6 webinars scheduled over the next 3 months, and I have a lot of fantastic people looking at their schedules for opportunities to speak regarding the newest trends in our industry.
In addition, our Elections Process is progressing well. There are 5 open director positions, and over a dozen excellent candidates. Be on the look out for more information shortly. Please take some time, even if you have never voted in the past, and carefully review the candidates, and select those that best represent you. Spend a few minutes googling these folks or emailing/calling fellow members (or the candidates themselves) to see what you can learn. The Board of Directors represents you, so please do your due diligence and select those candidates that will make this organization stronger.
We are also focusing our presence at GDC this year. We will be hosting more SIG Discussions and Roundtables than ever before, including meetings and small events at the IGDA Booth. The current schedule is up on the IGDA website, and will continue to be updated with new information as it comes out. We are also looking at new and exciting options for the party to see that the networking and fun of IGDA membership is enhanced.
The IGDA Healthcare Program is off and rolling, and there are some early success stories from individuals and studios. While some of the successes have been economic, much of the success has been in the ability to find plans that provide exactly the options needed: domestic partner coverage, small studio coverage, preexisting conditions included (or excluded in some situations), etc. We have also had a few challenges that have been addressed in a professional manner by the AHP staff. If you haven't called to find out what it could mean for you, I encourage you to do so. The website is: http://www.associationpros.com/assoc/igda/index.php
or call: 888.450.3040.
We have greatly tightened the number of communications coming to you, specifically via email. The IGDA is working hard to respond to member feedback, while balancing our desire to remain transparent about the activities and actions occurring within the organization. We are employing many more Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter feeds than before. We are also looking at the possibility of streaming the annual meeting.
Also in response to member feedback, we will launch a new program in February: Quickie Surveys. Now the IGDA is launching a quick monthly survey (less than 10 questions) to gather up responses form the entire community. We will then aggregate and present them in the monthly newsletter. Please take a moment out of your busy day to respond to the surveys and remember to review the results. If you have any ideas you want to submit, please send them over to me.
We are about to lock in our dates and locations for the 2010 Leadership Forum. We also have our first Keynote lined up (though I won't spoil the surprise), and the call for papers will come out directly after GDC this year. The response to the Leadership Forum has been so positive; we have considered an East Coast US meeting, or possibly a Canadian or Mexican meeting of a similar nature. I am looking into these options as well as additional, smaller, regional meetings, provided we can secure partner underwriting to keep the cost at a reasonable price point.
We understand the need for a strong and rapid advocacy position on the part of the IGDA. As a whole, we need to also understand that the IGDA is very inclusive as an organization, and represents many types of members and viewpoints. Thus our Advocacy group has again formed, and is being headed up by Rodney Gibbs. They will be working on developing positions for the IGDA on everything from violence and sex in games to consumer and developer rights. By creating these positions and making them available to members for comment and response, we will be able to more rapidly respond to issues such as the claims against studios for excessive overtime, or press inquiries about anticipated games that launch with potentially concerning issues being addressed in the game. Please keep your eye out for these positions as we make them, and feel free to comment on them. We invite your participation in the process.
You are the most important aspect of the IGDA, and I look forward to continuing to serve in 2010. Your input is always welcome at joshua@igda.org.
GAME ON!
Joshua Caulfield
Executive Director
IGDA
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IGDA Core Values
These core values are the IGDA's essential and enduring tenets. They are timeless guiding principles that require no external justification; they have intrinsic value and importance to the IGDA and its members.
Community
Professionalism
Expression
Innovation
Impact
Leadership
Fun
MEMBERSHIP
Membership in IGDA is vitally important as it helps the association build three interrelated areas which directly support the industry and all who work within:
Community * Professional Development * Advocacy
CURRENT MEMBERS:
• Refer a colleague/friend
• Renew annually
• Volunteer your talents
• Update your profile
• Join a SIG
• Become active locally