March IGDA Perspectives - Text Version A Conversation with Juan Gril Studio Manager Joju Games Juan Gril heads the production at Joju Games. Joju produces Casual Games for web, PC downloads, consoles and mobile platforms, and for clients such as MTV Networks, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Playfirst, and RealArcade. Previously, and as one of the first members of the Yahoo! Games team, Juan was the lead producer for the downloadable games area and community manager of multi player games. In the last year of his tenure at Yahoo!, Juan was the head of Yahoo! Games Studios. Juan is one of the editors of the IGDA Casual Games White Paper, an advisor at the Casual Games Association, and is a frequent speaker at industry events. Juan holds a BFA in Electronic Media from the University of Illinois. So, how long has Joju Games been around? We've been around for almost 5 years now. I founded the company in June of 2005. How many people are on staff? We are 16, composed of programmers, artists, and game designer/producers. How many of those would you call game developers? All of them! I wear a lot of hats, including HR, Admin and Business Development, but basically we are a group of artists working together. What does "game developer" mean to you? An artist who creates games, regardless if they do the design, the programming, the art, or the sound. What makes your studio different from any other? We are one of the few studios who run a virtual office. In other words, we don't have a physical space. Each member of Joju Games works from home, and we use online tools (such as Google Docs and Skype) to keep in touch all day. We've been doing it for 5 years, and our clients don't notice the difference. What can you tell me about the projects you are working on? We mostly focus on Online Games. And we do build games for all kinds of people, from children to the elderly. As an example, we just completed two really different games: one is an arcade platformer for Sarah Silverman (Jam Banned), full of comedy and funny moments. The other is a building simulation in 18th century France (The Palace Builder), with a look and feel like a Baroque painting and the story is a romance novel similar to Jane Austen's books. What's the best part of your job? Definitely when you get a game out and you hear or read that people like it. What challenges do you face? Keeping yourself fresh, and being able to come up with new ideas all the time. Also, running a company requires you to do a lot of work that is not related to game design or development, so sometimes I wish somebody would do the other job for me! But it's also key to keeping yourself lean and not over expensed in order to keep yourself in the black at all times. What made you decide to get into Game Development? I wanted to create videogames since I was little. There wasn't any other thing I would do. And I was fortunate enough to get to make them. What do you see as the future of the game industry? The toughest part of being in games, and specially in online games, is that the business models and technologies change every few years, and that affects the types of games you do. It's not like in other mediums where their business model and technology has been almost the same for decades. The online world is helping disseminate a lot of games which would have never seen the light before. And this is more a wish than a prediction, but I wish that the majority of the audience migrates to open platforms, and closed platforms with gatekeepers will just die. Lastly, I wish all I would have to do to start playing a game is paste a URL or click on a link (thankfully we are going in that direction). If you were going to give some advice to a new entry into the industry, what one thing would you say to them? There are very few jobs in this industry for those who don't want to be the best in life at what they do. Be prepared to be very competitive and be the best. Why is it important to be part of the greater game development community and how does IGDA help you connect? IGDA provides resources for sharing information, as well as the means for game developers to gather and learn from each other. _____________________________________ The IGDA @ GDC: Schedule of Events http://www.igda.org/igda-gdc-2010-schedule-glance _____________________________________ IGDA at GDC Thank you to our Sponsors Accredited Language Services Autodesk Focal Press Jones & Bartlett gamedev.net GameSpy Valve Westwood College the igdA is pleased to acknowledge the invaluable support that the aforementioned sponsors have provided in support of our activities at gdC. _____________________________________ AK Peters Ad Stop by the A K Peters booth (#1017) at GDC March 11–13 Mention this ad and save an extra 10% on already discounted books _____________________________________ The International Digital Entertainment Agency, LLC, (IDEA) was launched with the mission of providing corporate strategy, business development and strategic communications services that enable international interactive entertainment and digital media companies to commercialize their ideas and achieve their business goals. With an initial focus on games, animation, and visual effects companies, the agency is headed by interactive entertainment industry veteran, Sean Kauppinen. So Sean, how long has your agency been around? We started the agency in July 2008 and have had a 100% retention rate of all clients since we have begun. How many people are on staff? There are only a handful of full-time people on staff, but we work with a core team that extends our capability in finance, strategy, operations, design, etc. I'm amazed at the talent we have and have access to. What do you do to support game developers? We provide guidance and feedback on business models, funding and finance, help developing their business development outreach efforts, and we work on their brand, marketing and communications strategy. It's like hiring an advisor, agent, head of business development, marketing and communications all in a one stop shop. What does "game developer" mean to you? A game developer is anyone creating interactive entertainment, regardless of the platform. What makes your agency different from any other? I think the biggest difference is the clients we work with. We are pretty selective and work with a group of great studios that are not just incredibly talented, but they are also the people you want to go to battle with. We choose to work with each other. The people who run the studios we work with are great people that are honest, and above all incredibly talented with solid businesses. It makes it easy to do a good job. There's also the unique range of services we offer as well as our access to some of the top people in our industry, which I know can also be beneficial. But, ultimately it comes down to the make-up of the company and the people involved. We spent plenty of time working with people and companies just because they could pay the bills in previous companies and agencies. Now we work with people and companies that we believe in and we want to be successful. What can you tell me about the projects you are working on? (As an agency, we don't tend to have anything we can publicize that we are working on, but I can say that the studios we are working with are phenomenally talented and have titles in development that we are dying to play! What's the best part of your job? My favorite part of the job is sharing in the excitement of a studio and the great games they create, and helping them achieve their goals. It's also pretty exciting and rewarding getting to spend time with people that you respect and really want to spend your time with. It makes this the best job in the world. What challenges do you face? I think the biggest challenges are rising development costs and the industry's interest sometimes in the lowest possible price. It makes it hard when you are representing studios with great value propositions and experience that aren’t just based on cost. The intangibles like character, honesty, quality, performance, and on budget and on-time delivery are all things that will start to get more attention and respect as the requirements for products evolve. What made you decide to become active in IGDA? I've been a member since 2000 when I was heading up marketing at bleem! And the reason is pretty consistent. I believe there needs to be an organization that represents the interests of the independent developers. Although I'm not a developer, I feel that I have done a lot of work to further independent studios and I hope to continue to contribute to the cause. Without a strong representative organization it's impossible to achieve the goals of recognition and respect for the industry beyond our peers. Everyone should be a member! What do you see as the future of the game industry? I'll predict that while social games are pretty hot right now, we're going to see a shift to a little bit deeper gameplay. With FarmVille and Mafia Wars introducing what I like to call "fail forward" gameplay, where no matter how bad you do, you still gain experience and progress, I think consumers are going to want a little more gameplay. Not World of Warcraft, or core level gameplay, but I think we'll see a lot of interest in what I'm calling "Mid-core gaming" - between current social games and existing MMOs. People want to see progress and feel a sense of achievement in 30 minutes or less and they don't want grind, at least in the mainstream. That's what gameplay needs to deliver to retain and grow the social audience. For more than that, I would recommend you visit the Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum 2010 in Hong Kong where I'll be talking about gaming prediction for 2020. If you were going to give some advice to a new entry into the industry, what one thing would you say to them? Learn how to manage your cash flow and treat your studio like a business. Also, be professional and conservative in your business. Companies that are successful in the games business tend to not take big risks. Why is it important to be part of the greater game development community and how does IGDA help you connect? The exchange of ideas is incredibly important so that we can all learn from each others' mistakes, and successes. The IGDA is a great group with a lot of potential to provide creators with experienced feedback on their companies, designs, and decisions. _____________________________________ Focal Press Ad l e a r n • m a s t e r • c r e a t e >> w w w . f o c a l p r e s s . c o m Technical information resources for computer professionals >> w w w . m k p . c o m _____________________________________ Famous Last Words By Jim Charne, Attorney at Law Publisher’s Further Use of Developer’s Tools and Tech Dear Jim: Our publisher is letting us retain ownership of our tools and utilities. But it wants to be able to reuse them for other games. How should we handle this? Proud of our Tech Base Dear Proud: One of the achievements of persistent negotiation practices over the past 15 years or so is that it is now generally accepted that developers should keep ownership of their tools and tech. It wasn’t always that way. Early game dev deals demanded transfer of all code to the publisher. And “all code” meant “all code” – even developer’s tools and tech. Only by pointing out to the publishers that they would be getting the benefit of previous dev work at no additional cost – did publishers begin to relent on their demands of full ownership of everything – at least in the tools and tech area. And, of course, it was another battle (still raging on some fronts today) to hold onto ownership of enhancements and advancements to tools and tech made during development! But with developers retaining these rights, dev contracts must convey sufficient rights in tools and tech in order for publishers to be able to publish their games without infringing on developer’s rights. This is generally handled through a licensing provision. While the game, and related assets, may be developed as “works-made-for-hire” with ownership and copyright authorship flowing to the publisher, tools and tech are generally licensed. That license is the subject to negotiation in every game dev deal. The publisher wants the broadest rights possible. Those rights would certainly include use of tools and tech in add-ons, ports, localizations, downloadable extra content, sequels, and maybe other games. Those rights also include the right to provide the licensed tools and tech to any third party developer working on any of the above. It is in developer’s interest to significantly narrow these rights. It is appropriate for publisher to be able to use developer’s tools and tech, but only to the extent it is integrated into the gold master game code deliverable, and only in binary (object code) form (no source code made available for reuse). No rights need be granted to elements of developer’s tools and tech that may be used by the developer in the lab, but are not part of the game. And the grant of rights should be clear that there is no requirement to provide support to any third party developer, and that developer’s reps and warranties covering the tools and tech should no long apply if any of the code is modified by any third party or by Publisher. It is possible that modifications could result in the code infringing upon a patent, for example. In negotiating the tools and tech license, I also believe that there is no reason to grant free rights for use in sequels or other products. If the publisher loves your tools and tech and wants to use it down the line, a separate license fee or royalty arrangement should be worked out. The only reason why there would be interest in reusing developer’s tools and tech is because it can short-cut development. That has monetary value. A license fee and/or royalties are appropriate. And if you accept a royalty, be sure it starts from unit one, and not after recoupment of monies paid to another developer! After all, how many games ever recoup (answer: very few!). If you can make such a deal, expect there to be a requirement that you provide reasonable support to the third party developer who gets your tools and tech. That support obligation is one way a publisher can justify paying the license fee and/or royalty. If rights are granted that permit the publisher to provide tools and tech to a third party, be sure that the tools and tech are included in the definition of Confidential Information in your publisher development agreement. Be sure also that before your material is provided to the third party, that it sign an NDA with the publisher that names your company as a third party beneficiary of the NDA. Being a third party beneficiary permits you to enforce the terms if your information were to be improperly used or disclosed. In negotiating license terms for use of developer tools and tech in additional products, I’ve seen license fees as high as $600k, and royalties as high as 4% from the first unit sold. Of course, this all depends on the nature of the tools and tech, and the size of the project for which they would be used. Even though it is common for publishers to want these rights, it is not so common for them to be used. My experience is that developers prefer to use their own tools and tech; there is greater familiarity in using one’s own tools. But having these rights gives the publisher the comfort that if it were to need to reuse code, or gain access to the tools and tech used for the game, that there is a clear path in which to do so. 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. _____________________________________ The Future of Social Games Creating Emotions Through Play-Character (Part I) In Part I of this article, graduate student Nick LaLone considers Johan Huizinga's notion of play-character as a pathway to invoke emotions in games. Video games most often use single person events to create emotion. Some examples here are Death of Aerith in Final Fantasy 7, Permanent Death in Steel Battalion, Modern Warfare 1's Nuke Sequence and subsequent single person death. However, a successful event in profit-driven capitalist societies means that you get one shot at it. After that shot, the reproduction of that event becomes nearly ubiquitous. The death of the pure romantic interest, huge dramatic loss of innocent lives, and other circumstances all become part and parcel of the video game, while many of these reuses add something or take it away (Nuke sequence replaced with killing civilians, etc). In short, all successful events quickly become rationalized, predictable, and a safe way to generate revenue. Invoking emotion becomes procedure. Now, why do things become procedure? First, like all fields of competition, companies have to do what others do in order to even out the playing field. Second, It requires enormous amounts of research to find a new way to generate emotion in a way that will make players want to buy your game. However, there is another mode of eliciting emotion that many people do not cater to. We will call this mode by a term familiar to most ludologists: "play-character". The idea of the play-character comes from the book Homo Ludens by Johan Huizinga. He defines the play-character in an abstract fashion: It is through this playing that society expresses its interpretation of life and the world. (47) What he means here is that the way we play is the way society interprets the world. To play is to tap into the play-character, to play is to interpret life. Huizinga continues saying that as culture continues, “the original relationship between play and non-play does not remain static” (47). Essentially, the play-character, culture’s interpretation of “life and the world” is constantly in motion. In monetary terms, tapping into this is to reach an abstract portion of society that has moved on; to find a way to make money on the past. For, while the play-character ebbs and flows, this play-character is only viewable after it has long since regressed or changed. We typically call this the spirit of the age and tend to block it off in decade form. Nick LaLone is a graduate student working on an MA at Texas State University-San Marcos. When the video games are turned off, Nick can be found writing about modernization theory, gender, and social media. His work on these subjects with regard to video (and board) games can be found at www.beforegamedesign.com. _____________________________________ Steam Ad steampowered.com Visit us at booth no. BS512 at the Game Developer Conference. _____________________________________ Jones and Bartlett Publishers Phone: 1-800-832-0034 | Web: www.jbpub.com Meet Eric Lengyel and Have Your Copy Signed Friday, March 12th 2:00-3:00 PM Stop by the IGDA Booth Game Engine Gems VOLUME 1 Game Engine Gems brings dozens of new articles from leading software engineering professionals together in a single volume. Each “gem” in this book presents a previously unpublished technique related to game engines and real-time virtual simulations. Specific topics include rendering techniques, shaders, scene organization, visibility determination, collision detection, audio, user interface, input devices, memory management, artificial intelligence, resource organization, and cross-platform considerations. Visit the companion Web site to see a complete table of contents with contributors at: www.gameenginegems.com Series Editor: Eric Lengyel ISBN-13: 978-0-7637-7888-0 An IGDA Partner Program MemberVisit Us at Booth #1843 _____________________________________ Arkadium, IDGA and Local No.12 Come Together To Bring a Massively Multiplayer Social Game to GDC 2010 BackChatter, the open source social game, lets players’ bet on popular tweets during the conference San Francisco, CA – March 9, 2010 – Arkadium (http://www.arkadium.com), IGDA (http://www.igda.org) and Local No.12 (http://www.localno12.com) today announced the launch of BackChatter at GDG 2010, March 9-13, 2010. BackChatter tests players’ trendspotting and industry smarts by challenging them to anticipate what the most tweeted topics of the conference will be. To get started with BackChatter players follow the game with the tweet “follow bcgame” once and then direct message their predicted topics before each session begins. More detailed information is available at www.backchattergame.com. “While there have been Twitter games launched in recent months, the platform has been primarily used as a way to market games, not play them,” said Eric Zimmerman, Local No.12 game designer and co-author of Rules of Play. “BackChatter is a Twitter-native game that uses the platform both as the field of play and the mode of interaction. It’s a new way to play.” In BackChatter, players place bets on words that they predict will be popular in tweets about GDC. Points are scored every time someone else tweets those words, with the added twist that the value of the word decreases when more people predict the same trend. The players that score the most points each round and across the entire game win prizes such as $100 gift certificates. “Conference attendees expect GDC to offer more than just run of the mill sessions. BackChatter turns the conference itself into one large social game experiment” said Kenny Rosenblatt, CEO of Arkadium. “We are excited to be working with Eric again and to see how the game plays out.” For almost a decade, NYC developer Gamelab created large-scale social games designed for GDC. Now that the company has shut its doors, Gamelab co-founder Eric Zimmerman has joined forces with Mike Edwards, Colleen Macklin, and John Sharp to continue the tradition of GDC game experiments. They call their collaboration Local No.12. Local No.12 is open-sourcing the code for BackChatter. This means that anyone will be able to create and host a BackChatter game for any conference. BackChatter is being released as an open source project under GNU GPL 3.0 and Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 licenses. Together, these allow other developers to run the game, expand the game as they keep their versions under the same licensing agreements. For more details, visit www.localno12.com. About Arkadium Arkadium is a premier game solutions developer for the casual game and advergaming markets. The company’s growing archive of Flash-based and custom game solutions currently reach millions of people through some of the most popular online destinations and corporate branded sites on the Internet. For more information visit: http://www.arkadium.com. About the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) The International Game Developers Association is the largest non-profit membership organization serving individuals that create video games. The IGDA is committed to advancing the careers and enhancing the lives of game developers by connecting members with their peers, promoting professional development, and advocating on issues that affect the developer community. For more information on the IGDA, please visit www.igda.org. About Local No. 12 Local No.12 is an experimental game collective. Veteran designers and technologists, the members of Local No.12 came together to invent new forms of emergent social play. Members include Mike Edwards, a programmer with a background in design and anthropology who serves as research faculty at Parsons the New School for Design; Colleen Macklin, designer and coder who teaches and runs the social game lab PETLab at Parsons; John Sharp, a graphic designer and game designer who teaches at Savannah College of Art & Design in Atlanta; and Eric Zimmerman, independent game designer and co-author of Rules of Play. See our BackChatter postmortem at South By Southwest a few days after GDC ends. More info: www.localno12.com. PR contacts: IGDA: Joshua Caulfield, Joshua@idga.org, 856-423-2990 Arkadium: Michael Volpatt, Michael@larkinvolpatt.com, 415-994-8864 Local No 12: Eric Zimmerman, e@ericzimmerman.com, 917-554-0214 _____________________________________ GameSpy Ad 1:30 Moscone South Hall #300 VISIT OUR BOOTH ON THE SHOW FLOOR Booth #1124 Moscone South Hall Get more information online at www.poweredbygamespy.com ATTEND OUR GDC SESSION ON OPEN GAMING March 11 @ 1:30 Moscone South Hall #300 _____________________________________ gloBAl gRoWtH SuRpASSeS expeCtAtioNS MARKet updAte: MARCH 2010 After a terrific rebound in 2009, worries over the banking sector, sovereign risk, and the Chinese tightening of credit helped set in motion a global selloff in equities during January and February. Riskier assets were especially hard hit and underperformed for the month. Credit default spreads widened as concern about the Greek government’s ability to tame its deficit and finance its debt spurred investors to scoop up insurance on sovereign debt. By February those concerns had spread to the debt of Spain and Portugal and prompted efforts among European officials to calm markets. In an unprecedented move, on February 11 a summit of European lenders pledged “determined and coordinated action if needed” to preserve stability in the European Monetary Union. Greg Clarke Managing Director Bill Stade CFp, CRpS Managing Director – Retirement Planning the CS Wealth Management group Capitol Securities Management, inc. 7918 Jones Branch Drive – Suite 800 McLean, Virginia 22102 703.821.2010 ext 436 cswealthmgt.com capitolsecurities.com Despite the return of risk aversion, global growth has continued to surpass expectations in every part of the world. In January, manufacturing soared, a development that bolstered the hopes for an even stronger recovery as factories ramped up production to meet stronger demand. The World Bank raised its forecast for 2010 global growth to 2.7%, from the 2% rate it had forecast in June, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) upped its own forecast to 3.9%. Even so, the IMF warned that managing post-crisis growth has been complicated by the divergence among advanced and developing economies. As government and central bank stimuli are removed, we believe growth will be driven increasingly by developing nations, which have shown export growth as well as increased internal demand. _____________________________________ Image Metrics Ad New Software from Image Metrics: Launching at GDC booth #1910 _____________________________________ Do You Have Employees? What You Need To Know About Wage And Hour Law. (Part One) By Dale A. Hudson In the past ten years, there have been tens of thousands of lawsuits filed against employers, large and small, alleging that the employer has not complied with applicable wage and hour laws. In many cases these lawsuits have been successful because the employer had not fully understood the technical requirements of the applicable laws. In other cases, employers may have been aware of the laws but felt that compliance would put the company at an disadvantage relative to competitors, who were not in compliance. In either case, the litigation has been an expensive learning experience for the employer. Prudent employers, even small employers, would be wise to learn the rudiments of wage and hour law before they find themselves embroiled in protracted and expensive litigation. With this truism in mind, we offer a primer on wage and hour law. Employment issues specifically within the games industry have been very newsworthy in the last few years. In addition, more than a few lawsuits relating to employment have impacted the game development community. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) establishes minimum wage and hour standards that apply to any employees engaged in interstate commerce, and to all employees of employers who engage in interstate commerce and have gross sales of at least $500,000. In addition, many states have adopted their own wage and hour rules, and the FLSA specifically permits states to impose more stringent rules. The result is a confusing hodgepodge of overlapping and inconsistent laws. Employers are required to comply with whatever rule is more favorable to the employee. Generally wage and hour laws apply to employers who have as few as one employee. . Federal law The FLSA requires that all employees be paid a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour (effective July 24, 2009), subject to a subminimum wages applicable to minors during the first 90 days of employment, and “student learners.” The FLSA requires also that “non-exempt” employees be paid time and one-half pay for all time worked in excess of forty hours in a workweek. (The subject of “exempt” versus “non-exempt” status will be discussed in a future column.) Overtime pay must be calculated by reference to the employee’s “regular rate,” which is often higher than the employee’s stated hourly rate, as it includes commissions and non-discretionary bonuses. The FLSA requires that employees maintain detailed records of hours worked, wages paid and other payroll information. Finally, the FLSA also regulates labor of children under eighteen years of age, and requires employers to post a poster in an area frequented by employees State Law Wage and hour laws vary widely from state to state. Some states, such as California, have extensive laws which supplement the federal regulatory scheme. Other states leave the area essentially unregulated. For the purposes of this article, I will focus only on some of the key states that are more pertinent to the game development community. California California has the most extensive set of rules governing wage and hour practices. For example, California has its own minimum wage law which is more stringent than federal law in several respects. First, the California minimum wage is $8.00 per hour (effective January 1, 2008). Second, in California an employer may not “average” an employee’s compensation over an entire week for determining minimum wage compliance. California law also contains four overtime triggers in addition to the federal trigger applicable to work in excess of forty hours in a workweek. California employers must pay employees time and a half pay for: (1) hours worked in excess of 8 hours in a workday; and (2) the first 8 hours worked on the seventh consecutive day in a workweek. In addition, employees are entitled to double pay for: (1) hours worked in excess of 12 hours in one day; and (2) hours worked in excess of 8 hours on the seventh day of a workweek As a general rule, all non-exempt employees must take an off-duty meal period (which may be unpaid) of at least 30 minutes for every work period of 5 hours or more. If an employee works more than 10 hours, the employee is entitled to two meal periods. For a meal period to be considered “off duty,” the employee must be free of all duties for at least 30 consecutive minutes and must be free to leave the work premises. The meal period must be recorded on the employer’s time records. In addition, non-exempt employees must be permitted to take rest periods of at least ten minutes for each four hours of labor worked “or major fraction thereof.” (A “major fraction” of four hours means longer than two hours.) However, rest periods are not required for employees “whose total daily work time is less than three and one-half (3˝) hours. Unlike meal periods, employees may lawfully choose to forego a rest period. Employers are obligated to pay their employees one additional hour of pay at the for each day an employee is denied a meal period or rest period. Where an employee is terminated by an employer, the employee must be paid all accrued wages immediately upon termination. If an employee quits, his or her wages must be paid within 72 hours, unless the employee has given 72 hours previous notice of his or her intention to quit, in which case the employee is entitled to his or her wages at the time of quitting. The employer must pay not only earned wages, but accrued vacation benefits and any commissions which can be calculated. If all wages are not paid, the employee’s wages continue to accrue as penalty for up to thirty days. California law restricts an employer’s power to take deductions from an employee’s wages, other than payroll taxes and voluntary contributions to employee benefit plans. New York The New York minimum wage rate is the same as the federal minimum wage rate. If the federal rate changes, the New York rate automatically changes to remain the same as the federal rate. New York law requires that all employees be paid time and one-half for hours worked in excess of forty hours in a week, essentially tracking federal law. Employees may be entitled to meal breaks, depending on their occupation, the number of hours worked, and the time the employee’s shift begins and ends. Generally employees who work a shift longer than six hours which extends over the noonday meal period (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) are entitled to have an uninterrupted lunch period of at least thirty minutes (sixty minutes in the case of factory workers). Employees who work a shift longer than six hours starting between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. are entitled to a dinner period of at least 45 minutes (sixty minutes in the case of a factory worker) during the middle of the shift. Employees whose shift begins before 11 a.m. and continues past 7 p.m. are entitled a second twenty minute meal period. Meal periods may be unpaid. New York, like California, restricts an employer’s right to take deductions from an employee’s wages. Generally, upon termination, the employee must be paid all accrued earned vacation time, unless the employer has a written policy which provides for forfeiture of vacation benefits under specified circumstances. Washington The Washington minimum wage for 2010 is $8.55 per hour. The state’s minimum wage is adjusted each year in September, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). (For the first time since the inception of this adjustment scheme, the wage did not increase for 2010 due to the decrease in the CPI over the relevant time period). Overtime rules generally follow federal law. Under Washington state law, when employment is terminated, the wages due the employee must be paid at the end of the established pay period (not the established payday). Unused vacation time is not considered “wages” under Washington law. Accordingly, Washington employers are not required to pay departing employees their unused vacation time, unless the company’s vacation policy specifically provides for this. Texas The Texas minimum wage rate is tied to the federal minimum wage rate. Texas does not have any general requirement to pay additional wages for overtime work. Under the Texas Payday Act, an employee who resigns from a job must be paid his or her last paycheck on the next regularly scheduled payday. An employee who is terminated must be paid no later than the sixth day after termination. Texas employers are not required to pay an departing employee his unused vacation time, unless the company policy provides for this. Navigating through the various employment laws at the federal and state levels can be complicated. As mentioned earlier, this article does not deal with some of the more complex issues regarding exempt/non-exempt classification, etc. Understanding and complying with the basic parameters of what your rights and obligations are (as either an employee or employer) will allow you to keep your focus on the core aspects of the game you are developing and avoid complicated and distracting employment issues. For a more specific consultation regarding your particular circumstances, please contact an attorney with a specialization in this area as well as an attorney that understands the particularities of your business/industry. Dale Hudson is Counsel with Nixon Peabody’s Los Angeles office. With over 30 years experience in employment law, Dale is a recognized expert in this practice area. In combination with Nixon Peabody’s Video Game practice, Dale has counseled many companies in the interactive entertainment sector to provide an added value for employers/employees in the games industry. Dale can be reached via email at dhudson@nixonpeabody.com or via telephone at 213-629-6015. Additionally, for more information about Nixon Peabody’s video games practice, please contact Patrick Sweeney at psweeney@nixonpeabody.com or 213-629-6064. _____________________________________ Autodesk Ad THE QUICKEST PATH FROM WHAT IF? TO OH, WOW! With comprehensive solutions for film, game, and television production, Autodesk Digital Entertainment Creation software offers an efficient workflow, from initial concept to final delivery, giving you freedom to transform creative ideas into innovative entertainment. Learn more at www.autodesk.com/me Digital Entertainment Creation _____________________________________ HoNoR Roll oF CuRReNt “liFetiMe” igdA MeMBeRS Nothing shows more dedication than signing up for “life”. Thank you for your dedication and faith in our Association. Mary Holtschneider Tom Buscaglia Christopher Diaz George Sebolt Tobi Saulnier Warren Spector Julian Beak Coray Seifert Ernest Adams Eric Zimmerman Joyce Weisbecker Dehron Hite-Benson Grant Shonkwiler Misha Halvarsson Paul Nowak Sheri Rubin Erik Robertson Charles Hawkins YuChiang Cheng John Hattan Pratik Murarka Benjamin Gifford Thomas Allen Richard Boehme Karl Reinsch Kathy (Schoback) Astromoff Bob Rost Matt Lichtenwalter Josh Jones Matthew Versweyveld Chelsea Howe Sela Davis Hal Barwood Steven Woyach Jeff Peck Brenden Conte John Hight Olivier Lejade Jeff Goodsill Jeferson Valadares Brendan Luchen Bazil Akmal Bidin Rocco Scandizzo Ross Dannenberg Ira Fay Jennifer MacLean Drew Sikora Michael Blake Brian Winn Tobias Heussner Elonka Dunin Brian Robbins Fredrik Kaupang Noah Falstein Jamil Moledina Richard Fleming Bart Botta Jesse Schell Tim McLennan Kristofer Schlachter Christopher Natsuume Daniel Hettrick Kris Alexander John Feil Curtis Bolser David Harr Simon Etienne Rozner Tristan Lewis Katie Sabin Mark Cerny The Benefits of a Lifetime Membership include: • Core Membership for that individual for the rest of their life • Recognition on the IGDA website and annual report (Lifetime Member Roster) • Immunity from dues increases at the core level • A special Lifetime Member Gold Card Membership Card • A regular invitation to the IGDA VIP luncheon at GDC • An invitation to an annual lifetime member advisory panel to discuss the future of the IGDA • Lifetime Member Ribbons at IGDA events To become a lifetime member of IGDA please visit: http://www.igda.org/join/ _____________________________________ Announcements 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 _____________________________________ Virtual Panel Discussion: Progress and Pitfalls in Intellectual Property Protection for Video Games in China While 2009 was a down year for the video game industry, most experts expect a rebound in 2010. In fact, according to a Feb. 4 report, 95% of the Chinese video game industry expects “robust growth ” in 2010. In that same report, 81% of those surveyed expect sales to increase by 10% or more. There is great potential for reward in China and many overseas markets for the video game industry. There’s even greater potential for risk. This is true for any other international corporations as well. What are best practices you can incorporate now to do business in China? How do you protect your intellectual property and guard against knock-offs? How do you find Chinese suppliers, sales agents and other partners you can trust? Shift Worldwide brought together noted authorities and pioneers in IP law, the video game industry and business development in China for a 90-minute, cutting-edge vPanel discussion on protecting intellectual property in foreign markets. View More Information: http://www.shiftworldwide.com/vpanels/videogames.htm _____________________________________ Bulk game licensing opportunity Healthcare Cable is an Apple Proprietary Solution Provider, working primarily in the health care market. Our major product is a Mac driven interactive television and information system for hospital and clinic patients. We are working with a national clinic operator on installing the touch screen version of our system. The client wishes to integrate games into the entertainment offering. When fully implemented we expect that 5,000 individual Apple mini’s will be deployed. The client would like to offer up to 10 games per chair side unit; thus the total number of games could approach 50,000. The daily number of user’s approaches 35,000; exposing the developer’s products to a large number of potential buyers. If HCS is successful in marketing its chair side touch system to similar clinic operators the potential number of games deployed could approach several hundred thousand. If you are a Mac OS game developer or publisher interested in bulk discounted licensing and potential exposure to 10’s of thousands of gamers every day please contact Ron Rubinstein at (804) 740-5903. www.healthcarecable.com _____________________________________ INDIE GAME CHALLENGE WINNERS ANNOUNCED Two $100,000 grand prize champions and separate category winners unveiled in Las Vegas LAS VEGAS, NEV. – (Feb 19, 2010) – The winners of the inaugural Indie Game Challenge sponsored by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), and The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University were announced tonight in Las Vegas following the conclusion of the D.I.C.E.™ (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit at the Red Rock Resort & Casino. The awards ceremony was hosted by Adam Sessler, host of G4's "X-Play" (weeknights at 6:30pm ET/PT), and editor-in-chief of games content for G4tv.com. Sessler was assisted in the presentations by AIAS President Joseph Olin, The Guildhall at SMU Executive Director Dr. Peter E. Raad and GameStop Executive Vice President Merchandising and Marketing Tony Bartel. Attending the ceremony were representatives from each of the 12 finalist teams along with game publishers, developers and associated enterprises. The list of winners includes: Professional $100,000 Grand Prize Winner: Cogs • Cogs was submitted by San Francisco-based Lazy 8 Studios and the three-person team consisting of: Rob Jagnow, team leader; Brendan Mauro, artist; and Luke Gilbert, sound and music. Cogs is a puzzle game in which players build machines from sliding tiles. Players can choose from 50 levels and three gameplay modes. New puzzles are unlocked by building contraptions quickly and efficiently. Non-professional $100,000 Grand Prize Winner: Gear • Gear was submitted by: Joshua Maiche, team lead; Mike Halbrook, level designer; Ben Frazier, level designer; Brian Lee, designer, graphics, art and music; and Andrew Hill, level designer. The team members are students at the Digipen Institute of Technology in Redmond, Wash. Gear is a 2D puzzle platformer in which the player controls a robot with the ability to change its hand into a gear. The player has to swing around sockets, ride on rails, swim and even rotate the world in order to get through 10 unique levels and beat the "boss." Category winners include: • Technical Achievement ($2,500): Altitude, submitted by professional team Nimbly Games headed by life-long friends and Las Cruces, N.M., neighbors Erik Measure and Karl Sabo • Achievement in Art Direction ($2,500): Cogs • Achievement in Gameplay ($2,500): Cogs • Gamer's Choice Award ($10,000): Altitude The recipient of the Indie Game Challenge SMU scholarship will be announced later this spring. The winner of the Gamer's Choice Award sweepstakes will be selected from all eligible entries and announced March 19th. "On behalf of the three sponsors, we couldn't be happier with the quality and quantity of entries into the first-ever Indie Game Challenge," said Olin. "No doubt, the partnership between AIAS, GameStop and SMU helped drive wide-spread awareness for the Challenge as evidenced by the more than 250 entries we received. The Challenge went a long way toward unlocking, cultivating and supporting the potential of independent game developers, which are essential for the future success of our industry." Entries for the inaugural Indie Game Challenge were accepted between July 14 and Oct. 31, 2009. Judging was done by members of AIAS starting Nov. 1, 2009, and 12 finalists – six professional teams and six non-professional teams – were announced Feb. 1, 2010. Following tonight's awards ceremony, officials with AIAS, GameStop and The Guildhall at SMU announced plans to host the Second Annual Indie Game Challenge. The entry period will kick-off Summer 2010 and close in the fall 2010, and the winners will be presented at D.I.C.E. 2011. Exact dates and details will be announced later this year. Professional and non-professional game developers interesting in entering the Indie Game Challenge should check www.indiegamechallenge.com for future updates. _____________________________________ Oxford Scientist Puts the Engine into new Climate Change Computer Game February 16, 2010 – Oxford, England – Dr Myles Allen, one of Britain’s leading climate scientists from the University of Oxford has provided state-of-the-art climate science for the upcoming Climate Challenge 2010 by videogame developers Red Redemption Ltd. Climate Challenge 2010 is scheduled to launch this summer, and will let you run planet Earth as you like for the next two hundred years, and face the consequences. Dr Allen is project leader on ClimatePrediction.net, a program that lets interested people from around the world take part in climate modelling. Climate Challenge 2010 uses a model reviewed in Nature (April 2009) - the international weekly journal of science. Dr Allen said: “Providing science for games is a new field for me, but public engagement with the issues surrounding climate change is vital and videogames are a great way of reaching millions of people." Ian Roberts, designer of Climate Challenge 2010 said "Accurate real-world data is used in many videogames. Take a motor racing game, you need to know how a car responds when a player brakes or turns too sharply. A climate based game is similar but you can't test drive the climate. So we needed the expertise of a real scientist. That's why Dr. Allen’s input is so important." Climate Challenge 2010 is the ambitious sequel to the massively successful flash game Climate Challenge, developed by Red Redemption and sponsored by the BBC, which has been played on-line by nearly 1 million people since launch in 2007. Based in Oxford, England, Red Redemption (http://www.red-redemption.com) makes science based climate games that both provoke and challenge. # # # CONTACT: UK: Gobion Rowlands, CIO/Communications Director Tel: +44 1865-596160. Email: gobion@red-redemption.com USA: Stuart Rowlands Tel: + 1 - 323 850-1088. Email: srowlands@sbcglobal.net _____________________________________ WARGAMING.NET ANNOUNCES "WORLD OF TANKS" MMO Massively Multiplayer Online Tank Action Game: No More Orcs-and-Elves London (16th February 2010) - Wargaming.net announces the company is developing WORLD OF TANKS, a brand-new free-to-play MMO game based on massive numbers of armored battles. In WORLD OF TANKS 30-player teams are fighting action-packed PvP battles. The game features more than 150 armored fighting vehicles from the pre-WW2 era up to the Korean War: light, medium, heavy and super heavy tanks, tank destroyers, self-propelled howitzers and rocket artillery. The game includes American, German and Soviet tanks. Ride the legendary Tiger tank, or choose the fast-and-furious Soviet T-34, practice your sharp-shooting skills with the American 155mm M40 Gun Motor Carriage or try experimental/prototype machines such as the Germany's monstrous Maus tank. A Player can have an endless number of tanks in "garage", and all machines can be upgraded in dozens of ways: better turrets, chassis, guns, engines, radios, various ammunition types, plus tank crew members can be leveled up as well. The game offers fast random battles featuring various modes, historic mini-campaigns, tourneys and epic Clan Wars on a global map, where mighty clans fight for hundreds of provinces employing grand strategy, diplomacy and economic power. Besides individual tank-ace skills, WORLD OF TANKS requires team work and a fine balance between light and heavy armor. WORLD OF TANKS gives you thousands of ways of building your Steel Empire and manifesting the indisputable authority of TANK POWER! "A wise gentleman once observed that men had the same relationship to tanks, as women to SPA treatments: an all-eclipsing love, hardwired into the genes," says Victor Kislyi, CEO of Wargaming.net, "That's why we are coming up with Panzer MMO." The game will be available as a free download and is expected to be released in Fall 2010. This product is not yet rated by PEGI and ESRB. To join the Tank MMO community and get updates on the development progress, visit the Forum. WORLD OF TANKS Debut teaser is available here: http://worldoftanks.com/gallery/video/1 _____________________________________ Localization SIG: 1. Game Localization Summit: For the second year, the IGDA’s Game Localization SIG is orchestrating a full-day Game Localization Summit event at GDC, taking place on Tuesday, March 9 from 10:00am to 6:00pm. The SIG chair, Tom Edwards, and vice-chair Miguel Bernal, serve once again as the Summit advisors and with the help of the SIG steering committee they have put together a great line-up of game localization experts from key publishers, developers and vendors (including BioWare, THQ, Sony, and CapCom). This year’s keynote session will be from Philippe Juton, the Head of Localization for THQ, who will present a dynamic talk on the future of game distribution and marketing in international locales. Don’t miss this great opportunity to learn more about a key aspect of game development that generates nearly half of the industry’s total revenue worldwide. 2. Game Localization SIG’s Annual Meeting: On Thursday, March 11 from 4:30 to 6:00pm, the Game Loc SIG will be holding its annual meeting at GDC. This is a great opportunity for face time with SIG leaders as well as many members who convene from around the globe. The meeting will recap SIG efforts of the past year, highlight key and ongoing issues, discuss initiatives and work towards getting members involved in various thematic working groups. Anyone who works in game localization or is simply interested in the subject is more than welcome to attend and participate. Quality Assurance SIG Social Gathering All members of the QA SIG are welcome to come and hang out in a friendly, casual environment before lunch on Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. by the IGDA booth. It’s the perfect chance to get to know each other better and put a face to the names that pop up in our inboxes so frequently (if you haven’t done so already, that is). _____________________________________ Lawyers Panel Interested in a career as a lawyer or legal professional in the games industry? Thinking about law school? Already passed the bar, have a job, but want to move to games? As the games industry grows, the need for quality legal services should grow with it. Join in an IGDA roundtable at GDC with senior games industry legal counsel, who will discuss the paths they took that led to their careers, what to expect along the way, what skills are required, how to build a practice, and how to retain clients. Scheduled Participants (may change based on commitments at the conference): Jim Charne, Santa Monica Gregory Boyd, New York Tom Buscaglia, Seattle James Alan Cook, Palo Alto Konstantin Ewald, Cologne Dan Offner, Los Angeles David Rosenbaum, Los Angeles *others* _____________________________________ News from NC Triangle The Triangle chapter will meet again on Feb. 24: http://www.igda.org/nctriangle/feb-24-triangle-igda-meeting Also, the Triangle Game Conference will be held April 7-8, 2010. Here's our latest news: Registration is open: http://www.trianglegameconference.com/news/view/97284-Immerse-Yourself-Second-Annual-Triangle-Game-Conference-to-Explore-Innovations-in-Video-Game-and-Immersive-Learning-Technology TGC has partnered with CHAT, a digital arts festival at UNC-Chapel Hill: http://www.trianglegameconference.com/news/view/98323-Triangle-Game-Initiative-Partners-with-C-H-A-T-Festival-to-Spotlight-Local-Collaborations-in-Digital-Arts-and-Humanities _____________________________________ IGDA Women in Games Wants You at GDC 2010 IGDA Women in Games is excited to have a full slate of SIG activities at GDC this year! You are invited to attend our roundtable meeting, social gathering and two panel sessions at GDC 2010. ROUNDTABLE MEETING: We will hold our annual SIG roundtable meeting on Thursday, March 11, 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm in Room 230, East Mezzanine. The roundtable meeting will be moderated by Tina Tyndal, SIG steering committee member and newsletter editor. Bring your fresh ideas and enthusiasm, plus stick around for the latest news on our primary initiatives during 2010, including GameMentorOnline and Games2Girls. SESSION: Starting Something New – Women in Games Thursday, March 11, 3 pm to 4 pm in Room 130, North Hall Moderated by Sonja Kangas, Head of Game Lab, Paf and IGDA Women in Games advisor, with speakers Tiina Zilliacus, CEO of IronStar Helsinki; Celia Pearce, Director of Experimental Game Lab at Georgia Tech; Megan Gaiser, CEO of Her Interactive, and Julia Brasil, the first G.I.R.L. scholarship recipient, SOE. SESSION: Are Women the New Hardcore Gamers? Thursday, March 11, 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm in Room 130, North Hall Moderated by Shanna Tellerman, Founder and CEO, Wild Pockets, with speakers Amy Jo Kim CEO of ShuffleBrain; Wanda Meloni, Market Analyst with M2 Research; Morgan Romine, Community Manager and Online Marketing Manager for Ubisoft (plus Team Captain, Frag Dolls), and Jessica Tams, Executive Director of the Casual Game Association. SOCIAL GATHERING: We are reprising our annual SIG social gathering at the IGDA booth on Friday, March 12, 3 pm to 4:30 pm at front of the South Hall. Join our sponsors BingeGamer.net, GamingAngels.com, Gas Powered Games, Her Interactive, Naughty Dog and Obsidian Entertainment for refreshments, door prizes, networking and fun! Expo pass badge holders are encouraged to attend. If you have any WIGSIG@GDC questions, want to be a sponsor or prize donor, or need to request an interview, please contact us at wigsig@igda.org. _____________________________________ SPECIAL IGDA BOOTH EVENTS Thursday, March 11, 2010 GameSpy Technology Demo: iPhone Online Services & UI Framework Demo Thursday morning March 11 at 11 a.m. “Live presentation from GameSpy Technology on quickly adding full online services and UI to your iPhone games. Leaderboards, buddy lists, Facebook connect and more!” GAMESPY TECHNOLOGY A division of IGN Entertainment, GameSpy Technology is the leading provider of online services to video game developers. Founded in 1997, GameSpy has provided its connected gaming technology to the best-selling, most innovative games in the industry. We specialize in high value services -- social, cloud, commerce, data and mutliplayer -- designed to make games more fun by helping players share their experiences. GameSpy's technology is accessible on every gaming platform and has been utilized by more than 900 titles to date, including landmark games like Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV, Nintendo's Mario Kart Wii, and Electronic Arts' Command & Conquer franchise. Visit us at Booth #1124 at the Game Developers Conference or online at http://www.poweredbygamespy.com Autodesk - Demonstration Thursday afternoon March 11 at 4:00 p.m. In his presentation, Carl Callewaert’s will demonstrate how to set the assets in Autodesk products, such as modeling in 3dmax, the mocap in Motion builder, how it all comes together in Unity3D and how you bring it all on the iPhone. During the assets aspect Carl will talk about the nuts and bold of the process, trips and tricks. During the Unity aspect he will talk about how to bring in the game play, and the game optimization for the assets so all can run on the iPhone. In other words, the full story from creating assets to playing the game on the iPhone. We look forward to hearing the Autodesk story as well as hearing about the Unity and iPhone game pipelines. Focal Press Thursday afternoon March 11 at 5:00 p.m. Join us for the launch of the first IGDA-endorsed book from Morgan Kaufmann- Casual Game Design. Author Greg Trefry will be on hand to sign copies and answer questions about how to make engaging casual games. IGDA members will receive 30% off the list price of $49.95. Friday, March 12, 2010 Jones & Bartlett Friday afternoon March 12 at 2:00 p.m. Author of new Game Engine Gems series, Eric Lengyel, will be signing copies of Jones & Bartlett’s just published Volume One at the IGDA booth Friday from 2:00 to 3:00. Visit Jones & Bartlett at booth #1843 to learn more and receive 30% off as a special introductory offer! _____________________________________ So what else is going on? Well it's GDC time, and it seems like the whole industry is abuzz about what's going on at the Conference. I'd like to take some time to chat about a few other things that are happening. The AIAS recently released the Interactive Achievement Awards, with Uncharted 2 taking the lead role in that program. There were a lot of great games and great TEAMS who were nominated, and everyone who received a nomination should be proud. For the gamer this was a great year, some fantastic games were released, some new media tapped, and many changes to the format and means of playing games were unveiled. A lot of them for relatively low cost compared to other forms of entertainment. At a time when families are spending less and looking for ways to take their minds off of their challenges, YOU, the game development community have made a real impact on the planet's societies. The IGDA elections will be over by the time this is published, but I don't know who the winners are at the time I'm writing it. The most important aspect is in getting folks to vote. There are 23 awesome candidates up there. People who have volunteered to give of their time, talent and energy to make a difference in the association. With 5 seats opening up, this group will have a big impact on the forward movement of the organization. We tried a few new things this year in order to give members a better opportunity to know who was running and what they were really all about: A 6 question text interview, and a live interview with prepared questions broadcast via webinar. These were all recorded and remain on the IGDA website for you to see. We'll be continuing the Webinar Series after the GDC is over, and this very successful program will continue to roll forward with some author interviews, Q&A with some of our Partners, Presentations from the field like you've been seeing previously, and a few new types of presentations that I am excited about bringing on line. Let me also take a moment to remind the Studios out there that if you are an IGDA member, you should check your current coverage plans against the IGDA Health and Liability and P&C programs. Especially for smaller companies. I believe you may find a net positive for your business, either in reduced cost or new options. We're still rolling along here at IGDA, and after we get past GDC, we'll be looking at what's next in terms of increasing member value in the organization. Thank you for your continued participation. Game On! Joshua