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[MattG]

Can entrants also judge? How does that work?

last year adam atomic was a judge and did the art for cave story wii version (which won for visuals)

coincidence??? *conspiracy theory hat*

that and dragonmaw judging spells it out pretty clear

[ஒழுக்கின்மை]

BIT.TRIP RUNNER won for visuals:

http://www.igf.com/02finalists.html

I'm happy about that.

oh you're right; it was just finalist, i misremembered

[Fission Mailed]

Both A Valley Without Wind & Awesomenauts look great, I hope they win something.

Oh, and proteus.

[Gimym JIMBERT]

http://igf2012.herokuapp.com/ FORmidable FORmating FOR you

[C.A. Silbereisen]

A New Zero is still around? I played an early version of that back in something like 08(?) and remember it being a fun multiplayer game.

[handCraftedRadio]

I think they should get judge judy to do some judging since she appears to be good at judgement and even does a judging tv show!

[Musenik]

I think they should get judge judy to do some judging since she appears to be good at judgement and even does a judging tv show!

Match-3, for the win!

[Dragonmaw]

that and dragonmaw judging spells it out pretty clear

i'm not an entrant. i'm also not a jury member (the crew that determines winners), just a judge.

no need to be openly hostile.

[Richard Kain]

A big problem with the current form of the IGF is that the grand prize is attached to a monetary reward. They really, REALLY, ought to separate the award and the grant out into two different things. Give the award away as a "best of show," for the game that the judges determine to be the most deserving. Give the grant to a smaller developer with a really great prototype who could use a leg up to complete their title.

Having both these things wrapped into one award creates a lot of confusion. And you could clear all of it up quite easily. A "Best Of" award is there for prestige, and should be awarded as such. The grant is there to support indie development, and should be awarded as such. Let them be their own things and it would iron out a lot of issues.

[Glaiel-Gamer]

the IGF is not about the money, the money isn't that much, if you need a grant/funding to finish your game, check your government, try kickstarter, etc.

[Christian Knudsen]

I'd hate for that to happen. The IGF is an award, not a grant. Separating the cash prize from the award will just muddle things even more. The winners should be the games that the judges and jury deem best in their respective categories -- not the games they think could use the cash prize the most.

EDIT: Beaten to the punch.

[Richard Kain]

The winners should be the games that the judges and jury deem best in their respective categories -- not the games they think could use the cash prize the most.

And yet this exact reason has been brought up by previous judges for picking certain entries over others. Attaching a cash prize to an award is always going to complicate the issue, and affect the judgement of those involved. This is especially true when the award in question is the ONLY award in the proceedings with a monetary value attached.

My suggestion to separate the money (grant) from the award (prestige) would solve the issue. The money is only partially treated as an award, and is primarily recognized as a grant for a developer who could use it. The award is then free to be the prestige piece that it ought to be.

How many other major award ceremonies for other industries attach money to their awards? The Oscars don't come with a check.

[deathtotheweird]

the IGF is not the Oscars (though some believe it to be), it's meant to be like Sundance.

But with the Sundance you are near guaranteed to make money if you win an award. But winning an IGF you aren't, so they give you a cash prize instead. Since a lot of games are freeware, or unfinished, and you can't just go out and sell a game like you can sell a movie to a distributor, doesn't work like that for games. That's the way I see it, at least.

if it was more like the Oscars I would agree with you on separating the cash reward from the prestige. But it's not, and removing the cash reward would be an imperfect solution.

I'd rather have a separate festival, one for unfinished games with a cash reward, and one for finished games with just an award/trophy and what comes with that.

[fatso]

I'd rather have a separate festival, one for unfinished games with a cash reward

Indie gamers, please make this happen. It would be nice if games from Ludum Dare, Pirate Kart, the Experimental Gameplay Project and other less "polished" games were given the ability to grow based on their potential, and not working years to turn it into a complete game for some cheap shot at recognition in a festival that is overcrowded with established, financially secure developers.

[Grihan]

that is overcrowded with established, financially secure developers.

I think you are wrong...a bit. Having a "polished" game doesn't mean you are "financially secure".

We are developing Zack Zero(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gijJj1fPmI). This is our IGF entry page: http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2012.php?id=235

I think we are making a very polished game, with great graphics, amazing sound and very fun gameplay. But we're not financially secure at all. All the team members at Crocodile are working for free since a year ago. We have to pay our bills and maintain our family, so it's not a great situation for us.

So I think polished doesn't always refer to "money". It's a matter talent, experience and, mainly, work.

[GONGLEN]

has the IGF ever actually done anything good for anyone besides the bad developers who they give money to

[Tuba]

I don't know about the gameplay cause I haven't played it but... Zack Zero is definitively one of the best looking games in this IGF.

[st33d]

has the IGF ever actually done anything good for anyone besides the bad developers who they give money to

lol

Google it bud.

[moi]

the definitive argument

[Dragonmaw]

Monaco, blueberry garden, trauma, etc are bring or were released thanks yo the bump in money and publicity from the igf. While there are certainly heavily polished and invested games, in the two years I've judged (soon to be three) I've been pretty surprised by hoe many good games I've never seen were submitted. Monaco was an especially pleasant shot in the dark.