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[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

if you go down the path they did you wouldn't need to win the igf (super meat boy sold extremely well)

[melos]

i wonder if other judges are just as upset at how they judge and the system in general

[Uykered]

lols

[Dragonmaw]

i think it's funny that they have essentially the opposite criticisms most people have. most of the people in here complain that the grand prize and stuff favors people who are already established, and tommy/edmund think the igf favors people who aren't established.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

i think getting into the finalists favors those who are popular and well known, but, once you are in the finalists, the winner selected from them is often lesser-known than the other finalists

[Zaphos]

i think getting into the finalists favors those who are popular and well known, but, once you are in the finalists, the winner selected from them is often lesser-known than the other finalists

Yes, exactly; I think Edmund's complaints were largely about the judges discussion to select the winners, not the finalists. For example, he complains about other judges deeming Cactus to be "too successful" to win, but obviously Cactus (Hotline Miami) already got to the finalist stage.  Burch talked about how some games get ignored entirely if they're not well known / don't have a good intro, although there's some mention of how this has improved a bit with the new judging interface iirc.

[ham and brie]

i think it's funny that they have essentially the opposite criticisms most people have. most of the people in here complain that the grand prize and stuff favors people who are already established, and tommy/edmund think the igf favors people who aren't established.

It's not really the opposite. Either way it's a belief that there's bias due to the judges being swayed by feelings toward the developer rather than the quality of the game.

[GaldorPunk]

That was a really interesting interview. I agree with some of it, especially the technical awards, to me they often seem like just an extension of the visual art award. On the other hand, I know I wouldn’t be comfortable judging a game on technical achievement unless it had a custom engine or I was really familiar with the engine it uses.

It’s always seemed to me that the judging is probably too influenced by the idea of “indie” as a genre, that is to say puzzle platformers, point and clicks, art or narrative games, and generally anything else that’s unique or isn’t considered mainstream. Super Meat Boy was very popular, but the gameplay and art style was less radically different from the mainstream than Monaco and some of the other winners, so I’d think that was a factor in the decision. You could say being the most popular game in the least popular genre seems to be a plus.

[Dragonmaw]

Well, Monaco was (IMO) the better game. I'm still jonesing for it. Release it already, dang it!

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

i think it's in open beta now or somethin', you can preorder it if you want

anyway, doesn't minecraft sort of go against this rule? it's a pretty recent winner, and also was by far the most popular of all the finalists

i can see how this rule applies to some winners though -- basically monaco and blueberry garden are good examples

[Ant]

2011 wasn't that strong of a year, the only real competition to Minecraft was Amnesia which won 3 awards and what with Minecraft becoming ludicrously popular maybe the IGF thought they didn't have an option. Generally I think there's more to it than just "this dude needs the exposure" like what games are hyped by particular cliques and what they think will further the indie scene as an 'art form'.

[gimymblert]

ludum dare is kinda the igf done right, right now, everything is reset hanks to the rules and the game is the focus, many of them get on market later with more polish and you get some exposure the more competition increase on popularity, it cost nothing and you send your life (and your emotion) in a roller coaster dump. Yeah I know it's not the same thing, but reading 3 years of igf drama drew me to that conclusion since LD look like the thing people igf to be regarding any of the complain against it.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

the thing is though nobody in the media pays attention to ludum dare. every game developer knows about it but regular gamers who read only kotaku or joystiq never heard of it. its winners or entries aren't covered in the gaming media

[gimymblert]

I don't see coverage of LD in itself, but I do see journalist cherrypicking game from it, which does tied it to "winning" but still gather "some" attention, they are aware of it. I think the virality of some concept get more important that the "perceive penchant" of some judge, which help. Yep I do actually heard some of them through my Kotaku and RPS feed, and sometimes after the game has got the "post ld super polished extra time" bonus. So it got the relaxed no stake feeling but still has the potential to create some ripple as a side effect.

[M]

The Audience Award voting is live: http://www.igf.com/audience.php

You can also vote for the Game Developer's Choice Audience Award: http://www.gamechoiceawards.com/audience.php

[Ant]

wish you could vote for several... oh well fez it is

[Musenik]

The Audience Award voting is live: http://www.igf.com/audience.php

Go, '7 Grand Steps'! :-)

[ANtY]

voted for Incredipede and Dust

[deathtotheweird]

I voted for Starseeed Pilgrim because it's The Indie Way. vote for your friends.

[ANtY]

I voted for Starseeed Pilgrim because it's The Indie Way. vote for your friends.

what if I don't have friends up there, I know, I shouldn't be here