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[Fost]

I really hate the IGF, and I really hate the Indie Game Showcase, and I really hate Futureplay.

Not for any logical reason, they are obviously doing the indie world a great service, so why you may ask?: BECAUSE I'M COMPLETELY JEALOUS AS I CAN NEVER AFFORD TO GO!!!

It costs A BAZILLION DOLLARS to go to these competitions if you don't live in the states. Yet you are required to go if you enter.

Boohoo me! It's not fair Not content with stealing Cat Deeley from us, the US now has the only indie competitions and they aren't really open to paupers living outside the US.

Hmm, need to start my own competition I think: Fost's (really poor) indie games showcase - nobody needs to show up, top prize is a caravan weekend in Cornwall. Any takers?

[DrDerekDoctors]

Make it a week in Wales and you've got a deal.

Also, we *should* have a UK compo, and you get bonus points for including Double-Decker buses, Haggises, Red Dragons and the Pirates Of Penzance.

[Fost]

I actually wrote to the BAFTA organisation suggesting they extend their games awards with an indie category. Not sure if anything happened with that...

[DrDerekDoctors]

I actually wrote to the BAFTA organisation suggesting they extend their games awards with an indie category. Not sure if anything happened with that...

This did:

[Fost]

I don't know - they have a meeting every year that the members attend, so it might not even have happened yet. I was told it would definitely be tabled on the agenda. Peter Molyneux is one of the members, and you'd think he'd at least know about this kind of thing, especially after several of his team made Rag Doll Kung Fu.

[DrDerekDoctors]

I don't know - they have a meeting every year that the members attend, so it might not even have happened yet. I was told it would definitely be tabled on the agenda. Peter Molyneux is one of the members, and you'd think he'd at least know about this kind of thing, especially after several of his team made Rag Doll Kung Fu.

Did they leave Lionhead to do that? Only if there's a bitter taste in his mouth from that, I bet he'll vote no, the publicity seeking baldy bumface!

[Alex May]

Yes, they left LH to form Media Molecule, and sold out to Sony with their fancy-pants Little Big Planet (which itself has caught the Molyneux Ridiculous Hyperbole In Design Features bug)

[Fost]

Did they leave Lionhead to do that?

No, they did it at Lionhead in their spare time, then with the money they received, they set up Media Molecule and made Little Big Planet, which is one of the most interesting games to come along in a long time.

Apparently PM new about it and was fine with it - you shouldn't discount that as being pretty cool - all the places I've worked at have a policy whereby anything you do in your spare time that's in the same field becomes their property - they take a dim view of people working on their own projects, as if all your time is theirs.

[Dan MacDonald]

Not to mention cliffski (democracy, kudos) was working at LH on the movies when he was developing Democracy. No lost love between them now though.. hehe

[Alex May]

Yes, you have to hand it to PM for giving those people their dues. Fost is right about companies and IP, it's a really stupid situation IMO.

[PoV]

Not to mention, I think Cliffski has in the past pointed out Molyneux's ignorance of the indie situation.  So I hate to say it, but if he's the mainstream hero you're expecting to make it happen, you might be screwed.  And not to mention, he's someone who's lost a bunch of people to the ideal, so it's maybe not in his best interest.

[jankoM]

stupid idea .. because I don't like the feel of Second Life really but someone could organize a compo/conference/meetup week up-there and travel expenses fall of.

If not anyone else - Sun (microsystems) has a "conference hall" with a stage and all there and maybe they could lend it to indies for a week. They seem quite friendly towards game development and indies (Chris M..)

[DrDerekDoctors]

Yuss, Little Big Planet looks ace, and I've not noticed too my hyperbole about it yet, only the reality of a really cute looking physics/co-operation-based platformer where you can build your own levels easily.

Never realised Cliffski was at LH, though. I can see why he'd want out, it seems his designs are in quite different realms to the kind of game that LH put out.

As for IP ownership, I've always been lucky that I've worked for bosses which didn't care about it as long as I wasn't competing with the company.

[Alex May]

Just to clarify my point about the hype on LBP. What I saw was an authored level. I didn't see anything else so forgive me if certain features that were mentioned have actually been implemented. But from my perspective, what I saw was a co-op physics platformer, which looked awesome, and then I heard a lot of lovely features that would be fairly interesting if they ever saw the light of day. Which, my point was, is very remeniscent of PM's general work ethos.

[Steve Swink]

It costs A BAZILLION DOLLARS to go to these competitions if you don't live in the states. Yet you are required to go if you enter.

For IGF at least, you can have anyone you designate attend in your place and accept any awards you might receive on awards night.  Not that that's all that much fun, but you can at least compete even if you can't afford to fly over and do the whole shebang.

[Fost]

For IGF at least, you can have anyone you designate attend in your place and accept any awards you might receive on awards night.

Yeah, but we have no friends


Seriously though - surely that's a waste of time - you need to be there promoting it so they know who the awards going to to have a chance of winning I'd have thought?
Maybe an option though - cheaper to pay someone to do it than go yourself. I really think you need to be there to benefit from winning though - then you get to meet potential publishers. I'm not having a go at the shows - I'm just 100% jealous of everyone who gets to go is all

[Steve Swink]

For IGF at least, you can have anyone you designate attend in your place and accept any awards you might receive on awards night.

Yeah, but we have no friends


Seriously though - surely that's a waste of time - you need to be there promoting it so they know who the awards going to to have a chance of winning I'd have thought?
Maybe an option though - cheaper to pay someone to do it than go yourself. I really think you need to be there to benefit from winning though - then you get to meet potential publishers. I'm not having a go at the shows - I'm just 100% jealous of everyone who gets to go is all

Oh, I'm sure you could find someone trustworthy lurking around here who'd proxy you right .  Point taken, though.  You guys should put together your own competition. Due eet! 

Also (and for the record) the award you'd need to be currying favor for is the Audience Award, but they've made that an online Gamespot voted thing now so the in-person huckstering is fairly moot anyway.

[DrDerekDoctors]

Also (and for the record) the award you'd need to be currying favor for is the Audience Award, but they've made that an online Gamespot voted thing now so the in-person huckstering is fairly moot anyway.

Well, you say that but I recall a recent online indie competition with some of the parties involved saying "free copies if you vote for us!", the dorty bastids.

[Bezzy]

The Audience Awards are on GameSpot? Surely then, they're a "Least Unknown Indie Game" award?

So, the audience award is more like a "Marketing Pervasiveness" award?

[jankoM]

imagine that you are from slovenia like that line-rider guy...(where beer and life costs like few pennies compared to UK according to fost and arsecaster last time )  .

He got the reward for innovation or something at gdc (right after igf awards on that video). ok.. the speaker pronounces your name in a way that even yourself nor your mother get... you go on stage.. make a speech (ok he just screamed like he will attack someone)... you are even funny enough to cook your head in a big cap and a that-warm-thing-around-your-neck-that-I-dont-know-eng-word whole evening (to look like line-rider)... then the speaker shocked by the length of your speech doesn't get why you are dressed like that... looks a little confused and funny... and says... "well it must be very cold in estonia"?

((If he would at least confuse us with slovakia like 90% do I would understand.))