American Idol for Indie Video Game Developers?
by Fyodor -bank- Osokin · 05/24/2006 (5:58 am) · 21 comments
I've just received Google News Alert about GarageGames:
Thought it would be interesting for all of you to read about it.
P.S. I think GG makes something like "revolution" in gamedev ;) I'm happy.
P.P.S. Our project is okay, in huge development ;)
Screens? ;) Soon, I promise.
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Wednesday May 24, 6:00 am ET
Bill Gates' E3 GarageGames Mention Grows Mindshare
EUGENE, Ore., May 24 /PRNewswire/
At E3, the world listened to Microsoft's founder Bill Gates single out GarageGames' Marble Blast Ultra as his six-year-old son's favorite game. On June 5th, 2006, GarageGames will again stand out from the crowd as they launch the B.I.G. (Break Into Games) Competition -- the nation's most exhaustive search to showcase America's greatest independent videogame developers. Culminating with a light-hearted American Idol style finale, the entrants and winners will vie for prizes including professional gaming hardware and coveted publishing deals with GarageGames and its partners.
All B.I.G. entrants will be given the opportunity to build their game prototypes with a free trial version of the impressive, new Torque Game Builder (TGB) from GarageGames, which will empower them to build amazing games from scratch and compete for top prizes and recognition. Said GarageGames President Mark Frohnmayer, "We've seen compelling games prototypes created with TGB in one to two weeks."
Support for the competition is comprehensive -- from a step-by-step tutorial to a fully developed online community, where designers are in contact with technical experts from GarageGames and the gaming community. Podcasts and white papers are also available for reference.
Prototype games are due August 25, 2006, a seemingly aggressive deadline when the Top 10 finalists will be simultaneously announced at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Bellevue, WA and at ShowDown in San Jose, CA on August 26, 2006. From there, contestants will have over one month to polish their final games before being flown out to compete at IndieGamesCon (IGC) -- GarageGames annual version of Sundance for indie game developers -- in Eugene, Oregon on October 6th through the 8th, 2006.
Only five contestants will be chosen to appear at the end of the Player's Choice Awards and be part of B.I.G.'s 'Indie Idol,' an American Idol-style showcase judged by a panel of industry experts. Said GarageGames Director of Business Development Jay Moore, "This is the best opportunity for up-and-coming videogame developers to break into the business and for established developers to show their skills. We've made it totally free so that it's possible for literally anyone to pursue the American dream. Furthermore, the support is there to make anyone a winner who has the passion for it."
About GarageGames:
GarageGames' mission is to change the way games are made and played. GarageGames provides the technology, community and market to empower game makers to build commercial quality multiplatform games. GarageGames is located in Eugene, Oregon and on the web at www.garagegames.com and is the annual presenter of IndieGamesCon (Oct 6-8, 2006).
About Torque Game Builder:
Make your game with the world's most powerful 2D game engine, Torque Game Builder. TGB's integrated sprites, scrolling backgrounds, 3D objects, TorqueNET Lite networking, physics, and collision detection allow your imagination to be the only limit. TGB, coupled with TorqueScript, allows easy access to user interface creation, effects, tiles, level building, and packaging. So, if you know Flash, Visual Basic, or other scripting language, you will easily master TorqueScript. Support is no problem either. TGB gets you started with six complete games including all art and source plus access to hundreds of detailed pages of documentation, tutorials, and how-tos as well as a huge worldwide development community through the Torque Developer Network (TDN).
original article
Thought it would be interesting for all of you to read about it.
P.S. I think GG makes something like "revolution" in gamedev ;) I'm happy.
P.P.S. Our project is okay, in huge development ;)
Screens? ;) Soon, I promise.
--------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday May 24, 6:00 am ET
Bill Gates' E3 GarageGames Mention Grows Mindshare
EUGENE, Ore., May 24 /PRNewswire/
At E3, the world listened to Microsoft's founder Bill Gates single out GarageGames' Marble Blast Ultra as his six-year-old son's favorite game. On June 5th, 2006, GarageGames will again stand out from the crowd as they launch the B.I.G. (Break Into Games) Competition -- the nation's most exhaustive search to showcase America's greatest independent videogame developers. Culminating with a light-hearted American Idol style finale, the entrants and winners will vie for prizes including professional gaming hardware and coveted publishing deals with GarageGames and its partners.
All B.I.G. entrants will be given the opportunity to build their game prototypes with a free trial version of the impressive, new Torque Game Builder (TGB) from GarageGames, which will empower them to build amazing games from scratch and compete for top prizes and recognition. Said GarageGames President Mark Frohnmayer, "We've seen compelling games prototypes created with TGB in one to two weeks."
Support for the competition is comprehensive -- from a step-by-step tutorial to a fully developed online community, where designers are in contact with technical experts from GarageGames and the gaming community. Podcasts and white papers are also available for reference.
Prototype games are due August 25, 2006, a seemingly aggressive deadline when the Top 10 finalists will be simultaneously announced at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Bellevue, WA and at ShowDown in San Jose, CA on August 26, 2006. From there, contestants will have over one month to polish their final games before being flown out to compete at IndieGamesCon (IGC) -- GarageGames annual version of Sundance for indie game developers -- in Eugene, Oregon on October 6th through the 8th, 2006.
Only five contestants will be chosen to appear at the end of the Player's Choice Awards and be part of B.I.G.'s 'Indie Idol,' an American Idol-style showcase judged by a panel of industry experts. Said GarageGames Director of Business Development Jay Moore, "This is the best opportunity for up-and-coming videogame developers to break into the business and for established developers to show their skills. We've made it totally free so that it's possible for literally anyone to pursue the American dream. Furthermore, the support is there to make anyone a winner who has the passion for it."
About GarageGames:
GarageGames' mission is to change the way games are made and played. GarageGames provides the technology, community and market to empower game makers to build commercial quality multiplatform games. GarageGames is located in Eugene, Oregon and on the web at www.garagegames.com and is the annual presenter of IndieGamesCon (Oct 6-8, 2006).
About Torque Game Builder:
Make your game with the world's most powerful 2D game engine, Torque Game Builder. TGB's integrated sprites, scrolling backgrounds, 3D objects, TorqueNET Lite networking, physics, and collision detection allow your imagination to be the only limit. TGB, coupled with TorqueScript, allows easy access to user interface creation, effects, tiles, level building, and packaging. So, if you know Flash, Visual Basic, or other scripting language, you will easily master TorqueScript. Support is no problem either. TGB gets you started with six complete games including all art and source plus access to hundreds of detailed pages of documentation, tutorials, and how-tos as well as a huge worldwide development community through the Torque Developer Network (TDN).
original article
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