The international game developer and publisher Bandai Namco recently showcased a number of upcoming games that cover the platform spectrum, from mobile to console. We take a quick look at the event and our impressions of the games we saw and played. Ready, set, go!
The Event
Bandai Namco hosted the all-day event at a hotel in San Francisco, where waves of a couple dozen press every couple hours explored on their own rows of stations for each game. Each station was aided by a helpful Bandai Namco staffer or two. In the middle of the room was Shinobi Striker, with eight stations to play capture the flag in 4v4 multiplayer. At the ends of the rooms, Tekken 7 was featured and, on the far end, the upcoming Soul Caliber.
Playing big name games from a big name company can be thirsty work for anyone, press included, so tea, coffee and even adult beverages after noon were on tap. Oh, and a BBQ lunch was made available too, to get the media over the mid-day hump.
A view of part of the Bandai Namco games showcase (photo credit: E4G)
The Games
SOULCALIBUR VI:
Arguably this much-anticipated installment in the long-running Soul Calibur franchise was the star of the show. Offering six characters — Sophitia, Mitsurugi, Nightmare, Kilik, Xianghua and the new eye-patched character Grøh — the first five characters felt very familiar and the game play did to me too. The moves felt like the original Soul Calibur, while the bumped-up speed of the game was more akin to the first Soul Calibur sequel.
The “flow” of the matches, however, are affected by a cinematic and game-changing “reverse edge” mechanic. This mechanic is charged and then kicked in by charging a slow-motion sequence that allows players to select a move that has a rock-scissors-paper function. In that brief moment, players can make an impact on the momentum of the game with a single move. It not only looks slick when you see it in action, it gives everyone a shot at staying in their match.
Take a look at the new official character reveal trailer to get a taste of those six characters and the game visuals in action.
NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER:
Shinobi Striker was one of my favorite games to play, based on how much fun I had playing the 4v4 capture the flag mode, with a mix of media and Bandai Namco folks. It came as a bit of a surprise to me, since I’ve never really been a huge Naruto fan, but I know some of the lore and the look and feel of the anime, so I could appreciate the work that went into the smaller visual touches that made the game, during my time playing it, feel authentic to the source material.
With a range of cel-shaded characters from the Naruto series to pick from, with characters defined by Attack, Defense, Range and Healer roles. Kakashi-sensei was my (Attack type) tank go-getter character. Matched against some twisted and turning rugged scenery, which was as much of a hazard as the players I was matched against, I occasionally found myself plummeting to my doom after jumping from a perspective-bending wall run into the void. But, the characters can also charge jumps to leap across broad spans (and opponents), which was helpful. Still, it doesn’t hurt at all to coordinate with your fellow teammates, rather than tying to be a hero. Speaking of that, the sense of comradery was instant, with commands and call-outs, even if we were scattered at different parts of the 4×4 table set-up.
I found it a very accessible game to pick up and play, whether one is familiar with multiplayer games or not. I can also see this game turning up in competitive games tournaments after it’s released later this year.
CasualConnect USA 2018 has concluded – and with it, over three days of lectures, workshops, networking, and parties. The conference brought out hundreds of professionals from all walks of the games industry – including console, mobile, PC, casino, VR/AR, and online – providing them with opportunities to connect, learn new skills, and gain valuable insights on a range of topics.
Indie Prize Winners
Sixty developer teams vyed for 10 trophies during the 21st Indie Prize Awards at CasualConnect USA 2018. “It is always a pleasure to watch how excited developers are about showcasing and networking – as well as seeing the energy and inspiration that comes from new connections that are made during the conference,” said Indie Prize Director Yuliya Moshkaryova.
ZPLAY Ads was the platinum sponsor for Indie Prize USA – and provided $10,000 in UA via playable ads to the Most Innovative Game winner and a mobile phone to the Best In Show winner. Additional prizes were provided by silver sponsor DeepMotion – as well as Amazon Appstore, NVIDIA, OMUK, Inlingo, Photon, Intel, Tenjin, and Appodeal.
Winners and nominees include:
Best Game Audio
WINNER: Floor Kids (MERJ Media, Canada)
Stack & Crack (Jambav, India)
Orbit – Playing With Gravity (HIGHKEY Games, USA)
Rumble League (Lorraine Studio, USA)
Best Game Design
WINNER: Molecats (Vidroid, Ukraine)
SIMULACRA (Kaigan Games, Malaysia)
AntVentor (LoopyMood, Ukraine)
The Raven and Orion (Always Player 2 Studios, USA)
Best Game Art
WINNER: AntVentor (LoopyMood, Ukraine)
Past Cure (Phantom 8 Studio, Germany)
Brave Hand (Heart Shaped Games, USA)
Molecats (Vidroid, Ukraine)
Best Game Animation
WINNER: Bushy Tail (Fuero Games, Poland)
Floor Kids (MERJ Media, Canada)
Zebrainy ABCs (Zebrainy, Malta)
World Creator! (Lionbird Limited, Hong Kong)
Best Game Narrative
WINNER: Bushy Tail (Fuero Games, Poland)
SIMULACRA (Kaigan Games, Malaysia)
Past Cure (Phantom 8 Studio, Germany)
Skye (Puny Astronaut, Scotland)
Best Multiplayer Game
WINNER: King of the Hat (Hyroglyphik Games, Canada)
Massive Warfare: Rush (TinyBytes, Chile)
Kluno: Hero Battle (Gameka, Malaysia)
Imposter Drawster (Up at Night, USA)
Best Kids & Family Game
WINNER: Zebrainy ABCs (Zebrainy, Malta)
Pets Race (Kooapps, USA)
Drawing for Kids (Bini Bambini, Ukraine)
Skye (Puny Astronaut, Scotland)
Best Mobile Game
WINNER: SIMULACRA (Kaigan Games, Malaysia)
Corecraft (Retro Principles, Malta)
Warhammer: Doomwheel (Katsu Entertainment, USA)
Grapple Gum (Ali Mehrez, Tunisia)
Most Innovative Game
WINNER: Molecats (Vidroid, Ukraine)
SIMULACRA (Kaigan Games, Malaysia)
Floor Kids (MERJ Media, Canada)
Vocaline (Flatgames, Turkey)
Best In Show: Audience Choice
AlphaBeatCancer (Mukutu Game Studio, Brazil)
“On behalf of CasualConnect and Indie Prize, we congratulate all the finalists, nominees and winners,” said Yuliya. “We are looking forward to discover and support new industry talent at our upcoming 2018 shows in London, Belgrade, and Shenzhen/Hong Kong!”
Speaker Highlights
More than 250 experts and executives lended their talents, knowledge, and experiences to attendees in topics ranging from licensing and legal issues to design and monetization. Ted Price, the CEO of Insomniac Games, was one such speaker. He spoke on a panel alongside Turtle Rock Studios President Steve Goldstein, Skydance Interactive President Peter Akemann, Manticore Games Co-Founder Frederic Descamps, Amazon Head of Business Development Dan Winters, and Boesky & Company Principal Keith Boesky.
Of the panel, Ted noted, “what was fun for me was that I already knew all but one of my fellow panelists – and of course our moderator Keith. So I felt like the conversation was relaxed and collaborative. In my opinion Peter, Dan and Steve all shared unique insights when answering Keith’s questions. Thus it was an opportunity for me to learn as well.”
Overall, CasualConnect USA 2018 hosted 14 tracks: Industry & Leadership, Casino, Market Navigation, Business of Games, Design & Development, Kids & Family, Esports, Audio, Emerging Tech, Licensing, United in Diversity, United in Action, LiveOps Connect, and the IGDA Mentorship Summit. Speakers came from companies such as Netmarble, Insomniac Games, Xbox, Hitpoint Studios, Atari, Caesars Entertainment, Mattel, Twitch, Blizzard, NBCUniversal Media, Zynga, and many more.
Show Support
The conference also included dozens of exhibitors and sponsors with a wide range of services to help developers big and small. Kristiina Kansen, the Director of Marketing at MoPub (Twitter), a recurring sponsor of CasualConnect, noted that their experience at the show was “very valuable as usual and a great place for us to connect with MoPub’s key audience: up-and-coming as well as leading app developers”.
Publishers, developers, and service providers alike took part in exhibition and sponsorships at the show to find clients, recruit new talent, and build partnerships with others in the games industry. The conference’s three major networking parties were sponsored by DCPI, Game Insight, and Upsight and attended by hundreds; while attendees enjoyed smaller in-venue mingles and drinks sponsored by ConsumerAcquistion.com and InMobi after the conference on Day 1.
London & Beyond
While CasualConnect USA has come and gone, the team at Computer Games Association (CGA) is already hard at work preparing for their next shows. Be sure to catch one or more of CasualConnect‘s upcoming conferences in London, Belgrade, and Shenzhen/Hong Kong. If you missed CasualConnect USA 2018, you can find select lecture videos on CasualConnect‘s official YouTube page in the coming weeks.
For this month’s featured video, we selected the following from Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that took place at the beginning of this month. As always, CES has a ton of fancy dancy electronics and even a few games to browse through. The show is so large, even focusing on computer electronics and games can take a day to get through. Have a look at what’s coming up in 2018 for games!
After 4 years of absence, DevGAMM, the biggest conference for game developers and publishers in CIS, returns to Kyiv on February 1-2, 2018.
This year 1000 industry professionals from 20 countries will gather at a new venue –
Cosmopolite Congress Hall which is a part of the contemporary 4 star Mercure Hotel.
DevGAMM attendees can expect 40+ sessions in 4 halls and 70+ games. Such stellar speakers as John Comes (tinyBuild), Rami Ismail (Vlambeer), Jon Carnage (Twitch), Björn Ritzl and
Oleg Pridiuk (King), Leszek Szczepański (Guerrilla Games), and lots of others are going to share their experience with all the conference attendees.
Industry experts from such leading companies as Playrix, Plarium, Gameloft, Ubisoft, Wargaming.net, Crytek, Room 8, Social Quantum, Vostok Games and others will elaborate on issues related to game-design, art & animation, and technologies.
Apart from sessions, DevGAMM will offer several games hub activities. At DevGAMM Showcase developers will have an opportunity to demonstrate their projects during the whole conference day and get feedback directly from attendees. The game submissions are already open on the conference website.
Developers will also have a chance to show their games and exchange business cards with publishers during 3-minute meetings called Speed Game Dating. And for those who like shows there will be Game Lynch where industry experts review developers’ projects for 5 minutes in the most hilarious way possible.
The traditional Career Wall with job offers from the leading companies will help everyone who wants to find their place in the gaming industry. All attendees have a chance to win prizes from sponsors in a special entertaining event called DevGAMM Quest.
Effective networking at the conference will be provided by new automatic matchmaking tool. Alongside the conference itself, DevGAMM Kyiv 2018 will host several networking parties that will give everyone a great opportunity to get to know each other in an informal setting.
The ticket is required to get access to the event. The full event program is already available on the official website of DevGAMM Kyiv 2017.
CASUAL CONNECT; ANAHEIM, CA and SEATTLE: JANUARY 11, 2018 – Compassion Games International (CGI), the Seattle-based non-profit initiative and community engagement experience, will be honoring Leaders for Diversity in the gaming industry in a Compassion Torch Ceremony at this year’s Casual Connect at Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California, January 16-17.
Over the last five years, this ceremony has taken place all over the world, spotlighting outstanding individuals, groups, organizations, alliances, and communities whose work is contributing to a more peaceful, just, and compassionate planet. The Compassion Torch was gifted by indigenous elders at Standing Rock in support of this work.
“We hope to raise awareness of the ongoing efforts by leaders championing compassion and diversity,” said Jon Ramer, CGI’s founder. “By passing the Compassion Torch, we honor the efforts and voices of this collective mutual-mentor network committed to becoming better leaders for the greater good.”
Last November, a Compassion Torch Ceremony honored Megan Gaiser, Contagious Creativity principal and founder of Leadership for Diversity, and Laurent Michaud, head of Study and Video Game Practices for IDATE at the DigiWorld Summit in Montpelier, France. In December, several other diversity leaders were honored in Seattle including Enlearn’s Sandi Everlove, Kristiina Hiukka, honorary vice consul of Finland for Washington State, empowerment speaker Shelmina Abji, and Akhtar Badshah of Catalytic Innovators Group.
Honorees at next week’s Compassion Torch Ceremonies at Casual Connect include:
“With so much negative press around the lack of diversity and abuse of power, we have the opportunity to shine the light on those doing the good work to catalyze inspired leadership, whether at the individual level or in support of others,” said Megan Gaiser, founder of Leadership for Diversity.
About Compassion Games International (CGI) Compassion Games International was inspired by the ‘Seeds of Compassion’ that brought the Dalai Lama to Seattle in 2008. The Compassion Games: Survival of the Kindest is a human-to-human, community engagement experience that invites people around the world to challenge one another to promote acts of compassion that better our lives, our communities, and all life on Earth.
About 21st Century Leadership for Diversity (L4D) 21st Century Leadership for Diversity is a collective network across industries committed to becoming better leaders and supporting each other in the process. The call to action is investment in human-centered leadership to ensure creativity, inclusion, diversity, equity, and meaningful engagement are embodied across organizations. The L4D site also serves as a shared collective repository of inspiring leadership resource materials.
Las Vegas, NV, January 5, 2018 – The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) announced today an extensive list of celebrities slated to appear at CES® 2018 in Las Vegas.
Entertainers and other figures from sports, music, movies, TV, and technology will appear throughout the week celebrating technology through speaking engagements, signing autographs, and meeting conference attendees.
“We’re bringing the stars to Vegas,” said Karen Chupka, senior vice president, CES and corporate business strategy. “What makes it even more special is that nearly all of these entertainers and other celebrities are involved in some of the most interesting technology efforts out there. So it’s exciting to have star power on hand – we always do – but it’s also exciting to get the unique insight of these folks on how they’re partnering in cutting-edge projects.”
Celebrity speakers and appearances include, but are not limited to:
Actor Neil Patrick Harris and Former NFL star Terrell Owens – Samba TV booth (ARIA – CS-10) – Thursday, Jan. 11, 10 AM-2 PM
Players Only – featuring former NBA stars Chris Webber, Baron Davis, Dennis Scott, Isiah Thomas and WNBA player Elena Delle Donne – Thursday, Jan. 11, 12-12:45 PM
SAN FRANCISCO – Jan. 5, 2018 – Organizers have revealed the nominees for the 18th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards, the leading peer-based video game event celebrating the industry’s top games and developers. Winners in all fourteen categories will be honored at the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) ceremony, taking place on Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at 6:30pm at the San Francisco Moscone Center during the 2018 Game Developers Conference (GDC) and held in conjunction with the Independent Games Festival Awards (IGF). GDCA will be presided by returning host and industry veteran, Robin Hunicke, a professor of game design at UC Santa Cruz and the co-founder of the independent San Francisco game studio, Funomena. The ceremonies are available to attend for all GDC 2018 pass-holders.
Leading the pack are Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon Zero Dawn from Guerrilla Games with a total of six nominations each, including Game of the Year. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the massively reimagined open-world RPG, also received nominations for Best Audio, Design, Innovation, Technology, and Visual Art. The compelling sci-fi adventure, Horizon Zero Dawn, was additionally nominated for Best Audio, Design, Narrative, Technology and Visual Art.
Other titles receiving multiple nominations include Nier: Automata developed by PlatinumGames, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds developed by PUBG Corporationand Cuphead from StudioMDHR, with three nods apiece. The stylish, post-apocalyptic Nier: Automata was nominated for Best Audio, Best Design and Game of the Year. Multiplayer battle royale game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was nominated for Best Design, Innovation Award and Game of the Year. The charmingly retro old-school shooter, Cuphead, received nominations for Best Audio, Best Debut (for StudioMDHR) and Visual Art.
Stage picture from GDCA 2017 (photo credit: Official GDC)
The Game of The Year nominees are rounded out by Super Mario Odyssey from Nintendo. The triumphant celebration of the past and bold new direction for the beloved Mario franchise was nominated for Best Design and Game of the Year.
Industry professionals from around the world nominate for the awards, free of charge. Any video game that was released and made publicly available during the 2017 calendar year, irrespective of platform or delivery medium, is eligible for nomination for the 2018 Game Developers Choice Awards. Both nominees and winners are selected by the Game Developers Choice Awards-specific International Choice Awards Network (ICAN), which is an invitation-only organization, comprised of leading game creators from all parts of the industry.
The complete list of nominees, including honorable mentions, for the 18th annual Game Developers Choice Awards is as follows:
BEST AUDIO
Cuphead (StudioMDHR)
Nier: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix)
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Honorable Mentions: Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo), Star Wars: Battlefront II (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom), Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision), Persona 5 (P-Studio / Atlus), Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall / Finji)
BEST DEBUT
Team Cherry (Hollow Knight)
Sidebar Games (Golf Story)
StudioMDHR (Cuphead)
Infinite Fall (Night in the Woods)
Jason Roberts / Buried Signal (Gorogoa)
Honorable Mentions: Game Grumps (Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator), Terrible Toybox (Thimbleweed Park), Team Salvato (Doki Doki Literature Club!), Lizardcube(Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap)
BEST DESIGN
Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Nier: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix)
Honorable Mentions: Cuphead (StudioMDHR), Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal / Annapurna Interactive), What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive), Divinity: Original Sin 2 (Larian Studios), Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy (Bennett Foddy), Prey (Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
BEST MOBILE GAME
Reigns: Her Majesty (Nerial / Devolver Digital)
Hidden Folks (Adriaan de Jongh and Sylvain Tegroeg)
Monument Valley 2 (ustwo games)
Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal / Annapurna Interactive)
Bury Me, My Love (The Pixel Hunt / Figs / ARTE France / Playdius)
Honorable Mentions: Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo), Fire Emblem Heroes (Intelligent Systems and Nintendo EPD / Nintendo), Old Man’s Journey (Broken Rules), Flipflop Solitaire (Zach Gage), Gnog (KO_OP / Double Fine Productions)
INNOVATION AWARD
Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal / Annapurna Interactive)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive)
Everything (David OReilly / Double Fine Productions)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation)
Honorable Mentions: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory), Cuphead (StudioMDHR), Nier: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix), Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo), Tacoma (Fullbright), Pyre (Supergiant Games)
BEST NARRATIVE
Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall / Finji)
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive)
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (MachineGames / Bethesda Softworks)
Honorable Mentions: Nier: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix), Tacoma (Fullbright), Persona 5 (P-Studio / Atlus), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo), Divinity: Original Sin 2 (Larian Studios), Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
BEST TECHNOLOGY
Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision)
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
Assassin’s Creed: Origins (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Honorable Mentions: Star Wars Battlefront II (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (MachineGames / Bethesda Softworks), Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Nier: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix), Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom)
BEST VISUAL ART
Persona 5 (P-Studio / Atlus)
Cuphead (StudioMDHR)
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall / Finji)
Honorable Mentions: Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal / Annapurna Interactive), Star Wars Battlefront II (EA DICE / Electronic Arts), Assassin’s Creed Origins (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft), Destiny 2 (Bungie / Activision), Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory), Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
BEST VR/AR GAME
Superhot VR (SUPERHOT Team)
Star Trek: Bridge Crew (Red Storm Entertainment / Ubisoft)
Lone Echo (Ready at Dawn / Oculus Studios)
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
Honorable Mentions: Farpoint (Impulse Gear / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality (Owlchemy Labs / Adult Swim Games), Luna(Funomena), Robo Recall (Epic Games), Gnog (KO_OP/ Double Fine Productions), Doom VFR (id Software / Bethesda Softworks)
GAME OF THE YEAR
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation)
Nier: Automata (PlatinumGames / Square Enix)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Honorable Mentions: Cuphead (StudioMDHR), What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow / Annapurna Interactive), Persona 5 (P-Studio / Atlus), Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory), Gorogoa (Jason Roberts / Buried Signal / Annapurna Interactive), Divinity: Original Sin 2 (Larian Studios), Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall / Finji)
The Game Developers Choice Awards also recognize three individuals for the annual Special Awards categories: Pioneer, Ambassador and Lifetime Achievement. The recipients of the special awards will be announced in the near future. The Audience Award category, which will be open to all Choice Award finalists, will open for online voting in late January.
SAN FRANCISCO – Jan. 3, 2018 – The Independent Games Festival (IGF), which honors the most influential, innovative and acclaimed projects in independent game development, revealed the award finalists for its 20th annual awards ceremony. The IGF Awards take place on March 21, 2018 during the Game Developers Conference, and will be hosted by Trent Kusters, co-founder of League of Geeks, the Melbourne-based development team behind Armello, a captivating digital role-playing strategy board game that has garnered much critical and fan acclaim. Trent is currently a board member of Australia’s Freeplay Independent Games Festival, and was named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for games in 2016.
After an initial review round by over 300 judges, the nearly 600 entries for the 2018 IGF Awards were distributed to a diverse set of expert jurors from across the industry for final consideration. The juries for each individual category then selected the IGF finalists after playing, discussing and meticulously evaluating them.
Among the selection of 35 different nominated games, a few titles received nominations in multiple categories, including Baba is You, a puzzle game created by creator Hempuli that allows players to alter the rules and game logic as a part of solving the puzzles. The game received a total of four nominations – for Excellence in Design, Best Student Game, the Nuovo Award for ‘thinking differently about games as a medium’, and for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.
Multiple titles are being recognized for their excellence with three nominations apiece. Night in the Woods, an adventure game from creator Infinite Fall that focuses on exploration, story and character development within a lush, vibrant world, received nominations for Excellence in Narrative, Excellence in Visual Arts and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy from developer Bennett Foddy, a sadistic climbing game that rewards players who reach the top of the mountain, was nominated for Excellence in Design, the Nuovo Award, and also received a nomination for the Grand Prize.
The winners of the IGF will be announced at the Independent Games Festival Awards which take place the evening of Wednesday, March 21st at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center. The IGF Awards will immediately precede the Game Developers Choice Awards, which recognizes the best games of the year across all sections of video game development.
IGF Award winners will receive more than $50,000 of prizes in various categories, including the $30,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Both the IGF Awards and the Game Developers Choice Awards ceremonies are available to attend for all GDC 2018 pass-holders and will be livestreamed online once again.
The full list of finalists for each category of the 2018 Independent Games Festival, along with “honorable mentions,” is as follows:
Honorable Mentions: Crewsaders (Titan Squad); A.L.F.R.E.D. (Hugo Lefevre, Joseph Reichenbach, Romain Jaohar-Gaillard, Garance Royere Lebigre, Nicolas Tham, Marion Speiser, Delphine Migeot de Baran, Song Huang); MOLOCH (Seemingly Pointless); Kyklo’s Code (Cube Factory); Membrane (Perfect Hat / Seth S. Scott); That Blooming Feeling (The Tots Team); Tell Me What You See (Pesky Bees)
The alt.ctrl.GDC award is also returning to the IGF Awards for a second year, to honor the most creative and unique video game controller, with a prize of $3,000 given out to the winning game.
Finalists for this category will be announced from the 20 alt.ctrl.GDC 2018 picks during the week of the Game Developers Conference, and all of this year’s honorees will be shown at the alt.ctrl.GDC exhibit onsite, which showcases a diverse collection of indie-centric one-of-a-kind game peripherals, contraptions and novelties that enhance game experiences and challenge traditional forms of input.
The public will also be able to take part in awarding the winner of the IGF Audience Award from all the finalists for the IGF; online voting for the Audience Award begins in late January.
The IGF Pavilion, located on the Expo Floor of the Game Developers Conference will give attendees the chance to play the nominated titles and meet the game creators. Along with the IGF Pavilion, developers can also take part in the Independent Games Summit (March 19th-20th), which highlights the best and brightest of indie development, featuring valuable discussions and networking opportunities. The Game Developers Conference takes place Monday, March 19 to Friday, March 23, 2018 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.
Since its debut in 1999, the Independent Games Festival remains a platform that recognizes the efforts and artistic craft of some of the most beloved independent games in history, including revolutionary and memorable titles such as Quadrilateral Cowboy, Her Story, Papers, Please, Fez and Minecraft among many others.
For more information on the Independent Games Festival, please visit the official IGF website at www.igf.com. For those interested in registering for GDC 2018, which includes the Independent Games Summit, the IGF Pavilion and the IGF Awards Ceremony, please visit www.gdconf.com. For the latest updates on GDC, follow the official Twitter account @Official_GDC.
IGF Awards Will Be Hosted at GDC 2018 by Armello Game Designer, Trent Kusters
SAN FRANCISCO – Jan. 3, 2018 – The Independent Games Festival (IGF), which honors the most influential, innovative and acclaimed projects in independent game development, revealed the award finalists for its 20th annual awards ceremony. The IGF Awards take place on March 21, 2018 during the Game Developers Conference, and will be hosted by Trent Kusters, co-founder of League of Geeks, the Melbourne-based development team behind Armello, a captivating digital role-playing strategy board game that has garnered much critical and fan acclaim. Trent is currently a board member of Australia’s Freeplay Independent Games Festival, and was named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for games in 2016.
After an initial review round by over 300 judges, the nearly 600 entries for the 2018 IGF Awards were distributed to a diverse set of expert jurors from across the industry for final consideration. The juries for each individual category then selected the IGF finalists after playing, discussing and meticulously evaluating them.
Among the selection of 35 different nominated games, a few titles received nominations in multiple categories, including Baba is You, a puzzle game created by creator Hempuli that allows players to alter the rules and game logic as a part of solving the puzzles. The game received a total of four nominations – for Excellence in Design, Best Student Game, the Nuovo Award for ‘thinking differently about games as a medium’, and for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.
Multiple titles are being recognized for their excellence with three nominations apiece. Night in the Woods, an adventure game from creator Infinite Fall that focuses on exploration, story and character development within a lush, vibrant world, received nominations for Excellence in Narrative, Excellence in Visual Arts and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy from developer Bennett Foddy, a sadistic climbing game that rewards players who reach the top of the mountain, was nominated for Excellence in Design, the Nuovo Award, and also received a nomination for the Grand Prize.
The winners of the IGF will be announced at the Independent Games Festival Awards which take place the evening of Wednesday, March 21st at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center. The IGF Awards will immediately precede the Game Developers Choice Awards, which recognizes the best games of the year across all sections of video game development.
IGF Award winners will receive more than $50,000 of prizes in various categories, including the $30,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Both the IGF Awards and the Game Developers Choice Awards ceremonies are available to attend for all GDC 2018 pass-holders and will be livestreamed online once again.
The full list of finalists for each category of the 2018 Independent Games Festival, along with “honorable mentions,” is as follows:
Honorable Mentions: Crewsaders (Titan Squad); A.L.F.R.E.D. (Hugo Lefevre, Joseph Reichenbach, Romain Jaohar-Gaillard, Garance Royere Lebigre, Nicolas Tham, Marion Speiser, Delphine Migeot de Baran, Song Huang); MOLOCH (Seemingly Pointless); Kyklo’s Code (Cube Factory); Membrane (Perfect Hat / Seth S. Scott); That Blooming Feeling (The Tots Team); Tell Me What You See (Pesky Bees)
The alt.ctrl.GDC award is also returning to the IGF Awards for a second year, to honor the most creative and unique video game controller, with a prize of $3,000 given out to the winning game.
Finalists for this category will be announced from the 20 alt.ctrl.GDC 2018 picks during the week of the Game Developers Conference, and all of this year’s honorees will be shown at the alt.ctrl.GDC exhibit onsite, which showcases a diverse collection of indie-centric one-of-a-kind game peripherals, contraptions and novelties that enhance game experiences and challenge traditional forms of input.
The public will also be able to take part in awarding the winner of the IGF Audience Award from all the finalists for the IGF; online voting for the Audience Award begins in late January.
The IGF Pavilion, located on the Expo Floor of the Game Developers Conference will give attendees the chance to play the nominated titles and meet the game creators. Along with the IGF Pavilion, developers can also take part in the Independent Games Summit (March 19th-20th), which highlights the best and brightest of indie development, featuring valuable discussions and networking opportunities
Announcing 22 finalists to compete for the final awards in 8 categories
The Asia’s leading indie game festival will be unveiled this month at Taipei Game Show 2018 (TGS). A record number of 180 indie game developers will be showcased in Indie Game Festa of B2B Zone and Indie House of B2C Zone. Today, the organizer announcedthe finalists for Indie Game Award, which encourages and recognizes outstanding indie game developers. A total of 22 finalists have been selected from across four major platforms: PC, console, mobile, and VR. The winners will be announced at the opening of TGS2018.
Now in its fourth iteration, Indie Game Award is an exclusive contest for indie game developers. It has grown considerably from last year in terms of both participating countries and participating titles. A total of 86 titles from 21 countries enrolled in this year’scontest, and 22 titles have made it in the final round of selection, mainly from developers of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, China, South Korea, U.S., Poland, Switzerland, Austrailia, Spain, and Austria.
With the first round of selection just finished, the second round will be underway soon. Judges are being recruited from domesticand overseas candidates such as gaming-focused senior journalists, game publishers, and game producers. The final winners will bedecided in terms of five criteria including game design, story & plot, visual art, music & sound effects, and innovative gameplay, with the awards divided into eight categories: Best Narration, Best Audio, Best Visual Art, Best Game Design, Best Innovation, Best VR Game, Best Mobile Game, and IGA Grand Prix. The Award ceremony is scheduled to be held during the opening of TGS 2018 onJanuary 25.
* For afull list of the Indie Game Award 2018 finalists, please refer to the next page.
The new year is nearly upon us! To help you discover upcoming game industry conferences, conventions, festivals and other events, we post a consolidated list of events for each month. View the complete January event list below.
Between the hype for artificial intelligence, machine learning, Internet of Things and so on, it’s hard to imagine that, amid that storm of hype for new technologies, gaming has much of a presence at CES. In fact, games have been a presence for decades at the show, before the early years of E3 took away momentum from CES in the mid-nineties. Games are still a part of the show, but only one part of a much, much larger single mega-show. How large?
CES 2018 promises to be every bit the sprawl of a show as it’s predecessors, with “4,000 exhibitors across 2.6 million square feet”. That much square feet places CES right between the first and second largest malls in America, which is the King of Prussia Mall (2.9m ft2) and Mall of America (2.5m ft2) in size. That’s a lot of ground to cover, especially if games are your focus amid the thousands of exhibitors and hundreds of talks and dozens of parties.
Because Events for Gamers is about events for, well, gamers, we’re going to help narrow down the CES experience to make finding games-related companies, content and people easier to find.
At CES 2018
First of all, the easiest way to start to find game companies throughout the web of convention centers and hotels where CES is hosted is to stop by the official site. At the Gaming & Virtual Reality page, a list of forty-four exhibitors are shown, among them gaming hardware name brands, like Razer, Stern Pinball and Tobii. If you have at least an expo pass, these companies will be accessible during the expo period of the show, from January 9th to the 12th.
Away from the buzz of expo floor activity, there’s plenty of talks for folks who want insights in gaming among the range of content at CES. A good starting place is to search the extensive directory of conference tracks (and partner conferences) for topics taking on everything from virtual reality to eSports to mobile gaming. Talks and events can be narrowed down by topic, time, event, venue and more, which can be helpful for the hectic attendee, when working with a sprawling event and an often snug-as-can-be schedule.
Off-site
Of course, it’s not CES if parties and other networking events are not thrown into the recipe. Las Vegas is a ready-made landscape for parties, for celebrating or promoting a brand or product. Luckily, for the attendee with a games focus, there’s a sprinkling of useful events in the mix.
The two most prominent CES party search lists are Karen Thomas’ CES party list and the CES Partylist. There’s some overlap between most events listed on these lists, because these are publicly known and posted events. Virtual reality and consumer electronics companies with a gaming stake are attending or presenting at some of these events, but keep in mind the event organizers may be limiting access by exclusive invitation or attendee type.
Wrapping it up
Lastly, it’s wise to plan ahead to adventure through CES in one piece with what you’re looking for. A lot of sites and blog posts share tips for how to go about doing just that. As a starting point, check out Enventys Partners quick but useful list.
Best of luck making the most of CES, game industry and game-playing folks!
