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Independent Games Festival Nominees Announced

Posted by simoniker on from the savages-and-pirates-oh-my dept.

Thanks to the IGF website for revealing their list of nominees for the 2004 Independent Games Festival awards, which have been running since 1998 "to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize the best independent game developers." The finalists in the 'Open Category' include everything from "blend of puzzle and action" Fuzzee Teevee, budgeted at a mere $10,000, to the $1-1.5 million "FPS and RTS [hybrid]" Savage: The Battle For Newerth. The 'Web/Downloadable' category also has some interesting entries, from seeing "two possessed cue-balls duke it out in realtime battle" courtesy of Kung-Fu Chess follow-up Billiard Boxing, to recently-featured "puzzle-based massively multi-player online roleplaying game" Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates.

3 of 16 comments (clear)

  1. $1.5 million = independent? by BTWR · · Score: 5, Insightful

    OK, I know "independent" means it isn't from some huge software firm, but I was thinking "independent" was in the "under $10,000" sort. Like Bejeweled... certainly prizeworthy, but if that cost $1.5 million to make, then someone did NOT know how to hire a CS major at the local college! (Hell, my friends coulda made that game and woulda been square if you agreed to buy them a new nintendo game or something!)

    1. Re:$1.5 million = independent? by Smidge204 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I also find the results rather... offcolor?

      I can't seem to find any solid definition of what "independent" is. The best I can make out from their rules is "self funded" and "company whose primary business is game development as opposed to commercial game publishing"

      That's pretty vauge, IMHO. And to me, "independent" means you don't have a company backing you.

      Maybe there should be another category for people who develop games independently, as in by themselves with at most a small group of friends instead of a structured, funded company behind them.

      I really think some of the more unique game ideas were overlooked as a result... Obviously a team of professional developers stand to develop a more complete and polished product than some guy working on it in his spare time, especially within the same timeframe.
      =Smidge=

    2. Re:$1.5 million = independent? by Smidge204 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's the tricky part... at what point does their company become "not independent" anymore?

      From your post, you make it sound like risk-taking is what defines them. That's not a very good way to differentiate!

      There has to be a limit somewhere, which is why the grandparent post was very interesting: how is a $1.5M budget "independent"?

      There doesn't seem to be a clear, objective definition for this. If you have one please share!
      =Smidge=