From the web: IGDA proposes game credits standards

Credits Standards Committee chair to speak at GDC 08 The International Game Developers Association is pushing for an industry-wide adoption of professional standards in game credits.

A public "beta" of the proposed IGDA standards was posted online for member feedback in September, but the issue has recently come to the forefront with the news that Rockstar Vienna was snubbed in the credits for Manhunt 2.

"Accurate, complete, and fair credits are essential to ongoing employment, professional development, and artistic fulfillment for all developers," said the IGDA's executive director Jason Della Rocca.

"Further, having accurate credits helps employers make informed hiring decisions."

The IGDA has established a Credit Standards Committee with the goal of establishing generally accepted guidelines that all studios and publishers can use.

John Feil, the chair of this committee, will be hosting a roundtable session during the 2008 Game Developers Conference entitled "The IGDA Credits Movement: The Revolution Is Already Here.

Article from GamesIndustry.Biz

XNA Game Studio European Tour 3.12.2007

Microsoft and Helsingin Yliopiston Tietojenkäsittelytieteen Opiskelijajärjestö are organizing an XNA Game Studio presentation in Helsinki. It is part of the bigger XNA Game Studio European Tour. The event will be held on Monday December 3rd, from 14.30 to 19.15. It is open for all and free but you do need to register for it online.

More information and online registration available here.

Digiexpo 07 coverage

On games side in this years Digiexpo EA, Sony, Microsoft & Nintendo were strongly present. EA had the biggest expo area of all and second biggest was Sony's area.

I visited Digiexpo on Saturday mid-day and the place was packed full. You had to wait to play all the games, thus my coverage ended up pretty slim since my stay in Messukeskus mostly involved watching others play. Otherwise the event gets thumbs up in my book.

In Nintendo's expo area, people were playing Wii Sports and the usual stuff along with some new Wii & DS games like Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime - Corruption & Zelda - Phantom Hourglass. I got my hands on Mario Galaxy and i can tell you, the controls felt very intuitive and the visuals looked great as i expected.

Microsoft was displaying their latest games and i could not spot any pre-release games in a quick glance.

EA was running the show. Displaying tons of new games & even titles not released yet. Amongst the games there were, My Sims, The Simpsons games, Crysis, New sport titles & other coming soon titles. EA was showing off games on almost all gaming platforms.

In Sony's area Playstation 3 & PSP games were most prominent. Playstation's Home service was quite visible in their expo setup and decoration & was perhaps the most innovative set decoration in the whole expo area. Their set had different areas for different types of game genres and actually these areas were filled up with gamers typical of that genre. EDIT: Apparently Sony had some pre-release games that you could play also.

Some of the games magazines from Finland were also present, at least Pelit & Pelaaja. Near Pelaaja area the biggest attraction seemed to be Guitar Hero III.

Click here for photos from Digiexpo 07

GDC Scholarship Notification

It’s GDC Scholarship time again! All students interested in the game industry should really take a moment to check it out. On the surface the scholarship includes a main conference pass, a local studio visit, and an industry mentor. But what it really includes is access to a huge network of people with the same interests as you, chances to meet your favorite people in the industry, and loads of information to get your game industry career off the ground. As a 2007 scholarship recipient, I highly recommend students to take advantage of this opportunity. If you would like more information, you can check out the reports from previous winners or take a look at the article I wrote for IGDA Finland after my GDC visit.

-Liz Lehtonen, Chapter Coordinator

IGDA Finland in Helio Magazine!

IGDA Finland was made part of an article in Helio Magazine. I was interviewed for the article last December, almost a year ago. The magazine came out in Spring 2007 and has recently been made available in pdf form. IGDA article starts on page 33 (page 18/31 of the pdf), IGDA Finland gets mentioned on the next page.

- Jay, Lead Chapter Coordinator