"Any inanimate object, regardless of its position, configuration or purpose, may be expected to perform at any time in a totally unexpected manner for reasons that are either entirely obscure or else completely mysterious." - Flap's Law
GDNet News IGDA Board of Directors 2010 Candidate Statements Online
These are the 23 candidates for the IGDA Board of Directors for 2010. The people whom are selected will shape the organization for the next 3 years. Please take some time to inform yourself on the backgrounds and qualities of each candidate, read their statements, know their names, and make sure that not only you, but your friends, your SIG and your Chapter all vote to get the best people in the industry on the IGDA Board. This is a chance to make a difference, a chance to cause a change, a chance to see that the IGDA is run by people who will make the IGDA into the organization we all know it can be.
Epic Games Releases February 2010 Unreal Development Kit Beta
Epic Games, Inc. has released the February 2010 UDK Beta, an updated version of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), the free edition of Unreal Engine 3 that provides uncompromised access to the award-winning game development toolset.
Epic is committed to providing the UDK community with regular software releases at no charge, and the latest beta is available now at www.udk.com/download.
An extensive list of new additions and improvements included with this version is available at:
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/BuildUpgradeNotesFeb2010General
The Daily GameDev.net
Promit and I are swapping this week - he'll be dropping by to say hello on Thursday.
Art History of Games Conference a success; closes in Atlanta. A new conference went down this past weekend, aimed to "start the process of looking at the question of art and games more closely," according to co-organizer John Sharp. Gamasutra has additional coverage of the event here and here (they don't link stories together at all that I can see) and Kotaku also had a reporter in attendance for the event. You can also pick up more AHoG tidbits via the twitter hashtag #AHoG. No official word has been posted regarding next year's event, but attendees and organizers alike have said it was well-received, so we could be seeing it again next year if you missed it this time around.
Game Developer Magazine calls for salaries - indies too. GDM has put out the call to all game developers this year for their annual salary survey. In past years they've only looked at full-time employees in development studios, but this time around they are creating separate data sets for contractors and indie developers bringing in their own coin. So if you're making games, making money and want to contribute to statistics and see yourself in a colorful chart a few months from now, head on over and fill out the survey, which they say takes 7 minutes to complete.
The Aussie 2010 industry outlook. GameSpot talked to several Australian developers and studios to get an idea of what the game industry in Australia will be like in 2010, after it suffered greatly throughout 2009 (as did many countries). In other AUS news, it seems that Michael Atkinson (the R18+ detractor) has landed himself in yet more hot water after declaring a member of the Australian public to not exist, prompting cries for his removal from office.
How I Made It: Naughty Dog's Amy Hennig. The LA Times paper ran a story on Naughty Dog's Creative Director Amy Hennig for their "How I Made It" feature. It's not a huge feature, but gets the job done providing insight on what led Amy to the success she's seen both personally and professionally through Naughty Dog and the Uncharted franchise she's led.
Daily Remainders - more cool stories that didn't make the cut along with game dev articles/features.
Read this post in Chinese