Indie Games Con

[David York]

Is anybody going to the Indie Games Con (http://www.indiegamescon.com/) in Eugene, Oregon this year? If so, we should all meet up and have an Indie dinner or some such thing.

[Mike Boeh]

Since it's all indies, that would be a pretty big dinner!

Anyway, I will be there.

[Cartman]

I'll be there.

[Exotabe]

Thinking about it, haven't decided for sure yet. $150 + a round trip ticket from Chicago is a fair amount for a college kid with rent to pay and a new business to support. I'd drive, but lack a car and definitely couldn't afford the time lost.

Basically, I need to convince myself that it'll end up being more valuable in the long run to go than to skip it. And that will depend on the state of our game, so we'll see.

[Mike Boeh]

Thinking about it, haven't decided for sure yet. $150 + a round trip ticket from Chicago is a fair amount for a college kid with rent to pay and a new business to support. I'd drive, but lack a car and definitely couldn't afford the time lost.

Basically, I need to convince myself that it'll end up being more valuable in the long run to go than to skip it. And that will depend on the state of our game, so we'll see.
I am coming from chicago too... It's a very long trip :(

[Mark Fassett]

I'll be there too. It's great fun - though the sessions seem to be less interesting than they were last year.

[Dan MacDonald]

Woudn't miss it for the world, count me in.

[Sillysoft]

Looking through the speakers page it looks like there is going to be a bunch of fun and/or informative stuff. I am on the other side of the continent, but I would really like to go. I think that I will vacation there for a few days before or after to make the trip extra worthwhile.

[mrfun]

I'll be there too! Looking forward to saying hi to everyone.

[Chris Evans]

I'm in Southern Cal, so it's not too far away. However, I would still have to get a plane ticket and hotel accommodations in addition to the registration fee. Since my game will just be released around then, I should probably focus my resources and time on getting my game through the launch period instead of being out of state spending my newly earned money.

I'll definitely go next year though.

[Mark Fassett]

What if there is no next year? What if Garage Games folds and the IGC is never heard of again? Now's the time! You gotta go! There may not be a tomorrow!

[Uhfgood]

Maybe the year after next ;-) It would take a major earth axis re-alignment to get me to go to anything with more than a few people. I mean just look how long it's taken for me to consider learning c++

Keith

[Jim Buck]

I may go, but it will depend upon the final list of sessions they will have. I can somewhat justify the trip by the fact that I have a friend in the area up there that I haven't seen in years. :) Like Chris, I too would have to fly from SoCal.

[otaku]

I'm not sure if I'll be there. I have plans to go, but I just went to Classic Gaming Expo, I have a week long conference in Boston starting the 1st of September, XGDX is in October, there's another conference at the end of November, so trekking all the way up to Oregon (though I do need to get up to Seattle around that time) is going to be difficult (and exhausting).

[ggambett]

I am coming from chicago too... It's a very long trip :(
No Mike, a very long trip (and expensive!) would be going from Uruguay, south America :( Maybe next year...

[Exotabe]

No Mike, a very long trip (and expensive!) would be going from Uruguay, south America :( Maybe next year...

Hmm, perhaps you could start the UIGC (Uruguay Indie Games Con)? Just a thought, but I bet you'd have a local corner on that market :)

[kevryan]

I went last year and it was a lot of fun. Not sure about this year yet...

[ggambett]

Hmm, perhaps you could start the UIGC (Uruguay Indie Games Con)? Just a thought, but I bet you'd have a local corner on that market :)
There is no market here (unless I sell the games for $3 instead of $20), and there is only one other serious indie shop, which makes games for cell phones. Sometimes we go and have a coffee together so maybe that's our UIGC ;)

[dannyngan]

I'm definitely going to be at IGC. Of course, I'm scheduled to speak during the art sessions, so I'd better show up. :)

[Reactor]

It's megabucks for me to get there, so... I'll be giving it a miss every year ;)

[David York]

With the exceptions of Mark Fassett, Cartman and Dan MacDonald I don't think I will be able to recognize anybody. Should anybody be interested in saying hello, I am this guy (blue and black shirt, schmuck):

http://www.acm.wwu.edu/~daveman/

http://www.acm.wwu.edu/~daveman/GDC2004/

My sincerest apologies to modem users.

I would hate myself forever if I never got the chance to meet lots of you in person and offer appropriate quantities of hero worship to you all! I will bring a digital camera to document the event as best I can. So, if you see me, go ahead and say hello!

[Mark Currie]

I noticed that tickets for IGC aren't on sale on-line anymore. I guess they sold out.

[Dan MacDonald]

Just playing it by ear, from the number of people i've seen saying that they are going, I think the venu is going to be jam-packed with indie developers. A lot of guys are there already, lucky dogs :)

[3dben]

Is the event worth going to? Ive never been, Eugene OR is actually my hometown so it doesnt seem as exciting to me since I don't have to travel far :rolleyes: ... How was last year? What would make it worth going?

Thanks!

-=ben
www.clevermonkeystudios.com

[Gmicek]

I noticed that tickets for IGC aren't on sale on-line anymore. I guess they sold out.

October 3rd was supposed to be the last day they sold tickets online, but I notice they lag by a couple days on stuff like that. So I don't believe it's a situation where they sold out, people will just have to purchase them at the door.

Besides, if they sold all the tickets I'm sure there would be press releases splattered all over the site :)

[Mark Fassett]

Is the event worth going to? Ive never been, Eugene OR is actually my hometown so it doesnt seem as exciting to me since I don't have to travel far :rolleyes: ... How was last year? What would make it worth going?

Do a search for IGC :) There was a big thread about it earlier. It is most definitely worth going, especially if you live close.

[Greg Squire]

Ben,

The thread that discussed the benefits of going is this one
http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?t=456. The real benefit from what I understand is being able to talk ("network") with people in the industry (developers, artists, publishers, game reviewers, etc).

I will be there, and hope to meet a lot of you this weekend!

Yes, I'm the guy that chained that poor monkey to the oversized watch (in my logo). I hope nobody from the ASPCA will be there. :D

[Andy]

A lot of guys are there already, lucky dogs :)

I hate them all!!! :mad:
For not getting a chance to be there and drink with them as well... :D

[Mike Boeh]

I will be the guy who looks exactly like Clay Aiken :(

[Kai Backman]

No Mike, a very long trip (and expensive!) would be going from Uruguay, south America :( Maybe next year...

Or from Finland, Northern Europe .. ;) Maybe next year for me as well ..

[Mike Boeh]

Just wanted to say that it was cool meeting everyone and putting faces to all the names... It's funny how you have mental image of how people look, and then they look totally different, except Dan of course! Anyway, it was a really big turnout from people on the forum here, and great seeing everyone...

[David York]

I completely agree. This was awesome, it was wonderful meeting all of you guys that were there. This was an excellent and very educational experience.

[maksum]

Another quick opinion. I really enjoyed it as well and felt that I benefitted much. The classes were great, but without a doubt the most valuable experience there was standing behind people and observing them as they try to figure my game out. I have some great ideas of how I can improve usability on it now.

Also great to meet some of you.

Mike

[arcadetown]

Yup... it was really great to meet you all and finally put a face to it. Mike, you mean all that time I thought I was talking to Clay Aiken and it was really you? I'm always getting the Mark McGuire thing.

[Mark Fassett]

Meeting people was the biggest reason I went - oh, and to see if people would actually play Derelict. It really was great to put names to faces. My voice is all warn out from all the talking. Typing is so much easier.

[Greg Squire]

I agree it was a very good experience for a lot of reasons. The best thing for me was being able to meet all of you and others in the larger indie community. It was great also to talk with press people, artists, publishers, a game lawyer, and others connected to the industry. The sessions were also very good; I learned more in them than I thought I would. I also was able to get some feedback on a game play prototype that I had in the showoff center there. (It was something I quickly put together in a couple of weeks)

Hopefully I'll see you all (and others) again in 2005!

[Mike Boeh]

Yup... it was really great to meet you all and finally put a face to it. Mike, you mean all that time I thought I was talking to Clay Aiken and it was really you? I'm always getting the Mark McGuire thing.You DO look like Mark McGuire!

[tolik]

I would really love to join some kind of over-ocean event next year.

[Dan MacDonald]

The tone was a lot different this year, a lot more big money types walking around (more on this after I collect my thoughts), and a lot of nicer looking games too. 35 games total were being showed this year and lots of game on the mac. It was awesome to meet everyone and re-affirm why we do what we do. I also had a lot of fun seeing and playing everyones games as well. Now back to work, I feel like I have so much to do!

[dannyngan]

I definitely had a blast this weekend. Each year, IGC just keeps on getting better. As usual, it was great to meet people face to face instead of just online. I was actually surprised to see how many people were from the Seattle area. A few of you guys I've met at previous IGCs, but there were definitely a bunch of new faces this year, which is a cool thing.

For those who attended the art sessions, I hope you enjoyed what we presented. A lot of the material was sort of last minute, since most of us are busy working on our own stuff. If you have any comments or suggestions on the sessions, please feel free to contact me.

Looking forward to next year!

[James C. Smith]

A must agree with all of the above. I was great fun to meat you all. I loved talking to the creators of some of the top breakout clone. I talked to the author of Blaster Ball 3D, Ballistik, Z Ball, and DX Ball. At one time I considered these to be Ricochet’s competition but now I believe most breakout fans don’t choose one over the other. They just buy them all. I enjoyed swapping tips and suggestion with the legendary Michael P. Welch. Supper DX Ball looks awesome! I hope he implements some of my suggestions for level selection and suspend game.

I hope to meet you all again soon. Not only at next years IGC, but also at GDC and/or E3. We will have to be sure to schedule an “indie” dinner or some kind of get-together at those bigger events which are dominated by console guys.

[Mark Currie]

It was cool meeting everyone including Seth Robinson who came from Japan, not to mention meeting several of the guys that live near me. I definately need to catch our local pizza night. It fun going to the bar Saturday night with Greg from DIYG and guys over at Chronic Logic, although Greg's lack of sleep may have contributed to him forgetting his laptop at the conference :)

[kevryan]

This year's IGC was a lot of fun with 20+ games in various stages of development running in the showoff center. Saw quite a few games that were there last year. Katsu is now in a much brighter world. TubeTwist is a lot better and close to shipping. Thought I saw Hampsterball on a standup cabinet that Orbz had been runing on earlier. If a demo of Zap! is available online then check it out - pure gameplay - a heck of a lot of fun. Bravetree's new car racing game D-Racer felt real nice. They have the base in place to make a real sweet game.

At times I wish I could clone myself. Last year I caught the tail end of Danny's session where he was animating a sack using MAX. This year his Character Animation was at the same time as a coding type session so I had to miss it.

You also get two drinks tickets to get a couple free beers each night....

[arcadetown]

Not only at next years IGC, but also at GDC and/or E3. We will have to be sure to schedule an “indie” dinner or some kind of get-together at those bigger events which are dominated by console guys.
You know we're in Los Angeles and go to E3 every year but honestly it hasn't been very fruitful from the business perspective as it's geared very much for a diffrenent crowd. That would be great to set something up like that there so please let us all know. If nothing else can take you all to get some awesome dimsum in nearby China town (yum!).

[Sillysoft]

I doubt that I will make it to the GDC, which makes the IndieGamesCon experience even better. I am really glad that I went and got the chance to meet everyone.

I have been thinking that I will make another game in the next 1 year timeframe, so it gives me a good goal: get a new game done in time for next year's IGC.

[David York]

I had no idea how small this event would be in terms of numbers of people, nor how large in terms of the quality, professionalism and seriousness of the people there. This event was solid quality.

I got my wish of a dinner (and beer) with IndieGamer people, which made me very happy. James Smith is right about IGC and E3 as far as the dinner, we would have to arrange it ahead of time less we not find each other.