Visit MassDiGI at PAX East from March 22-24! Drop by and check out our “Made in MA: The State of Play” booth (#595) on the show floor! Thanks to our many friends in the MA game development community, we have some really great booth programming this year – check out the schedule here!
In addition, we have a PAX East panel, “This (Boston) Indie Life: From Breaking In to Making It” featuring many well-known local developers on March 22 in the Arachnid Theater.
Click here for more information about PAX East.
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MassDiGI is pleased to announce the 2013 Game Challenge winners! Below are links to various media stories as well as the official press release.
Media links: Boston.com, Boston Business Journal, Boston Globe, Gamasutra, Indie DB, NECN (Video) and the Worcester Business Journal.
Official Press Release:
BEST IN PLAY:
MASSDIGI NAMES 82 APPS OF CAMBRIDGE
AS 2013 GAME CHALLENGE GRAND PRIZE WINNER!
Some 250 “indie” game developers and students from across New England
battled to win over $25,000 in prizes
March 2, 2013 (Cambridge, Mass.) – The Massachusetts Digital Games Institute announces 82 Apps, a Cambridge-based independent game development studio, has won Grand Prize honors for PWN, its fast, fun and futuristic game about competitive hacking in the 2nd Annual MassDiGI Game Challenge.
“MassDiGI did an amazing job organizing the event and bringing so many great developers, mentors, and speakers together. The feedback and experience I got during the Game Challenge was extremely valuable, and I’d recommend it to anyone who is making a game and wants it to succeed,” said Erik Asmussen of 82 Apps. “The Game Challenge was a perfect way to develop and sharpen a game pitch, which is critical for any kind of outreach efforts.”
The Game Challenge, a pitch contest, helps indie and student game development entrepreneurs hone their ideas and products for launch. Forty-four teams consisting of indie game developers and student teams from around New England competed in a sold-out event from March 1-2 at the Microsoft New England Research and Development Center showcasing the rapidly expanding game industry cluster in the region. A panel of videogame industry veterans served as judges for the competition.
As the Grand Prize Winner and Best Indie Entertainment Game Winner, 82 Apps receives $2,250; Adobe Creative Cloud licenses; a legal services package from Morse-Barnes, Brown & Pendleton; customized mentor and PR/marketing packages; a Penny Arcade Expo “mini-session”; Blackberry PlayBooks; a trophy and certificates.
“The MassDiGI Game Challenge is unlike any other competition held in Massachusetts and the wider game industry as a whole,” said Elliott Mitchell, Game Challenge mentor and founder of Vermont Digital Arts. “It has been thrilling to see and meet with all of the teams, many of which have presented truly groundbreaking ideas showcasing the strength of the game development community around Boston.”
Other Boston area top indie winners include Zoe Quinn, Patrick Lindsey and Isaac Schankler for their creative interactive fiction game Depression Quest, which took home Best Indie Serious Game Winner honors.
“Our first Game Challenge in 2012 was a big success, but 2013 has really blown last year’s event out of the water – in more ways than one,” said Monty Sharma, MassDiGI’s managing director. “With over 40 passionate, creative teams competing this year and over 30 VIP mentors and speakers participating, along with a stellar line-up of game industry judges, the 2013 Game Challenge exceeded our expectations. The talent we have seen in this competition promises a bright future for game development in the region!”
In addition, the Overdriver.com Best Online Game Winner and Best Indie Entertainment Game Runner-up, Pathogen, a turn-based strategy game by Vermont-based studio Birnam Wood Games, received $1,500 as well as a legal services package from Greenberg Traurig and other prizes.
The Overdriver.com Best Online Game Runner-up was a serious game by Zeebi Lab, a team from Harvard Medical School.
Indie serious and entertainment runners-up and honorable mentions went to Neocolonialism by Subaltern Games and Captain Astronaut’s Last Hurrah by Popcannibal, two local developers.
The Best Student Entertainment Game Winner went to Play Nimbus, a team from Becker College, for its well-conceived game Wobbles. The Best Student Serious Game Winner was earned by UMass Medical School for Small Victims. Student runners-up and honorable mentions went to teams from Champlain College, Becker and WPI.
“It’s an exciting time to be a game developer,” said Timothy Loew, executive director of MassDiGI, “And the Game Challenge shines a spotlight on that excitement.”
By entering, all Game Challenge game concepts are also eligible for the 2013 MassDiGI Summer Innovation Program, a $20,000 value, to help develop their game for launch.
Students entering their second year of college looking to break into the interactive entertainment industry are welcome to apply for the 2013 MassDiGI Summer Innovation Program. Accepted applicants will work full-time alongside a team of students under the guidance of industry mentors over 11 weeks on the campus of Becker College in Worcester, Mass. Students accepted into the program will receive free housing over the summer, as well as a stipend. To apply, visit www.MassDiGI.org. The deadline for applications is April 5.
The 2013 Game Challenge was made possible through the support of sponsors including Microsoft; GSN Digital; Becker College; The Innovation Institute; Greenberg Traurig; Muzzy Lane Software; Turbine; PAX East; Morse, Barnes-Brown & Pendleton; Overdriver.com; Stomp Games; Adyen; Roadhouse Interactive and Adobe.
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Winners!
Blog by Tim Loew, Executive Director, MassDiGI
Congratulations to the 44 competing teams and all the attendees, mentors, judges, volunteers and sponsors who spent two great days great days of talking, pitching, working and playing at Microsoft NERD for the 2013 MassDiGI Game Challenge! Winners this year are:
| Grand Prize Winner |
|
| 82 Apps – PWN – Erik Asmussen |
|
|
|
| Overdriver.com Best Online Game |
|
| Winner – Pathogen – Birnam Wood Games |
|
| Runner-Up – Zeebi Lab (HMS) |
|
|
|
| Student -Best Entertainment |
Indie – Best Entertainment |
| Winner – Play Nimbus (Becker) – Wobbles |
Winner – 82 Apps – PWN |
| Runner-up – MindSquid (Champlain) – Quibly Ball |
Runner-Up – Birnam Wood Games – Pathogen |
| Hon. Mention – Pandora (WPI) |
Hon. Mention – Popcannibal – Capt. Astronaut’s Last Hurrah |
|
|
| Best Student – Serious |
Best Indie – Serious |
| Winner – Small Victims (UMMS) |
Winner – Depression Quest |
| Runner-Up – Lazarus Taxxon (Becker) |
Runner-Up – Subaltern – Neocolonialism |
|
|
| Finalists |
|
| Student – Entertainment |
Indie – Entertainment |
| Pandora |
82 Apps |
| Play Nimbus |
Birnam Wood Games |
| MindSquid |
Music Factory |
| Mustachio (NU, Binghamton) |
Popcannibal |
|
|
| Student – Serious |
Indie – Serious |
| Lazarus Taxxon |
Depression Quest |
| Small Victims |
Subaltern |
|
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| Honorable Mention – Finalists |
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| Zephyr (Becker) |
Part 12 Studios |
| Glyphic (Becker) |
Interactive Audio Fiction |
|
Zeebi Lab |
|
|
We wanted to get this posted as soon as possible. See our news feed for more information!
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Spend your summer with MassDiGI
Blog by Tim Loew, Executive Director, MassDiGI
Are you studying game design, development, art, production, music, or programming etc? Entering your sophomore, junior or senior year at a regionally accredited college or university? Want to spend your summer working on games, learning a ton, getting paid, living for free, meeting new people and having a great time? Yes? Then, do we have something for you: The 2013 MassDiGI Summer Innovation Program! We call it SIP, for short.
Last summer, we received 55 eligible applications. Of the 55, 18 students ultimately were admitted representing 9 different colleges and universities including RPI, Springfield, WPI, Becker, Mt. Ida, Northeastern, Berklee, Champlain and Mt. Holyoke. In addition, student volunteers from Becker, Emerson and Binghamton are also involved. You can read all about last summer by clicking back through our blog or visiting the 2012 SIP Archive page.
Here are just a few comments from last year’s SIP’pers:
- “I learned an absurd amount of new things this summer.”
- “I MADE A GAME!”
- “Overall, I suspect the SIP is one of the best, if not the best, learning experience I’ll have at college.”
- “The mentors and the company visits were by far the best part of the program.”
This summer, we hope to admit up to 24 students and accomplish even more! For all the details and a link to the 2013 application, please click here.
When applying, please keep in mind that this is a competitive process. Only the best mix of students with the right skills and talents will be accepted.
SIP has everything you need as a student to kick-start your game development career:
- A chance to work on a game prototype from the ground up
- Work with a team of students to help create the “next big thing”
- Industry mentors to help guide you
- A free place to live and a stipend
This is not just another internship, but a chance to hold the fate of a game in your hands. There are mentors and faculty to help you, but in the end it is up to your team to build a successful game.
The 2013 SIP application period opens February 1, 2013 and closes April 5, 2013. Successful applicants will be informed by April 15, 2013. The 2013 SIP runs from May 21, 2013 to August 9, 2013.
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Here’s one way a video game company can get gamers to try a new release: Make it free.
A number of game studios, including several based in Massachusetts, have embraced the free-to-play model for new game products. That includes some of the big boys. According to a Bloomberg News report early this fall, giant video game maker “Electronic Arts Inc., whose ‘Command & Conquer’ is ranked by researcher NPD among the top-five best-selling PC franchises of all time with more than 30 million copies sold since 1995, will make the game free online next year.”
Read the full story by MassDiGI’s Monty Sharma by clicking here.
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