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Mega64 punches people, makes out at IGF Awards
If you thoroughly enjoyed Mega64's video shenanigans at last year's Independent Games Festival Awards show, brace yourselves for round two. This year's IGF Awards featured a pair of clips from the comedic quartet, both of which you can find posted after the jump.The first video is aptly titled IF YOU'RE NOT INDIE, F**K YOU, and features a bunch of people getting punched in the face, except The Behemoth co-founder Dan Paladin, who is, as legend tells us, unpunchable. The second video, Topher Great Payens: "The GDC" (an homage to the equally unsettling Shine on Me by renowned musician Chris Dane Owens) is, well, extremely bizarre. Or extremely arousing. We haven't decided yet.
GDC09: IGF showcases 'the next great mobile game' concepts
Before the Independent Games Festival organizers handed out today's awards for best mobile titles, they welcomed several indie devs on stage to pitch their ideas for the "next great mobile game." It was an interactive affair; after the presentations, the audience got to "vote" for the best of the bunch via the most scientific of methods: how loud we clapped.We honestly wanted everything we saw to win; there are clearly some very bright designers working on some very cool "games" that can only be done on mobile platforms. The first we saw, Depict, is an iPhone title from VillaVanilla -- although we could easily see it on DSi -- that challenges a group of online players to take photos that match a "target image" as closely as possible. In the demo we saw, everyday household items and even people were used to compose the shots, which were then scored by the app. The closest to the target won. Depict was just the first of several intriguing concepts which we'll tell you more about after the break.
GDC09: IGF Mobile Award winners announced
Several games took home honors at this morning's Independent Games Festival's Mobile awards ceremony, but the event's true winner was apparent: the iPhone. While the awards were geared towards -- and open to -- titles for all wireless / mobile devices, every game that won is available exclusively on Apple's telephonic wunderkind (and, of course, the iPod touch). Subatomic Studios' tower defense favorite, Fieldrunners, won for Best Art and Best Mobile Game (overall). Sergei Gourski and Jamie Gotch (above), the two developers responsible for the game, have been viewed as rising stars in the indie mobile gaming scene since Fieldrunners' release; today's wins cemented their star status. We spoke with the duo about their award-winning creation -- look for the full interview soon on the 'Stiq.Two awards also went to Secret Exit for its sublime Zen Bound. The part game, part relaxation exercise was named Best iPhone Game and earned a Mobile Audio Achievement award. The Best Innovation award went to the simplistic, yet infinitely replayable 4x4 space strategy title, Galcon. The only unreleased game to win was Firemint's Real Racing, which earned Best Technical honors. We'll have a hands-on with the impressive looking (hey, it won the tech award for a reason) racer soon.
iPhone dominates list of IGF Mobile 2009 finalists
Whereas last year's entries seemed more diverse (with a heavy Java slant), the 2009 Independent Games Festival Mobile finalists are almost entirely composed of iPhone / iPod touch games -- 11 of the 14 contestants, to be exact. The remaining three entries are represented by a Nintendo DS, Java and Flash game. A trio of games lead the pack with three nominations apiece: Wardive, Edge and Fieldrunners (pictured). We're not anywhere close to calling it "the future of gameplay," but the iPhone's App Store -- not to mention massive install base -- has proven to be a viable and tempting business model for aspiring developers.
PixelJunk Eden nominated for three Independent Game Awards
Nominations for the Independent Games Festival Awards 2009 have been announced today and one of our favorite PSN titles, PixelJunk Eden, has been nominated for three categories. The categories are: Excellence in Visual Art, Excellence in Audio and Technical Excellence. Eden is one of few console games to be nominated in this year's awards, and the only PlayStation Network title to get recognition.The winners will be revealed at the Independent Games Festival which takes place in San Francisco between March 23rd and 27th. If you want to learn more about all the games on the list be sure to check out Joystiq's IGF nominee run-down. Good luck to PixelJunk Eden, there's some strong competition there.
Independent Games Festival announces 2009 award nominees
Click me to see this year's IGF nominees. With consoles opening their doors to digital distribution, indie gaming has exploded in recent years. One look at 2008's IGF winners shows a number of highly recognizable, widely available titles: Crayon Physics Deluxe, World of Goo, Audiosurf, and Desktop Tower Defense. Publishers are always on the lookout for the "next big thing." They'll be keeping an eye out on this year's IGF nominees.There are many categories to compete in, but only one game can be crowned with the ultimate prize -- the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Find out more about the candidates here.
