Resume

If you missed this summer Xbox Live Indie Games Summer Uprising, it’s not too late to catch up on everything that happened. It’s cool, I wrote a 5 page article which can be found in the November issue of Game Developer Magazine, so you can see everything you missed. I’m sure you’ve seen it because you already subscribe, right? If you don’t that’s alright too, because you can buy individual issues as well. ...

This article reflects my thoughts, and not necessarily those of the other team members for the Indie Games Summer Uprising. EDIT: I’ve added the section “6. The Dashboard”, an intro, as well as numerous grammatical corrections throughout. Since its inception, the Xbox Live Indie Games have been considered the red-deaded stepchild of Microsoft’s internet based LIVE platform. Hidden beneath layers of menus and triple-A titles, sales and promotions have never been outstanding for developers, unless you manage to earn a spot on the highly coveted “Top Downloads” section. ...

UPDATE: Thanks @BigBossBenGilbert for the photo! Headed to GDC Europe? Why not come take a gander at the panel I’ve been invited to attend by Deejay of Indie City. Taken straight from his page: I’ll be hosting the Indies’ Got PR Talent panel at GDC Europe on Monday 15th August, 12:40pm. I’ll be joined by games press veterans Mike Rose, Christian Nutt and Keith Stuarterr, someone else who’s yet to be officially confirmed (That’s me!). We’ll be going through various indie press releases, screenshots and videos, highlighting the best and worse examples. All in the format of the [INSERT COUNTRY HERE]’s Got Talent gameshow, which should add extra mirth into the mix. After dissecting each, the panel will be giving their expert opinion on how indie developers can make a better impact with their PR activities.

Last week I head the pleasure of being interviewed by Andrew Webster of Ars Technica for his piece “We Band of Brothers: Developer-led Xbox Live Indies promotion returns.” In it he describes how the uprising came to be, our future plans, and lessons learned from the previous uprising.

EDIT: To see a clearer list of the 26 (read below) entries, click here. The Indie Games Summer Uprising list has been narrowed down from 70+ to just 25 this week. Starting Monday July 11th, developers will have the opportunity to select 8 picks to represent the platform in the Uprising. Voting closes on Sunday July 17th. Developers are to vote on a variety of factors including: Marketability, originality, appearance, entertainment, music, and gameplay. A 5 star rating system will be used, just as XBLIG tittles are rated on Live, and the 8 titles with the highest average score are selected in the promotion. A poll will be e-mailed to all XBLIG developers who have submitted candidates. Winners will be announced the following day, Monday July 18th on the IGSU home page. ...

We’ve finally launched the Indie Games Summer Uprising site! Josh Addison, Nathan Smith, and Chris Brousseau have all done an outstanding job with the web design, art work, and initial launch trailer. You can find more of their work at Blazing Forge Games and Game Production Studios. In addition to the site, we’ve released the initial launch trailer and press release to a number of outlets. Be sure to “Like” us on Facebook as well, where you will have the opportunity to vote for two additional titles that you would like to see as part of the uprising. Click through for the press release. ...

See, I really do make games and not just write about them! Take a gander at the site I created for Death Sentence. It is still very It’s a great team so far, and I’ve been fortunate enough to hop on, although later in development to work as both an environment artist and web developer. It is a vahicular combat title in a similar vein to Twisted Metal. We’ve created it using the latest Unreal Engine, and it should have a release on the PC and perhaps iOS at some point after.

Flexing my creative talents, I’ve recently finished Conelle Construction’s website. They are a general contracting firm out of Manhattan, NY, who speciailizes in high-end residential and commercial renovations. I also work there as a field supervisor, and AV / IT tech. Check out some of our work in the photo galleries.

I just finished putting together a feature geared towards indie developers on how to market their titles. I frequently find that many of the smaller, or even 1 man studios tend to have a difficult time promoting and marketing their work, so I felt it was time for me to share some of the best practices I’ve come across so far. I should have part 2 up some time later in the week. It originally appeared on Armless Octopus on April 16th, and you can access it through this link.

I’ll be attending Pax East 2011 with the rest of the Armless Ocotopus staff (minus the Canadian). We’ll be there interviewing XBLIG and XBLA developers, previewing the latest and greatest titles, and are considering another live podcast like we did last year. A video review may be in in order well. If you’re headed over as well, feel free to contact me so that we can meet up!