Publish date: 1/11/2011
Source: Cinema Blend

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Full-Source-Code-Available-Customers-xaitMap-xaitControl-38524.html

Publish date: 1/11/2012
Source: Gamasutra

We launched our first game this week with zero fanfare. Sitting in my home office, the core three who make up Itzy Interactive looked up from our test tablets and phones after hours of testing and asked each other, "So that's it then? Are we ready for launch?"

Publish date: 12/16/2011
Source: Gamasutra

We don't need to tell you that the gaming industry is currently experiencing an 'indie boom' -- the evidence has been piling up throughout 2011, with numerous developers at AAA studios leaving their jobs behind to work on exactly the kind of games they want to make.

Publish date: 12/9/2011
Source: Gamasutra

Game Developers Conference 2012 organizers have revealed the first Summit sessions for the San Francisco show, with highlights including Playdom on the lack of iconic social game characters, SingStar co-creator Paulina Bozek on changing player behavior, and indie studio Untold Entertainment on Ponycorn Adventure's viral succes

Publish date: 12/8/2011
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Minecraft creator Marcus Perrsson has handed his enormously successful baby to experienced colleague Jens Bergensten after his indie gaming juggernaut was officially released last month.

Publish date: 12/7/2011
Source: China Daily

A coalition of animal welfare groups has urged Ocean Park to introduce 3D animation technology, exhibitions and educational virtual reality shows as an alternative to live animal displays.

Publish date: 12/7/2011
Source: Develop Online

The independent games scene is perhaps more boisterous than ever due to technology barriers of old collapsing. Even the most inexperienced game developer can learn the basics of coding (Codecademy) and play with their first game engine (Unity and UDK) without spending a penny.

Publish date: 12/6/2011
Source: FOX Houston

A Dallas developer’s new iOS game is making the media rounds with its combination of action, role-playing and physics gameplay.

Publish date: 12/5/2011
Source: Team XBox

Indie devs looking to have their games released on the Xbox 360 may find the task made slightly easier with the announcement of the XBLA Prize program, a joint project between Microsoft and the Independent Games Festival.

Publish date: 12/4/2011
Source: About.com

Want to know the biggest myth in animation? That it's easy.

Publish date: 12/2/2011
Source: Hollywood Reporter

For most of Academy Awards history, animation and visual effects have competed in separate categories. But as the line between VFX and animation gets increasingly blurry, animated films like Kung Fu Panda 2 or Puss in Boots -- as well as the performance-capture-based The Adventures of Tintin -- could emerge as contenders in the VFX category.

Publish date: 11/3/11
Source: Market Watch

"Game Development Essentials: Mobile Game Development, the long-awaited mobile entry in Delmar Cengage Learning's best-selling Game Development Essentials series, is now available for purchase worldwide. Mobile Game Development, a big-picture introduction to the fastest-growing segment in entertainment, offers students the latest on developing for the iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry platforms. Co-authored by industry veterans Kimberly Unger and Jeannie Novak, the book includes everything students need to create the next big hit in mobile gaming: detailed history, insight on popular tools, production tips, case studies, and clear and concise guidance on mobile game design, art, and programming."

Publish date: 11/1/11
Source: Gamasutra / Andrew Hayward

"Since launching in April 2009, more than 13,000 projects have been successfully funded on Kickstarter.com, with over $100 million pledged by users of the crowdfunding sensation in that time. Video game development projects have comprised a mere sliver of that valuable haul, but many high-profile titles have smashed expectations to bring in tens of thousands of dollars, allowing their creators to complete the games and maintain direct connections with backers. Based on conversations with the creators of those games and others that have triumphed on the site -- along with Kickstarter's director of community -- here are several tips and tactics for creating and promoting an effective game development campaign on the crowdsourced funding service."

Publish date: 10/28/11
Source: Gaming Bus / Brandon Mietzner

"Develop recently spoke with Epic President Mike Capps about the Unreal Engine 4. Though far from complete, Epic is seeing new opportunities to lay the groundwork now to create closer ties with indie developers after the successful release of the Unreal Development Kit. The Unreal Engine 3 went free to use under the name Unreal Development Kit, provided it was for non-commercial use. Epic made things easier on indie developers by changing the terms for commercial use: they would have to give up 25% of their revenue after their first $5000. After this decision, Epic saw an upturn in the use of the engine with students and semi-pro developers. Capps expressed his wish to see the Unreal Engine 4 released closer to the launch of the next generation consoles."

Publish date: 10/26/11
Source: Develop / Rob Crossley

"Epic to launch new tech as consoles arrive, but its own games may take a little longer Epic Games is building its next generation games platform with independent games studios in mind, an executive at the company has said. Mike Capps said there were lessons to be learned from the launch of UE3, a games engine that – despite its unparalleled success with triple-A studios – had failed to swiftly embrace indie and mobile games development. "I think a year from a console's launch is perfectly fine for releasing a game, but not for releasing new tech. We need to be there day one or very early. That's my primary focus," he said."

Publish date: 10/26/11
Source: Kotaku / Evan Narcisse

"Streaming site Vimeo makes space for lots of different kinds of content. They've made a name for themselves as a cooler alternative to YouTube and you'll find cool mini-documentaries, visionary music videos and intensely personal narratives. However, one thing that has become increasingly difficult to find has been anything related to video games. Specifically, indie video games. Vimeo's long been the go-to space for heralded indie titles like Sword and Sworcery to tease viewers with glimpses of in-development games. Yet, indie devlopers are finding themselves running afoul of an edict that forbids video of gameplays for users at the Basic and Plus levels of membership. To have gameplay videos hosted, users must purchase the Pro level at a cost of $199/year. That may not seem like a lot, but considering how many indie games get made by one- or two-person teams with no other source of income, it can be a big difference."

Publish date: 10/21/11
Source: Centre Daily Times / Ed Mahon

An article on Doug Sweetland who formerly worked at Pixar and is now directing a film for Sony Pictures. It runs through his history and influences as an animator. He talks about his decision to leave Pixar after 16 years for his chance to direct.

Publish date: 10/8/11
Source: Upper Dublin Patch / Matt Buckley

"The Humble Indie Bundle is a collection of independently developed games offered in a single package. But there some special details on the way the package is offered: Your money goes where you say it goes. The Humble Indie Bundle is partnered with the Child's Play charity, which organizes worldwide toy drives to children's hospitals, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization. When you buy a Humble Indie Bundle, you specify how much money goes to Child's Play, how much goes to EFF, and how much goes to the game developers themselves. Since there's no middle-man, the money goes straight to your specified destination without dropping off percentages to any hidden benefactors. You pay whatever you want to pay. No catch. If you just want to play the games and pay as little as possible, give $1. You'll still get access to the entire package. On the other hand, if you're feeling particularly generous, make a hefty donation and give a large portion to charity."

Publish date: 10/8/11
Source: N4G

Interview withAly from the Brush and Code indie dev team about indie gaming in general, as well as advice for developers working on the first projects. Topics include team size, platform choice, learning experiences and dealing with feedback.

Publish date: 10/6/11
Source: Reuters / Steve Pond

"Should a film made using the motion-capture technique qualify as an animated movie at the Oscars, or is it something else? Does the answer to that last question change if Steven Spielberg is the guy making the movie? Those are two of the questions facing the Academy at a time when the expanding use of performance capture has the potential to wreak havoc in the Best Animated Feature category. The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch has been grappling for years with the question of whether films based in motion capture are truly animated. In 2010 the branch added specific language covering motion capture to its rules for qualifying for the Best Animated Feature Oscar."

Publish date: 9/29/11
Source: Gamasutra / Devin Becker

"It's been a while since I read Roger Corman's book "How I made a hundred movies in hollywood and never lost a dime." but I remember its lessons vividly. His book title is pretty literal as he made profit on every film he made, no matter how low budget or schlocky. In this post I'd like to share how some of his best techniques can be applied to indie game production so you too can never lose a dime! Exploit genres. Aim for low profit and even lower budget. Market yourself as legit, cheaply. Exploit undervalued content. Employ hungry amateur talent. Pre-sell your product. Work fast. Reuse assets. Exploit bundles. Always finish or recycle."

Publish date: 9/16/11
Source: gamedev.net forums

Forum discussion on the elements required for developing a fighting game with and independent development team. The original poster asks what positions and platforms work best an also the viability of the Microsoft Kinect as a mocap tool. I spirited discussion follows about the technique and thought processes behind indie game development as far as starting small and learning over time.

Publish date: 9/16/11
Source: G4tv.com

"So you want to make games, but you don't know where to start? Want to start up a studio, work for your dream developer, or strike out on your own as an indie? Not sure about any of that, buy you're dying to work in games?You've come to the right place. Getting into the game industry can be tough, but a passion for games, a lot of hard work, and a dollop of insider knowledge can go a long way. Read on for our full video game career guide."

Publish date: 9/16/11
Source: Game Podunk / Jason Clement

"If anyone has good advice to spare when it comes to making a successful game, it's Markus "Notch" Persson, the brains behind Mojang's incredibly successful indie title, Minecraft. So what's the greatest advice Notch can give to a budding developer? "Don't listen to advice," he told Forbes in a recent interview. Notch implies that listening to advice from others stifles creativity, and that newer indie devs don't become unique by repeating something that someone else has done. Instead, he encourages new devs to continue to think outside the box when thinking of new gameplay mechanics."

Publish date: 9/16/11
Source: gamedev.net forums

Forum discussion on the elements required for developing a fighting game with and independent development team. The original poster asks what positions and platforms work best an also the viability of the Microsoft Kinect as a mocap tool. I spirited discussion follows about the technique and thought processes behind indie game development as far as starting small and learning over time.

Publish date: 9/15/11
Source: Gamasutra / Jeff Hangartner

Part 4 of a series of articles covering indie game marketing. The author covers the psychological aspects of indie game marketing and how to keep your psychology healthy as a developer. Points include detaching yourself from your statistics, dealing with highs and lows, emotional rollercoasters, pacing data reports, dealing with people, building relationships, the value of your work, dealing with critics, trusting in yourself, maintaining your finances, and dealing with mishaps.

Publish date: 9/15/11
Source: Gamasutra / Jeff Hangartner

Part 4 of a series of articles covering indie game marketing. The author covers the psychological aspects of indie game marketing and how to keep your psychology healthy as a developer. Points include detaching yourself from your statistics, dealing with highs and lows, emotional rollercoasters, pacing data reports, dealing with people, building relationships, the value of your work, dealing with critics, trusting in yourself, maintaining your finances, and dealing with mishaps.

Publish date: 9/10/11
Source: cmvlive.com / Deanna

An interview with storyboard artist John Keane about his inspiration and how he found himself in the animation industry. He gives his personal ideas about trends and the popularity of different forms of animation, and concludes with advice for aspiring animators. "Learn as much as you can about storytelling. Read whatever books you can get your hands on about the subject. And number one, surround yourself with people who share your passion and understand your obsession. Animation involves many long hours, weekends and nights of difficult work which you can't do on an ongoing basis without being absolutely driven to do it"

Publish date: 9/10/11
Source: cmvlive.com / Deanna

An interview with storyboard artist John Keane about his inspiration and how he found himself in the animation industry. He gives his personal ideas about trends and the popularity of different forms of animation, and concludes with advice for aspiring animators. "Learn as much as you can about storytelling. Read whatever books you can get your hands on about the subject. And number one, surround yourself with people who share your passion and understand your obsession. Animation involves many long hours, weekends and nights of difficult work which you can't do on an ongoing basis without being absolutely driven to do it"

Publish date: 9/9/11
Source: California Watch / Robert l. Rosenthal

"The use of animation to tell an investigative story is something that is relatively new here at the Center for Investigative Reporting. But it's a form of nontraditional storytelling that fits into our strategy of telling stories on multiple platforms with the goal of reaching a wide and diverse audience - and delivering the story in the form readers enjoy and are most comfortable with. Ching consolidated the endless documents, data and interviews down to a script that was more lighthearted than our main investigation but preserved the credibility and accuracy of the original report. "With animation, we were able to break the reporting down and simplify the storytelling – we could use humor and wit, which journalists normally shy away from,” Ching said. Animation takes tough subject matter and makes it seem less daunting. It's also an easy way of editorializing content to make the message of a story more immediately coherent to a wide audience."

Publish date: 9/9/11
Source: California Watch / Robert l. Rosenthal

"The use of animation to tell an investigative story is something that is relatively new here at the Center for Investigative Reporting. But it's a form of nontraditional storytelling that fits into our strategy of telling stories on multiple platforms with the goal of reaching a wide and diverse audience - and delivering the story in the form readers enjoy and are most comfortable with. Ching consolidated the endless documents, data and interviews down to a script that was more lighthearted than our main investigation but preserved the credibility and accuracy of the original report. "With animation, we were able to break the reporting down and simplify the storytelling – we could use humor and wit, which journalists normally shy away from,” Ching said. Animation takes tough subject matter and makes it seem less daunting. It's also an easy way of editorializing content to make the message of a story more immediately coherent to a wide audience."

Publish date: 9/5/11
Source: Game Producer Blog

The author's list of his 9 elements that contrinute to successful independent game development. He goes through an explains point by point how these different elements function towards success. The 9 points he outlines are scope, money, time, skill, motivation, momentum, twist, release, polish and then calls for reader comments to add anything that they feel was left out.

Publish date: 9/5/11
Source: Game Producer Blog

The author's list of his 9 elements that contrinute to successful independent game development. He goes through an explains point by point how these different elements function towards success. The 9 points he outlines are scope, money, time, skill, motivation, momentum, twist, release, polish and then calls for reader comments to add anything that they feel was left out.

Publish date: 8/27/11
Source: Gamasutra / Daniel Fodor

A poll asking readers why they did or didnot choose to be independent developers. "Which are the strongest motivators for becoming an indie game developer? Are most developers looking for the same things in their work? What barriers are preventing them from becoming an indie? And what can studios learn from indies to make a better home for developers?"

Publish date: 8/27/11
Source: Gamasutra / Daniel Fodor

A poll asking readers why they did or didnot choose to be independent developers. "Which are the strongest motivators for becoming an indie game developer? Are most developers looking for the same things in their work? What barriers are preventing them from becoming an indie? And what can studios learn from indies to make a better home for developers?"

Publish date: 8/23/11
Source: Guardian UK / Jonathan Jones

A brief history lesson and details about a London art exhibit focused on Animation. " But perhaps the most beautiful aspect of cartoons and stop-go special effects in the 20th century was the reinvention of the fairytale. In an age of science and reason, animators such as Harryhausen brought the world of magic and fable to life in entirely new ways. There are few films as fun to watch as his fabulous tales. And there are few modern achievements as innocent, imaginative and joyous as the animator's art."

Publish date: 8/23/11
Source: Unity Community / Adeno

Online forum post comparing aspects of indie game development and large studio game development. The post goes through a point by point comparison including finances, gameplay, sound, graphic quality, story, marketing, distribution and game security.

Publish date: 8/19/11
Source: Casual Connect / Jessica Tams

Video of an indie game panel discuss making independent games profitable. Subjects include the transition from concept to development, turning a hobby into an income, achieving financial stability and general challenges of being independent

Publish date: 8/18/11
Source: Experimental Game Dev Podcast Show / IndieGamePod

MP3 of podcast detailing the development of the indie Iphone game Greedy Bankers

Publish date:
Source: HTMLGoodies / Scott Clark

"In this article we're going to install and try out Adobe Edge, which is currently in "pre-release" form. Overall, if you know how to work with animation timelines, once Adobe releases the full version of Adobe Edge, and adds some decent documentation, it will be a valuable tool in the web developer's toolbox. For now, it's worth checking out (since it's free to try the preview release), and can be useful as a tool to try your hand at HTML5-based animations, especially if you're already using Adobe Dreamweaver or InDesign."

Publish date: 8/17/11
Source: InfoWorld / Neil McAllister

A first look at Adobe Edge. Adobe's JavaScript-based animation tool is rough around the edges, but shows incredible promise. HTML5's capabilities are rich enough that many developers have wondered aloud whether Web standards will soon be able to replace Flash for some multimedia applications -- particularly in light of Apple's refusal to allow Flash on iOS. Edge aims to take some of the pain out of JavaScript-based animation by allowing animators to prototype their sequences visually, using a timeline-based UI that will be familiar to anyone who has used other digital animation tools (such as Flash).

Publish date: 8/16/11
Source: Game Dev Gone Rogue / Daniel Fedor

The author writes about his transition from mainstream to independent game development. He discusses ways to try to monetize an indie game while still maintain values that are important to him with respect to the player, like eliminating spam and friend requests for progress.

Publish date: 8/13/11
Source: Unity Community / Waigo21

A summary explanation of an indie game studio's schedule over the preceeding 3 months. Broken into benchmark phases and itemized goals and concludes discussing the viability of an indie game in the mobile game market. Discussion follows.

Publish date: 8/15/11
Source: Gamasutra / Mike Rose

"Gamers need to support innovation in games and developers that are trying to add "color" to games just as we support other media like the music industry, even if we don't enjoy particular experiences. During the Gamasutra-attended Indie Games Summit at Game Developers Conference in Cologne, Germany today, IGF chairman Brandon Boyer said that those who care about expanding what games can be have a "responsibility" to support experiences that can provoke emotion and make us feel better about ourselves. Boyer finished by urging developers to consider the following: if a game can't provide as deep an experience as a music album can, then we must question why exactly that is. He asked developers to personally consider the answer for themselves, and attempt to make games that can provoke the same "color" and emotion that music can."

Publish date: 8/11/11
Source: Develop / Rob Crossley

"Edinburgh Interactive 2011: Audience wowed by real-time camera-fed animation tech. Image Metrics, an American-owned British animation firm, is internally building a camera-based program that can recognise even the most nuanced human facial movements. This data is converted into code and controls an on-screen 3D character in real-time. Mike Rogers, director of research at the company, delighted delegates at the Edinburgh Interactive festival with a demonstration of the tech. Rogers talked into his laptop camera that displayed the view onto a large projection screen. Then, after activating the new animation program, Rogers continued to talk, but the projector was no longer showing his face. Instead it was displaying a large cartoon panda. As Rogers smiled, so did the Panda. A raise of the eyebrow, or slight grimace, was replicated in real-time."

Publish date: 8/10/11
Source: IndieDevstories.com / Toni Sala

An article about The Flow Channel concept and it's applcation to game design. "The Flow Channel is the state of mind that makes us to stay focused on an activity. When we loose the flow, we switch to another activity. So obviously our aim as game designers is to keep as much time as possible our players in the flow channel of our games. This concept applies to any human activity and the factors that make a person stay in the flow are different depending on the activity itself. For games, we are going to consider five factors: Challenges vs. Skills, Anxiety vs. Boredom and the one that balances them all: difficulty or difficulty balance."

Publish date: 8/9/11
Source: ESPN Page2 / Dave Wilson

The story of Richard Swarbick creating a tribute soccer animation using photoshop and aftereffects after being unable to find a suitable video on youtube of his favorite player. He painted 1,500 frames and animated them in aftereffects, then posted the video to youtube where it has received hundreds or thousands of views. It has garnered him much attention and professional offers and now he works solely on his animation.

Publish date: 8/8/11
Source: Smartplanet / Melanie D.G. Kaplan

A personal interview with CS professor Eitan Grinspun about the overlap between physics and animation. Details Grinspun's contributions to Adobe Illustrator, medical applications, WETA and Pixar, as well as Grinspun's thought on the nature of physics and how it can be more simply translated into animation.

Publish date: 8/7/11
Source: Pixel Prospector

Comprehensive list of internet forums specific to independent game development. Catergories include organizations (IDGA), game engines (Unity), and countries outside of the USA.

Publish date: 8/5/11
Source: Application Development Trends / Chris Paoli

"Adobe made available earlier this week a preview version of its upcoming HTML 5 development tool called Adobe Edge. Designed to create animated Web content with Javascript, HTML and CSS, the preview version was downloaded over half a million times in its first full day available. The development tool utilizes WebKit to add motion and layers to HTML 5 layouts and offers an alternative to the Flash standard for Web animation and layout. Those that are familiar with Flash's protocol that want to transition to mobile development will be able to make the jump to Edge because the tool uses a similar development process as Flash, according to Adobe."

Publish date: 8/1/11
Source: Shacknews / Jeff Mattas

"Sony Computer Entertainment chief Shuhei Yoshida noted that supporting independent game developers was becoming a key focus of the company. Shortly afterwards, the company pledged $20 million to secure indie games on the PlayStation Network. If this sort of studio-to-indie support proves to be the rule, rather than the exception, it could be a very positive trend for smaller game-making teams. This is especially true when one considers the comparative lack of support and visibility indies receive from other large console publishers."

Publish date: 7/27/11
Source: IndieDevstories.com / Toni Sala

An article about the author's personal transition from an independent lone wolf game dev to part of an indie team. Outlines the differences and benefits between going solo and working collaboratively. "It doesn't matter the genre of the game, or the platform or even if it is a good game or not. It is simpler than that: simply do it. Finish it. And publish it. The important thing is not the game itself. The important thing is to complete the process. Don't wait for the right moment. The right moment is now. So, make a game now! And let the wolf live for a lot of years."