How to Network at GDC 2005:
New Strategies for a New Location
by Marc Mencher
If games are your business, then you know that the month of March is the time of year to once again pack those hip yet comfortable shoes to wing your way westward for the Game Developers Conference (GDC). But if you wing your way to San Jose this year, you’ll need to bank a hard left and head north because GDC is setting up shop in San Francisco. And if the prospect of leaving behind the cozy and familiar environment of San Jose and all the old haunts (ahhh, the Fairmont lobby bar) has you feeling like a small, confused fish in a big, confusing pond, then this article should be bring you some direction and comfort. By the end of the conference, you may find while you may have left your heart in San Francisco, you will have also left with even more business opportunities and industry knowledge in your head and hand...More (February 2005)

How To Get A Hollywood License That Works
By Brian Dreyer
There are multiple ways to get involved with Hollywood’s projects, which will become valuable licenses. Naturally, there are no guarantees that a Hollywood license equals a great game, but there are ways to tilt the odds in your favor. So, rather than the traditional approach (i.e., you’re probably too late and most likely being "sold-to" by someone) I have a few recommendations...More (February 2005)

They Like to Watch: A Round-Up of Industry Analysts and Researchers
Every billion dollar industry has its watchers, those who closely monitor and analyze a particular market. The game industry is no exception. These companies don’t make the games, but they help the game makers make more money. Here is a round-up of some of those research and analyst firms who offer a focus on the game industry. Virtually all offer customized, one-on-one services, but the focus here is more on that industry information which is readily available, either for purchase or for free...More (February 2004)

Chaos in the Value Chain: Non-Traditional Paths to Market for Wireless Games
By Eric Low
The market for wireless games is poised to explode. Over the next several years projections from many analysts predict tremendous growth in games and applications as consumers upgrade to phones with larger screen sizes and more storage and computing power. After the billions of dollars invested by carriers to develop next generation networks for a rapidly maturing market of new customers, those analysts had better be right...More (November 2003)

Game Creation and Careers: The Second Coming of "Secrets of the Sages"
For those familiar with the "cult classic", Game Design: Secrets of the Sages, that game industry original has been reborn in a recently released book by Marc Saltzman, Game Creation and Careers: Insider Secrets from Industry Experts. This is a big book (617 pages pre-Appendix) and loaded with tips and advice from loads of people who undoubtedly qualify as "industry experts." ...More (September 2003)

Use the Shift Key: Why Punctuation, Spelling, and Grammar Matter in Games
By Beverly Cambron
Where did it all go wrong? When did using the shift key and capitalizing the first word in a sentence, or any capital letter-worthy word for that matter, go out of vogue? Email, instant messaging, and text messaging at least appear to be the obvious culprits. But, for those of you who value no scientific support and complete supposition, I propose that part of this rampant loss of grammatical correctness is, in short, peer pressure...More (August 2003)

E3 2003 Wrap Up: Excitement, Expectations, Earnings
In an attempt to please the growing and increasingly sophisticated interactive entertainment audience, console manufacturers and game developers pulled out all the stops at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. Price cut disappointments, Sony's new hand held device, and slicker, more sophisticated standards in gaming graphics took center stage...More (June 2003)

Hiring Manager Interviewing Skills: Tips & Strategies
By Leah Rubin and Marc Mencher
While the interviewee chair may be no bed of roses, the Hiring Manager’s Aeron certainly has its own thorny issues, and in an industry where the possession of very specific skills can make or break a project, no management function is more critical than hiring. Yet, despite the vital importance of hiring the right people, most hiring tasks are often pawned off and neglected. While you may think you simply don’t have the time right now to devote to putting together an organized interviewing program, you’ll have much less time when that only marginally qualified new employee you hired in desperation botches the job or simply walks out the door...More (June 2003)

Use a Filter: Why You Should Not Express Every Last Thought That Pops into Your Head to People You Really Don’t Know
By Beverly Cambron
The truth is this is a small industry. It may be big money-wise, but there is still very much an "it’s a small world after all" atmosphere. If you're trying to get a game published, find a job, pick up new clients, or score good press, you shouldn't always broadcast everything that's on your mind...More (February 2003)

Subscription Gaming Will Be Big (for those who figure it out)
by Dale H. Munk
The thought of having hundreds of thousands of customers paying $15 per month, every month, sounds like a dream. And as more gamers seem to be signing up for subscription games, not surprisingly, a number of companies have lined up behind the subscription model to sell their games. But, while some games seem to be adding subscribers like crazy, others appear barely able to maintain their small subscriber base, or are even in decline. What’s the difference? The subscription model has unique elements that gaming companies are just now beginning to understand....More (May 2003)

Manners Matter: An E3 Etiquette Primer
by Beverly Cambron
With E3 on the docket this month, where many of us will be out from behind our computers and the anonymity of email, meeting and interacting with others in the flesh, we thought it might be time for a quick E3 etiquette primer...More (May 2003)

Book Review: Secrets of the Game Business
Some of the most common questions we receive at GIGnews are posed by new developers desperately seeking business advice. How do we get published? We need artists, how do we put a team together? We’re about to sign a publishing deal, should we agree to X? We do the best we can to steer them in the right direction, but we don’t always have all the answers. Happily, a new book from Charles River Media has come to the rescue....More (March 2003)

Getting Published Part 4: Completing Your Contract Arsenal - NDAs, Employee and Consultant Agreements
By Thomas H. Buscaglia, Esquire
In this final article on legal issues a start up developer should be aware of, long before they even consider looking at a developer/publisher contract, attorney Tom Buscaglia takes a look at some other basic contracts every rookie developer should have: the employee/consultant agreements and Non Disclosure Agreements (NDAs). These basic agreements protect the IP that form the core assets of your development company...More (February 2003)

Getting Published Part 2: Initial Legal Issues
By Thomas H. Buscaglia, Esquire
So, you and a group of your talented friends have come up with an idea for the best computer game ever. You have the concept, you have the talent, and you’re ready to rock. You begin with a really great story line, amazing 2D renderings from a local artist friend of yours and you use your substantial talents to transform these 2D renderings into some of the most awesome 3D characters and creatures that anyone has ever seen. A friend of your brother is a hot-shot programmer and he has done all the programming you need to make your game go. You even put some really rocking music which you downloaded off the net into the program. So, now your demo is all ready to be presented to publishers to land that development deal you have all worked for, right? ...More (August/September 2002)

Developers and Publishers Part 1: Process Overview
By Beverly Cambron
The topic of how developers go about getting published is an involved one and, apparently for many, based on the "help!" emails we receive, an elusive one. Rather than trying to cover it all in one article, we’ve decided to begin an ongoing exploration of the topic. We begin this month with an initial overview...More (July 2002)

Soundbites
Amazingly enough, 2002 is just about a done deal and that means it's pundit time. GIGnews contacted industry insiders to get their quick take on the industry over the past year, and what they envision and/or hope for next year. Good or bad, and whether a couple of words or a couple of sentences, we asked for their thoughts and we were kindly obliged. Learn what developers, publishers, reviewers, and more had to say about the year behind and the year ahead for the games...More (December 2002)

Wireless and Handheld: The Now and Future of Portable Games: It was in the fall of 2000 when it seemed that every other press release received was from a wireless or WAP game developer. Although things have mellowed considerably since those heady days of wireless game buzz, optimism for this segment of the industry remains. With game industry names joining the wireless and handheld contingent, and social trendspotter Faith Popcorn heralding consumers needing constant entertainment from every device, portable games are in the news. Learn why industry veterans are switching to wireless and handheld game development...More. (March 2002)

Games and Film-style Finance
by Beverly Cambron
As the process of creating games has become increasingly film-like in complexity and cost, however, and as next generation game consoles continue to raise the quality of video and audio, a new funding model has begun to take hold. Based on film-style financing, this type of game development funding offers an alternative to the traditional royalty advance model...More (February 2002)

Games Industry: 2002 and Beyond
As we dreamily read our 2002 horoscopes (for the record, we’ll collectively find true love, win the lottery, and wear more lavender and ecru), we wondered what the year held for the games industry. 2001 was a tough year for just about every industry, and games were no exception. But was this, perhaps, all just a darkest before the dawn scenario?..More (January 2002)

A Gamer’s Guide to Raising Growth Capital: 
The Process and Timescale
In this capital raising primer, Jeremy Furniss of Livingstone Guarantee's London office, breaks down the process and the timescale from creation of the business plan to completion of funding...More (January 2002)
by Jeremy Furniss  - courtesy gamesbiz.net

An Introduction to Completion Bonding
by Frank Jennings - courtesy gamesbiz.net
Completion bonding is a finance model which is often used in the film industry. In a nutshell, completion bonding works like this...More

U.S. Game Industry Ahead of Its Game Despite Recession
Despite a weakening economy, retail dollar sales of U.S. video game hardware, software and accessories increased 33 percent year-to-date (January-September) 2001, compared to the same time last year, according to a report released November 19th...More  (December 2001)

 Invading the North American Game Market
Why did the Beatles invade America? Because it was a bloody big music market, and still is. For many, when you make it in America, you’ve really made it. Can the same be said for games?...More (November 2001)

Wireless Gaming: Will Consumers Pay to Play?
Certain wireless gaming forecasts have predicted that this market will be worth nearly $17 billion, approaching the value of the Hollywood movie industry. Don't believe the hype, says Ovum, an analyst and consulting company in their report "Wireless Games: Playing to Win"...More

The Benefits of Game Web Sites by Tricia Harris
...Anyone can set up a game site, whether it is a general news source, or dedicated to a game or developer. But not every site manages to rise above the online clutter. For those that do, the rewards and benefits vary from the simple ego boost of having one of the best Web sites on the Internet to catching the eye – and perhaps a job – working on an official site for a game’s developers...More (August 2001)

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