Win a Free Pass to the GameX Industry Summit!

Over the past year, we've been a sponsor of several game development initiatives. We are in the business of helping aspiring game developers learn their craft, network, and above all, have a great time making games, which is why we jumped at the chance to sponsor the GameX convention in Philadelphia, October 23-25. Our sponsorship comes with two free passes to the show, which we unfortunately cannot attend. But that doesn't mean you can't! If you're interested in a free pass, keep on reading.

The main GameX show is a national game consumer show and ‘pop culture’ festival designed to draw from national, regional and local audiences of game players, film and TV fans, comic book buffs and tech enthusiasts. Think sci-fi convention for video games. While that alone may or may not excite you (and don't be ashamed if it does...even our own Michael Perry has been known to cosplay), you should be excited about the other two aspects of GameX: the GameX Industry Summit and the Philly Game Jam.

GameX Industry Summit

The GameX Industry Summit will be held on October 24-25, 2009 at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center. Game industry professionals will convene for two days of games-focused lectures, panels, roundtables and keynotes from the best and brightest minds in the games business. Some key highlights:


Turbulent Innovation and the Changing Landscape of the Global Games Industry - Keynote speaker Jason Della Rocca of Perimeter Partners will talk about how to develop and market to an increasingly competitive global marketplace. How can your studio and projects stay ahead of the curve? What opportunities are to be had? And how does the varying technical, business and cultural landscape effect your efforts to compete globally?


Games that Connect: Designing and Monetizing Social Network Play - Long time Torque-supporter and friend of ours, Wade Tinney, CEO of Large Animal Games, will explore the design and business considerations in the development of games for social networks (Cyworld, Facebook, etc.) including: understanding and internalizing audience motivations, incorporating viral touchpoint usage into game design, designing for real social utility and marketing social games.


The Art of Game AI: Sculpting Behavior with Data, Formulas, and Finesse - Dave Mark, President and Lead Designer of Intrinsic Algorithm, and Kevin Dill of Boston University will co-chair this session and discuss the challenges that are involved in constructing realistic AI behaviors, the mindset that one must adopt to accurately model these behaviors, and the techniques that can be used to construct them. The attendee will leave with a broad summary of how to approach the artistry of constructing artificial behaviors.


Check out the complete GameX Industry Summit session schedule for more details.

Philly Game Jam

The Philly Game Jam is just what it sounds like: a 48-hour heart-pumping, caffeine-laden game building marathon where professionals, students and amateurs alike can compete to build new game concepts based on a theme announced at the start of the contest. Bring yourself and at least two buddies (maximum 9 buddies) for 48 straight hours of pure hellish fun. If you need any further incentive than that to join, part of the prize package includes copies of Torque 3D. If you've been looking for a way to upgrade from TGE or TGEA and have a free weekend, the stars may have just aligned for you.

You Said Something about "Free Passes?"

That's right. We have two reserved GameX passes that will get you into GameX and the GameX Industry Summit, free of charge. Your GameX pass also includes access to the GameX Opening Night VIP Party on Friday night and the GameX Fun Fest on Saturday. If you're the networking type (and we know who you are), this is a great opportunity to meet your customers and potential business partners all in one place!

This isn't the first time we've given away passes, but let me go over the rules for anyone looking to score a pass. Send an e-mail (subject line: GameX Industry Pass) to deborahm AT torquepowered DOT com with your name, a link to your GarageGames profile, and the reason why you think you are an awesome community member. We're going to take all those names and check out your profile link to verify whether you've naughty or nice in our community. Preference will be given to nice community members who have not yet won a contest. I'll collect names until Friday, October 9th, and announce the winners on October 12, 2009 in the comments of this blog.

Thanks always for making this website awesome and hope to see some deserving people get their game on in Philly!