What are you doing this Saturday (15 January 2011)? If you answered “Attending the Genghiscon indie video games panel… obviously!” then you already have a fantastic weekend in store for you. Otherwise, keep reading and update you plans!

What is Genghiscon? Here’s a description from their website:

GenghisCon is a student-priced convention, filled with games, activities, panels, discussions, and workshops covering science fiction, fantasy, roleplaying, board games, and more.

Given the high degree of overlap between indie video game developers and other types of geeks (I refer you to the Venn Diagram of Geekdoms), there will be a lot for game developers to love at Genghiscon. Plus, it’s only $25 for a weekend of education, fun, debate, and solidarity!

Onto the indie video games panel in particular…

Here are the details:

• Time/Date: 16:00 – 17:00, Saturday 15 January
• Location: Junior Common Room, St. George’s College, Mounts Bay Road, Crawley

And the list of panellists:

• Avril Cox (Reveri.es Virtual World)
• Nick Lowe (Let’s Make Games)
  
• Chris McCormick (PodSix Games)
• Brad Power (Rockethands)
• Scott Reismanis (ModDB, IndieDB, Desura)

Look at that line-up! There’s sure to be some thoughtful conversation, and you could be a part of it.

Ask Avril about developing a community-driven web-based role-playing game. Ask Chris about how to be hardcore indie. Ask Brad about his fish-smelling game. Ask Scott about running the world’s largest website dedicated to independent game development!

Thanks to Genghiscon for inviting us to help with the indie games panel.

Thanks to everyone who attended (you make organising these events worthwhile), our volunteers (Stewart, Brett, Alex, Saxon, Steve, Nigel, John, Sam, Simon, Anthony), and our sponsors (Different Methods, the Innovation Centre, Subversive Games, Rockethands, Black Lab Games, and Reveries Virtual World):

Special thanks also to all companies that contributed to the showreel (apologies to Binary Space for not getting their “Class 3 Outbreak” teaser in) and to Game Pride for bringing along some laptops to demonstrate their latest game “Boo!”. Thanks also to Ben, who took most of the photos.

Here are some photos from the night in chronological order:

2009 has been an amazing year for the Perth game development community – with many local game releases, community events, and a number of new companies starting up. The end-of-year party is all about celebrating and showcasing these achievements in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere!

Details:

• Title: iParty 2.0
• Time/Date: 6:00pm – 9:00pm, Friday, November 27, 2009
• Location: Innovation Centre, Enterprise Unit 3, Technology Park, Bentley
• Description: Meet local game developers, check out the latest releases, and just have a good time. Food and drinks are on us.
• RSVP by November 20 for catering and registration purposes.

Here’s the preliminary event flier (click for larger version):

As you can see a few areas are blank and we need your help to fill them in! If you are a local game developer who intends to submit a video for the showreel, please send us some screenshots and a company logo by November 6. Your final showreel videos will be required by November 20.

Showreel video submissions are limited to one 60 second video (720p resolution preferred) per company or product. So a company with two products released or under development in 2009 can submit a total of three videos (one for the company and one per product). If you already have a suitable video online, just send us a link to it!

If you are interesting in sponsoring the event, please contact us for more information as we have many options available (from contributing to food and drink costs to providing raffle prizes). Sponsorship is a great way to get your name out in front of local developers – or just to show your appreciation for the local scene!

We’ll release the final print-ready version of the flyer (with game screens and sponsor logos) on November 10.

For now, here are some important dates to mark on your calendar:

Also be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed (or check back regularly) for more information on the event. Feel free to ask any general questions in the comments section and we will try to answer them ASAP!

Help spread the word online; This will be the biggest party of the year for the Perth game development scene and we want to see you all there!

Update: Oh, I almost forgot to extend a HUGE thanks to the Innovation Centre who are our venue sponsors for the event. We wouldn’t have such a fantastic environment (or as much money available for food and drink) without their generous support!