One of the International Game Developers Association's many roles is to deal with all the crap that's going on in the game evolution community, from defending developers' right to creative reflexion to pushing studios for better work-living balance. As the guy heading up the organisation, I often get under one's skin roped into panel discussions to debate these topics or write articles (some for this really publication) dealing with the various challenges the industry faces. That's fine; it's part of the job description, and I bask serving my role. But another look of my Book of Job, one that I a great deal disuse, is to be an industry evangelist – to promote every that's cool and wonderful about games and game development.

So, in contrast to my usual "the sky is falling" articles, here are 10 things that I think are pretty darn cool, impressive and interesting about the game industry.

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1. Benevolent Efforts
With tens of millions of people playing games, information technology's fail-safe to wear that not all of us are antisocial otaku dwelling in our parents' basements. In fact, wildly successful charitable initiatives like Penny Arcade's Child's Gambol charity continue to demonstrate that we'Re good citizens in meatspace. Since 2003, through with Child's Play, gamers and the industry have donated millions of dollars' valuable of games and toys for children's hospitals international.

Beyond the donations, yet, game developers are also causative their time and accomplishment. In 2004, Leukemia sufferer Ben Duskin wished to make a videogame to helper other kids battle their malady. Eric Johnston from LucasArts stepped forward to help. Together they created Ben's Game and were honored every bit "Unsung Heroes of Pity" by the Dalai Lama. Likewise, Insomniac created a digital model of James Westbrook, a paralyzed 9-year-old boy, equally a non-player character in Ratc and Clank Future.

On a to a greater extent organized flush, OneBigGame is creating an online games portal to betray uniquely developed games (created and donated by far-famed developers), with all proceeds going to children's charities around the world.

2. Natural Interface Diversification
No one can refuse the achiever of Nintendo's Wii and DS. Peerless John R. Major element of that succeeder is their accessibility. A stylus is inherently more than intuitive than a gamepad for all but masses, particularly newcomers to gaming – ditto mark for a TV remote-like controller.

In plus to initiative new markets (all those bowling grandmas, for example), it also opens the window to new types of gameplay. Guitar Hero and Rock Band are two great examples of this. Imagine what kind of games we'll own when psyche-wave sensing engineering science matures. And ultimately, innovations and improvements in play interfaces will also help make games more accessible to those persons with disabilities, porta the value and joy of play to everyone.

3. Apprehension the Player
One of the superior challenges lining the current generation of game developers is that most of them are no longer creating games for themselves. Devising a game "that I'd like-minded to play" is not a sensible design directive, so developers are functioning hard to better empathise the players.

Overmuch of this understanding is geared towards roleplay metrics. The stats in the One-half-Life 2 episodes are outstanding examples of this, allowing Valve to know where players are getting stuck, abandoning the game, avoiding certain weapons, etc. In addition, Microsoft Labs (as faced in Wired magazine) provided Bungie with metrics from encompassing usability testing during the growing of Halo 3. This data derriere then drive intent decisions to fine-air future development efforts.

Of course, the selling folks rich person had a pretty good understanding of their target market from a business perspective since the beginning, but even this part of the industry is examining players with finer detail. For example, Parks Associates released a comprehensive report coating six types of game players and their motivations for play.

4. Democratization of Development Tools
Careful, the creation of AAA cabinet games and large-scale MMOGs is notwithstandin solely the region of the big studios. Heretofore, much ilk movie making has been liberated past inexpensive equipment, so, likewise, the tools of game development are being democratized. From the ubiquitous Dash for casual games to Microsoft's latest efforts with the XNA Community inaugural; from the open-sourced Blender to the $100 Torsion engine to the Play All standard middleware initiative funded by Jacques Anatole Francois Thibault's Minister of Industry, it's getting cheaper (if not easier) to design games. Insomniac Games is even up sharing its PS3 engine tech via its Nocturnal program.

Communication through the medium of videogames still requires many specifically nerdy skills and tools, but the above examples point to a upcoming where anyone will Be able to express themselves with interactivity as their canvas.

5. New Lin Models
The proliferation of broadband internet approach has been the catalyst for the organic evolution of parvenue business models in the game industry. Korea in particular, with no retail market to speak for of, has been the region to watch arsenic studios experiment with unaccustomed ways to sell and deal games. The free-to-manoeuvre model – whereby you bottom romp a game free of charge and prefer later to purchase premium content – is altogether the rage.

Many other opportunities live, including ad-driven games, episodic content, DLC marketplaces, subscriptions, Steam statistical distribution, etc. We've even seen interesting approaches like real-world item gross revenue. Webkinz makes IT money aside selling small stuffed animals that come with a code allowing children to log into a virtual world Eastern Samoa their plush keep company.

6. Indie Viability
Despite all the consolidation going on in the mainstream game industry, now is a peachy time to be an independent developer. Actually, several of the previous points are intersecting to create an super vibrant ecosystem within which indies can thrive – both creatively and economically.

The continued awesomeness – and success – of games coming out of the annual Independent Games Fete is just one indicator of this. In fact, I've personally seen industry agents attendance IGF-related sessions at GDC to scout for new content, ideas and talent.

What's important here is that we are entering a state where indies throw a choice to use their Independence as their stepping stone into the "big leagues," or to remain truly "indie" and explore concepts not workable under the scrutiny of shareholders.

7. Revolve about Process
Scrum and other Agile methods of production are the developer bombinate words du jour. The old method of "let's just hack IT all together" has non armored well with the increased scope and complexity of nowadays's back projects. Much and more, producers are exploring – and adopting – formal software growing methodologies, adding much needed rigor to how games are matured and enabling games to be ready-made not late, on budget and to spec with a greater academic degree of certainty.

The IGDA's own Product Special Interest Group started the Leadership Meeting place as an event specifically geared towards project management and leadership. This is an sphere that has progressed much in Recent long time, and is explored in more depth in Erin Hoffman's recent Inside Job column "It Takes a Method acting."

8. Quality of Life
OK, maybe this one doesn't rather belong along the list, Eastern Samoa working conditions and poor quality of life story for many developers remains a serious dispute. That said, we're more aware of the issue than e'er earlier, and there are growing efforts to address information technology. Certainly, the above work to improve production processes are helping to alleviate some of the press, merely the biggest results are coming from wholesale changes to how a studio apartment is stage set up and lead.

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Those studios with good quality of life – or at least the ones who work to alleviate the pain related with casual development crunch through extra time pay and other support systems – are leverage their advantages to draw and retain best talent. I can exclusive reckon that Continual' without-crunch clock (1,706 days and counting!) is seen as an indicator of a competitive advantage. And industry leadership are recognizing the value of enabling their staff to live out outside of work, arsenic quoted by design legend Eric Zimmerman: "We push our designers to ingest a life. … Designers with interesting/rich lives outdoorsy of games, design better games."

9. Credit and Acknowledgment
From each one year, the gimpy industry gets closer to having a truly TV-worthy awards ceremony. And while celebrity for fame's sake isn't that valuable, it's eminent for us to recognize developers for their contributions to the art form. In that involve, information technology's great to see the unique individuals tail the work recognized via industry awards like the Game Developers Choice Awards and the AIAS's Mutual Achievement Awards.

Happening a more operational level, the fact that the IGDA's own credit standards initiative has garnered sol much concern and patronise is an important interpose ensuring that all developers receive fair reference for their efforts, and are viewed atomic number 3 the true talent they are.

10. Mixer Impact
I am a firm believer in the transformative business leader of games and play, and that videogames undergo the power to make the international a better place. Whether through the pure joy of playing with friends or deliberate attempts to impingement society, games are affecting us.

Along the deliberate root of the ordered series, the whole serious games movement has gotten a band of attention in recent years. Examples like A Force More Regent (to buffet oppressive government regimes), Re-Charge (to help Cancer patients) and Civilization (teaching history in the classroom) really make you stop and wonder at the awe-inspiring power game developers wield to assistance human beings.

Yeah, that sure doesn't suck.

Jason Della Rocca is the executive director of the International Game Developers Tie-u. (Opinions hard-core do non necessarily represent the IGDA.) He standing seems to suck a lot at his personal blog, Reality Panic.