MOTODEV Game Developer Challenge nearing deadline date
Do you have the X factor?
We've written about the MOTODEV development challenge before, and we're readying our best Simon Cowell bon mots for the judging process.
But if you're a mobile developer with ambitions for awards glory, there's still time to enter. Entries for the competition, which is being run by Motorola and partners I-play, Sun Microsystems and Microsoft, have to be in by August 10th. You'll find details here.
We grabbed I-play boss David Gosen to ask about the competition, and his expectations of entrants. What is he looking for from entered games? "We're looking for fun, playable games that have that 'X' factor," he says.
"Ideally the entrants will have experience of at least playing mobile games if not developing them, so they will understand that the constraints of the device can be used to its advantage. Essentially, what that means is creating a game that's meant for mobile as opposed to trying to transfer a concept from another platform."
How important are developers in the scheme of things? While speaking at the Develop Conference last week, Pocket Gamer got a sense of a slightly downbeat mood, with developers wondering how they fit into the evolving mobile industry, as it focuses more on big brands and major publishers.
"Developers are incredibly important to the business," says Gosen. "While I-play is achieving our strategic objective of increasing the resource and talent we have internally, we still depend on external talent for the majority of our titles we bring to market.
"The role developers have to play is in bringing real creativity and originality to the party – like our partners at Capybara have done with Sexy Pillowfight. They can also focus on delivering a particular capability, like Firemint, who are delivering the 3D versions of games like The Fast and the Furious as well as World Rally Championship."
So there you have it, developers. I-play wants YOU, and if you win MOTODEV, you could be feeling the publisher love as the company puts your game on operator portals around the world.
Good luck!
