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The Philadelphia Game Lab (PGL) was a non-profit organization (501c3) to facilitate the growth and visibility of small-team development of creative technologies in the Philadelphia region. [1] PGL created game development tools, including a toolset for the creation of audio-only games and a platform for the creation of collaborative games. Both tools were developed under a permissive MIT License.[ citation needed ] As of 2022, PGL is no longer in operation. [2]
PGL was formerly located on the 5th floor of 30 South 15th Street (the Graham Building). Prior to this it was located at the Benjamin's Desk building. [3]
PGL was backed by a D2PA Grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. [4]
Nathan Solomon founded PGL in late 2011. [5] Philadelphia Game Lab compared itself to diverse initiatives, including Boston's MassDiGi, Toronto's Hand Eye Society, New York University's Game Center, and creative facilitators/organizations such as The Wild Rumpus, Babycastles, and Juegosrancheros.[ citation needed ] Solomon said of the Philadelphia business environment: "We should emphasize bootstrapped entities, and reject the model of massive scalability (required by the conventional tech venture capital model), as the primary requirement of a tech startup. I'm not saying that if someone has offered funding and takes it, that's a bad thing; however, this city should brand itself as so good for bootstrapping that it has a unique value that cannot be found in NYC or San Francisco or even Boston." [6]
Regarding PGL's location in Philadelphia, Solomon said, "From a hard numbers perspective, Philadelphia probably has the lowest per-capita number of professional game developers for a city its size in North America. At the same time, though, Philadelphia is a great place for creative and technical initiatives, and I think there's a valid argument that we're uniquely strong in grassroots initiatives here, especially those for social or creative good." [7]
The Grassroots Game Conference was an annual event hosted by PGL that targeted game developers, as well as those involved in arts, non-profits, and education. The conference was first held in coordination with Philly Tech Week 2012 from April 23 to April 28.
The Grassroots Game Conference was dedicated to facilitating small-team game development, with tracks in Games and Art, Games and Music, and Games and Gamification for Non-profits. [8] [9] [10] [11] The conference differed from user-focused events (such as Penny Arcade Expo and ComicCon), events focused on professional developers (such as the Game Developers Conference), and retail events (such as the Electronic Entertainment Expo). Events similar to the Grassroots Game Conference included Indiecade and the Games for Change Festival. [12]
Nationally recognized game developers and educators spoke at the 2012 event, including representatives from the Smithsonian, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Glitch Labs. Gabe Zichermann, a gamification expert, gave the keynote speech. [12] [13]
The 2013 Grassroots Game Conference was significantly larger than 2012, including more events and additional interest tracks, as well as international presenters. [14]
Valve Corporation, also known as Valve Software, is an American video game developer, publisher, and digital distribution company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. It is the developer of the software distribution platform Steam and the franchises Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Portal, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead, and Dota.
Xbox Game Studios is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, for the development and publishing of video games for Microsoft Windows. It has since expanded to include games and other interactive entertainment for the namesake Xbox platforms, other desktop operating systems, Windows Mobile and other mobile platforms, and web-based portals.
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tutorials, lectures, and roundtables by industry professionals on game-related topics covering programming, design, audio, production, business and management, and visual arts.
Jane McGonigal is an American author, game designer, and researcher. McGonigal is known for her game Jane the Concussion Slayer and her role as Director of Game Research and Development at Institute for the Future.
Jason Della Rocca is the former executive director of the Montreal chapter of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA): Della Rocca supervised the daily operations, outreach initiatives, and membership programs of the organization from September 2000 to March 2009. After leaving the IGDA following his 9-year involvement with the company, Della Rocca founded Perimeter Partners, a consultancy that provides strategic level guidance and expertise to companies and organizations in, and around, the game industry globally. More recently, Della Rocca cofounded a hybrid incubator/accelerator for independent mobile game startups called Execution Labs. In the summer of 2013 he was appointed to the advisory board for the ICT practice of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, Canada's foreign and trade ministry.
An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. Because of their independence and freedom to develop, indie games often focus on innovation, experimental gameplay, and taking risks not usually afforded in AAA games. Indie games tend to be sold through digital distribution channels rather than at retail due to lack of publisher support. The term is synonymous with that of independent music or independent film in those respective mediums.
The Digital Game Xpo (DGXPO) was the Southeast U.S.'s largest game industry conference. The event was organized and hosted by Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, North Carolina. The first event was held in 2005 and it was held annually until 2009. The event comprised an expo, career fair, student showcase, and a variety of tutorials, lectures, and roundtables by industry professionals. The expo also held a number of tournaments for popular games of the time like Guitar Hero, Super Smash Bros., and Halo 3.
Microsoft Ignite is an annual conference for developers and IT professionals hosted by Microsoft. It has taken place in several locations around the world. The first conference, then known as TechEd, happened in 1993 in Orlando, Florida, United States. The 2014 TechEd in Barcelona marked the last event using that name. Microsoft altered its conference schedule and introduced the Microsoft Ignite name from 2015 on.
The Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, also known as the University of Waterloo Stratford School and formerly the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus, is a satellite campus of the University of Waterloo located in Stratford, Ontario, Canada.
Gamification is the strategic attempt to enhance systems, services, organizations, and activities by creating similar experiences to those experienced when playing games in order to motivate and engage users. This is generally accomplished through the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts.
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Jesse N. Schell is an American video game designer and author, as well as the CEO of Schell Games, and a distinguished professor of the practice of entertainment technology at CMU's Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), a joint master's program between the College of Fine Arts and School of Computer Science in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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Gabe Zichermann is a Canadian-American author, public speaker, and businessman. He has worked as a proponent of leveraging game mechanics in business, education, and other non-entertainment platforms to increase user engagement in a process called gamification.
The gamification of learning is an educational approach that seeks to motivate students by using video game design and game elements in learning environments. The goal is to maximize enjoyment and engagement by capturing the interest of learners and inspiring them to continue learning. Gamification, broadly defined, is the process of defining the elements which comprise games, make those games fun, and motivate players to continue playing, then using those same elements in a non-game context to influence behavior. In other words, gamification is the introduction of game elements into a traditionally non-game situation.
Mark A. DeLoura is a video gaming advocate and an author. He served as the Senior Advisor for Digital Media for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), he was Editor in Chief of Game Developer magazine, and he has held various gaming-related positions at major companies including Sony, Nintendo, Ubisoft, THQ, and Google.
Source 2 is a video game engine developed by Valve. The engine was announced in 2015 as the successor to the original Source engine, with the first game to use it, Dota 2, being ported from Source that same year. Other Valve games, such as Artifact, Dota Underlords, Half-Life: Alyx, and Counter-Strike 2, have been produced with the engine.
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