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CULVER CITY, CA, (September 18, 2009) – IndieCade announced today that its annual flagship festival, the International Festival of Independent Games, will take place on October 1-4, 2009 in Culver City, California.The culmination and celebration of its annual competition, IndieCade 2009 will present 30 independent games selected from hundreds of entries.

The International Festival of Independent Games marks the only independent gaming event in the US open to the public. Finalist games represent the best creativity, vision and work of independent game designers from around the world. Finalists being announced today include Papermint from Avaloop in Austria, Moon Stories by Argentinian developer Daniel Benmergui, and Gray by Mike Boxleiter & Greg Wohlwend of the United States.

“IndieCade continues to nurture and attract the fringe talent that is paving the future of game development,” says Sam Roberts, IndieCade Festival Director.  We’re anticipating the best festival ever thanks to a tremendous roster of participants and amazing support from Culver City.”

Opening Reception: The festival will open on October 1 and run through October 4.  There will be a gala opening night event “IndieCade Happening” (VIP from 6:00 to 8:00pm – open to the public from 8:00 to 10:00 pm) at the Royal/T gallery/shop/café, featuring capsule-sized introductions to selected gamemakers, hosted by Richard Lemarchand (of Santa Monica’s own Naughty Dog Studios).

Hands-on Exhibitions: The top 30 finalists’ work will be showcased during the entire run of IndieCade 2009 at three Culver City locations: Wonderful World of Art Gallery, Culver Hotel Mezzanine and Gregg Fleishman Gallery daily from 10:00am to 7:00pm daily.

Festival Conference: IndieCade 2009 is offering an extensive conference program October 2-4. Featuring artist talks, salon discussions, master classes, workshops, panels and keynotes, the conference will be held at nine locations in and around Culver City.  Each day the conference will focus on a particular theme:

• Friday, October 2: Emotional Depth and Challenging Topics
• Saturday, October 3: Art and Innovation
• Sunday, October 4: Aspiring Gamemakers – Young and Old

To review the full conference schedule of talks, workshops and events, please go to www.indiecade.org.

Keynote Speakers: On Friday, Keita Takahashi (Katamari Damacy), Jenova Chen (Cloud, flOw, Flower), and Robin Hunicke (BOOM BLOX, MySims) will work directly with audience suggestions to brainstorm “Fresh Perspectives for First and Third-Person Shooters”.  On Saturday, legendary game maker Will Wright (The Sims, Spore) will share his vision for his new venture, Stupid Fun Club. The company has recently expanded its mission to embrace trans-media, creating entertainment content that spans multiple platforms. In this highly anticipated keynote, Wright will discuss the company’s current projects and activities.

Live Performances: The Festival will also include two special live games.  “Urban Bingo” by David Jimison (Dirt Party, Shark!) is a twist on the traditional community game sending teams of players throughout downtown in search of everyday objects.  “Chalk Games” is a public game design class that will be led by local developer Robin Hunicke (thatgamecompany) on Saturday and Sunday afternoons in the Culver City Plaza where festival-goers will learn how to make games with a little chalk… and a lot of imagination!

Awards: The 2009 IndieCade Awards Ceremony will be held at The Sony Pictures Plaza on October 2 from 7:00 to 10:00pm.  Finalists will be chosen by a panel of illustrious jurors as well as IndieCade attendees.  Awards will be presented for Aesthetics, Gameplay Innovation, Fun/Compelling, Sublime Experience, Technical Innovation, World/Story, Jury Award/Best in Show, Finalist Choice and Audience Choice.

Festival Tickets:Tickets for the IndieCade 2009 range from $20.00 for day of hands-on gameplay to $275.00 for a full festival /conference pass.  To purchase tickets please go to www.indiecade.org.

About the Festival: To date IndieCade’s festival and series of showcase events have been instrumental in highlighting the cultural significance of independent games and securing industry recognition and public attention for the games, the gamemakers, and the medium. IndieCade President Stephanie Barish adds, “Many games shown at IndieCade events have secured deals with major game studios including And Yet it Moves, that has been picked up for the Nintendo Wii, and Richard Boeser’s Ibb and Obb, now in production at Sony.  Popular titles such as Braid, Everyday Shooter, Blueberry Garden, Machinarium and N are other successful games that have been showcased at IndieCade events.  In addition to securing deals with major publishers, IndieCade has also made it possible for games such as Flywrench to be presented at the New Museum in New York and levelHead, which has been presented at galleries and museums throughout Europe.”

Acknowledgements

Presenting Sponsors: Culver City Redevelopment Agency, Culver Hotel, Ivy Substation, Wonderful World Art Gallery, Gregg Fleishman Gallery, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Principal Sponsors: Royal T, Rush Street, EEDAR, Best Buy, Game City, Siggraph, EA Partners
Contributing Sponsor:, Microsoft XNA, Westfield
Friends and Patrons of IndieCade: thatgamecompany, Garage Games, Eagle Sports, Theme Park Studios, Adobe, The Hollywood Hill, Stone Brewery, Mary-Margaret Network, Jonathan Blow, Jeff Roberts, One PR, A&R, Lost Moon Radio, Psychic Bunny
Academic Sponsors: The USC/EA Game Innovation Lab, IT University Copenhagen, Parsons New School of Design, National University, UCLA Games Lab, and Georgia Tech Experimental Game Lab.