Day: October 17, 2006

Some of you may have noticed the new “Affiliates” link at the top of the page. I figured that I have a number of places that I usually recommend (genuinely) so I may as well sign up to their affiliate programs in case anyone actually buys stuff from them after reading about them on my site.

I don’t want advertising all over this blog, so I decided to isolate all the links on one page (that people can easily ignore). Any money I make from these affiliate programs will be fed back into this site, OneTwenty, and various other non-profit projects I’m working on. That’s not selling out… right?

A while ago, Danno told me about CafePress. It’s a site that lets you design prints for basic clothing and novelty items which they sell for you (giving you a cut of the profit). He used them to make some t-shirts featuring the lovable slimes from his slime volleyball games. I thought about making some designs, but never really got around to it because I never thought of anything suitably lame or cool enough to put on merchandise.

Then it struck me. When cycling around the river I sometimes come across pedestrians who walk side-by-side on the dual-use (walking and cycling) path. That irritates me a little, but they usually get out of the way when you ding your bell or yell out “bike!”. However, sometimes they just stay there and completely ignore you. It’s a dual-use, two-way path! At least move to one side so that cyclists can overtake you!

I wanted some way to vent my anger without having to resort to flipping the bird. So I came up with the above t-shirt design and created a store called Angry Cyclist on CafePress. Let’s hope these babies sell like hotcakes. Even if I only sell one or two, I’d be happy just thinking about the looks on some stubborn pedestrians’ faces as someone rides past wearing one of these!

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is “a non-profit professional society that is committed to advancing the careers and enhancing the lives of game developers by connecting members with their peers, promoting professional development, and advocating on issues that affect the developer community.”

A local (Perth) chapter was started a few months ago and it looks to be a great way for games industry people to meet. The first meeting had quite a good turn-out and the organisers seem to be doing a great job of engaging the industry and getting sponsors involved. There were a number of prizes from sponsors including a new LCD monitor.

Here are the details for the upcoming meeting:

• Description: “This event will feature a wrap-up of the Tokyo Game Show 2006 as well as hand-ons new release Xbox 360 games on the big screen, courtesy of GameTraders.” (taken from the IGDA Perth Chapter website)
• Time/Date: 7:00pm, Monday 23 October 2006
• Location: The Velvet Lounge, Mt Lawley
• Cost: Free entry (pay for your own drinks)

Just a few final thoughts. There were booth babes at the last event to promote the upcoming GO3 Expo. To me it seemed very incongruous for them to be there (as I mention in my my writeup of the event). Negative reactions were vented by others on the PIGMI mailing list with a number of people saying that it would affect their attendance at future events.

I’m sure that the board is aware of the mixed reaction, and I would be surprised to see booth babes at this event. (So if you were opposed, don’t let that stop you!) Make up your own mind, by reading about the previous event. As well as my my writeup, be sure to read the official meeting report (with photos) of the last event. My strong recommendation is for anyone involved in the games industry to attend. We need to work together to get things off the ground!