Jenova Chen’s talk at the Develop Conference in Brighton was featured in an article on Gamasutra.

“Feelings make the game, says thatgamecompany’s Jenova Chen. “If the feelings that you provide in your game are unique, then your game will be unique,” said the Flower developer’s creative director and co-founder at Develop in Brighton.”

Read the full article here.

5 minutes.

20 slides.

Automatically advancing every 15 seconds.

On a topic of my choosing.

Come geek out!

The Independent Games Festival, held annually at the Games Developer Conference in San Franicisco, is now taking submissions for their 2010 showcase.

It’s a great opportunity for any up-and-coming developer, or an established developer looking to strike out in a totally new direction.  Before even getting to the GDC, the submissions are showcased on the IGF website for the world to see (and play, if you want them to!). If you are one of the finalists, you get to show your game at a kiosk on the floor of the GDC, and are eligible for awards in the IGF Awards Ceremony, held alongside the GDC Awards.  ”Cloud” was in the student showcase in 2006, and we owe a lot to the organizers. Not only did it get us enough attention to get noticed by Sony, we also got connected to a great community of game developers that have provided an invaluable amount of help ever since.

Submit your game(s) today!

Wish Jenova luck, as he attends his first-ever Foo Camp this weekend.  Foo Camp is, “‘the wiki of conferences’, where the program is developed by the attendees at the event, using big whiteboard schedule templates that can be rewritten or overwritten by attendees to optimize the schedule. The goal of the event is to reach out to new people who will increase the company’s intelligence about new technologies, and to create opportunities for cross-fertilization between people and technologies…” Should be stimulating, fun, energizing, and exhausting!

Then he’s off directly to Brighton for the Develop Conference! On Wednesday, July 15th, 11:00am, Jenova will be giving a talk entitled, “flOw and Flower, Games and Art.” The full description:

“Every medium’s growth starts with technological innovation, but after a certain point, the innovation of content and the user experience catches up and fuels deeper developments. Jenova Chen, the creative director of thatgamecompany, shares an overview of the making of his company’s unique titles flOw & Flower, as well as his notes and ideas about the relationship between video game, entertainment and art.”

If you’re going to be around at either of these events,  look him up!

via Speaking of Faith

Stuart Brown, a physician and director of the National Institute for Play, says that pleasurable, purposeless activity prevents violence and promotes trust, empathy, and adaptability to life’s complication.  Play games – they’re good for you!

Listen to the radio program here.