I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a more than a little bit annoyed I didn't even get 2nd, but I bet I got pretty dinged on the innovation score since my game is technically a sequel (albeit a sequel to a game I created, and only a crappy web game at that).

It still burns, though.  Especially since they awarded 4 contracts publically, which suggests they wouldn't be open to other entries getting contracts.  That's not going to stop me from trying, though.  I'll call in favors with the game studios I know and have worked with if I have to.

Still, congratulations to those that won.  I'm sure you guys deserved it.  Probably most of the finalists deserved to win 1st, there was just too many of us competing with each other.

I'm also a little peeved my game wasn't in the DBP finalist video montage.  It looked like my game was the only one that wasn't in there.  I understand my game isn't as "actiony" as the others, but it still would have been nice to show it for two seconds.

In other news, I went ahead and released a demo to my game today.  It's in the signature.  I'd love if everyone here at least gave it a try.

SageClock:

...which suggests they wouldn't be open to other entries getting contracts. 

I wouldn't say that's true. You're free to pitch it on your own I would imagine. There's some guidelines out there for getting on XBLA.

SageClock:

Machaira:

I wouldn't say that's true. You're free to pitch it on your own I would imagine. There's some guidelines out there for getting on XBLA.

Granted, but it does suggest that the rest of the entries aren't sufficient on their own to be accepted.  I'm not saying it's not possible, it's just disheartening.

I moved this from the other thread because it wasn't much of a congratulations. Just wanted to keep the spirit of that thread intact. Feel free to epxress your feelings, but let's just make sure it's in the appropriate place.

Understood.

You guys seriously look like you did a great job, and Microsoft has been incredibly extra generous.

I'd love to get a chance to try out the winning games, as they look like I would easily sink a lot of time into them, and I'm just glad that we have this opportunity to quickly make innovative games and share them with other developers.

Congratulations to the winners! I'll be certain to buy each and every one of your games once they are released to XBLA!

"I wouldn't say that's true. You're free to pitch it on your own I would imagine. There's some guidelines out there for getting on XBLA."

I agree. This is just speculation, of course, but imo it would have been weird for MS to be even "kinder", i.e. giving out even more contracts (they already made two games first prize winners, instead of just one, making a total of four contracts instead of the promised one).

I think there's definite possibilities for several of the games to get XBLA contracts still.

Though I can understand you being a little pissed at they not showing your game - I know I would've. Come on MS, you made a video of the finalists but only included what, like 18-19 of the 20? You could have made the movie 30 seconds longer. :)

Well hey, mine wasn't even a finalist - so great job on getting that far!

I played your game earlier today btw, and it looked pretty solid.  I think it needs a little bit more to go all the way, but I couldn't tell you exactly what.  Maybe some better in-game explanation of what you're supposed to be doing exactly - took me a little while to get that down.  One of the guys I played it with also commented that the tile choosing didn't seem very balanced - though he could just have got the bad end of the draw.

It still burns, though.  Especially since they awarded 4 contracts publically, which suggests they wouldn't be open to other entries getting contracts.  That's not going to stop me from trying, though.  I'll call in favors with the game studios I know and have worked with if I have to.

Hi

I worked on Yo Ho Kablammo. Firstly congratulations to all those others who won and comiserations to those of you who didn't. If you want to get your game onto XBOX Live and didn't get a contract you can try registering as a Casual Games developer with MS on this site.

http://www.microsoftcasualgames.msn.com/developers.htm

Basically you pitch your game to them and they will tell you if they like the idea. This is the route we were going to go down if we didn't win.

Srekel:

Come on MS, you made a video of the finalists but only included what, like 18-19 of the 20? You could have made the movie 30 seconds longer. :)

Thanks for the feedback, guys.  I wasn't the person that made the composite video, but usually when a game is left out, it's for technical reasons, not because we wanted to save extra seconds.  When I (and a couple others) put together the first XNA game montage last year, we actually had more games we wanted to do, but we couldn't get them to install properly or the studio people couldn't get them to run/encode correctly.  I certainly don't think it was a case of deliberately excluding any finalists (indeed, the people that did the video might go "Doh!" when I forward this thread to them).  I'll look into it though, as it was never our intention to slight any of the finalists.  All those games are a blast to play!

Right, that makes sense. :) Though it sounds strange that Fraps (or whatever you use) work on 90% of the XNA games but not the rest. But hey, if you say so, I believe you.

It seems like the competition was a success.  Congrats to the winners.  Does anyone know if there will be another Dream-Build-Play competition?  I would love to compete in the next one if there is one.  I couldn't compete for this one but hopefully I'll get my chance.

Please Microsoft do another one!  :)

SageClock:

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a more than a little bit annoyed I didn't even get 2nd, but I bet I got pretty dinged on the innovation score since my game is technically a sequel (albeit a sequel to a game I created, and only a crappy web game at that).

The fact a game was a sequel or not had no bearing on the judging results.  The games were each looked at independently on the judging criteria. 

It still burns, though.  Especially since they awarded 4 contracts publically, which suggests they wouldn't be open to other entries getting contracts.  That's not going to stop me from trying, though.  I'll call in favors with the game studios I know and have worked with if I have to.

I absolutely encourage you and other developers (Top 20 or not) to pursue all avenues at your disposal.  Also, simply because 4 contracts are in the process of being awarded should not be taken to mean other games cannot get Xbox LIVE Arcade slots as well.  If you can line up a publisher, that increases your odds considerably.

Still, congratulations to those that won.  I'm sure you guys deserved it.  Probably most of the finalists deserved to win 1st, there was just too many of us competing with each other.

I'm also a little peeved my game wasn't in the DBP finalist video montage.  It looked like my game was the only one that wasn't in there.  I understand my game isn't as "actiony" as the others, but it still would have been nice to show it for two seconds.

That video was in production before the Top 20 finalists were confirmed on our end.  It was meant to be an overall DBP montage and was wrongly referred to as the Top 20 video.  Several Top 20 games are not in this shortened video, not just Proximity HD.

In other news, I went ahead and released a demo to my game today.  It's in the signature.  I'd love if everyone here at least gave it a try.

That's great SageClock!  I heartily recommend everyone to download and play Proximity HD with a friend or two.  It is a great game and was nicely put together.

--dave