The Rules - IGF ModCategory

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2006 Independent Games Festival Competition – Mod Category

OFFICIAL RULES

The Independent Games Festival Competition – Mod Category (the “Contest”) is being sponsored by CMP Media LLC (the “Sponsor”) in connection with the Game Developers Conference to be held March 20-24 at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, California (the “Conference”). Each person or entity who enters the Contest (each an “Entrant”)agrees to abide by the terms of these Official Rules and by the decisions of the Sponsor and its judges, which are final and binding on all matters pertaining to the Contest.

HOW TO ENTER :

To enter the Contest, an Entrant who is otherwise eligible under these Official Rules must submit all of the following materials at any time between 12:00 a.m. P.T. on August 1 st, 2005 and 11:59 p.m. P.T. on November 1st, 2005 (the “Entry Deadline”) or by not less than 7 working days later if specifically invited by the Sponsor:

All entry materials become property of Sponsor and will not be returned.

FINALIST AND WINNER SELECTION PROCESS/NOTIFICATION :

Each Entered Mod must be a Mod of one (1) of the following four (4) PC platform video games (each an “Underlying Game”):

Entered Mods will be evaluated by panels of approximately three (3) judges for each of the four (4) Underlying Games, appointed by Sponsor (each a “Mod Judging Committee”). Members of the Mod Judging Committees may include employees of Sponsor, representatives from the game creators, and other individuals familiar with video game design. The specific identities of the members of the four (4) Mod Judging Committees will be listed on the Mod Judging Committee page of the Contest Website and are subject to change upon notice posted thereon.

The Mod Judging Committees will review the Entered Mods and select finalists during approximately the period from the Entry Deadline to December 1 st, 2005 (the “ModJudging Period”). Each member of the Mod Judging Committee for an Underlying Game will assign a score of 1 to 100 to each Entered Mod for that Underlying Game. Scores will be based on the overall innovation, quality, impressiveness, and enjoyability of each Entered Mod.

Each Entered Mod receiving one (1) of the five (5) highest average scores from all members of the Mod Judging Committee for each Underlying Game will qualify as a “Finalist Mod.” The Entered Mod receiving the highest average score from all members of the Mod Judging Committee for the applicable Underlying Game will be the “Winning Mod.” In the event of any tie score, the decision of the chairperson of the applicable Mod Judging Committee will break the tie. On or around December 11 th, 2005, Sponsor will notify each Entrant by electronic and/or regular mail if that Entrant’s Entered Mod was judged to be a Finalist Mod (each such Entrant, a “Finalist”).

All Winning Mods will be announced at the Conference at approximately 7:00 p.m. PT on March 22 nd, 2006.

FINALIST REQUIREMENTS :

Any Finalist that does not satisfy all of the requirements of this section may be disqualified, and Sponsor may select an alternate Finalist Mod from the remaining Entered Mods.

Each Finalist will be required to sign and return a declaration of eligibility and release of liability within seven (7) days of notification. The declaration and release will include, to the extent permitted by law and even if already granted by a Finalist’s acceptance of these Official Rules, the grant by each Finalist of permission (without further compensation) for Sponsor to use the Finalist’s name, photograph and likeness (if an individual), logo (if any), state of residence, and Entered Mod for advertising, promotion, marketing, and administration of the Contest and the Conference, including mention in Sponsor’s Game Developer magazine and on Gamasutra.com and a profile in the Conference program. Each Finalist that is a business entity also must use its best efforts to obtain for Sponsor similar rights from its employees, to the extent permitted by law, upon Sponsor’s request. Each Finalist must provide Sponsor with its social security or taxpayer I.D. number for tax reporting purposes.

Each Finalist will be required to exhibit its Finalist Mod at the Conference. Exhibition duties will include: (i) staffing a Conference booth; (ii) demonstrating the Finalist Mod during specified hours; and (iii) conducting oneself in a manner that upholds the good name and reputation of Sponsor, the Conference, and the Contest. Sponsor will provide one (1) display pod at the Conference for each Finalist, which will consist of a counter, a 21" monitor, speakers, hook-ups for electricity and Internet connectivity, and signage indicating the name of the Finalist and the name of the Finalist Mod. Each Finalist will be expected to supply its own computer required to display its Finalist Mod, along with any additional hardware necessary to operate the Finalist Mod.

Any individual Finalist who is unable to attend may officially nominate a proxy attendee (the name and contact details of which to be electronically mailed to the Contest Chairman at chairman@igf.com within fourteen (14) days after notification of nomination has been sent to the Finalist). Proxy attendees must perform the same duties as the actual Finalists.

Each Finalist will be responsible its own costs of travel, meals, accommodations, and equipment in connection with the Contest and the Conference. All individual Finalists and representatives of business entity Finalists must be in sufficient physical condition for safe travel to the Conference.

FINALIST PRIZES :

Each Finalist will receive:

The estimated total value of each Finalist prize package is approximately $ 2,700.00. The estimated total value of the twenty (28) Finalist prize packages is $ 54,000. The Finalist prizes will be shipped to each Finalist after receipt of the declaration and release mentioned in the Finalist Requirements section of these Official Rules and confirmation of attendance at the Conference.

WINNER PRIZES :

Each Finalist who submits the Winning Mod for one (1) of the four (4) Underlying Games (each, a “Winner”) will receive a $2,500 prize. In addition to the monetary prizes, each Winner will receive an award plaque and a one (1) year limited use license to use a version of the official Contest name and winner logo in promotional materials relating to the Winning Mod. The estimated total value of all Winner prizes to be awarded in the Contest is $10,000.

PRIZE TERMS :

All monetary amounts in these Official Rules are indicated in United States dollars and all monetary prizes will be awarded in the form of checks or money orders in United States dollars Sponsor reserves the right to substitute any non-monetary prizes with items of equal or greater value. Each Finalist and Winner will be solely responsible for bearing any income or other taxes, fees, or other costs relating to any prize.

All prizes will be awarded on-site at the Conference. It is possible that some or all Winners may be offered gifts from Conference sponsors or other third parties. Sponsor makes no representation or warranty that any such gifts will be offered or received, does not endorse any such gifts, and is no way responsible for any such gifts.

PRIOR CONTESTS :

Sponsor does not know how many Mods will be entered in the Contest. This is the first year Sponsor is hosting this Contest.

RESTRICTIONS/ELIGIBILITY :

The Contest is open only to business entities (except Ineligible Publishers) and to individuals who are 13 years or older, in each case who have access to the Internet on or before August 1 st, 2005. Individuals under the age of 18 years must provide evidence of parent or legal guardian consent satisfactory to Sponsor. Sponsor, its parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and its advertising, promotion, and production agencies, as well as employees of any of the foregoing, members of such employees’ immediate families (including spouse, parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, step-children, step-parents and in-laws), and persons with whom such employees are domiciled, are not eligible. Each Entrant may enter only one (1) Mod in the Contest. In addition to the foregoing general eligibility requirements, the following additional requirements must be met:

Each Entrant with a CD-ROM Entered Mod without an automatic update or patching capability should notify the Contest Chairman at chairman@igf.com prior to October 15 th, 2005 with a brief description of the patch/update content and download location. Patches/updates must be downloadable. Only one (1) patch/update per Entered Mod is permissible. Sponsor will download the patch/update on or around October 15 th, 2005 and make reasonable efforts to distribute it to the applicable Mod Judging Committee. Sponsor does not guarantee the viewing or application of every patch/update by the applicable Mod Judging Committee.

RELEASE :

By entering the Contest, each Entrant releases and holds harmless Sponsor, the participating software developers and software publishers, their parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and each of their respective officers, directors, agents, and employees from any and all responsibility or liability arising out of or relating to: (i) any personal injury, death, property (including computer) damage, or other loss or claim of any kind arising from or in connection with any violation of these Official Rules; the Contest, the Conference or any Entered Mod; the acceptance, possession, or use of any prize; or any travel required by the Contest; (ii) any entry or other materials that have been tampered with, that are misdirected, incomplete, incorrect, non-conforming, corrupt, lost, late, or ineligible, or, with respect to mail-in entries or materials, that are sent postage due; and (iii) computer, telephone, cable, satellite, network, hardware, software, or other technical malfunctions or failures; garbled or jumbled transmissions; Internet or website inaccessibility or delays; printing or typographical errors in any Contest or Conference materials; or any other technical or human errors occurring in connection with the Contest or Conference.

By entering the Contest, each Entrant consents to the use of the Entrant’s name, photograph and likeness (if an individual), logo (if any), state of residence, and Entered Mod for advertising, promotion, marketing, and administration of the Contest and Conference without additional compensation, to the extent permitted by law. Each entrant further agrees that Sponsor may use any and all information collected through the Contest, including the Entrant’s name and contact information, for marketing or other purposes whether or not related to the Contest, to the extent permitted by law and Sponsor’s privacy policy, which may be found on the Contest Website.

REPRESENTATIONS :

By entering the Contest, each individual submitting entry materials (including an Entered Mod) represents and warrants to Sponsor that:

TERMINATION :

Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Contest in its sole and absolute discretion if the Contest becomes technically corrupted or is not capable of being run as planned, including infections by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes beyond the control of Sponsor that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the Contest. In such event, Sponsor will post notice at the Conference and on the Contest Website and will implement an alternate means for awarding all prizes.

MISCELLANEOUS :

If any part of these Official Rules is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or otherwise unenforceable, such part will be deemed modified or eliminated to the extent necessary, in the court’s opinion, to make it enforceable while preserving the original intent of the Sponsor, and the remaining parts of these Official Rules will remain in full force and effect. The Contest will be governed by, and these Official Rules will be interpreted by, and enforced in accordance with, the laws of the State of California and applicable United States federal law, without regard to any conflicts of laws principles. The Contest is void where prohibited by law. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Official Rules, the Contest, the Conference, or any prize must be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in San Francisco, California, and Sponsor and each Entrant irrevocably waive any objection to the venue and jurisdiction thereof.

WINNER’S LIST :

For the name of the Winners, which will be available after March 30 th, 2006, check the Contest Website or send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to:

2006 Independent Games Festival Competition, Mod Category
c/o CMP Game Group
600 Harrison Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
USA
Telephone: (415) 947-6000

 

Announcements Congratulations to the 2006 IGF winners! View a list of all the winners and finalists here...