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That was the idea that was discussed on #ps2dev last night. The problem though is funding the prize(s). It was suggested that we have $10(EUR) entry fee. If we get 20 people that should be enough to cover the prize.

So, who would be up for it, and what would be the rules?

My Rules would be something like:

1) Pay $10(EUR) entry. Euro because more people will be in that area.
2) Open source entries. To encourage release of code and so the old demo makers can't unleash their arsenal of private libraries.
3) Competition would open soon and finish on the launch date of PSP in Europe or US.


My other concern is that there is no decent guide to get people started in ps2dev. No use having a competition if the usual 4 or so people enter. We need a guide that will have people with a toolchain, ps2sdk, gsKit, basic demo and ps2link up and running in a reasonable amount of time.

I voted no because of the "euros" requirement.

Euros, dollars, yen, are the most liquid currencies. Ok, most dev'ers are in Europe, but you can't tell me its hard to exchange dollars into your favorite currency in Europe , but its much harder to do in the United States :) Also, I can't believe the exchange rate fee for the competition organizers will matter that much if they receive much in dollars. :)

My suggestion ? Make it 10 Euros or US$ equivalent (rounded to nearest US$ dollar). That will cover pretty much the entire world. Those outside the Euro area or North America usually can manage one or the other (heck, probably have bank accounts in one or the other).

I've held off on voting because I think as good of an idea as this may be, we need to hold off on something like this until we both finish getting all the "new years releases" that were supposed to happen out, including the one step easy install toolchains, and at least some documentation on how to get started. Other than finally convincing someone to write some docs, this is a fairly easy thing to fix, just need some time.

The other problem I am seeing is that if there is an entry fee I very highly doubt we'll attract new people, with the exception of a few who have been off hiding somewhere. This can be either a good or a bad thing depending how you look at it of course ;)

Oobles wrote:The problem though is funding the prize(s).

What about a sponsor? Perhaps a PS2 gaming magazine or a shop. I have voted "yes", but perhaps there would be more people without an entry fee.

What kind of demos are allowed? I would like to port one of my games I've written in Java, Lisp etc. Perhaps Sokoban, TiltMazes or JHex, but JHex is difficult, because I don't know how to implement an easy-to-use input interface without a mouse. I think I'll port Sokoban, it's a classic console game :-)

Well,

I think they struck the right balance all things considered.

A PSP is offered as a prize. Unless someone donates a PSP, the money has to come from somewhere.

The idea then is to charge an entry fee. But based on the assumption that a PSP prize will hopefully attact more people, the entry fee can be smaller, along the lines of a "token" $10-12 (depending on currency).

Even jobless coders should be able to find that much money, or at least, persuade someone to "sponsor" them for the long hours of work they would put into a demo. ;)

Having said that, unless 20 people register, the money may still come up short. How many people have entered previous competitions ?

Still, I think the idea of a prize is a fantastic way to encourage more people to join. Otherwise, the risk of the same 4 people entering remains. ;)

You could donate your PSP gorim :)

What about getting a sponsorship from an importer of some sort?

I'm assuming one of the requirements in that case would be to have an ad up on the site for a while though. Judging from previous comments I get the feeling a large number of people wouldn't want that... but maybe I'm wrong.

Whats the word on the street?

I think the response to this poll (or lack of) demonstrates that it wouldn't be a viable option. You need to have atleast enough entrants to make it happen.

In regards to advertising and promotional ads. We did have Lik-Sang at one time on the main page. I was hoping to get some items from them to put up as prizes. It never panned out, so I removed the ad. We were'nt getting any benefit, so I didn't see why they should. I don't mind getting advertising aslong as we're getting something tangible in return.

I get all my PS2 stuff (but games) from Lik-Sang. They're quick and reliable (so far). Just recently got two lightguns (for two-fisted blasting) and a dance mat. The Point Blank game series is really damn fun. It's what lightguns are all about.

Up down up down SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT.

Let's dance!

Oobles wrote:I think the response to this poll (or lack of) demonstrates that it wouldn't be a viable option. You need to have atleast enough entrants to make it happen.

There *IS* another possibility:

What about asking members of the PS2DEV community to sponsor portions of the cost ?

As was mentioned in the irc channel last night, nearly all of us have jobs.

Since not all of us are likely to enter, what about asking non-entrants to sponsor say $25-$50 of the cost ? Maybe they can also be included as some of the judges for their money. :)

At Amazon UK you can order the PSP for 179.99 british pound, currently 258 Euro. Release date is March 18, 2005.

I don't know how are the relationships between the ps2dev community and the Sony corporation.... but the sponsoring idea is not in my opinion a stupid idea...

Let's argue why...

1. As a member of the still-not-dead Atari ST community, usually 4 or 5 times a year, I'm going into oldsk00l Coding Parties where the usual demo/gfx/sfx competitions happen and sometimes Atari (hum Infogrames...) send us some "marketing" gifts (T-shirts, stickers, pannels, posters...) as more or less we promote the Atari brand.

2. As a curious & challenging coder, during one one those CPs, there was a Calculator demo coding competition, so for the fun I coded a little demo for the TI-92 (68K based..) and guess what I won ???? TI offered 4 TI Voyager 200, the last available TI calculator (245 euros !!!), the only condition was my permission for TI to use your demo as a "marketing" stuff.
What a surprise, that was worth the 2 nights spent on coding !

So whatever what's happened in my life, more or less we promote the Sony brand & development and not piracy, so am I dreaming out loud ?