IGF, Direct2Drive Announce Finalists For $10,000 D2D Vision Award

Author: by Staff

Independent Games Festival organizers and sponsor Direct2Drive have announced the finalists for the D2D Vision Award, with games including HurricaneX2 and Nyxquest competing for a $10,000 cash prize at the IGF Awards on March 11. Digital game distribution site Direct2Drive, the event's official download partner, set up the Vision Award in 2009 to "honor independent developers whose games present the new ideas and concepts that will help spark innovation in gaming." The winner, picked from the five finalists -- all indie games from the more than 300 IGF main competition entries -- will be presented live on stage by IGN on-air personality Jessica Chobot at the 12th Annual Independent Games Festival Awards. The awards themselves take place on Thursday, March 11 during the 2010 Game Developers Conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. The winning team will receive a $10,000 prize from Direct2Drive. The five finalists for the Direct2Drive Vision Award for this year are: - HurricaneX2, a 3D martial arts brawler from You Yun Tech. - Joe Danger, a build-it-yourself stuntman simulator from Hello Games. - Nyxquest: Kindred Spirits, from Over The Top Games, which challenges players to fly, aim and shoot through a world inspired by Greek myths. - Super Meat Boy, a platform game from Team Meat starring a lovable cube of meat who must race through dangerous obstacles to save his girlfriend. - Max and the Magic Marker, a puzzle platform game from Press Play with a unique “magic marker” drawing mechanic. More information about the finalists can be found on Direct2Drive’s D2D Vision Award website, and the digital distribution site has concurrently released a "Best of Indie" PC game bundle of IGF nominees and winners from previous years. That bundle, released today and only available until March 12, includes ten games, including Osmos, Machinarium, Cogs, Braid, and many more, and is priced at $29.95 -- a savings of more than 75 percent relative to buying the games individually. "The future of gaming hinges on the ability for developers to constantly innovate and entertain players of all types," said Direct2Drive digital content VP Sutton Trout in a statement. "Indie developers are continuously generating the new ideas and concepts that will help drive gaming forward. The Vision Award is one of the ways for us to recognize the community and these five incredible games."