So, today is the last day for the judges to submit their entry scores for the IntyBASIC Programming Contest. As a judge, I took the job very seriously.
I will be honest, though, it was a lot of work. It was also tough because you want to make sure to be fair and consistent, while at the same time you wish to promote and encourage only the highest quality standards for the community.
I think I may have been too tough on some of the games, but it's because I think the talent is good and the games have great potential, and I don't wish to just "award a ribbon" for participation. Other judges may think differently, and that's their prerogative, but I have seriously high and very particular standards for what constitutes a good Intellivision game.
That's not to say that other judges celebrate mediocrity or have low standards (I really do not know, and actually do not care), but that everyone's judging criteria is personal and different, and therefore very subjective. Mine doubly so.
Anyway, so 12 entries were submitted to the contest and they varied greatly in theme and style -- which is exceptionally good for our community. We need more games and we need to move beyond the typical arcade/micro port. That said, some of the entries were typical arcade/micro ports, but even those had a nice twist and offered an interesting take on the original.
Of course, as it always happens, some entries were better than others, and even some of the best games with the most potential for greatness were less polished than other more simple ones, raising the latter above the former. This variation in conceptual quality and implementation polish is also a good thing: it shows that programmers are following their own beat rather just re-using established libraries or ideas.
Honestly, I can see that most of the flaws of some of the games are due to experimental techniques or game-mechanics of dubious feasibility. Yet, the fact that they followed through and implemented such features, even if not entirely successfully, makes our community richer.
And that's a reason to celebrate: whoever the elected winner of the contest prize is, the Intellivision Community is the ultimate winner.
As a final word, I want to congratulate all the programmers who participated in the contest, and I want to thank them for putting their time and effort -- their blood, sweat, and tears, as it were -- into their projects. I may not have liked them all, and I may have judged some of them poorer than others, but I am absolutely glad that they were all made, and wouldn't want it any other way.
Cheers!
-dZ.
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