How to build a mini, portable indie foley sound stage "Well, if you only need to do minimal things like record footsteps or trinkets, then you could use something that is compact, effective, and also portable... for about $60.00 - $70.00."

---

  Hironobu Sakaguchi to receive Lifetime Achievement Award at GDC 2015 Final Fantasy series creator and Mistwalker founder Hironobu Sakaguchi will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award during the Game Developers Choice Awards at GDC 2015, presented by Tim Schafer.

---

  Ouya confirms deal with Alibaba to enter China's console market The folks at Ouya have confirmed rumors that Chinese firm Alibaba has cut a deal to bring Ouya's catalog of games to Alibaba's set-top boxes, though they will not disclose how much money was involved.

---

  Come to GDC for expert advice on building the next big eSport GDC officials highlight a handful of great eSports-focused GDC 2015 talks from experienced developers, researchers and players.

---

12 Competition among developers is fiercer than ever, and that's fine Robert Boyd (Cosmic Star Heroine) responds to Rami Ismail's latest blog, writing, "Make something that stands out. Make something that’s different."

---

7 The art of the tutorial: When to hold a player's hand, when to let it go Experienced devs from across the industry share their perspective on the best way to make people feel comfortable the first time they play your game.

---

1 After the Gold Rush: Competing in today's App Store A Wooga product lead examines the App Store from a dev perspective: "The key is to recognize the particular skills and assets that you have, and the niches where you can best apply these."

---

  Road to the IGF: Loveshack's FRAMED We catch up with Loveshack, makers of FRAMED, which is nominated for Excellence in Design at this year's IGF competition.

---

  Creating an animated trailer the indie way "Creating a trailer can be a very tough task, from creating the story, to the process of making and delivering something that the audience can take with them to ponder later. It’s more like a Herculean effort."

---

  Get a job: Gameloft is looking to hire Online Programmers The folks at Gameloft are looking for multiple programmers to serve as network engineers alongside the game development teams at the company's Seattle, WA offices.

---

  Video: How to make your dream games without going out of business At GDC Next 2014, SuperData CEO Joost van Dreunen identifies the major stumbling blocks that game companies face using real-world data, and examines how others have either overcome them or succumbed.

---

9 Don't Miss: Mastering the art of composition in level design A comprehensive look at what goes into creating first-person shooter levels for a sense of visual composition -- and what that means in terms of guiding players to experience your gameplay best.

---

  Opinion: Why Alibaba's investment in Ouya makes a lot of sense Ouya has supposedly received an injection of $10 million in funding from Alibaba, and the internet cried "why!?" Here's why an investment in Ouya would make a lot of sense for the Chinese SmartTV market.

---

17 Everything is not fine, and that's fine Vlambeer's Rami Ismail considers the state of the industry, as 2015 begins: "as an industry, I don't think we're fine.... [but] I’m nothing but optimistic about the future of this medium, of this industry."

---

  Play top board games in the GDC 2015 'Shut Up & Sit Down' lounge The exhibit, curated by the minds behind board game site Shut Up & Sit Down, will offer GDC 2015 attendees a comfortable space to relax and play some of the best card and board games made in 2014.

---

  Octodad: Dadliest Catch: The history and genesis of a cult hit This post starts with the conception of the original Octodad by a team of college students and takes in the ultimate success of the sequel -- taking in everything from its design to the power of Let's Plays.

---

3 Sold by Sony, SOE becomes a multi-platform indie studio: Daybreak Sony has sold its venerable studio/publisher Sony Online Entertainment; SOE has in turn rechristened itself Daybreak and will continue to operate its games as an independent studio.

---

  Stumbling through the mobile market with a 'subversive' game "In a way, I think we tried to be too clever. I still love the idea of a game subverting expectations. At the time, though, I don't think I understood the mobile game marketplace well enough to pull this off properly."

---

1 Cast your vote now for the 2015 IGF Audience Award Game Developers Conference organizers are happy to announce that voting for the Independent Games Festival (IGF) Audience Award is now open through February 9th, 2015 at 11:59 PM PT.

---

3 This Week in Video Game Criticism: From Madden to Monopoly This week, our partnership with game criticism site Critical Distance brings us picks from Jill Murray on topics ranging from Madden cheats to better board games for your children than Monopoly.

---

  GDC 2015: Get tips on dealing with online harassment At GDC 2015 a panel of developers seasoned by first-hand experience with online toxicity will arm attendees with real-world advice and experience that will allow them to weather any internet storm that comes their way.

---

5 How we got through Steam Greenlight in 5 days VHS Story got through Greenlight fast, but how? "We still believe that the main reason was our yes/no ratio," writes Svyatoslav Cherkasov, who explains here what made his team's page so compelling.

---

2 'What would you do if you weren't afraid?' A Global Game Jam story "'What would you do if you weren't afraid?' It hit me then: I flew to California and participated in a game jam for 48 hours straight at Facebook HQ with a bunch of strangers, and I wasn't afraid."

---

1 With Walking Dead in the rearview, Campo Santo focuses on the future We talk to Campo Santo founder Sean Vanaman on leaving Telltale, securing funding and managing the expectations after The Walking Dead.

---

1 Road to the IGF: Kevin Regamey's Phonopath As part of our ongoing Road to the IGF interview series with nominees, Power Up Audio co-founder Kevin Regamey explains how he built the award-nominated audio puzzle game Phonopath and why.

---

[Read More]