Judges

Indie Speed Run would not be possible without our incredible volunteer judges and sponsors!

	Ron Gilbert - MONKEY ISLAND Ron Gilbert is an videogame designer, programmer, and producer, best known for his work on several classic LucasArts adventure games including Maniac Mansion and the first two Monkey Islands. He is currently at work on The Cave with Double Fine Productions.
	Markus "Notch" Persson - MINECRAFT Markus “Notch” Persson is the owner and co-founder of Mojang, where he spearheaded the development of innovative sandbox survival game Minecraft. No stranger to high-pressure programming, Markus has personally made four 48-hour games for the Ludum Dare game jam, including Breaking the Tower, Metagun, Prelude of the Chambered, and Minicraft.
	Trent Oster - BALDUR'S GATE: ENHANCED EDITION After co-founding BioWare in 1995, Trent Oster has been involved with the production of numerous BioWare/EA titles including working as director for Neverwinter Nights. He is currently with Beamdog, as Creative Director for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition.
	Jason Rohrer - PASSAGE Since 2004, Jason has designed, programmed, and released 16 award winning games: Transcend, Cultivation, Passage, Gravitation, Perfectionism, Idealism, Police Brutality, Immortality, Regret, i45hg, Crude Oil, Between, Primrose, Sleep Is Death, Inside a Star-filled Sky, and Diamond Trust of London.
	Vander Caballero - PAPO & YO Vander Caballero is the Creative Director and Co-Founder of Montreal-based independent game developer, Minority Media, and a leading member of the Canadian video game community. Establishing a reputation for meaningful, emotionally-driven games, Minority’s Papo & Yo is available on the PlayStation® Network. Formerly a Design Director at EA Montreal, Vander created EA’s Army of Two and Boogie and worked on major franchises including FIFA, Need for Speed, The Sims and Spore.
	Kellee Santiago - JOURNEY As President and Co-Founder of thatgamecompany over the last six years, Kellee Santiago developed one of the most prominent brands in independent and innovative game development, pushing the communicative possibilities of video games as a medium. She is currently a partner in IndieFund, which aims to support the growth of games as a medium by helping indie developers get, and stay, financially independent. http://kelleesantiago.com
	Dino Patti - LIMBO With roots in programming Dino has been hacking computers from a very early age. After working hard on releasing two crappy retail titles during a couple of years, he left the business with a sworn oath that he would never return. Just 3 months after in 2006 he met Arnt Jensen who had this crazy vision about a black and white game. Together they formed Playdead the company that brought Arnt's Limbo to life. He is still working there as CEO.
	Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw - Zero Punctuation Yahtzee is a British-born, currently Australian-based writer and gamer with a sweet hat and a chip on his shoulder. When he isn't talking very fast into a headset mic for Zero Punctuation, he also designs freeware adventure games and writes novels like Mogworld and Jam.

Sponsors

Founded in 2005, The Escapist offers a daily escape from the everyday for its worldwide audience of over 4.8 million gamers and entertainment enthusiasts, A multiple Webby Award-winning Internet media publication, The Escapist delivers varied and comprehensive content that attracts the attention of core gamers, developers, and industry insiders alike. With exclusive web video series, cutting edge feature articles, and custom social media events, The Escapist has built a vibrant and dedicated community and has grown to become a leading voice in video game culture and the modern day interests and lifestyle of the internet generation.

You can check out and play all of the Indie Speed Run entries on www.escapistmagazine.com during Free Play starting January 7th!

Plantronics is a global leader in audio communications for businesses and consumers. They have pioneered new trends in audio technology for 50 years. The Plantronics GameCom line is as thoughtfully engineered to deliver every command and cue, every signal and strategy, while quality construction keeps them on for the long haul. Plantronics keeps its commitment to flawless sound, and customers keep its headsets … so gamers can stay in the game. For more information and activities, please visit www.gamecom.com.

This year, Plantronics is giving some of our best entries some of their best gear! We'll be giving out GameCom 780 PC headsets and BackBeat GO Bluetooth/Mobile headsets to ten catagory winners!

Newegg Inc. is a leading e-retailer committed to becoming the most loved and trusted marketplace on the web by offering superior shopping experience, rapid delivery, and stellar customer service. With more than 3 million products and an award-winning web site, Newegg earns the loyalty of tech-enthusiasts and novice e-shoppers alike. We equip our customers with state of the art decision-making resources such as detailed specs, how-to’s, 2 million customer reviews, and high resolution photo galleries.

Newegg has decided to give ten of the best Indie Speed Run 2012 entries a gift certificate to its geek-paradise of a website! And as all devs and gamers know, there's always something you need from a place like NewEgg.