What are the Scene.org Awards?
Scene.org Awards is a way of honoring the previous year of demoscene releases in a more formal setting, and disregarding their ranks in other competitions.
It is a well-known fact that most demos get most of their recognition for being released at demoparties around the world, and the Scene.org Awards contain our choices (as well as the Publics Choice) of the best releases of the preceeding year, regardless of it's platform, who made it or which country it is from.
The Scene.org Awards are held annually during the Easter. This year Scene.org Awards prize-giving ceremony is held on 22th of April at The Gathering demoparty, Hamar, Norway.
What is the demoscene?
In short; the demoscene is a large and independant group of people from all over the world who enjoy creating small computer programs that display dazzling graphics and music in real-time (read: "a demo"). Sometimes these people make smaller groups and compete against each other at gatherings held all through the year (read: "demo parties").
You can read more about the demoscene at the websites listed below, but the absolutely easiest way to discover the demoscene is to watch demos. We suggest you start with the ones Scene.org has nominated for Scene.org Awards -- head over to our archive to download some cool works.
- PC Demoscene FAQ (excellent FAQ about the scene written by Tomaes/TAP)
- Pouët (a demo database and review site)
- Capped.tv (watch demos in your browser)
- Demoparty.net (a calendar for upcoming demoscene events)
How are the nominees determined?
The selection for the nominated productions is twofold:
1) Scene.org Awards jury is selecting internally the nominees and eventually the awarded productions in different prize categories. The jury composition is decided by the Scene.org Awards staff. You can also apply for being a jury member on yearly basis. The jury consists of 15-20 members, with people across several continents and different backgrounds - programmers, graphic artists, musicians, all professions alike.
2) Everyone, the public. There's a special award category called Public Choice, where everybody can vote. The purpose of the voting for the Public Choice award is for each member of the public to express his or her personal opinion about what was their personal favorite of the past years demoscene releases.
The Scene.org Awards staff reserves the right (but is not obliged) to discount votes if it finds evidence that such votes are not cast in accordance with this purpose. Examples of behavior that may lead to votes being discounted are:
- Advertising the award with an implicit suggestion on who to vote for
- Asking people to disregard their own personal favorites and vote for a different prod (yours)
- Voting from more than one SceneID account
- Using any automated means to access the voting interface
- Recruiting people to create new SceneID accounts with the specific purpose to only vote for your prod
In severe cases, a production may be excluded from consideration in other categories as well. We hope these simple guidelines will make it easier for people to understand what's acceptable behavior and not.
Why do you do this?
Scene.org has deep roots in the demoscene not only because we provide an archive of productions and an entry point for demo enthusiasts, but also because all of our staff members are long time fans and 'sceners as well. While the demoscene has always been focused around competitions at parties, we feel that doesn't go far enough. Some demos get attention by succeeding at well-known parties, yet others get forgotten because they were released at smaller events or ranked low in competition. So we felt like doing something special -- giving appreciation and respect to deserving demo makers, not limited to any specific country or party, platform or competition.
Who makes all this happen?
The Scene.org Awards is organized by the members of the International Scene Organization ry with help of various individuals interested in the demoscene. The Scene.org Awards team for 2012 follows:
Jury members will be published on the Awards website on April 7th, 2012.
Who are the sponsors?
ARM provides a range of embedded graphics IP, video IP and audio solutions that underpin multimedia applications on a wide range of current and upcoming consumer, wireless, automotive and enterprise devices.
ASSEMBLY has its roots deep in the scene. Founded 20 years ago and still run by the same demo scene veterans and an organizing team of over 200 volunteers, ASSEMBLY continues to support and respect the scene - in spirit and in real life activities! But don't take our word for it, come see us in action in August in Helsinki, Finland.
The Gathering is one of the world largest computer parties, with a long-standing tradition of supporting the demoscene and hosting great competitions. This year there is an increased focus on the creative computer uses, with workshops, seminars and events.
I want to contact you
You can contact the Scene.org staff by sending email to staff@scene.org. Individual people in the team can be contacted via <nick>@scene.org addresses.
I want to send feedback
We're always pleased to hear any kind of feedback regarding the Scene.org Awards or any other Scene.org services. You can use the email address mentioned above, or wait until the Scene.org Awards gala has been held during the Easter, when we will open our annual online survey asking for feedback through this website.
