Registration opens for BitSummit 2014, Japan's indie game festival

Last year's inaugural BitSummit was a pretty cool event celebrating the Japanese indie game scene, and now developers can register to attend the next one in Kyoto, Japan March 7-9. The second annual BitSummit is planned to be bigger and better than the last, spanning three days and incorporating both musical performances and presentations from notable folks in the game industry. Last year's event included a live show from chiptunes artist Professor Sakamoto and a variety of talks, including one from Deadly Premonition and D4 creator Hidetaka “Swery” Suehiro about what Japanese indies could learn from their Western counterparts. Any developer willing to travel to Kyoto can apply to attend the show and showcase their game on the floor, though priority will be given to Japanese indie developers. Translators will also be available, though their primary purpose is to help foreign media outlets speak with Japanese indies -- BitSummit was launched to help bring small Japanese development studios together with the Western media, platform holders and tool developers, after all. "BitSummit is something of a labour of love," wrote co-organizer James Mielke in a Gamasutra blog published shortly before last year's event. "It’s a non-profit that relies on the generosity of its sponsors to host an event designed to stimulate a sense of community between developers, to shake things up and get the word out, and to help them bridge the gap between East and West." Registration for BitSummit 2014 ends February 7th, and more details about who will be attending, sponsoring and speaking at the show should follow shortly thereafter.