Contests for Development of games/apps

[tallchick]

This is something that recently came to my due to the Developer Movement contest now happening with Microsoft.

for those of you unfamiliar with the contest,

https://www.developermovement.ca/default.aspx

^ there's a link to the Canadian page. I don't know if there's equivalents in the US or worldwide, since every time I look for it all I get is the '.ca' version.

The concept of design contests is a tricky one. On the one hand, it can help an emerging developer find their feet in terms of being recognized if their content gets popular... on the other hand, apps published through the contest holder then become the property of the contest holder, and usually, apart from recognition and a base prize, any income derived from the item designed goes straight to the person or company now owning the rights to the IP, so the original creator gets screwed out of any profits if it turns out to be popular. The company benefits additionally because they just got a bunch of free stuff which they now own and can play with to derive new products if nothing else.

I ask your opinions:

Is it effective to have a contest to submit stuff to a company?
Is it good for the dev or the company or both?
Is this any more effective than putting something on iTunes for $0.99/app for a struggling developer?

Please share your thoughts

[jaded_sapphire]

I did not want to be the first one to post on here and have been waiting for several hours but no one else seems to be doing it so here I go.

I feel that anything that inspires people to do better work or get fresh ideas out there is always a good thing. I would say that the only time tht it could be a bad thing is if the company gets over loaded.

This is the part that I like the most-- Granted I would never be able to do something like this but it gives others that have talents the opportunity that they may not have had before.

The Developer Movement will help you bring it to life. This is your opportunity to enter a new and growing global market, be
recognized as a star among the development community, and get rewarded for your efforts. Think you can change the app game?
Give it a try—it might be easier than you expect!