Also, a bit of good news about the judging system. Based on feedback from last year, we'll be providing a lot more information about entry results - it won't just be "these guys win; the rest of you go away." A full ranking will be available, and entrants will be able to view both the average judge scores *plus* all the judges comments - and the judges have always made (in many cases extensive) comments this year. Every game could use improving in at least one way, and hopefully these comments will guide people in the best way to do that.
(Do you think the comments and score breakdowns should be made visible to everyone?)
It's my hope that many of the contestants won't stop working on their games simply because the contest is over; another month or two of organised work and a number of high-quality games could emerge from this.
I think you should privately let the entrants know their entry has been disqualified. I know there is at least one person dying to know if his entry was disqualified or not, and theres not much point in waiting if the decision is final. As for making it public, I don't personally see any rush to let everyone know which entries didn't make it. We can wait for the final results to see that.
I can't really think of any reason why not to. Considering the entries themselves are public, hearing what others have to say about them could only spark productive (hopefully) discussion about the subject. I don't see much point in keeping this private if the scores are made public.
Can't wait to find out :). Good job organizing everything, sounds like you really implemented some of the comments from last year.