The conference itself will take place from 9am – 6pm in the North West Regional College (NWRC) in Derry, Northern Ireland on Friday 26th October 2007.
The format will be that of a conference with a series of Speakers from the Serious Games industry, followed by a round table panel discussion to end.
Contact NORIBIC via www.noribic.com/sga for further details.
This isn’t news as such given the links etc. on the forums but the contracts have been signed and as of the end of last week Havok is now an ‘Intel company.’
For those who don’t know Havok is one of the most successful Irish game companies. Established in 1998 in Dublin it now has offices in San Francisco, San Antonio, Stockholm, Calcutta, Munich, and Tokyo. It is focused on developing middleware and for more on the numerous game titles which use Havok see http://www.havok.com/content/blogcategory/20/37/
For more on the actual deal you won’t find it on the Havok website but instead on the Intel one in the press room where the notice to acquire has moved down the list of press releases. Their website notes ‘SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 14, 2007 – Intel Corporation today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Havok Inc., the leading provider of interactive software and services used by digital media creators in the game and movie industries. Havok will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel.’
Later in the piece Havok CEO David O’Meara says “This is a great fit for Havok products, customers and employees. Intel’s scale of technology investment and customer reach enable Havok with opportunities to grow more quickly into new market segments with new products than we could have done organically. We believe the winning combination is Havok’s technology and customer know-how with Intel’s scale. I am excited to be part of this next phase of Havok’s growth.”
Havok HQ is currently located in the Digital Hub in the centre of Dublin. Intel have a significant presence in Ireland just on the outskirts of Dublin where it employs 5,000 people. It recently announced 200 redundancies at its Dublin plant.
see http://www.idaireland.com/home/case_study.aspx?id=244&content_id=13
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0919/breaking63.htm
http://lz1.intel.com/appzone/pressroom/PressReleases.asp
For those going to the London Games Festival these workshops may be of interest.
London Games Festival on 25th October.
In the morning Ernest Adams (ex Electronic Arts and co-founder of IGDA) is running an exclusive workshop on Designing Compelling Emotive Games for the special festival price of £99 + vat per delegate (much less than the usual delegate fee of around £200). – Places are limited – you will be joining a small group of your design colleagues at this workshop.
In the afternoon, a very special festival seminar is running on Machinima, keynoted by leading director Ricard Gras of LA Interactiva, with a panel of industry luminaries giving you advice on how to become a successful director – opening the doors to making your name in film-making. A tutorial on MovieStorm and discussion on what the consequences are for you as games engine providers start to limit use for machinima close the seminar – (with a planned and yet to be announced screening of leading machinima films following in the evening).
More at www.londongamesfestival.com or book through www.applygroup.com/LGF07.htm
Word has been drifting in re a forthcoming event about serious games’ on the 26th of Oct. in Northern Ireland and the launch of Recall, described as ‘an adventure game with a message’ funded partially by NORIBIC and developed by former students of NWIFE in Derry and now in Phooka.
Contact NORIBIC via www.noribic.com/sga for further details.
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Serious Games Awakening ‘07
The Northern Ireland Business and Innovation Centre (NORIBIC) in conjunction with Serious Games developers throughout Ireland, have come together to organise a conference to announce the Awakening of the Serious Games Industry within Ireland –The Serious Games Awakenings Conference (SGA).
To mark the event, Serious Games Industry veterans will provide a series of talks sharing their expertise in all areas of the Serious Games industry from both business and technical perspectives.
The theme of the event is industry inception. The key messages will be to announce the presence of the Serious Games industry in Ireland and to discuss…
* the challenges facing independent Serious Games & Middleware Developers
* the changing & sometimes volatile nature of the Serious Games Business
* the advent of next generation Serious Games platforms & technologies
* comparison of a typical entertainment games technology-based experience with a typical learning technology-based experience and the contrasts that arise
Finally, we will Showcase the ICECUBE project and launch “Recall”, Ireland ’s first full 3D Serious game made here in Derry to promote peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland’s schools.
Event Format
The conference itself will take place from 9am – 6pm in the North West Regional College (NWRC) in Derry, Northern Ireland on Friday 26th October 2007. The format will be that of a conference with a series of Speakers from the Serious Games industry, followed by a round table panel discussion to end- an event not to be missed, so put the date in your diary. More detail of the programme of the day to follow.
Exhibits
During coffee and lunch breaks, an exhibition of Irish Serious Games Development and Middleware Companies will be available for attendee perusal. This will also be a chance to network for all attending the conference. The Educational exhibition will allow Educational Institutions to promote their games design and development courses and attract interested students. If you would like to exhibit at the conference, please mail us at sga@noribic.com. There is no charge to exhibit, and if we can accommodate you, equipment (e.g. tables, PCs, peripherals, etc.) will be provided.
Registration
Entrance to SGA’07 is free to all. However, as there are a limited number of places, registration is required through the Registration page on the website in order to secure your place. To take up your place, please visit the Registration page on www.noribic.com/sga before Sunday 14th October 2007.
Other
This event has been organized in association with The Northern Ireland Business Innovation Centre (NORIBIC), Digital Media Works Programme part financed by the European Union through the INTERREG IIIA Programme, administered by the North West Region Cross Border Group (NWRCBG). It is sponsored by NORIBIC, NWRC, a number of local and International companies and supported by the local enterprise agencies.
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See also http://test.channel4.com/4talent/feature.jsp?id=210
This coming Friday, the 21st, gamedevelopers.ie will be holding a shindig. If you haven’t been before this is an informal pub meet to discuss game development related gossip and meet people from the forums.
The plan is to meet at the Pavilion bar in Trinity College Dublin at 6pm and then to move to Sinnotts bar, off Grafton Street to view the rugby match (for those interested!).
All welcome. Especially women.
If you have not met anyone from gd.ie before then please PM/private message someone who is attending to make sure you have a contact number for someone on the night and can find the group. We may not actually stand out in a crowd!
Saturday 15th Sept – Open House
Event: Digital Hub Open House
Venue: Digital Exchange, Crane Street, The Digital Hub, Dublin 8
Time: 3pm and 5pm
Come visit CTRL where you can explore the close relationship between technology and creativity. Have a go at playing the latest games, singing karaoke, editing videos or record your own newscast!
Meet Ireland’s Dare to Be Digital team who recently returned from Protoplay 2007 (http://www.daretobedigital.com/protoplay/) and ask them questions on gaming, game development and their Dare experience. Check out the games that were created at this year’s Mission Maker Summer Camp and at other fun stuff that has been created in the Digital Hub Learning Initiative Courses.
Entry is free, but as public viewing is limited please request a ticket in advance by emailing exhibit@thedigitalhub.com or call 01 4806200
Part of Counter Strike: Block H is currently on show in Dublin as part of the Game On festival in Dublin’s Digital Hub. Block H is an interactive installation set in Northern Ireland. It comprises of a Counter-Strike mod and a sound reactive television.
Developed for an MA in interactive media at Goldsmiths College in London the project was originally conceived as a way of documenting the murals that were fast disappearing from the landscape of Northern Ireland. According to the developer it ‘ developed from there to explore the wider themes of media and social memory, surveillance and censorship, and militainment such as Kuma/War and America’s Army.’
The game section is a modification of Counter-Strike: Source.
Teams are Loyalist and Nationalist. Players wear celtic and rangers jerseys, denim jackets and anoraks. The game is set in a housing estate split by a peaceline and watchtower. Each side has their own versions of sectarian symbols such as murals, bonfires, flags, drums, graffiti etc. All details are based on reference images to create a composite environment of Belfast and Derry.
The interior section houses a sound reactive television made using MAX/MSP. It uses footage of cultural icons as well as victims and perpetrators of violence during “The Troubles”.
The audio and video channels are changed separately by the user using a two button remote control.The images stutter themselves in real time to synchronise with any one of the soundtracks.
You can see this along with other work including by this year’s Dare to be Digital team this coming Sat, 15th Sept at the Digital Exchange, Crane Street, The Digital Hub, Dublin 8 at 3pm and 5pm.
Entry is free, but as public viewing is limited please request a ticket in advance by emailing exhibit@thedigitalhub.com or call 01 4806200.
Block H
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website: http://www.blockh.net/
images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blockh/
video demo: http://stage6.divx.com/user/blockh/
game files: http://hosted.filefront.com/BlockH
see also http://www.worldcybergamesireland.com/openhouse.htm
Creative Inspiration – How to Make a Living from
the Arts will be held on Thursday 27 September 2007 in the
Millennium Forum in Derry.
They have secured Wayne Hemingway as the
keynote speaker for the event and several other creative practitioners to participate in the event such as Terry Loane, Stephen Stewart, Scanner and Barry Sheehan from Irish Design Institute.
Informal pub meet has been agreed for Friday the 21st of September.
Yes we know the Ireland V France game is on at 21.00 so we will choose a suitable put – under discussion on the forums at present.
All welcome, and bring along friends with an interest in game development.
The 2007 edition of MIGS, Canada’s largest gathering of video game creators, developers and producers (consoles, PC’s, mobile devices, online games), will feature some of the most influential creative talent in the game industry worldwide. It takes place on the 27 and 28th of November in Montreal, Canada.
See http://www.sijm.ca/en
The 2007 edition of MIGS, Canada’s largest gathering of video game creators, developers and producers (consoles, PC’s, mobile devices, online games), will feature some of the most influential creative talent in the game industry worldwide. It takes place on the 27 and 28th of November in Montreal, Canada.
Among the keynote speakers is executive video game industry consultant and visionary David Perry
He is currently working on the creation of a number of MMO games: a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMOPRG) for Acclaim called 2Moons, the first massively multiplayer dancing game called Dance, and the first community-created MMO game, with tens of thousands of developers on his team. As CEO of the video game consultancy firm GAMECONSULTANTS.COM, David represents key video game talent. He is also CEO of the new video game investment portal GAMEINVESTORS.COM and writes about the video game industry as an expert columnist for BusinessWeek.com.
Other confirmed speakers
* Ian Bogost, Founding Partner, Persuasive Games
* George Borshukov, Computer Graphics Supervisor, Electronic Arts and WW Studio
* Mike Chrzanowski, Senior Designer, Vicarious Visions
* Don Daglow, President and CEO, Stormfront Studios
* Jon Goldman, President and CEO, Foundation 9
* Clint Hocking, Creative Director, Ubisoft
* Julien Merceron, Worldwide Chief Technology Officer, Eidos
* Samuel Rivello, Director of Multimedia Development, Neopets
* Duncan Wain, President, Scope Seven
Over the course of two days, participants will have the opportunity to attend some 50 tutorials, seminars and conference sessions as well as network and chat with each other.
New in 2007: Business Lounge
This year, Alliance numériQC has created the Business Lounge http://www.sijm.ca/en-business-lounge.html, a personalized meeting management service for publishers, development studios, intellectual property owners and other industry decision makers. This restricted access area will allow professionals to enjoy refreshments and hold meetings in an environment conducive to doing business. MIGS will act as an intermediary and facilitator for game industry stakeholders who wish to benefit from the event to develop new contacts and sell their services. As such, the Business Lounge is specifically designed to respond to a need expressed by the industry.
About MIGS
MIGS was created in 2004 to serve members of the video game industry, which currently employs over 5,000 people in Quebec. The organization of MIGS draws on the support of an Advisory Committee made up of key players in the Quebec game industry (A2M, Beenox , DC- Studios, Electronic Arts, International Game Developers Association, Sarbakan, Ubisoft, Wave Generation).
For more information about MIGS, to register for the event or to sign up for the MIGS Newsletter, visit the MIGS website http://www.sijm.ca/
Participants registering prior to October 15, 2007, benefit from reduced rates, with savings of up to 30%.
– Sat the 15th from 10am –
World Cyber Games Ireland – Final. Gamers from all over Ireland will meet in The Digital Hub to battle it out for an opportunity to represent Ireland in the Grand Final Seattle, USA.
For full listing of events see www.worldcybergamesireland.com/gameon.htm
For further details e-mail exhibit@thedigitalhub.com
Monday the 10th at 1pm
Industry Seminar Talk Digital: “Social Networking in Games”
Panel: John Breslin – DERI, NUI Galway, founder of Boards.ie
Mark Taylor – Head of Content, Eircom.net
Jamie McCormick – Operations Manager Xbox Live Gaming Centre
Peter Lynch – CEO, Eirplay Games
Joe Drumgoole – CEO,Putplace.com
A representative from www.moli.com (TBC)
Chair: John Collins -The Irish Times
Limited availability. Register by emailing exhibit@thedigitalhub.com with “Talk Digital” as the subject heading
The Digital Hub in Dublin, is hosting GAME: ON, a Cyber Games Festival, from the 8th to the 15th of September and which includes the Irish Final of World Cyber Games.
For full listing of events see www.worldcybergamesireland.com/gameon.htm
For further details e-mail exhibit@thedigitalhub.com
This should be of interest to those interested in getting into the industry.
Aphra.
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Organizers have announced that the London Game Career Fair will take place again this October, following the inaugural event last year, which was attended by more than one thousand visitors.
The 2007 fair, which is hosted by websites Gamasutra.com and Gamesindustry.biz, will take place at London’s Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane, from October 23rd to 24th.
Entrance will be free for all attendees.
The event will be attended by games industry professionals, recent graduates and representatives from related industries such as film, computer graphics and animation, as well as those interested in joining the video game industry.
Exhibitor stands and speaker sessions are also planned – with publishers and developers including Electronic Arts, LucasArts, THQ, NCsoft, Rare, Evolution Studios and Team17 already confirmed as attending. Additional exhibitors, including colleges and universities, are expected to announce their participation in the event shortly.
A full schedule of speaker sessions will be announced shortly at the fair’s official website, and topics are intended to include programming, audio, art, production, design and quality assurance.
See http://www.gamecareerfair.com/
The Digital Hub in Dublin, is hosting GAME: ON, a Cyber Games Festival, from the 8th to the 15th of September and which includes the Irish Final of World Cyber Games.
Events include
– Monday the 10th at 1pm
Industry Seminar Talk Digital: “Social Networking in Games”
Panel: John Breslin – DERI, NUI Galway, founder of Boards.ie
Mark Taylor – Head of Content, Eircom.net
Jamie McCormick – Operations Manager Xbox Live Gaming Centre
Peter Lynch – CEO, Eirplay Games
Joe Drumgoole – CEO,Putplace.com
A representative from www.moli.com (TBC)
Chair: John Collins -The Irish Times
Limited availability. Register by emailing exhibit@thedigitalhub.com with “Talk Digital” as the subject heading
– Sat the 15th from 10am –
World Cyber Games Ireland – Final. Gamers from all over Ireland will meet in The Digital Hub to battle it out for an opportunity to represent Ireland in the Grand Final Seattle, USA.
For full listing of events see www.worldcybergamesireland.com/gameon.htm
For further details e-mail exhibit@thedigitalhub.com
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