So November, Friday the 16th is shaping up to be quite a busy day so here is a heads up.

1) We are going to do a press release and a feature on gd.ie based on the survey we have been badgering you all about for the past few months. So yes, finally the findings.

2) We are considering hosting a workshop or two on some of the business related issues that have come up at the last few indie meets. The Digital Skills Academy in the Digital Hub have agreed to host us. Jamiemc will post a poll on the forums to see what is most of interest.

3) The GAME exhibition in the Science Gallery is opening that day and they have agreed to give us (gd.ie folks) a guided tour at 7pm on Friday the 16th! It is free but this way you get to visit with gd.ie folks.

4) We have reserved space in the Lombard, across the street from the Science Gallery, to have a shindig and meet and greet after the tour. For those who can’t make the tour just turn up in the Lombard. Details in the calendar. No agenda this time, just meet and greet.

A lot more detail to come.

This press information was sent to us recently and we always like to help fellow Irish groups with a volunteer element. This is mostly aimed at organising online game tournaments and a proportion of the advertising revenue will go to charity.

A.

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Irelands first volunteer online gaming company is now setting up an Online Gaming Portal at www.n00bgaming.com to aid in the development of online gaming in Ireland.

As a non-profit company, www.n00bgaming.com will not be looking at how much money to take from gamers. In fact, we will not be profiting directly from gamers in any way. In addition to this 10% of advertisements on the site will be going directly into charities such as www.gamesaid.org and other charities around the world.

Starting with an online tournament in Starcraft 2, n00b gaming will focus its build over the next few months by establishing itself in the gaming community as THE online site for gaming tournaments.

The site itself will be hosted at www.n00bgaming.com and will begin with a 64 player Starcraft 2 tournament with a prize pool of €320 up for grabs.

The full site will be launched within the next couple of weeks and will contain other gaming information such as:

● Games news
● Gaming Trailers
● Upcoming Events
● Gaming Resources
● Forums
● And much more…

Be ready to play like a Pr0 and register now to compete in the event on launch day from the comfort of your own home.

Advance through the tournament to see your games broadcast live and recorded on YouTube! Be in with a chance to compete against the StarCraft 2 Pr0s and measure your skills in the European Leaderboard that will be launched soon.

Play like a Pr0 at n00bgaming.com

Ahead of the launch of the Irish Computer Games Survey 2012 this coming November, we would like to have as accurate figures as possible. We have results from over 70 companies from our February report, but during the intervening six months there have been a couple of companies who have laid off staff or shut down, but also a decent number of new games companies setting up, taking on additional staff (whether full or part time, or interns), or switching from part-time projects to full-time projects.

This survey is being run for GameDevelopers.ie to enable everyone inside and outside of the industry to have an up-to-date view of the computer games industry here in Ireland in 2012.

It’s objectives are to identify the size, scale, spread and makeup of the industry that exists on the island of Ireland today.

Overall job breakdowns by county will not be released, as the regional form allows some anonymity, and only companies who specify they want to be identified will be named in the rollcall.

Please participate in the October report before 31st October 2012 via http://tinyurl.com/irishgamessurveyoct12

We are also running an expatriate survey and are requesting that Irish people working in the games industry who are now abroad participate at http://tinyurl.com/irishexpatgamessurvey2012.

This will be an ongoing survey into 2013, and with this we hope to identify why people left Ireland, would they ever come back, and what skills they have now, to cross reference against the ICGS and identify areas where skills can be developed. It’s also an opportunity for the games diaspora to check in, no matter how long ago it’s been.

Finally, any companies that would like to register for the report’s launch in Dublin in mid-November, participate in a short show-and-tell of your game that you’ve released since 2011 at the same event as the launch of the report, please PM jamiemc via the forums here on gd.ie.

Dublin GameCraft is a game-jam held in the city centre. What that means is that around one-hundred game developers (designers, writers, coders, artists, sound engineers and so on) come together in teams or as lone-wolves and try to make a game from scratch in twelve hours.

At the start of the day the judges announce a theme and then you’re let loose to make the most fun game you can think of based on that. Use any technology, any equipment and any number of people you want to squeeze onto your team; essentially do whatever it takes to turn that theme into a fun game inside of your twelve hours!

When is it?
The next GameCraft is being held on Saturday the 17th November from 9am to, well, to the end of the day (twelve hours of developing, followed by some mingle and judging time).

Where is it?
November’s gathering is kindly being hosted by the folks at http://www.engineyard.com/

How do I find out more?
The internet! Come find us at http://dublingamecraft.com/, like us at https://www.facebook.com/dublingamecraft or follow us over at https://twitter.com/DublinGameCraft

How much does it cost?
Nothing! Thanks to our kind sponsors, such as Digit Gaming, Microsoft, BatCat Games and BitSmith –Games, all you have to do is register (which you can do from the website) and bring along whatever gear you want to use on the day (laptop, desktop, whatever).

Why come along?
Well, you’ll get an intensive day of experience. You may even get a game out of it. You’ll be surrounded by folks from the industry (organisers, judges and other participants) with whom you can network. Heck, two companies formed because of last Gamecraft; you could be next! Also, while the judges judge you can mingle and show off your day’s work. And of course, prizes!