First Tues – Ireland & Competitiveness

Event: FirstTuesday/Investnet will be hosting an evening to discuss Ireland Inc. – Are we losing our competitiveness?

Location: The Burlington Hotel, Upper Leeson Street, Dublin 4.

Time: Registration 6-6.30pm

Speakers:
Joe Macri, General Manager – Microsoft Ireland
Dan O’Brien, Senior Editor – Economist Intelligence Unit
Joe Browne, General Manager – Xerox
Denis Molumby, Manager International services / Software – IDA Ireland
Brendan Butler, Director – IBEC and ICT Ireland

Chairperson: Greag Purcell – Investnet

Admission: Euro 15

More info: events/eventsa.htmlwww.firsttuesday.ie/events/eventsa.html

Challenges For Ireland’S Mobile Sector

Event: Association for Licensed Telecom Operators in Ireland (ALTO) half day conference on Challenges facing Ireland’s Mobile Sector.

When: 19th May

Location: The Conrad Hotel, Dublin.

Speakers:

John Doherty, Commissioner with ComReg,
Paul McSweeney, Chairman of the Telecommunications Users Group,
Joe Steel, Commercial Director, Virgin Mobile,
Stewart Sherriff, CEO, Meteor,
Roger Wilson, Managing Director of the European Competitive Telecommunications Association. Minister Dermot Ahern will deliver the closing address at the conference.

Cost: €150 which includes breakfast.

More info: newsfull.asp?ID=25www.alto.ie/newsfull.asp?ID=25

Developments In Online Gaming – 2

It’s been a while in the making, but broadband seems to have finally made it to the digital hub of Europe for residential users and small companies. This opens up an array of opportunities for the consumer market as both Eircom and Esat BT hope that DSL will take off quickly. There has been a recent advertising push for consumer broadband, with Eircom’s residential iStream currently available, and Esat BT’s broadband home service launching through Ireland Online in the middle of May. It’s about time too, as Ireland may now have the chance to reclaim its position as a digital hub, a farcical statement to date given that most Irish people connecting to the net do so at under full-speed through under-performing dial-up connections.

Dreamcast’s brief appearance opened up the market for online gaming with Sega’s own Phantasy Star Online back in early 2001. This showed that even though it only allowed users to connect via standard connections, that an online console game can sell, and it did by the bucketload, as did Sega’s other online offering, Chu Chu Rocket. Since then things have grown up. The Xbox has a broadband adapter built in to support Xbox Live! This service is now available across much of Europe, with an Irish launch due in Winter 2002 given sufficient take-up of broadband in Ireland. The Playstation 2 also has room in its expansion bay for a hard drive/broadband modem but no details of the service being launched in Ireland were available at time of writing. Given recent developments in Japan, Gamecube also may be in there too, with high hopes from Nintendo that it can compete with the big boys as its own service launches in 2004, spearheaded by an updated Phantasy Star Online.

While Ireland is behind the times by about half a year in terms of broadband provision, this does allow some time for companies to consider future opportunities. One potential revenue generating services is to facilitate online gaming. Online gaming has taken off hugely among PC gamers, with first person strategy titles and MMORPG games leading the way with some subscription services boasting hundreds of thousands of users. The popularity of subscription titles such as the Electronic Arts Ultima Online series, as well as Sony’s hugely popular Everquest show that this subscription model can work for companies who get it right.

However, for every successful online subscription service, there are dozens of ventures that either don’t make it to the light of day or just fail miserably. Balancing the mix of variables is always going to be difficult, and one title that comes to mind is Planaterion. Back in 2000 the game boasted tens of thousands of users by offering them a real time empire building game. The fan base grew for the game, which, simple as it was, became as addictive as any Championship Manager (Sports Interactive) game could ever be. Their main stumbling block came when they decided well into the gameplay to start charging users to continue their game, and a combination of short-notice, an awkward payment plan for users and an inability to process those payments turned a lot of people off. They eventually got their act together offering payment services across many European countries as well as online credit card services, but their user base had dramatically fallen. Instead of having a steady income flow they have lost users to the level of hugely investing in a service that has failed to grow outside of its dedicated hardcore fanbase.

In the Irish market though, Kapooki games are currently working on Lorgaine: The Black Standard. This 3D strategy title is set in a fantasy Erin, allowing you choose one of two Celtic races and battle for domination of our green isle. Mixing combat, trading systems and resource management, the game looks impressive and is set for a 2004 release. It will also be largely online, and according to Michael Griffin (CEO) they hope to launch a subscription service. We hope to provide more information on the title as development progresses.

The value of the online gaming in Europe alone is expected to pass €1 billion by 2006 according to a BBC report this year. Microsoft’s only flaw in relation to their service is that consumers will require a credit card to access the service, which may rule out many younger consumers. However, as consumers become more and more accustomed to using and paying for services over the net, the opportunities for broadband content and services, especially games, grow. Looking forward there are plenty of ways for companies to get involved in this. For Eircom to get broadband up and running in Ireland, it needs to bring consumers on board who are willing to pay the high costs of installation and running a broadband service. However, companies may be able to get involved in the creation of Irish broadband gaming services that may in time become revenue generators. Esat BT through Ireland Online are also launching a service to compete with Eircom’s iStream service. On the face of it, it looks like it gives more value for money, at €5 a month cheaper, a cheaper installation fee and they provide the DSL modem, while Eircom insist that you either buy your own or pay an inflated amount for one of their modems.

Another often-overlooked source of income in relation to online gaming comes from mobile services. Now that mobiles are coming into their own with the picture phones and future 3G services, gaming will surely follow. People are perfectly willing to pay for and download games onto their phones. It whittles away boring time commuting in the morning and evening. Everyone has played Snake, but what about if they could play snake head to head against a completely anonymous user somewhere else in Ireland? Vodaphone are also currently running an advertising campaign for their WAP services which allows consumers to download ringtones and games via their WAP service.

3G phones will allow this to go even further, as their high speed connections, advanced technology and features may potentially allow you to play everything you could play on your PC on your way to work. In the UK, mobile technology firm Masabi has made a version of id Software’s classic shooter Doom for the Nokia 7650 handset. 3G potentially allows you to go further with this. Imagine being able to sit down on the bus and deathmatch over Unreal Tournament on your phone. Or on your way home to battle in a real time strategy game. The development of titles such as these is surely in the pipeline, and there is nothing to say that Irish companies cannot get involved ahead of the bandwagon and give people a reason to take up new technologies such as 3G and broadband. You never know, we might become that digital hub thing that we were so hyped up to be once again.

Author Bio: Jamie McCormick is the former editor of the Irish Games website IrishPlayer.com, as well as a freelance writer for a number of magazines and sites around the country. He is currently studying Marketing in Dublin Institute of Technology.

Developments In Online Gaming

It’s been a while in the making, but broadband seems to have finally made it to the digital hub of Europe for residential users and small companies. This opens up an array of opportunities for the consumer market as both Eircom and Esat BT hope that DSL will take off quickly. There has been a recent advertising push for consumer broadband, with Eircom’s residential iStream currently available, and Esat BT’s broadband home service launching through Ireland Online in the middle of May. It’s about time too, as Ireland may now have the chance to reclaim its position as a digital hub, a farcical statement to date given that most Irish people connecting to the net do so at under full-speed through under-performing dial-up connections.

Dreamcast’s brief appearance opened up the market for online gaming with Sega’s own Phantasy Star Online back in early 2001. This showed that even though it only allowed users to connect via standard connections, that an online console game can sell, and it did by the bucketload, as did Sega’s other online offering, Chu Chu Rocket. Since then things have grown up. The Xbox has a broadband adapter built in to support Xbox Live! This service is now available across much of Europe, with an Irish launch due in Winter 2002 given sufficient take-up of broadband in Ireland. The Playstation 2 also has room in its expansion bay for a hard drive/broadband modem but no details of the service being launched in Ireland were available at time of writing. Given recent developments in Japan, Gamecube also may be in there too, with high hopes from Nintendo that it can compete with the big boys as its own service launches in 2004, spearheaded by an updated Phantasy Star Online.

While Ireland is behind the times by about half a year in terms of broadband provision, this does allow some time for companies to consider future opportunities. One potential revenue generating services is to facilitate online gaming. Online gaming has taken off hugely among PC gamers, with first person strategy titles and MMORPG games leading the way with some subscription services boasting hundreds of thousands of users. The popularity of subscription titles such as the Electronic Arts Ultima Online series, as well as Sony’s hugely popular Everquest show that this subscription model can work for companies who get it right.

However, for every successful online subscription service, there are dozens of ventures that either don’t make it to the light of day or just fail miserably. Balancing the mix of variables is always going to be difficult, and one title that comes to mind is Planaterion. Back in 2000 the game boasted tens of thousands of users by offering them a real time empire building game. The fan base grew for the game, which, simple as it was, became as addictive as any Championship Manager (Sports Interactive) game could ever be. Their main stumbling block came when they decided well into the gameplay to start charging users to continue their game, and a combination of short-notice, an awkward payment plan for users and an inability to process those payments turned a lot of people off. They eventually got their act together offering payment services across many European countries as well as online credit card services, but their user base had dramatically fallen. Instead of having a steady income flow they have lost users to the level of hugely investing in a service that has failed to grow outside of its dedicated hardcore fanbase.

In the Irish market though, Kapooki games are currently working on Lorgaine: The Black Standard. This 3D strategy title is set in a fantasy Erin, allowing you choose one of two Celtic races and battle for domination of our green isle. Mixing combat, trading systems and resource management, the game looks impressive and is set for a 2004 release. It will also be largely online, and according to Michael Griffin (CEO) they hope to launch a subscription service. We hope to provide more information on the title as development progresses.

The value of the online gaming in Europe alone is expected to pass €1 billion by 2006 according to a BBC report this year. Microsoft’s only flaw in relation to their service is that consumers will require a credit card to access the service, which may rule out many younger consumers. However, as consumers become more and more accustomed to using and paying for services over the net, the opportunities for broadband content and services, especially games, grow. Looking forward there are plenty of ways for companies to get involved in this. For Eircom to get broadband up and running in Ireland, it needs to bring consumers on board who are willing to pay the high costs of installation and running a broadband service. However, companies may be able to get involved in the creation of Irish broadband gaming services that may in time become revenue generators. Esat BT through Ireland Online are also launching a service to compete with Eircom’s iStream service. On the face of it, it looks like it gives more value for money, at €5 a month cheaper, a cheaper installation fee and they provide the DSL modem, while Eircom insist that you either buy your own or pay an inflated amount for one of their modems.

Another often-overlooked source of income in relation to online gaming comes from mobile services. Now that mobiles are coming into their own with the picture phones and future 3G services, gaming will surely follow. People are perfectly willing to pay for and download games onto their phones. It whittles away boring time commuting in the morning and evening. Everyone has played Snake, but what about if they could play snake head to head against a completely anonymous user somewhere else in Ireland? Vodaphone are also currently running an advertising campaign for their WAP services which allows consumers to download ringtones and games via their WAP service.

3G phones will allow this to go even further, as their high speed connections, advanced technology and features may potentially allow you to play everything you could play on your PC on your way to work. In the UK, mobile technology firm Masabi has made a version of id Software’s classic shooter Doom for the Nokia 7650 handset. 3G potentially allows you to go further with this. Imagine being able to sit down on the bus and deathmatch over Unreal Tournament on your phone. Or on your way home to battle in a real time strategy game. The development of titles such as these is surely in the pipeline, and there is nothing to say that Irish companies cannot get involved ahead of the bandwagon and give people a reason to take up new technologies such as 3G and broadband. You never know, we might become that digital hub thing that we were so hyped up to be once again.

Author Bio: Jamie McCormick is the former editor of the Irish Games website IrishPlayer.com, as well as a freelance writer for a number of magazines and sites around the country. He is currently studying Marketing in Dublin Institute of Technology.

Launch Of N-Gage Challenge

Yesterday, April 29th, saw the launch of the N-GAGE challenge in Ireland, an innovative competition seeking the best game concepts for the latest generation of colour mobile phones.

If you are a budding designer then this is the competition for you. No expertise, experience or computer skills are necessary to enter the N-GAGE challenge – all they ask is that you are over 18.

Organised and managed by UPSTART games and supported by Nokia (Ireland) Ltd. and O2 Ireland information on entry forms can be obtained from www.upstartgames.com/challenge or by texting ‘reg’ followed by your email address to 51101.

A short list of 25 entries will be narrowed down to five finalists by a judging panel which includes people like David Jones of Real Time Worlds (creator of Lemmings, Grand Theft Auto), consultant Neil Jones-Cubley (formerly of Sony Psygnosis), Sebastian Clayton of Digtial:CC and Gavin Barrett of Nokia.

Prototypes of the five finalists will be developed in consultation with Digital:CC and made available via a competition website for public trial and voting. The eventual winner will be announced at an event in Oct. 2003.

And the prize? That should read prizes.

Well for the eventual winner an advance of €5,000 on eventual royalties of the game when published, a period of training at a Digital Hollywood facility in Toyko or LA, an internship in a games development company and an ‘original concept’ credit on the published game. The winning concept will be published globally by Upstart Games and distributed in Europe by 02 through the 02 Games Arcade service.

And if that wasn’t enough – all five finalists will receive an N-GAGE game deck and games.

Launch Of Gamedevelopers.ie

gamedevelopers.ie will be formally launched today, the 30th of April in the Guinness StoreHouse.

Dr. Steven Collins of Havok will be the guest speaker at the launch of gamedevelopers.ie today and Dr. Aphra Kerr of STeM, DCU will also speak.

The launch event starts at 7pm and the speeches will be followed by light refreshments and nibbles.

A mixture of industry, academics and policy makers are expected to attend and some are expected to move to a local drinking emporium after.

New Closing Date For N-Gage Challenge

Closing date has been extended to 14th of July. According to the organisers over 500 application packs have been sent out…

The N-GAGE challenge is a competition looking for the most original ideas for new games that can be played on the latest genderation of colour mobile phones including the Nokia 3510i, the 3650 and other models.

Organised and managed by UPSTART games and supported by Nokia (Ireland) Ltd. and O2 Ireland the closing date for entries is the 30th of June 2003.

More details and entry forms from challenge

www.upstartgames.com/challenge

Launch Of N-Gage Challenge – Pt.2

Yesterday, April 29th, saw the launch of the N-GAGE challenge in Ireland, an innovative competition seeking the best game concepts for the latest generation of colour mobile phones.

If you are a budding designer then this is the competition for you. No expertise, experience or computer skills are necessary to enter the N-GAGE challenge – all they ask is that you are over 18.

Organised and managed by UPSTART games and supported by Nokia (Ireland) Ltd. and O2 Ireland information on entry forms can be obtained from www.upstartgames.com/challenge or by texting ‘reg’ followed by your email address to 51101.

A short list of 25 entries will be narrowed down to five finalists by a judging panel which includes people like David Jones of Real Time Worlds (creator of Lemmings, Grand Theft Auto), consultant Neil Jones-Cubley (formerly of Sony Psygnosis), Sebastian Clayton of Digtial:CC and Gavin Barrett of Nokia.

Prototypes of the five finalists will be developed in consultation with Digital:CC and made available via a competition website for public trial and voting. The eventual winner will be announced at an event in Oct. 2003.

And the prize? That should read prizes.

Well for the eventual winner an advance of €5,000 on eventual royalties of the game when published, a period of training at a Digital Hollywood facility in Toyko or LA, an internship in a games development company and an ‘original concept’ credit on the published game. The winning concept will be published globally by Upstart Games and distributed in Europe by 02 through the 02 Games Arcade service.

And if that wasn’t enough – all five finalists will receive an N-GAGE game deck and games.

New Journal Of Game Development – 2

A call for submissions has been circulated for the JOURNAL OF GAME DEVELOPMENT which will have its first issue in December of 2003.

For researchers, academics and RnD departments of game companies this new journal looks like providing an interesting new space for the dissemination of research. The following information has been circulated on various mailing lists.

‘The Journal of Game Development (JOGD) is a newly created journal dedicated to the dissemination of leading-edge, original research, and underpinnings that detail the most recent findings in related academic disciplines, hardware, software, and technology that will directly affect the way games are conceived, developed, produced, and delivered. The research will come from both academia and industry. The editor-in chief is Michael van Lent , University of Southern California, Institute for Creative Technologies, and the founding editor is Mark Deloura, Developer Relations Manager for Sony Computer Entertainment.

Game related topics from the areas of physics, mathematics, artificial intelligence, graphics, networking, audio, simulation, robotics, visualization, and interactive entertainment will be considered. It is the goal of the journal to unite these cutting-edge ideas from industry with academic research in order to advance the field of game development and to further advance the acceptance of the study of game development by the academic community.

Topics to be covered include, but are not limited to:
Mathematics
Physics
Artificial Intelligence
Graphics, particularly as it relates to real-time developments
Networking
Audio
Simulation and Visualization
Robotics
Interactive Entertainment

The first issue is scheduled for publication in December 2003. All papers will be refereed according to the high standards of the Editorial Board and its referees. Authors will receive 5 free offprints of their published paper and will transfer copyright to the Publisher. There are no page charges for publication. Manuscripts should be prepared following the general guidelines for authors published in the journal. Full instructions can be found at www.jogd.com. Please include a covering letter stating that the submission is intended for the Journal of Game Development. Manuscripts should be submitted to the Publisher by July 15 2003, although authors are strongly encouraged to submit their work as soon as possible.’

For questions on the submission process, please contact Jenifer Niles jniles@charlesriver.com, or Michael van Lent vanlent@ict.usc.edu.

New Journal Of Game Development

A call for submissions has been circulated for the JOURNAL OF GAME DEVELOPMENT which will have its first issue in December of 2003.

For researchers, academics and RnD departments of game companies this new journal looks like providing an interesting new space for the dissemination of research. The following information has been circulated on various mailing lists.

‘The Journal of Game Development (JOGD) is a newly created journal dedicated to the dissemination of leading-edge, original research, and underpinnings that detail the most recent findings in related academic disciplines, hardware, software, and technology that will directly affect the way games are conceived, developed, produced, and delivered. The research will come from both academia and industry. The editor-in chief is Michael van Lent , University of Southern California, Institute for Creative Technologies, and the founding editor is Mark Deloura, Developer Relations Manager for Sony Computer Entertainment.

Game related topics from the areas of physics, mathematics, artificial intelligence, graphics, networking, audio, simulation, robotics, visualization, and interactive entertainment will be considered. It is the goal of the journal to unite these cutting-edge ideas from industry with academic research in order to advance the field of game development and to further advance the acceptance of the study of game development by the academic community.

Topics to be covered include, but are not limited to:
Mathematics
Physics
Artificial Intelligence
Graphics, particularly as it relates to real-time developments
Networking
Audio
Simulation and Visualization
Robotics
Interactive Entertainment

The first issue is scheduled for publication in December 2003. All papers will be refereed according to the high standards of the Editorial Board and its referees. Authors will receive 5 free offprints of their published paper and will transfer copyright to the Publisher. There are no page charges for publication. Manuscripts should be prepared following the general guidelines for authors published in the journal. Full instructions can be found at www.jogd.com. Please include a covering letter stating that the submission is intended for the Journal of Game Development. Manuscripts should be submitted to the Publisher by July 15 2003, although authors are strongly encouraged to submit their work as soon as possible.’

For questions on the submission process, please contact Jenifer Niles jniles@charlesriver.com, or Michael van Lent vanlent@ict.usc.edu.

Elspa Games Summit – 2

A two day games summit organised by ELSPA and supported by TIGA will take place on the 17th and 18th of June 2003 in London. Two workshops will be held on the previous day, the 16th of June.

On the 16th of June there will be two pre-conference half day workshops presented by representatives from Osborne Clarke, a pan-European law firm.

The morning workshop will deal with Negotiating Games Publishing Deals and the afternoon workshop will focus on Creating and Acquiring Rights for Computer Games. The morning workshop will deal more specifially with IPR in Computer Games, Publishing Deals and agreements. The afternoon workship will focus on agreements with talent, third party licences and music.

The two day summit consists of plenarys and parallel sessions. The first morning will see analysis of market trends, discussion of the challenges and opportunities faced by European developers and a presentation by Chris Deering, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, on future challenges for console platforms. These are followed in the afternoon by a session on new opportunities in terms of the mass market and a session on finance and risk management.

The second morning will open with a keynote by Peter Moore, Corporate VP of Retail Sales and Marketing for Microsoft, who will speak on the evolution of digital entertainment. This will be followed by a further analysis of market trends, a keynote on the changing retail environment, insights into handheld gaming with a representative from Nintendo and a roundtable on best practice in the industry. The afternoon sees a number of sesions on broadband, mobile games and license exploitation.

The event will take place in the Radisson SAS Portman Hotel in London.

More info: www.elspa.com/

Elspa Games Summit

A two day games summit organised by ELSPA and supported by TIGA will take place on the 17th and 18th of June 2003 in London. Two workshops will be held on the previous day, the 16th of June.

On the 16th of June there will be two pre-conference half day workshops presented by representatives from Osborne Clarke, a pan-European law firm.

The morning workshop will deal with Negotiating Games Publishing Deals and the afternoon workshop will focus on Creating and Acquiring Rights for Computer Games. The morning workshop will deal more specifially with IPR in Computer Games, Publishing Deals and agreements. The afternoon workship will focus on agreements with talent, third party licences and music.

The two day summit consists of plenarys and parallel sessions. The first morning will see analysis of market trends, discussion of the challenges and opportunities faced by European developers and a presentation by Chris Deering, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, on future challenges for console platforms. These are followed in the afternoon by a session on new opportunities in terms of the mass market and a session on finance and risk management.

The second morning will open with a keynote by Peter Moore, Corporate VP of Retail Sales and Marketing for Microsoft, who will speak on the evolution of digital entertainment. This will be followed by a further analysis of market trends, a keynote on the changing retail environment, insights into handheld gaming with a representative from Nintendo and a roundtable on best practice in the industry. The afternoon sees a number of sesions on broadband, mobile games and license exploitation.

The event will take place in the Radisson SAS Portman Hotel in London.

More info: www.elspa.com/

Launch Of Gamedevelopers.Ie Website

where: Guinness StoreHouse, St. James’s Gate, Dublin 8. The event will take place in the Learning Centre on the 4th floor. Someone will be present on the night to direct guests from the main entrance on the ground floor.

time: 7pm-8.30pm

Plan of events: Two guest speakers will briefly talk about the games industry and Ireland. The speakers will be announced on this website once arrangements are in place. This will be followed by light refreshments and nibbles.

Attendance is by invitation only and these were sent out towards the end of last week.

If you have not received an invitation and feel you should have please contact aphra.kerr@dcu.ie

Guests will be moving from the Storehouse to a local drinking emporium after.

Eirplaygames Sign Distrib. Deal

EirplayGames has signed a distribution agreement with Mobile Sheriff, an Irish based content aggregator.

EirplayGames is a Dublin based company who produce a range of entertainment content including Java and web games as well as musical applications.

They have signed a deal with mobilesheriff.com this month which will see Eirplay’s range of mobile games marketed and distributed to Irish and international mobile subscribers.

mobilesheriff.com is a portal run by Trust 5, an Irish based company which offers a range of automated and integrated mobile payment solutions, database and customer management systems and SMS based solutions. In 2001 they opened an office in Australia and they have representatives in South Africa, the UK, Turkey and the Middle East.

More info:
www.eirplaygames.com
mobilesheriff.com
www.trust5.com

Eirplaygames Sign Distrib. Deal – 2

EirplayGames has signed a distribution agreement with Mobile Sheriff, an Irish based content aggregator.

EirplayGames is a Dublin based company who produce a range of entertainment content including Java and web games as well as musical applications.

They have signed a deal with mobilesheriff.com this month which will see Eirplay’s range of mobile games marketed and distributed to Irish and international mobile subscribers.

mobilesheriff.com is a portal run by Trust 5, an Irish based company which offers a range of automated and integrated mobile payment solutions, database and customer management systems and SMS based solutions. In 2001 they opened an office in Australia and they have representatives in South Africa, the UK, Turkey and the Middle East.

More info:
www.eirplaygames.com
mobilesheriff.com
www.trust5.com

Business Ideas Seminar

The next Dublin City Enterprise Board one day Ideas Generation Seminar/Workshop will take place on the 26th of April.

Topics: Business Plan Preparation, Selecting a Business Idea, Marketing, Working for Yourself, Developing your Business.

Please contact Susanne Loughran to register. e-mail sloughran@dceb.ie
Tel: 6776068

The seminar/workshop is free.

More info on the Dublin City Enterprise Board www.dceb.ie/

Digra Call For Papers

The University of Utrecht, Faculty of Arts, Department of New Media and Digital Culture, is collaborating with DiGRA and numerous academic and other partners in the conference implementation. The conference will include keynote lectures, paper sessions, posters, symposia, workshops and other events.

The official website of the Digital Games Research Conference 2003 is now online at: http://www.gamesconference.org/

The deadline for the submission of abstracts is: 1 May 2003. Abstracts can be submitted by e-mail to: abstracts@gamesconference.org

Call for papers.
The conference will be the first official event of the new interdisciplinary association DiGRA, aiming to promote quality research of games, interdisciplinary collaboration in games research, design and development, and recognition of game studies as an academic field of enquiry. A wide range of approaches is encouraged focussing on research, design and development. They are aiming for a broad diversity of topics, such as:

[Computer Games]
On the history of games, game aesthetics (narrative, interactivity) and
game play (structure, time, multiplayer platforms).

[Design/production]
Concerned with the relationship between the designer/producer and the game (programming, project management).

[Reception]
Reception focuses on the individual player’s relationship to the computer game: the cognitive, social, psychological and therapeutic effects of games.

[Games as an aesthetic phenomenon]
On games as art, game-genres and storytelling. On the similarities and differences between computer games and other media

[Games as a cultural phenomenon]
How games are interpreted, their meaning and significance to the player, their contribution to an understanding of oneself, of relationships with others, and of one’s world (gender, ethnicity, nationality).

[Games as a social phenomenon]
Considers normative aspects of computer gaming and the effects of games on social behavior. Issues include the effects of computer games on (un)acceptable or (un)desirable behavior, such as aggression and addiction, and partcipation and education.

There are possibilities to present a paper or poster, give a workshop, organize a symposium or present a game concept/ demo.

[Papers]
Papers will be limited to 30 minutes, which includes time for questions and comments. Two or three paper presentations will be linked in one session, every session will have a chairperson.

[Posters]
Posters constist of a large print-out or cd-rom which shows a research project. These are being presented in the main hall and possibly during the Game Fair.

[Symposia]
Symposia will be limited to 1 hour and 45 minutes. With from two to four presentations on a common theme, followed by discussion.

[Workshops]
Workshops can be planned during 1-3 sessions of 1 hour and 45 minutes.
They should include instructional and working elements.

[Game concepts]
At a Game Fair, held during the conference, game designers/students and artists can present their artistic and/or educational work (games/demo’s or concepts).

Participants who would like to present a paper or poster, give a workshop or organize a symposium should submit an abstract in English. Participants who would like to present a game or demo during the Game Fair should submit the game and a short introduction in English. Abstracts have a 300 words maximum and should include a short biografy, email and postal address. We encourage participation by students.

Deadline for submitting abstracts: 1 May 2003. Abstracts can be submitted by e-mail to: abstracts@gamesconference.org

Your abstract or proposal will be reviewed by an international scientific committee for its suitability to the conference. The authors of the selected papers will be asked to write a full article to be published beforehand in the Conference Proceedings.

Registration for the Digital Games Research Conference 2003 will open at the end of May. Financial support may be available to participants for
whom registration fees and travel costs would present a hardship.

Contact/University of Utrecht:
info@gamesconference.org
Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Goldstein
Dr. Joost Raessens, Associate Professor
Drs. Marinka Copier

Contact/DiGRA:
Prof. Frans Mäyrä, President; frans.mayra@uta.fi
Dr. Jason Rutter, Vice-President; Jason.Rutter@man.ac.uk
Celia Peirce, Liaison Officer; celiap@uci.edu

Power Up

A two day seminar on computer Games Ideology and Play will take place on July 14th – 15th 2003 in Bristol UK. Abstracts (200 words) and RSVPs should be submitted by Fri 16 May – notification will be at the start of June.

You are asked to send expressions of interest if you wish to participate but not to formally present.

There will be approx 20 papers or presentations (of a 20 minute duration) over the two days. We anticipate an invited audience of 40 delegates, the event will be single strand ’round table’ with plenty of room for exchange and interaction.

The cost of the symposium will be £100.00, to include lunches and one evening meal, but excluding accommodation. Accommodation will be booked separately by delegates – notification of locations will follow confirmation of your place.

Contact: Helen Kennedy
Lecturer Cultural Studies
Extension 4331
Room No. 4CK21
Helen.Kennedy@uwe.ac.uk
"University of the West of England"

1St Annual Elspa Games Summit

ELSPA, the European Leisure Publishers Association, is holding a game summit on the 17th and 18th of June 2003 in London.

The focus of the event is on achieving continued aggressive growth, maximising market opportunities and assuring profitability in a maturing industry.

There is a discount of £100 for all bookings received by April 26th but the full price is quite steep for non ELSPA and TIGA members.

More info: serv/conf/summitProg.asp

serv/conf/summitProg.asp

Gdce 2003

Game Developers Conference Europe will be held in London 26-29 August 2003.

More info: http://www.gdc-europe.com/http://www.gdc-europe.com/

Ects 2003

European Consumer Technology Show is held in conjunction with GDCE in London from the 27-29th August 2003.

More info coming soon at:

Digra Inaugeral Conference

The inaugural world conference of the Digital Games Research Association
(DiGRA) will take place at the University of Utrecht, 4-6 November 2003
at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.

University of Utrecht, Faculty of Arts, Department of New Media and
Digital Culture, is collaborating with DiGRA and numerous academic and other partners in the conference implementation. The conference will include keynote lectures, paper sessions, posters, symposia, workshops and other events.

The official website of the Digital Games Research Conference 2003 is
now online at: http://www.gamesconference.org/.http://www.gamesconference.org/.

Deadline for adstracts it the 1st of May 2003.

E3 – Electronic Entertainment Exposition

E3 is a trade only event focused on electronic entertainment and especially digital games. It takes place in LA between the 13th and the 15th of May 2003.

More info: www.e3expo.com/

Digra Call For Papers – 2

The University of Utrecht, Faculty of Arts, Department of New Media and Digital Culture, is collaborating with DiGRA and numerous academic and other partners in the conference implementation. The conference will include keynote lectures, paper sessions, posters, symposia, workshops and other events.

The official website of the Digital Games Research Conference 2003 is now online at: http://www.gamesconference.org/

The deadline for the submission of abstracts is: 1 May 2003. Abstracts can be submitted by e-mail to: abstracts@gamesconference.org

Call for papers.
The conference will be the first official event of the new interdisciplinary association DiGRA, aiming to promote quality research of games, interdisciplinary collaboration in games research, design and development, and recognition of game studies as an academic field of enquiry. A wide range of approaches is encouraged focussing on research, design and development. They are aiming for a broad diversity of topics, such as:

[Computer Games]
On the history of games, game aesthetics (narrative, interactivity) and
game play (structure, time, multiplayer platforms).

[Design/production]
Concerned with the relationship between the designer/producer and the game (programming, project management).

[Reception]
Reception focuses on the individual player’s relationship to the computer game: the cognitive, social, psychological and therapeutic effects of games.

[Games as an aesthetic phenomenon]
On games as art, game-genres and storytelling. On the similarities and differences between computer games and other media

[Games as a cultural phenomenon]
How games are interpreted, their meaning and significance to the player, their contribution to an understanding of oneself, of relationships with others, and of one’s world (gender, ethnicity, nationality).

[Games as a social phenomenon]
Considers normative aspects of computer gaming and the effects of games on social behavior. Issues include the effects of computer games on (un)acceptable or (un)desirable behavior, such as aggression and addiction, and partcipation and education.

There are possibilities to present a paper or poster, give a workshop, organize a symposium or present a game concept/ demo.

[Papers]
Papers will be limited to 30 minutes, which includes time for questions and comments. Two or three paper presentations will be linked in one session, every session will have a chairperson.

[Posters]
Posters constist of a large print-out or cd-rom which shows a research project. These are being presented in the main hall and possibly during the Game Fair.

[Symposia]
Symposia will be limited to 1 hour and 45 minutes. With from two to four presentations on a common theme, followed by discussion.

[Workshops]
Workshops can be planned during 1-3 sessions of 1 hour and 45 minutes.
They should include instructional and working elements.

[Game concepts]
At a Game Fair, held during the conference, game designers/students and artists can present their artistic and/or educational work (games/demo’s or concepts).

Participants who would like to present a paper or poster, give a workshop or organize a symposium should submit an abstract in English. Participants who would like to present a game or demo during the Game Fair should submit the game and a short introduction in English. Abstracts have a 300 words maximum and should include a short biografy, email and postal address. We encourage participation by students.

Deadline for submitting abstracts: 1 May 2003. Abstracts can be submitted by e-mail to: abstracts@gamesconference.org

Your abstract or proposal will be reviewed by an international scientific committee for its suitability to the conference. The authors of the selected papers will be asked to write a full article to be published beforehand in the Conference Proceedings.

Registration for the Digital Games Research Conference 2003 will open at the end of May. Financial support may be available to participants for
whom registration fees and travel costs would present a hardship.

Contact/University of Utrecht:
info@gamesconference.org
Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Goldstein
Dr. Joost Raessens, Associate Professor
Drs. Marinka Copier

Contact/DiGRA:
Prof. Frans Mäyrä, President; frans.mayra@uta.fi
Dr. Jason Rutter, Vice-President; Jason.Rutter@man.ac.uk
Celia Peirce, Liaison Officer; celiap@uci.edu

Want To Speak At Gdce 2003?

The Game Developers Conference Europe 2003 has circulated a call for session and speaker proposals for its next conference, 26-29th August in
London, UK.

The third year of this European version of GDC brings game developers together to share knowledge about game development.

If you have knowledge to share and want to speak you only have 4 weeks to send in your session proposal before the April 25th, 2003 deadline.

Talks should fall under one of the following topics: Visual Arts, Programming, Production, Level Design, Game Design, Business and Legal, Audio.

To submit a speaking proposal, please visit:
http://www.gdc-europe.com/abstract

Or contact Susan Marshall, Program Manager: smarshall@cmp.com

Registration for this conference opens in May.

Competition For Mobile Developers

As part of its strategy to build relationships with game developers Nokia announced two initiatives at its developer day last Thurs, the 27th of March 2003 in the Guinness Store House.

The first will see the company launch a mobile game development competition in April in association with an Irish company, UpStart Games. This competition will encourage Irish individuals to develop a game for Nokia series 30, 40 and 60 mobile phones and java versions of the game for other phones. The winner of the competition will get a cash advance to commercially produce their game and an internship at a digital media training facility abroad. The initiative is designed to encourage more Irish people to develop mobile games.

The second was their investment in the development of gamedevelopers.ie. All delegates at the one day event received a flier about the launch of this new website and Gavin Barrett, Business Development Manager with Nokia in Ireland, spoke about his hopes for the site.

The rest of the day saw a number of speakers discuss developing content for mobile phones using Java and X-html. Nokia also introduced their new range of mobile phones including the N-Gage games phone, the Nokia 3300 which plays MP3s and has a built in FM radio and the 3650, a new camera phone.

More info:
http://www.forum.nokia.com/main.html

Competition For Mobile Developers – 2

As part of its strategy to build relationships with game developers Nokia announced two initiatives at its developer day last Thurs, the 27th of March 2003 in the Guinness StoreHouse.

The first will see the company launch a mobile game development competition in April in association with an Irish company, UpStart Games. This competition will encourage Irish individuals to develop a game for Nokia series 30, 40 and 60 mobile phones and java versions of the game for other phones. The winner of the competition will get a cash advance to commercially produce their game and an internship at a digital media training facility abroad. The initiative is designed to encourage more Irish people to develop mobile games.

The second was their investment in the development of gamedevelopers.ie. All delegates at the one day event received a flier about the launch of this new website and Gavin Barrett, Business Development Manager with Nokia in Ireland, spoke about his hopes for the site.

The rest of the day saw a number of speakers discuss developing content for mobile phones using Java and X-html. Nokia also introduced their new range of mobile phones including the N-Gage games phone, the Nokia 3300 which plays MP3s and has a built in FM radio and the 3650, a new camera phone.

More info:
http://www.forum.nokia.com/main.html

New Computer Games Design Course – 2

For over five years now Ballyfermot Senior College of Further Education (BCFE) has pioneered the way in terms of post-leaving certificate training in games design in Ireland. Their one year Training in Computer Games and Interactive Entertainment Development Certificate offered twenty students a year an introduction to the process of designing and developing computer games. Now in 2003 they are set to offer a new two-year higher national diploma in Computer Games Design which will take in 20 students a year.

The new course will offer modules in 3D modelling using 3DSMax, C++ programming, sound design, game analysis and business theory. The course was designed in collaboration with Torc Interactive, a games company from Derry in Northern Ireland, and this relationship will allow students to use Torc’s advanced game engine in their project work.

Graduates are encouraged to go on to further education or go into industry and later set up their own company, according to Diarmuid O’Brien, Deputy Principal of BCFE.

Entry requirements for the course are 2 honours in the Leaving Certificate and an interview – a good standard of mathematics is also recommended.

For those who are most interested in the animation side of computer games design they might take a look at Ballyfermot’s Higher National Diploma in Animation and 3D Modelling or Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology’s BA degree in Animation.

More info on all these courses can be found in the Resources section of this website under Courses and at http:///www.bcfe.ie/animult/animat.html

New Computer Games Design Course

For over five years now Ballyfermot Senior College of Further Education (BCFE) has pioneered the way in terms of post-leaving certificate training in games design in Ireland. Their one year Training in Computer Games and Interactive Entertainment Development Certificate offered twenty students a year an introduction to the process of designing and developing computer games. Now in 2003 they are set to offer a new two-year higher national diploma in Computer Games Design which will take in 20 students a year.

The new course will offer modules in 3D modelling using 3DSMax, C++ programming, sound design, game analysis and business theory. The course was designed in collaboration with Torc Interactive, a games company from Derry in Northern Ireland, and this relationship will allow students to use Torc’s advanced game engine in their project work.

Graduates are encouraged to go on to further education or go into industry and later set up their own company, according to Diarmuid O’Brien, Deputy Principal of BCFE.

Entry requirements for the course are 2 honours in the Leaving Certificate and an interview – a good standard of mathematics is also recommended.

For those who are most interested in the animation side of computer games design they might take a look at Ballyfermot’s Higher National Diploma in Animation and 3D Modelling or Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology’s BA degree in Animation.

More info on all these courses can be found in the Resources section of this website under Courses and at http:///www.bcfe.ie/animult/animat.html

Successful Online Selling

Venue: Clarion Hotel, Custom House Quay, Dublin 1

Time: 5.30pm registration, 6pm start (Tea, Coffee & Sandwiches served
during the registrations)

Cost: IIA members EUR10, Non members EUR25

An event run by the Irish Internet Association the speakers are Mike Parkinson, World Pay who will speak on ‘Internet Payments Explained’ and Sean Ryan, Elive who will talk about ‘Ecommerce – Development and Integration’.

Event Chair: Irene Gahan, IIA CEO

To Register: email mailto:events@iia.ie with “Successful Online Selling Event” in subject field. Booking in advance is required.

 

O2 Digital Media Conference

Venue: O’Reilly Hall, University College Dublin.

A one day event focussing on trends in the digital media industry. The two morning sessions will see presentations from a number of government representatives, civil servants and industry speakers including Etain Doyle, chair of COMREG, Martin Cronin, CEO of Forfas and Philip Flynn, CEO of the Digital Hub.

There are three sessions in the afternoon: Content and Creative, Telecomms and Infrastructure, Finance and Industry.

More info: o2dmc.htmlwww.digitalmediaintelligence.com/o2dmc.html

Interactive TV – “Revenues & Futures”

Venue: Guinness Storehouse

This one day conference is divided into four sessions, of which the third may be of particular interest to gamedevelopers.ie

There are two morning sessions on SMS and TV Programming
1) MS TV business models – ‘direct revenues and indirect benefits’.
2) SMS TV Showcase – ‘Case Studies that Prove the Model’

The third session may be of particular interest
3) Digital/Interactive Television – including games

The fourth session is on
4) Advertising Issues for Interactive Television

More info: newtv_programme2.htmlwww.digitalmediaintelligence.com/newtv_programme2.html

Megalan

Venue: RDS, Donnybrook, Dublin.

Dates: 19th- 21st of April

Cost: €60 per P.C. €10 spectators pass

While they have them all the time in other countries we don’t seem to have had too many large LAN events here in Ireland. That is set to change as on Easter weekend the first MegaLAN will be hosted in the RDS. There will be 150 gaming slots and people BYOC (Bring your own computer) to connect to the 100mbs, switched network.

 

National Diploma In Computing (Multimedia) At IADT

Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology is one of many third level institutions in Ireland to have embraced the emerging discipline of multimedia. The National Diploma in Computing at Dun Laoghaire is a three year computing course during which students specialise in multimedia production.

Modules of relevance to games developers include Multimedia Authoring and Multimedia Communications. A lot of programming in Action Script and Lingo is covered, indicating a strong emphasis on the web as the interactive medium. Maths is studied as a tool for conceptualization and 3D modelling.

3D Studio Max, Director and Flash are the three major pieces of authorware available to students and taught on the course. Students who take the 1 year add-on B.Sc. course cover OpenGL – the graphics programming language behind many windows games. There are no optional modules on the course.

We spoke to Rupert Westrup at Dun Laoghaire who, while unable to say if any graduates have gone to work in games development, did say that many of the final projects submitted by students are shockwave or flash games. Of these various examples include flight sims, driving games, first person shooters and multi-user network games. Some students have also applied their programming skills to visualizations, for example simulating the movement of a flock of birds

The courses have had some input from the staff at Havok in the form of guest lectures and consultation with students but industry links are sparse.

Overall, the computing courses at Dun Laoghaire provide a good basis for an aspiring web developer and many of the programming concepts which could be applied to gaming.

Essentials:
Location: Kill Avenue, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, Ireland
Course: Diploma In Computing (Multimedia) + 1 year B.Sc.
Duration: 3 + 1 years
Course Strengths:
Provides students with the skills needed to program games for the web as well as core programming skills transferable to other media. A good all-round course with design and business content also.

Course weaknesses:
There are no major games industry links. The course does not produce games, rather multimedia programmers, who could transfer their skils to the games market.
www.iadt-dl.ie/prospectus.pdf

Profit & Entrepreneurship

Research and Education Coupled with Entrepreneurship – ‘Generating profit from your internal entrepreneurship’

Dates: 31st of March and 1st of April

Henley-Incubator in partnership with Enterprise Ireland are organising two days of presentations on innovation and entrepreneurship.

The key speakers will present on their experiences of generating entrepreneurial spirit in their organisations and spinning out valuable ventures.

On Tues the 1st of April you will also visit MediaLab Europe to see the latest technologies and where they may impact your business.

Venue: Dublin
Monday 31 March – Guinness Storehouse Learning Centre
Tuesday 1 April – MIT MediaLab

This is a FREE event for members of the H-I Network and Guests (www.extrapreneur.com)

Please contact to reserve one of the limited places.
Marjorie Sanders Tel +44 (0) 1491 418758 marjorie@henley-incubator.com
Jacqueline Foley Tel + 353 (1) 609 2120 Jacqueline.Foley@enterprise-ireland.com

Further info

www.medialabeurope.com

Causing Havok At GDC

Havok set out to GDC 2003 with fiddles, bodhrans and a physics SDK called Havok 2 and won over the hearts and minds of AAA title developers everywhere. Rag doll physics was declared to be the trend of the future and it was heard said that no successful sequel title could be made without help from the Havok boys and girls.

No motion capture houses were in attendance this year, they were replaced by a slew of MMORPG middleware suppliers, our favourite being the ‘Phorest’ Guys from Dublin, who have developeered (sic) a revolutionary peer to peer networking solution for online gaming and have Korea firmly in their sights for a start.

Along with the disappearance of the motion capture studios went the booth babes with nary a one in sight for the first time in living memory, a sure sign of a maturing industry even though part of me missed their flighty ways and in-depth product knowledge.

Nvidia blew the show away with their pixie reel and brought us closer to a cinematic experience than ever before. Vertex shaders have never looked so good.

Sony came off the fence and endorsed middleware as the only viable way to build the games of the future as costs were rising so fast and hardware was becoming so complex. David Lau-Kee, CEO of Renderware was ecstatic at the news and ran around the whole show telling anyone who would listen, with a grin on his face like a skipping rope between his ears, Havok CEO Hugh Reynolds received the news calmly and with a steely reserve, from great distances games developers came and gathered at his feet to hear the good news about how middleware could save them.

Rendering Giant NDL re-launched Netimmerse as Gamebryo and as soon as Herman Kaiser left, they hired some very cute and immensely tall Amazon women who said they were from North Carolina but we’re not so sure.

Remi Arnaud (ex of Intrinsic) is now working on the architecture team for the PS3 at Sony and didn’t seem to mind the gentle ribbing when Ireland kicked Frances’ arse on Saturday morning in the six nations. Steve Glietzman and the rest of the Intrinsic boys were pretty quiet but milling around, unfortunately someone got into their meeting room (off the show floor) and robbed $30K worth of stuff including a clear/see-through XBox dev Kit, a PS2 Dev Tool and a super dooper laptop. Someone forgot to lock the door!

The Lord Mayor, Dermot Lacey dropped by the stand as GDC coincided with Irish week this year (little known fact, San Jose is twinned with Dublin). He was joined by a group of councillors, the city manager John Fitzgerald and the new head of the Digital Hub, Philip Flynn. Later that night, Phil Flynn managed to sneak a few of us in to the Black tie Spirit of Ireland awards in the Fairmont hotel to meet the Tanaiste. Now there’s a guy that understands the idea of a good piss-up, the Digital Hub couldn’t be in safer hands.

With no major console releases, the main news was generated in the sessions and Warren Spector delighted us all with tales of Deus Ex 2, especially physics integrated with sound effects and rag doll death scenes (courtesy of Havok).

Microsoft had no booth, just a large meeting space and put their money into their party nights, Drew Angel (off) came thorough with more invites for Havok than anywhere else and we didn’t let him down by wrecking the joint again, it sadly ended in tragedy when Malachy Duffin was last seen being attended to by two nurses.

Sony spent money on the booth and had no party but Brett and Guy from Sony Developer Relations tell me this will be rectified next year and anyway, isn’t the E3 party impressive enough.

The mobile prequel/add-on this year was well attended and Nokia pulled out all the stops for the launch of N-Gage to a cynical game market, opinion among journalists was divided, from the Sim card games are too awkward to change, buttons too small to the more positive viewpoint that Nokia will teach us how to appeal to a mainstream market with 15 minute chunks of time to play, not 40 hours to get to level 16. Overall though, it wasn’t seen to compete head on with GBA, it’s more aimed at bored commuting adults.

Which leads to our party, the sessions in the Fairmont most nights was only a warm –up for the best Havok party ever. Thanks to the fine bevy of musicians who gave of their time and fingers but didn’t spill a drop, Katie Blooms is now synonymous with Havok debauchery and is pound for pound or dollar for dollar the best attended, premium event of the show, it’s so underground, you can’t get in the door without two top ten games under your belt or you have to own a console manufacturer. Dueling fiddles on the tables of the Fairmont rounded off a great evening/morning and the CTO will eventually learn to read a 24-hour clock and make his plane, still a tradition is a tradition and Dr. Collins spent the day afterwards bartering chickens to get on a later Aeroflot flight to Shannon.

More info:

www.havok.com/&

www.gdconf.com/

ICT Conference

Date: 1st, 2nd and 3rd April 2003
Venue: RDS, Dublin 4

ICT Expo is the main ICT conference held annually in Ireland.

Visitors can enjoy a free visitor seminar programme, the Evolve Heads of Industry Conference, the ICS Skills IT Training Conference, the Irish Internet Association Innovators Pavilion, the ICT Excellence Awards and a host of exhibits.

For more information visit

www.ictexpo.ie

Loading … Gamedevelopers.ie

On the 31th of March 2003 a new website aimed at games developers in Ireland, gamedevelopers.ie, will go live.

Developed by STeM, in association with Nokia and O2, the site will provide information on setting up a games company in Ireland, relevant education and training courses on games and technical and social research being conducted in academia.

The site will promote networking and communication through a skills database, a jobs and gallery section and online forums. It will also provide regular news updates and comprehensive feature articles on news of relevance to the industry in Ireland.

Based on a three-year project on games being conducted and managed by Dr. Aphra Kerr and supported by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences and STeM in DCU, the site was developed by two multimedia students from DCU Paul May and John Lynch.

STeM is a research centre based in the School of Communications at DCU whose members study social aspects of digital media.

Further information from Aphra Kerr at 01-700 5672

Loading … Gamedevelopers.ie.. Pt. 2

On the 31th of March 2003 a new website aimed at games developers in Ireland, gamedevelopers.ie, will go live.

Developed by STeM, in association with Nokia and O2, the site will provide information on setting up a games company in Ireland, relevant education and training courses on games and technical and social research being conducted in academia.

The site will promote networking and communication through a skills database, a jobs and gallery section and online forums. It will also provide regular news updates and comprehensive feature articles on news of relevance to the industry in Ireland.

Based on a three-year project on games being conducted and managed by Dr. Aphra Kerr and supported by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences and STeM in DCU, the site was developed by two multimedia students from DCU Paul May and John Lynch.

STeM is a research centre based in the School of Communications at DCU whose members study social aspects of digital media.

Further information from Aphra Kerr at 01-700 5672

Nokia Developer Day

Venue: Guinness Store House

The 2nd Irish Nokia developers conference is said to build on a similar event last December and will look at key developments in the mobile arena. Based on feedback from developers the focus of this event will be to examine the commercial and development opportunities in three key areas – Java, Games and X-HTML.

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