A funding seminar, entitled Funding for Video Games, will be held in Galway on 9 January 2019 from 9:30am – 11:30am at Cluian Mhuire, Wellpark Road. The goal of this seminar is to provide information to prospective funding applicants for the WRAP Fund (Western Regional AudioVisual Production Fund). The seminar is free but requires registration. To register for the event, please go to https://is.gd/vidgames.
Animation Skillnet is seeking applicants for its new pilot Animation Studio Lab programme.
The Animation Studio Lab aims to develop the specialist skill set of graduates by teaming them up with an up-and-coming animation director to produce a short film.
Applicants can nominate one of four specialist areas within Animation production when applying.
Successful participants will receive specialist training in their chosen area and they will be guided through a real world animation production scenario. Participants will work as part of a production team to deliver the short film.
The Animation Studio Lab is not attached to any studio and is designed to deliver specialist training in a real world environment.
The programme will run for 8-12 weeks, Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm.
For more information on the programme and for instructions on how to apply, please see http://animationskillnet.ie/14-01-19-animation-studio-lab-call-for-applications/.
Deadline for applications: Monday 7th January 2019.
Interviews in early January with Final Selection on Friday 11th January 2019.
Animation Skillnet (http://animationskillnet.ie/) is seeking applicants for two position openings.
Click the links below to read more about each position.
Interested applicants should follow the instructions in the related link to apply.
Applications for both positions close on 9 January 2019.
Posted Dec, 2018.
Christmas is prime time for nostalgic memories to warm the hearts of the world-weary adults of Ireland; and little would bring more excitement on Christmas morning than opening the sitting room door to see that Santa, the legend, had left the newest games console under the tree.
With games consoles becoming ever-more advanced, and pre-loaded retro consoles making a comeback, DID Electrical asked 2,000 adults of Ireland to think back to simpler times of eating Coco Pops in their dressing gown on Christmas morning, and vote for their favourite consoles that Santa delivered.
In resounding first place was the PlayStation 1, with 30.7% of the votes. Those opening a PlayStation in the year of its release, 1995, would have spent Christmas morning fighting with their siblings over goes of games like Rayman, FIFA 96, Road Rash, Tekken and Mortal Combat 3; though in later years of course Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft would have made an appearance in the stocking, as well as Crash Bandicoot and even PaRappa the Rapper!
Next up was the Nintendo NES with 18.8% of the votes. Released in 1986, the now-seasoned-gamers, sitting comfortably in the 35+ age bracket, who were playing this on Christmas morning were undoubtedly squashing bad guys in Super Mario Bros.
However, the console claiming the top spot in the hearts of those in the 35-45 age bracket, and coming third overall with 16.1% of votes, was the Sega Megadrive. Everyone will remember the Sega Megadrive for the iconic Sonic the Hedgehog games, blazing the sound of clanging gold rings through the living room.
Next up was the original Xbox in fourth place with 12.5% of the votes. Some of the original games for the Xbox that would spark Christmas morning memories include Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, Halo: Combat Evolved, Tony Hawke Pro Skater 3 and Max Payne.
Following just behind the Xbox, with 12.3% of the votes was the Super Nintendo ‘SNES’, with a long line of absolutely classic family fun games like Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, Street Fighter II Turbo, Donkey Kong Country, Super Metroid, Final Fantasy and Zelda.
Rounding up Ireland’s favourite games consoles of the 80s to 00s era is the Nintendo 64 with 8.8% of votes. The Nintendo 64 came out with a whole host of classic games with a ‘64’ twist, including Super Mario 64, FIFA 64, Bomberman 64, Duke Nukem 64, Doom 64 and Madden 64 to name a few!
A special mention goes out to the Atari and the Commodore 64, which did get some write-in votes and clearly hold a special place in some hearts, but all-in-all didn’t hold a flame to the more advanced consoles from the era.
While the above represents the votes overall, outside of Dublin the Nintendo SNES was a firm favourite, taking the number one spot in the hearts of grown-ups in Meath, Clare, Limerick and Sligo; while the Super Nintendo (SNES) claimed the #1 spot in Wicklow and Waterford.
And though the PlayStation was the clear number one for both genders, female gamers voted the Nintendo NES at #2, while more men voted for the Sega Megadrive in the second spot.
Of course, handheld gaming devices can’t be left out of the equation! To no surprise, the original Gameboy topped the list overall, but the Nintendo DS was the handheld console that resonated most with the younger generation of adults in the 18-24 age bracket.
GamerFest is returning to Limerick on 2-3 March 2019. This year’s event will include a Fortnite Competition, interviews with some of your favourite Irish Youtubers, 1v1 Gaming challenges, Cosplay competitions, and so much more! The event will be held at Thomand Park. Tickets are on sale now and range in price from €16.60 – €85.50. Book yours now!
For more information on the event: http://gamerfest.ie/
To purchase tickets: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/gamerfest-limerick-tickets-52911428507
“Once upon a time in the DUUG” took place at the Talent Gardens having no one else but James Brady speaking. For the ones who haven’t heard of him, James is a 3D artist with 4 years experience working on AAA games and large indie projects. You can find out more about himself and his work on this article (https://gamedevelopers.ie/my-pathway-to-being-a-3d-artist-in-games-james-brady/)
Quickly introducing, James has worked at Rockstar Games on the latest release Red Dead Redemption 2, along with the wildly popular multiplayer game Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds. James has also made art for Hitman 2, Halo, Firewall Zero Hour, The Forest, NotMyCar, Insurgency Sandstorm, the sequel to New World Interactive’s classic title ‘Insurgency’ and many more…
The talk was great and run smoothly, the attendees were bombarding Brady with great questions during a Q&A. It’s totally what can be expected from having an incredible and experienced artist in right front of you and willing to answer the most of your questions. What excites me the most from Brady is knowing how much opened for questions and conversations he is and now that he is back home because he wants to help the local industry gives us a great opportunity to be in contact with a great professional.
DUUG #21 happened for the first time at the Talent Garden Dublin, an innovative coworking, events and learning space in Glasnevin. The campus hosts 350 members, offering flexible workspaces, digital skills training and hundreds of events every year. With 23 campuses across 8 countries, Talent Garden also provides its members with access to a unique international network of tech professionals. The structure and staff got me very impressed and confident about further events to be hosted there.
To find out more about Brady’s work, check out his website: bradyart.xyz”
To learn more about the Dublin Unity User Group (DUUG), check out their website: http://duug.github.io/
Author bio: Jairo Lopes is CEO at Nocht Communications, a company based in Dublin and focused on Public Relations and Business Development in the game industry.
