IGDA Finland Xmas Party - 12th December 2006

Fellow Finnish Game Developers! IGDA Finland December Gathering - Christmas Party SPONSORED BY AMD, NINTENDO SUOMI / AMO & SAMSUNG Place: System Rock, Keskuskatu 4, 00100 Helsinki (map: http://igda.fi/?page_id=5) Time: Tuesday 12th December, doors open at 19.00

The year is drawing to a close and it is time to gather once more before we all head for well deserved Christmas holidays. After the phenomenal success of our November Gathering it is now time to end the year on an even higher note!

The December Gathering will be our first Christmas Party (or pikkujoulut in Finnish) for IGDA Finland. This means we have something special in store for those who take a break from all the pre-Christmas hassle and joins us at System Rock. Not all the details have been locked yet and we haven't finalized our third sponsor deal, but we can already reveal that we will have: -DRINK TICKETS sponsored by AMD! (* 3 tickets per person, while tickets last. Doors open at 19.00 sharp.)

- 2 x NINTENDO WII provided by Nintendo Suomi / AMO - 2 x 40" LCD TV's provided by Samsung - COMPETITION(s) & etc.

In the spirit of Christmas, AMD (www.amd.fi) will be sponsoring the drink tickets. There will be 2 NINTENDO WII consoles for you to play at the event, courtesy of NINTENDO SUOMI / AMO (www.nintendo.fi), played on beautiful 40" LCD TV's courtesy of SAMSUNG!

But that's not all Nintendo has in store for you. If you bring your Nintendo DS you can download free demos to it. And if you also bring along a copy or Brain Training or Animal Crossing, you'll get a chance to download some new special content for it.

There will also be a competition where you can win great prices, generously donated by AMD and NINTENDO SUOMI / AMO!

So mark it on your calendar and come on, come all!

Ho ho ho, Merry X-mas! Jyri - Santa's Little Helper

November Gathering - After Action Report

Again the attendance amount beat the odds of the yet again rainy weather. We had a stunning number of 210 people who attended the November gathering! That’s 31 people more than the previous record! There was also a large amount of new faces around. The Gathering started with a hefty boom, a huge line formed rapidly of people rushing to get the free drinks and food and as a first there was also a line forming on the bar area!

For photos CLICK HERE

Food was complimented many times by everyone and it started to disappear quickly as the night drew its curtains. People were constantly crowding around our sponsors, Recoil Games people.

It seemed that from the first minutes to the end of the night System Rock was packed full and people were simply having a blast. The private function part of the IGDA event always ends at midnight, and only handful of people usually linger on after that. This time there were plenty of IGDA attendees hanging out until the 3.30AM closing time.

Application is open for Games and Storytelling workshops

Application is open for the Games and Storytelling workshops.The workshops will be given in Helsinki and Tampere 5-9 Feb 2007 and 23-27 Apr 2007. Please apply latest 4 December 2007 via e-mail: registration@gamesandstorytelling.net

You can apply for the workshops with either a game or interactive storytelling concept, or with a research plan, and a CV. Rather than sending in large files as attachments, you should preferably provide URL links in your email applications.

(Please note: your game or interactive storytelling concept, or research plan, will not necessarily be used in the workshop, but is rather used to provide further information about your previous experience; it is used both for evaluation and as your background information for the workshop leader.)

Selection will be based on previous studies, career and diversity in the workshops. Selections will be conducted by the Games and Storytelling steering group. Central criteria of selection is applicant's capability to bring forward a believable new perspective to games and new media in the concept.

Application deadline for the workshops (Eric Zimmerman, 5 - 9 Feb 2007 and Larry Friedlander, 23 - 27 Apr 2007) is December 4, 2006. Applicants will receive an acceptance decision by 15 Dec 2006.

More information: http://www.gamesandstorytelling.net registration@gamesandstorytelling.net

A report from Digiexpo 2006

Digiexpo was held from 3. - 5.11 in Helsinki and, at least on Saturday, turned in an impressive crowd of entertainment electronics enthusiasts. Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo all had their booths set up in to lure prospective buyers to try out their latest wares.

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Gears of War booth

Microsoft was showcasing several upcoming Xbox 360 titles on the show floor, but the most high profile one was Epics soon to be released Gears of War, which had an impressive stand separate from the other games. Electronic Arts was out in full force on the showfloor with a behemoth of a booth. Eager gamers got to test Need For Speed: Carbon for the 360 among other titles.

EA Games booth

Nintendo booth

Wii gaming

Nintendo had a small booth, where people could try out a few Wii and DS titles. As expected, the Wii games stole the show and the lines grew pretty long. The Zelda: Twilight Princess line was the longest and most people who got to play the game, took their sweet old time with it.

Playstation show

Playstation show

The Sony booth was swamped with eager gamers, waiting to get some alone time with the PS3 and its launch games. Sony held The Playstation Show through out the weekend a few times a day. They showcased the basic functionality of the PS3 there and the presenter played a few quick rounds of MotorStorm and Insomniacs FPS title Resistance: Fall of Man.

by Tommi Hartikainen

November Gathering - 21st November 2006

Fellow Finnish Game Developers! A picture of our October Gathering made the front page of IGDA's international website (http://www.igda.org/) with associated text saying "Finnish Queue of Death". That means excellent international exposure among the international game development community, which can only be a positive thing to the whole Finnish game development scene. This visibility, combined with the fact that our average attendance has risen to 3-digit numbers this season means that Finnish game development is gaining momentum. Let's keep the momentum going - join us at System Rock for our November gathering, two weeks from now, on Tuesday as usual.

Place: System Rock, Keskuskatu 4, 00100 Helsinki (same place, System Club just changed it's name to System Rock) (see map at igda.fi gatherings page: http://igda.fi/?page_id=5) Time: Tuesday 21st November, doors open at 19.00

As further proof of that momentum, it gives me great pleasure to tell you all that a new high-profile game developer has just opened its doors in Finland! And to celebrate this moment, they have shown great generosity and have agreed to sponsor our November Gathering!

DRINK TICKETS WILL BE SPONSORED BY RECOIL GAMES! *

(* 5 tickets per person, while tickets last. Doors open at 19.00 sharp.)

Recoil Games is a new next-gen console/PC game studio founded by Samuli Syvähuoko and several other Finnish game industry veterans. The company is currently in stealth mode, but will use the IGDA meeting to lift the covers a bit. However, there will be no speeches or powerpoints - just people you can talk with :)

Oh, and Recoil will be offering snacks to the 100 first attendees as well. http://www.recoilgames.com/

Join us to celebrate the on-going growth of the Finnish game development community!

See you there! Jyri - IGDA Finland Chapter Coordinator