March '09 Presentation: Dive into indie business

Once again people behind the Finnish game industry gathered to listen to IGDA Finland's Presentations, this time taking place at Diana-auditorio, Helsinki. Followed by the monthly Gathering event at Cuba Cafe, the presentation was held on March 10th and it was organized in association with Remedy Entertainment. The inspiring line-up consisted of Paavo Perttula from Tweehouse, Petri Purho from Kloonigames and Jani Kahrama from Secret Exit.  There were 13 were new visitors in a total of 97 participants, more than filling up every seat! Paavo Perttula presented their business plans for a social-interaction-oriented MMO game targeted for young audiences. Having offices in Helsinki and Santa Monica in California, Tweehouse secures their revenue sources by offering design and implementation services and live services alongside their own game development. They are developing their own multiplayer platform called Trunktech specifically designed for developing, deploying and managing massively multiplayer applications. Paavo also showed us their intuitive map editor which can be used to easily create large, interactive game worlds and to publish them in realtime as well.

Next up was Petri Purho from Kloonigames and the Post Mortem of Crayon Physics Deluxe. Petri begun his presentation with a relaxed and humoristic touch and told about his life before original Crayon Physics. In 2006 he got into prototyping game development which meant creating one new game every week. Petri told us this worked well for him and he started publishing a new game each month on his blog at kloonigames.com. In June 2007 he created Crayon Physics in five days which sparked so much attention and interest that Petri decided to make a better version of it. Crayon Physics Deluxe prototype video gained fame on Youtube and spawned a number of clones, both commercial and non-commercial ones. Crayon Physics Deluxe won the Seamus McNally Grand Prize in 2008.

The third presentation was given by Jani Kahrama from Secret Exit on indie game development and their experiences with it. Secret Exit started off with two people but hired two more when they received funding. They told us that the amoung of competition in indie development is huge and the marketing opportunities are lacking. Good timing is essential and to push the sales the developers should aim to remove all obstacles at the same time as opposed to one after another. Jani explained that their game Zen Bound got lots of positive feedback but the public visibility was low. They did make the front page feature and that multiplied their sales by four. The lesson in the presentation was to advertise on all available channels at the same time and to wait for sales increase and then ride on the sales with, for example, lowering the price just as the peak is beginning to fall off. Zen Bound won the IMGA award “Excellence in 3D”.

Q&A session followed the presentations. After the presentations people headed off across the street to have a party at the IGDA Finland Gathering in Cuba Cafe!

April Gathering: Tuesday 7th

Ahoy game industry pros and hangarounds, Interested in the latest game industry buzz and news from GDC09 along with good company? The best place to catch the latest news is to join the IGDA Gathering which will be held at Cuba Café on the 7th of April. The sun always shines at Cuba and they also have a great selection of drinks. Remember that IGDA members will get a good discount on mojitos and tap products!

We would also like to remind you that the current rounds of both EU and Nordic Game development funding will close in April. Don’t miss the deadlines! Click the links to find further information:

EU: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/media/producer/develop/interactive/index_en.htm NORDIC: http://nordicgameprogram.org/?id=23

IGDA FINLAND APRIL GATHERING Place: Cuba Café, Erottajankatu 4, 00120 Helsinki (map: http://igda.fi/?page_id=5) Time: Tuesday, 7th of April, doors open at 19:00

March Gathering - Presentation Afterparty

[singlepic=407,320,240,,center] Crowds were flocking in from the preceeding IGDA presentation just around the block to fill the Cuba Café nearly to the brim on March 10th. It was great to see so many faces from the presentation showing up at the Cuba to have great time with the game industry collegues.

In total, a good 153 of you turned up of which 17 were new visitors.

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Even the cold and damp weather outside wasn't enough to bring the mood down and the chattering went on for the late hours. It was perhaps no wonder that the evening's hot potato was the energetic speeches given by Petri Purho and the folks from Tweehouse and Secret Exit.

Check the rest of the snapshots at the gallery or at Flickr. Stay tuned for the next gathering on April 7th at Cuba Café!

Highlight: IGDA Finland Linkedin group

Hello everyone, it's time for yet another feature highlight! Since all of you already belong to our IGDA Finland Facebook group (right?) it probably doesn't come as a shocker that we decided to found a similar group to Linkedin, a terrific networking service centered around our business lives. Being a member of this group not only increases your sex appeal but voices support for the Finnish developer community globally.

Here at IGDA Finland we are dedicated to serving you the best possible IGDA chapter and would like you to join in and keep Finland in the world map!

Announced Finnish Games Coming Up

Now that the year has gotten to a good start, it’s finally time to turn our eyes to the future and check out what we have in store for the near future. Without further ado, I present a compiled list of commercial PC and console games being currently developed by Finnish companies across the country. ALAN WAKE Developer: Remedy Entertainment Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Platforms: Xbox 360, PC Release date: "When it's done" About the game: Alan Wake is a third-person action-adventure game where you step into the uncomfortable shoes of Mr. Wake, a successful horror writer with a serious case of the writer's block. To recuperate from this crippling predicament - and from his newly blossomed insomnia - he packs his bags and heads to the peace and quiet of a little town called Bright Falls. But after the mysterious disappearance of his wife, Alice, our heroic novelist plunges head first into a world of darkness and despair. In this nightside dominion he comes face to face with the horrors of his very own imagination, as his latest piece of literary work starts to come true.

TRINE Developer: Frozenbyte Publisher: Nobilis Platforms: Playstation Network, PC Release date: Q2 2009 About the game: According to the developer "Trine is a fantasy action game where the player can create and use physics-based objects to beat hazardous puzzles and threatening enemies. Set in a world of great castles and strange machinery, three heroes are bound to a mysterious device called the Trine in a quest to save the kingdom from evil… The gameplay is based on fully interactive physics. The player can at any time freely choose whoever is best suited for the upcoming challenge or puzzle: The Wizard is able to summon objects to help solve puzzles and create new ways to overcome obstacles, the Thief uses her agility and dead-on accuracy to swiftly surprise the monsters, and the Warrior unleashes mayhem and physical destruction wherever he goes."

SHATTERED HORIZON Developer: Futuremark Games Studios Publisher: To be announced Platforms: PC Release date: To be announced About the game: Shattered Horizon is a multiplayer first-person shooter where players fight in zero gravity surrounded by the broken remains of orbital infrastructure and billions of tons of rocky debris thrown into orbit by a huge explosion on the Moon. With simple and intuitive controls players have complete freedom of movement, making full use of the distinctive environment to control the battle. Shattered Horizon rewards players with gameplay and tactics impossible in games constrained by gravity.

EARTH NO MORE Developer: Recoil Games Publisher: To be announced Platforms: PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360 Release date: ~2009 About the game: Earth No More is an ensemble cast based First-Person Action-Adventure game of sudden Environmental Apocalypse. You are Will Foster, a federal agent tapped to respond to what appears to be a biological terrorist attack on Washington D.C. However, you soon discover that the attack isn't the work of human hands, but in fact is a new and destructive organism from deep within the Earth's crust, brought to the surface by mankind's relentless destruction of the environment. You and a band of survivors must work together, not just to survive in the changed world, but to defeat a far-reaching government conspiracy and save all of mankind from this cataclysmic disaster

EAST INDIA COMPANY Developer: Nitro Games Publisher: Lighthouse Interactive Platforms: PC Release date: Q1 2009 About the game: In East India Company, players will enjoy building the World's most powerful trading empire and engaging in fierce battles in both single player and multiplayer modes, all within a breathtaking cinematic environment. Players will fight, manage and rule their trading empires from Europe to the Far East with eight nationalities to choose from. Starting modestly, you will build your fleet, establish connections to far away countries, and keep rival nations at bay. Create diverse fleets and assign each of them specific trading routes. Control and upgrade well situated ports as you form your strategy for domination.

FINNWARS 2 Developer: Iceflake Studios Publisher: To be announced Platforms: PC Release date: To be announced About the game: FinnWars 2 is a standalone commercial sequel to one of the largest Battlefield modifications, being developed for PC and is powered by Iceflake's own next generation Mammoth game engine. The game is an action packed multiplayer experience, that concentrates to the legendary battles between Finland and Soviet Union in Eastern Front during World War 2. Also a great effort is put to games authenticity, and there's also a vast history section within the game.

CRAZY CIRCUS Developer: Farmind Publisher: dtp entertainment Platforms: Nintendo DS Release date: Q2 2009 About the game: The player inherits the family’s once famous circus because his father is sick and no longer able to run the business. Now it is up to the young director to lead the troupe and restore the circus to its former glory. He keeps improving the show and quickly, the circus regains its excellent reputation. New performers push into the ring, the public clapping frantically to every new sensations. The stunning performances attract the crowds in a way that finally, the circus arrives in the world’s most glamorous cities. Crazy Circus targets the whole family and all those longing for quick and fun gameplay.

That's it, folks. In case you spot an error in the article or if you think I've missed a game that belongs here with the rest, feel free to email me and I'll fix it right in. Please note that I haven't included any mobile titles or smaller independent games on this article, just because there'd be way too many to list. Besides, nobody would ever manage to finish reading it anyway.

Cheers, Samuli