Invitation to IGDA Finland Presentations & Gathering March the 2nd

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Hi fellow game developers and welcome to IGDA Finland Gathering & IGDA Finland Presentations!

IGDA FINLAND PRESENTATIONS Place: Diana auditorium, Erottajankatu 5, 00120 Helsinki Time: Tuesday, 2nd of March, 17:00

IGDA FINLAND MARCH GATHERING Place: Cuba Bar, Erottajankatu 4, 00120 Helsinki (map: http://igda.fi/?page_id=5) Time: Tuesday, 2nd of March, doors open at 19:00

Next IGDA Finland Gathering will take place on the 2nd of March. This time IGDA Finland collaborates with Tekes project Games as Services (GaS). GaS project studied how games are transferring into services and what does this change mean to various reference groups. IGDA together with GaS arranges IGDA Finland Presentations session which will focus on the role of services in game business. In other words the impact of online distribution and publication to game industry, game design and player experiences. The panelists are: Koopee Hiltunen (Neogames), Ilari Kuittinen (Housemarque), Mikko Honkakorpi (Mahtava Development), Riku Suomela (Nokia), Kai Kuikkaniemi (HIIT) and Olli Sotamaa (TAY). The session will start at 5PM. The panel will be part of a half-day seminar. If you are interested to follow the whole seminar, check out the full program below. The after party will be at Cuba Café as usual. Join the fun and see you on Tuesday, 2nd of March!

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Games as Services Seminar Tuesday 2.3.2010 Helsinki, Diana Auditorium, Erottajankatu 5

Programme

13-14.30 Session 1 Olli Sotamaa, Games as services: Opening words Jaakko Stenros, Understanding player services Kai Kuikkaniemi, Service-thinking for game developers

Break

15-16.30 Session 2 Saara Toivonen, Player attitudes on online distribution Tero Karppi, Game by layers: Case Dj Hero Juho Hamari, Game design as marketing

Break

In collaboration with IGDA Finland 17-18.30 Panel discussion: The role of services in the current game business

Panelists: Koopee Hiltunen, Neogames (Moderator) Ilari Kuittinen, Housemarque Mikko Honkakorpi, Mahtava Development Riku Suomela, Nokia Kai Kuikkaniemi, HIIT Olli Sotamaa, TAY

19 > IGDA Finland Gathering (Cuba Bar, Erottajankatu 4)

If you plan to participate in the first two sessions please register by sending an email to our seminar coordinator Saara Toivonen (saara.e.toivonen [at] uta.fi) by February 26th the latest. If you choose to check out only the panel, no registration in advance is needed.

Zombies, women gamers and good 8-bit vibes at the Cuba

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IGDA Finland February Gathering was action-packed! We had women gamers' group (Pelinaiset) visiting us, Finnish Game Jam awards were announced and Tuomas Karmakallio arranged anticipated 8-bit music quiz. Also some serious Lipshack partying and 8-bit gaming too place during the evening. Good stuff! "Meet the (women) Gamers" was organized in collaboration with Microsoft Xbox Live. A big hand to Microsoft for offering drinks to all the ladies! Thus it was no wonder that we had a full house: the number of registered visitors rise up to 145. Super!

But who are these zombies in the photo? Read more to find out!

We had also little excitement within the evening. Everything worked as smoothly as always with Cuba Cafe but this time the microphone had gone missing! Luckily our technical mastermind Joona Pulliainen came up with an alternative solution to use iPhone as a microphone. And it worked perfectly! See the picture :)

The first ever Finnish Game Jam (FGJ) took place during the previous weekend. Finnish Game Jam coordinator team survived the weekend and came to IGDA Gathering to announce the Jury's and Jammers' Choices of FGJ. The competition was fierce and there was only one vote difference between the first and the second one! The winner was Kuuasema team featuring Eevi Korhonen and their game Grow Up! Jury's choice was Zombie growling game "Play Dead 2: The Growling of the Dead". Both games are available through Finnish Game Jam site.

Besides the awards ceremony, 8-bit gaming was on through the night at the back of the bar, there was also a good queue to Lipshack and women gamers were networking with game developers and sharing some valuable input of their gaming preferences.

More photos from the event can be found from IGDA Finland photo archive.

Commander: Conquest of the Americas announced

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Paradox Interactive and Nitro Games have announced a new strategy title called "Commander: Conquest of the Americas", coupled with not one, but two videos. The game itself takes place in the historical Americas in the 18th century, when the European superpowers fought for control of the New World. After selecting one of six nations to join, the player is given command of a colonization fleet with the purpose of taking control of as much land and riches from the lands beyond as possible. To spice up the game and add replay value, each nation has it's unique advantages and disadvantages.

According to Lead Designer Kim Soares, "[the] goal of Commander is to create as powerful presence as you can in the New World before the American revolution starts".

The game is slated for a Q3 2010 release for the PC.

From the press release:

The upcoming title, which combines the best elements of trading and strategy games, will enable players to take control of a wide variety of European nations in efforts to conquer the New World.

During the Paradox Interactive Convention, Kim Soares, Lead Designer, at Nitro Games sat down to demonstrate the latest action and story behind Commander: Conquest of the Americas.

Main Features:

  • Choose from 6 different European factions
  • Manage your colonies’ resources, production, military, and more
  • Game world spanning the Caribbean to Hudson Bay
  • Naval battles with as many as 30 ships in varied environments and 2 different control modes

And here are the links to those videos:

Note: If you have any industry news you want to share with us, please email me at samuli.ulmanen@igda.fi and we'll take care of it. Cheers!

IGDA Finland: February Gathering

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Hi folks, next IGDA Finland Gathering is on Tuesday, February the 2nd. The Gathering is titled "Meet the Gamers". As you know, game developers have to think of the potential audience for their product. Too often developers think that the typical gamer is "someone like me". What if that is not the case? Now you have a golden opportunity to chat with other gamers and see what type of issues they like in games, why they play games and what they would like to experience in games. IGDA invited Women Gamers (Pelinaiset) to visit IGDA Gathering. Pelinaiset is a group of women & girls who are into gaming. You will soon find out that there are as many tastes as they are players. This is a perfect opportunity for you to learn something new! Besides chatting with gamers, we have some 8-bit gaming and a 8-bit music quiz for you. Also Lipshack booth will be open for the night!

Warmly welcome – see you on Tuesday the 2nd of February IGDA FINLAND FEBRUARY GATHERING Place: Cuba Bar, Erottajankatu 4, 00120 Helsinki (map: http://igda.fi/?page_id=5) Time: Tuesday, 2th of February, doors open at 19:00

Whooo-Yeaaaah! “The Best IGDA ever!”

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The first IGDA Finland Gathering in 2010 was held on 12th of January. Even if it was freezing cold outside, Café Cuba provided cozy warmth indoors. The beginning of a year has typically been a bit quieter compared to the fall season. So it was also in January 2010. Instead of 150 persons we had just little over 70 persons joining the IGDA party. Then again we all know that it is not about the number of people but the explosive atmosphere! Besides having good time (special thanks to Eevi Korhonen for the great kick off! :D) – and goofing, also business and networking wise the evening was a good one. New contacts were made and potential partnerships started. Thank you everyone for the great party! Whooo-yeeaaaah!

More photos from the event: Igda Finland photo archive.

The Finnish Game Jam crew was also present promoting the first Finnish Game Jam! The 48 hours Jam session will start already on 29th January! It is not yet too late to join the fun!

"Amazing weekend of game jamming is approaching! You have still some time to register to the event which will be participated from 129 locations and 37 countries! The registration to Finnish Game Jam is in process and continues until 25th of January, 16:00. The weekend is surely an unforgettable experience. Do not miss your chance to be a part of it!"

Hop on by registering here: http://finnishgamejam.fi/registration