Do you have a start up story to share?

IGDA Finland will arrange "Startup stories" session on Tuesday 8th of June . We are now looking for game startup companies who would like to share their story with the rest of us. What made you to start something new? What are you after? How are you going to achieve that? When? Would you like to share your story, experiences, lessons learned, challenges? If you have something to say (in 15 minutes), e-mail to Sonja Kangas (@ igda fi) to get more information.

Invitation: IGDA Finland April Gathering

IGDA Finland Gathering – a night like no other! If the spring is not enough to cheer you up worry no more -- next IGDA Finland Gathering is just two weeks away! Next time we’ll meet on Tuesday April the 6th.

Those who were at the GDC2010, come to share your thoughts and ideas from the event. Missed GDC? No worries, just come to chat with fellow developers, relax and party! We might also have something extra for you guys. More information to follow!

Note! Cuba Cafe is hosting a movie premiere reception right before IGDA so please come after 7PM so we’ll get those movie geeks out of the way.

IGDA FINLAND APRIL GATHERING Place: Cuba Bar, Erottajankatu 4, 00120 Helsinki (map: http://igda.fi/?page_id=5) Time: Tuesday, 6nd of April, doors open at 19:00

March Gathering: Ooze Attack! and Games as Services seminar

March was a month for another double feature: IGDA Finland Presentations and Gathering at the Cuba Cafe. This time IGDA Finland Presentations session was held at the Diana Auditorium together with Tekes-project Games as Services. Games as Services (GaS) project focused on the fact that online games market (subscription, digital game download, DLC, virtual commodities, value-added services) is expanding. As a result games are designed, distributed and consumed increasingly as services. Helsinki Institute for Information Technology (HIIT) and Tampere University (TaY) researchers examined the consequences of this evolution to games, game culture and business. Diana Auditorium event was the closing seminar of the project. What the research group is doing next is to focus on the future of gaming. By interviewing various industry gurus they try to identify the shape(s) of things -- games and gaming -- to come. Their interpretation of the future will be available at the end of this year. GaS project manager Olli Sotamaa will manage the future project, too. If you want to know more, get in touch with him!

GaS presentations attracted good number of listeners. Over 60 persons attended the final panel of the seminar. The panelists: Koopee Hiltunen (Neogames), Ilari Kuittinen (Housemarque), Mikko Honkakorpi (Mahtava Development), Riku Suomela (Nokia), Kai Kuikkaniemi (HIIT) and Olli Sotamaa (TAY) discussed about digital distribution, changes in user segments and the division between casual and hard core and its role in current forms of game industry. If you missed the half day seminar, you can check out the slides from the net. The findings of the project were clearly valuable as people kept discussing of the presentations through the evening. I heard several mentions especially of Saara Toivonen's research findings at the bar. Good stuff! Cuba was nicely crowded with 131 persons joining the Gathering. GaS researchers were also present at Cuba with a experimental game play prototype people could try. They presented a goo game Ooze Attack that uses the heart rate as a measure for the firing rate.

"Ooze attack is an experimental public display game prototype. It has been developed together by researcher in Helsinki Institute for Information Technology and software project course in Helsinki University of Technology. Basically it is a combination of simple real-time shooter, which is controlled with touchscreen phone and heartrate band. Game world is in the big screen and interaction takes place through the mobile devices. Research motivation has been the exploration of public display game mechanics, collocated social experience and biosignal interaction. If you want to know more, talk to Kai Kuikkaniemi / HIIT.fi" And those who didn't feel that experimental, could loosen up by playing some 16 bit games. After Cuba closed its doors, the strongest continued the night in the neighborhood. At least Rymy-Eetu and Beetroot got a good share of game developers as well. All in all good networking and lots of valuable discussions and opinion sharing. Go Finland! Go game developers!

If you missed all the fun, check out the photos and be sure to join in April!

Next week some Finnish game developers will be at GDC2010. Igda Finland will share our take on GDC 2010 shortly!

Invitation to IGDA Finland Presentations & Gathering March the 2nd

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!

***

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

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.