Adams Club has been hosting IGDA Finland Gatherings since February 2013. Now we would like to hear your feedback: how do you like it? What's Good? What's Bad? What to improve?
Participants are asked to respond to the survey by July 30, 2013
You can also access the survey by clicking this link.
From developers - for developers:IGDA Finland, Neogames, and Supercell have joined forces to launch a new free-to-play gaming summit in Helsinki called Free Your Play.
The one-day event will be held on June 19 and will feature a keynote by Peter Molyneux.
Apply for a ticket.
In 18. of April, good times were had for game developers in the Turku region in the first ever IGDA Finland Turku Hub Gathering!
From Remedy Entertainment, Aki Järvilehto & Jukka-Pekka Parkkonen were our guests of honor, giving us a presentation about the Remedy approach to gamedev to a crowd of over 115 visitors. As always, the night continued on till late with drinks and socializing, also in the private sauna. That’s right, our gatherings are held at Bar Bryssel’s Arcadia Lounge with its own sauna for our dear visitors relaxing after a day’s work at the pixel mines.
Of course this wasn’t the first time the game developers around Turku region have gathered to share their experiences and connect in a night like this. The local game development club LOAD has arranged its own gatherings in the past 2 years for 13 times with guests like Redlynx, Sulake, Nitro Games and Supercell.
Big thanks to all our visitors and especially Remedy for making our Hub launch event a success. You’re welcome to join our next gathering in ye olde capital of Finland in the end of May!
Tatu Laine
IGDA Finland Turku Hub coordinator
Photos: Tomi Kokkonen & Henna Tuunainen
IGDA Finland boosts game development in all of Finland!IGDA Finland ry wants to accelerate game development activity in your area.
If you’re involved in the game development scene in your region, you can apply to become an IGDA Finland Hub! If you’re having get-togethers or other kinds of professional activity for game development professionals in your region, we want to help you!
IGDA Finland promotes the development of careers and professional skills of individual game developers based in Finland, and develops further the international recognition of the Finnish game developer community. IGDA Finland Hub -membership can help you boost your local activity and networking. You’ll have our help in arranging your events and visibility through our information channels. If you’re an active coordinator in your area, please contact us!
This is an example of IGDA Finland local hub logo.
Design by: Sami Marsch
Prerequisites for becoming a Hub:
Benefits for becoming a Hub:
BONUS! Starter pack for the new IGDA Finland Hubs:
IGDA Finland reserves the right to revoke the Hub status if deemed necessary (eg. due to lack of activity). New individual IGDA Finland Hubs are accepted by IGDA Finland Board.
Interested? Contact us and we’ll get you started: jyri.partanen@igda.fi and tatu.laine@igda.fi
Hello Finland, IGDA Finland supports local clubs and communities across Finland.
Design by: Sami Marsch
Pocket Gamer has teamed up with Neogames and the IGDA Finland with support from Cocoa China and Papaya Mobile, to organize Pocket Gamer Mobile Mixer in Helsinki. Pocket Gamer's Mobile Mixers unite the greatest minds and freshest faces in the world of mobile games development with a heady mixture of presentations, panels, and networking - all gently lubricated with a little complimentary booze.
The Program
Doors Open (5pm)
Welcome - Chris James, MD - Pocket Gamer
Market Spotlight: China Cocoa China's US GM Lei Zhang, explains why it makes sense to look East right now!
Market Spotlight: Russia Nevosoft's Business Development Director, Julia Lebedeva points out that one of the fastest growing app markets is right on your doorstep Acquisition & Monetisation Panel: The hottest topics relating to recruiting users and making money discussed with industry luminaries. Chris Hanage, GM - Papaya Mobile Tommy Palm, Mobile Guru - King Thorbjörn Warin, CMO - Grand Cru Jon Jordan, Editor at Large - PocketGamer.Biz
Recruitment Focus Looking to advance your career? Look no further. Rovio Unity Grey Area Supercell AppCampus
Battle Panel - Big Vs Small Is it better to stay small, nimble and retain full creative control or do you need to think big to survive in the increasingly competitive market place? Chris James is your referee for a tru david vs goliath battle featuring leading industry heavyweights. Chris James, MD - Steel Media Illkka Paananen, CEO - Supercell Markus Pasula, CEO - Grand Cru Games Jami Laes, SVP Games - Rovio Johannes Vuorinen, Co-Founder - Frogmind
Sign up to the event: Eventbrite.
From the viewpoint of game development, Kajaani is an interesting place. In the 1990s and 2000s regional development funds were directed to RAMK college and their game programming course in Rovaniemi or starting of 3D studies in Outokumpu college. Regional development turned out to be a difficult task. It was difficult to find enough applicants in order to keep up quality education and generate good results. Kajaani - tiny town with a population of ca. 37.000, located 560 kilometers north from Helsinki - managed to pull it off.
Starcrossed (Kind of a Big Deal) Dare to Be Digital finalist
What went right?
Nothing happens overnight. Kajaani University of Applied Sciences (Kajak) is the key factor of the success. Kajak started offering education in game programming in 2006. In 2009 the focus shifted from sole game programming to game development introducing four different specializations: game programming, graphics, design and production. In 2012 design and production specializations were combined, game audio design and game technology (in engineering) were introduced. Kajak teams have actively taken part in different game development competitions. In 2012 the first ever team from Finland took part in Dare to Be Digital game development competition and they were one of the three winning teams (15 teams participated). As one of the three winners they are nominated for BAFTA 'Ones To Watch' category. The BAFTA gala will be held during March 2013.
In 2010 Kajak Games co-op was founded by students to function as a publisher and supporter for student developed games. 2nd and 3th year students offer Code and Art Clubs as extra curricular activities for first year students after school. Kajak Games has worked closely with various student teams, held game dev student events and has offered subcontracting jobs for it's members (customers include Futurecode, Wooga, Kainuun Sanomat and YLE). During the first or second year of studies, students are offered the chance to join Kajak Games as a member to acquire full support and services. In 2013 an EU funded project called Kainuu Gaming Cluster began in order to create a major game development cluster in Kainuu region. The project's main goals are to bring already existing companies in Finland into the Kainuu region, give birth to new companies, support existing ones and support our push game development teams towards start ups.
The building blocks at the moment are the KUAS school, Kajak Games co-op, Kainuu Gaming Cluster project, Innova project and Kainuun Etu Oy (municipality-owned regional development company).
Kajaani based game development studios
Kajak Games cooperative Studio On Mars No More Pie Rust0 Kajaani Game Studios Team Jolly Roger (student team) Indecisive Games (student team) BIND (student team)
What drives or supports regional growth
At the moment Kainuu Gaming Cluster offers resources and guidance in starting up a games company and finding funding. Kainuu Gaming Cluster also steers existing companies towards growth and success for example by offering mentoring by industry professionals around the world. Kajaani University of Applied Sciences brings enthusiastic and energetic people who are interested in game development together, and offers them education, hardware and software. These people form the working force of the future to support regional and national growth.
Local community driven by student activities
Currently students are the major driving force. Local companies exist and their numbers are growing steadily.
Kajaani tips & tricks - how other regions could succeed the same way?
1. Take it in our direction; use all means possible to create supporting infrastructure around education and entrepreneurship that keeps the talent in the area. So that there is something concrete (funding, work environments, hardware etc.) to help them to start up companies and support already existing companies. Regional development projects are one possibility.
2. Networking with the Finnish game development industry is a key for getting the area noticed and putting it into the map.
Critical Strike portable (Studio on Mars)
Kajaani in 2018?
We will have substantial growth in the number of SMEs in the area; a critical mass of ~40 companies. Kainuu will be known globally for its game development cluster and education. Big players (EA, Activision-Blizzard, Ubisoft) are highly interested in the area and already have some activity in the area. A new business entity concentrating to games publishing is to be launched this spring. CSC with Finnish government. IBM built data center in Kajaani last year; there will be close cooperation in making cloud gaming concepts.
Interviewees: Janne Mustonen, Julius Fondem & Kimmo Nikkanen Kainuu Gaming Cluster Kajak Games
Spotlight story continues with the latest news from Oulu. Oulu game development scene has a fine long history. After a couple of a bit quieter years Oulu is back!
Image: Wizardris (Playsign)
Oulu game development scene -- Facts & figures
There are 22 game companies and the number is increasing. Most likely before summer there will be over 25 companies. A lot of things are happening and publications come out almost every month. Oulu-based developers have relatively strong cross media know-how which I'd say is only beaten by Rovio. In the region there are already companies with games, tv shows, theme park, board games, toys etc. on the same IP, or a lot of projects that get support from other IPs. And one of our game companies even has a tv show in China.
IGDA: As an editor's note, I wonder why Oulu developers do not keep bigger noise about themselves. You guys should not overlook marketing! :)
Oulu game development scene has long traditions
Early in 2000s everything started in Oulu University when research project called Ludocraft was established. Back then there were only few things going on related to games. Our VTT unit would've had Nintendo Wii's technology available already in 1999 and GameLion's founder tried to start things in Oulu, but in vain. First wave of game companies got established middle of the decade thanks to Elvi project at the University which brought consultants from all over the world to Oulu. In 2007 there were about a dozen game companies in Oulu region. Then it was a bit silent, half of the companies established their position nicely, some went down under and some changed to ICT industry.
After a couple of years of hardship, things started to get a lot better for our companies at the turn of the decade. Knowhow on the area had developed a lot, and public sector woke up again. POEM, Business Oulu and Oulu University of Applied Sciences started to focus more on games. Another boost came in 2012 as Nokia's layoffs created a clear boost to the scene which is still visible. Companies with financing secured appeared and are appearing and Oulu Game Lab is doing its best to help them get started. One interesting trait is that few large software companies are also expanding their scope to games and focusing on recruiting new talents and networking to existing companies. This is beyond those 22 mentioned at the beginning of the article.
Torchbearers
Ludocraft, Playsign, Alpakka Media and Fingersoft. Spinfy could also be listed even though they are more into interactive entertainment.
Strong knowhow drives regional growth
Oulu region has two very multidisciplinary universities. Oulu University and Oulu University of Applied Sciences were a long time ago "Aalto Universities" in the north when Aalto itself was just a twinkle in politicians eyes. We get new knowhow to every aspect of game development and thus fresh skills to the industry and not just some of the required skills.
So far our growth has been organic. To my knowledge only a couple of our current companies has some investment money in them and one of them is technology company. Any big investment done to companies in our region waits in the future. The growth comes from increased knowledge from games which has been supported by regions public sector. Nowadays Business Oulu is the key player as they try to educate our companies how to attract private investments and among others of course supports our companies in other ways as well. But lack of investment money is the biggest obstacle along with not-good-enough marketing skills.
Our first wave of companies also had the setback that they all focused on totally different platforms, different business segments and different target audiences and thus could not be helpful to one another. Thanks to more accessible engines and lessons learned, cooperation between companies are now starting to flourish. Not only among game companies, but good example is the Cooperative Cult in the region where film, animation and game studios went under the same roof to create a creative hub which could be the best place to create strong IPs.
Oulu is large enough city to support a creation of wide range of creative content and products. We get new talents in all the time, and we have the public sector's support in place at the moment. Thus the goodwill in the region is very strong and now that good results are starting to come in, it only encourages other companies, media, public sector and hopefully investors as well.
Community is everything
Pava ry is association for game and film industry companies and it does the lobbying work in the region. It represent the voice of the industry.
We have Starttaamo that organizes Mobile Monday's and other community events. We have Business Kitchen, the Oulu University's and Oulu University of Applied Sciences' mutual business incubator that also organizes events. Then seminars and other bigger events are usually done in cooperation between the above and POEM Foundation, Business Oulu, OUAS, Starttaamo and Pava. Seminars like Game Spring Oulu in 21st of March. Of course important creation is also Oulu Game Lab, game education programme and preincubator which is the only public sector's place where people get paid full time to focus solely on games. We also have Stage, a student's game development club.
However there's no IGDA style association that would focus solely on game community activities. Thus we want to create IGDA Oulu which would be an easy route for Southern companies to network with our companies and people. It would work under Pava as there's no need to create a wheel from scratch and Pava already gathers the active's working for the benefit of game industry. IGDA Oulu would be the face for IGDA evenings and towards rest of the Finland and we suspect Pava is unheard of outside Northern Finland.
IGDA: In 2013 IGDA Finland focuses actively on supporting local game development hubs across Finland. We want to support your efforts on building local game dev community. I want to stress the word support as the initiative _needs to be_ driven locally. IGDA Finland will do road show this spring across Finland. We want to better understand how to support local game dev communities.
Also with 22 companies creating games or games related products, there's a need to have publication parties. IGDA evenings would be a nice way for teams to ease off once they've finished a project and are starting next.
Future visions are soon reality We have been surpassing the national growth figures for almost a decade now. Of course it's easy to do that when you start from zero. But the scope of our industry and new people entering the field has kept us pretty much on the scale with national figures even with Rovio's and Supercell's success taken into consideration. That was of course helped by Nokia, but there's no reason to believe why we couldn't keep up with the national estimations on the growth of the business.
In mid-2000s the core skills were not systematically high enough and growth was in too few hands to say it would've been on a stable ground. A closure of one big studio was a big setback for the whole scene and there were too few companies around to keep all of their staff still in Oulu. Now we have that thing fixed and there are now plenty of companies with high quality stuff being produced. Our biggest obstacles are in lack of marketing and financing/investment know-how and that's on the focus by most public sector players. This, along with first big publications (Air Buccaneers PC MMO, Hill Climb Racing with 40M downloads and Wizardris dominating Pelit magazines game art competition before it is even published (!) leads us to believe that even if some established companies would fail, we'd still continue our growth.
IGDA Finland Gatherings are organized by a group of volunteers. By joiningIGDA Finland ry you support the work we are doing and get great benefits: starting with cheaper drinks at the IGDA Finland Gatherings!
For more information: http://igda.fi
One major goal for the IGDA Finland in 2013 is to improve and broader our offering across Finland. Brand new IGDA Finland board is putting together a plan how to support local communities at its best and support their growth. As part of that effort we will be presenting local game development hubs on igda.fi. We'll start this series with Kouvola. Mika Lammi from Kinno - Kouvola Innovations Oy focusing on regional development, was kind enough to give an overview of the Kouvola scene.
Facts and figures, Kouvola scene in a nutshell Mika Lammi: We have 10-12 active game companies and about the same amount of indie developers at the moment. The companies employ roughly 30-40 people all put together. The scene is quite young, and thus developing rapidly - it is expected that the numbers will go up fast due to the healthy education structure we have in place. The local vocational school KSAO (Kouvolan seudun ammattiopisto) is offering both degree studies and adult education in game development and design. Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences will start offering international game design studies in 2013.
The number of student in all of the above programs will total 50 in 2013 and should double in 2014 as freshman classes are rolled in. Kouvola Innovation Oy, the local city-owned development company has several initiatives and projects in place to support game industry employment and entrepreneurship potential. Our tools include the national Protomo network of innovation incubator initiatives, amongst other projects.
Game dev companies from Kouvola
Mika Lammi: Presently the scene can be described as young, enthusiastic and rapidly growing. Liquid Flower Games made a good entry into the scene by releasing Qubeh and gaining very positive mentions in the international industry blogosphere. Another group, Blight Games, are preparing their entry and have already entered negiotiations with several interested parties.
Main factors for regional growth
Mika Lammi: The biggest factor is naturally the incredible success of Finnish companies worldwide, and the following growth of the national initiative. Secondly, our strategic choice of focusing our resources into high quality education and maintaining education-industry interfaces has already started to pay off.
What is Kinno?
Mika Lammi: Here's a handy quote from our web site: "Being a political player in the economic life of the city, the company provides services prescribed by the economic strategy, develops the economic life, creates networks of cooperation partners, and is in charge of marketing the region for economic purposes. The company focuses on the structural change of the region, the local SMEs and entrepreneurship in general, not to mention making efforts to increase the income from tourism and develop the local business environment including workforce, premises, services and infrastructure"".
The company provides services in:
I work in the development services related to creative industries, which of course includes game industries as a whole, publishing and distribution and all. What we are trying to do is to create a clear and defined path for ideas to come to light, help develop them into services and products, and guide them directly to the most potential marketplaces, regardless of the immediate geography. The mid-term big goal is to create a national game industry related education quality system, which would benefit the education system and industry companies immensely - required skills, competences and talents would find the best place both in terms of getting the best possible education and making the best possible hiring decisions, respectively.
Future? Five years from now?
Mika Lammi: We will have a healthy and vibrant game industry campus, which is structured in the way of commynity-curriculum-capital come together. By this I mean the studios, schools & students and your everyday consumer gamers working and playing together for the benefit of every party included. Also, our great geographical position right next to St.Petersburg will have it's influence in ways of having a healthy dose of international co-operation and joint projects with the Russian scene as a whole.
Must-haves when building long lasting game industry to Kouvola?
Mika Lammi: Patience, tolerance and long term vision! We do try to build things to last, and that often means taking the longer and more difficult route than some would like. The real foundation on which we all build are naturally the skilled and talented developers - without them we would have nothing at all. Therefore our most important mission is to support them both in ways of day-to-day problem solving as well as long term structural industry environment building.
IGDA Finland is proud to be the first IGDA chapter outside North America to formalize as a legal entity. IGDA Finland has registered as an association under the Finnish law and its relationship with main IGDA in United States will be governed by a contract signed in September 2012 between the parties. How to become a member or renew your membership? Here! Here!
IGDA Finland will remain an official part of the international IGDA family and members of IGDA Finland will enjoy the full membership benefits. This new arrangement enables IGDA Finland to better serve the interests of the local IGDA members in Finland. This also means that more of the membership fees can be directed to better cater local needs.
As the first actions, IGDA Finland will start expanding its service offering beyond Helsinki. IGDA Finland wants to provide support to game developers across Finland. The first step is to build a network of IGDA Finland Student Club initiatives across the region.
“IGDA Finland wants to facilitate the exchange of ideas and best practices, help new talent to get into the local industry as well as attract foreign talent to Finland. With Student Clubs we are able to drive regional development, support local game development hubs across Finland and promote entrepreneurship”, states Sonja Ängeslevä, the first Chair of the IGDA Finland association.
IGDA Finland ry works closely together with Pelikehittäjät ry (Finnish Game developer Companies association) and Neogames Finland ry, to form Finnish Game Cluster which aims to help the Finnish game development business to develop and grow. The cluster aims to push Finnish game industry to it's present state to be even greater economical value. Finnnish games industry aims to be billion € industry by 2020.
For more information on IGDA Finland and details on how to become a member, please visit http://www.igda.fi.
Contact: IGDA Finland ry Chair: Sonja Ängeslevä Sonja.Angesleva@igda.fi Tel. +358 400 759 817
IGDA Finland ry is a legally registered association under the Finnish law. The mission of IGDA Finland is to promote the development of careers and professional skills of individual game developers (and individuals of related industries) based in Finland, and to further develop the international recognition of the Finnish game developer community.
International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is the largest non-profit membership organization serving individuals who create video games. IGDA advances the careers and enhances the lives of game developers by connecting members with their peers, promoting professional development, and advocating on issues that affect the developer community. These core activities advance games as a medium—and game development as a profession.
Tekes Skene-program & Finnvera Venture Capital proudly presents: Angels Game matchmaking event. It brings game companies and business angels to the same table.
How to be part of it: 1. Fill out a form at the Finnvera site by 31th October 2. Angels Game jury will go through the applications on 5th and 6th November 3. Selected game companies will be notified on 7th November 4. Companies will be provided some pitching coaching (date TBD)
The Angels Game event will be on 13th November at Finnvera, Eteläesplanadi 8, Helsinki.
As a summer job, UGDA Finland team put together ARTtech seminar for Assembly 2012! :) This year IGDA Finland put together the ARTtech seminar @ Assembly2012! The theme is "Tinkering" of games and electronics and you'll have a chance to hear on playful prototyping by Tuomo Tammenpää (Fri 3rd August, 12AM), why Theory Interactive build an entire engine instead of a indie game (Fri 3rd Aug 7PM) and how MiniVegas team uses game engines and C++ frameworks with traditional CG animation (Sat, 4th August 1PM). You'll also learn about 3D printing, building a arcade cabinet, Unity4, Adobe tools and so on.
Full program Thursday - Saturday - bring your sleeping bag with you! We have some presentations not to be missed :)!
Check out these game industry happenings in Tampere and Lappeenranta!_______________________________________________________________ GAME METRICS EVENT IN TAMPERE, MARCH 20TH
Sign up to the event!
FREE bus from Helsinki and back, sign up to the bus! Cancelled.
The schedule for High Score TechTalk:
18:00 – Doors open
18:15 – 19:00 Joakim Achrén, Game Design through Key Metrics
19:15 – 20:00 Jouni Mannonen, Bike Baron Post Mortem
20:00 –> Jack the Rooster
22:00 Bus back to Helsinki
_______________________________________________________________
POCKET GAMER MOBILE MIXER IN TAMPERE, MARCH 26TH
Sign up!
March 26th in New Factory starting at 5pm.
Think. Drink. Connect.
Welcome to the very first ever Pocket Gamer Mobile Mixer in Finland. Created in association with Manse Games and Support from Papaya Mobile and Rovio, the event offers a vibrant mix of industry insight, heated debate and the chance to knock back some complimentary beers with the cream of the Finnish games industry.
The main event Battle Panel: Casual VS Core; Which makes the best social game? Also on the agenda:
Sign Up at: http://pocketgamertampere.eventbrite.com/ The event kicks off at New Factory from 5:00pm at New Factory (Väinö Linnan Aukio 15, third floor) and continues behind the corner at 7pm at Jack The Roosters (Satakunnankatu 13).
Applifier and Audiodraft are sponsoring the bus transportation from Helsinki to Tampere and back to Helsinki. The bus leaves from Helsinki next to Kiasma at 3pm. Sign up for the bus.
This event is sponsored by; Rovio, Nokia, Visio+, Symbio, Audiodraft, Applifier, Img Systems _______________________________________________________________
SKINNARILA GAME SUMMIT IN LAPPEENRANTA APRIL 18TH
A game industry event and seminar series will launch 18.04.2012 at Lappeenranta! In the first seminar of the series, name of the game is: "Combining passion, learning and business in mobile game development: How to start your business in super-fierce industry and still be able to gather butter on top of your bread?". During this first seminar, our objective is to gather viewpoints from industry professionals and the audience on how they have approached the challenges faced by start-up in mobile gaming industry. Detailed topics include, but are not limited to: agile learning, gaining visibility and mixing game design and monetization. Speakers and registration dates of seminar will be published
during March 2012.
Finnish game industry is on the threshold of hyper growth. Mentor network for women interested in game industry positions arranges Ahjo mingle on 15th March, from 6-8PM. Tia Mäki from boutique sized law firm Aldea will give a talk followed by comment from Supercell. After the talks we'll chat about open positions in games, what's needed for various positions, what's the atmosphere in game studios, what about compensations etc. After the talks it is time to mingle and network!
Welcome ladies! Game industry needs you!
Event in Finnish / English.
More info / Register (ladies only): http://ahjomingle.eventbrite.com/
Vision: Mobile Games are the driver of innovation in the smartphone industry and the most successful category in the apps economy. Mission: Manage and market the world’s largest competition for mobile games and recognize and reward the best mobile game developers.
Great games nominated from Finland: Bike Baron, Shadow Cities, Death Rally, Draw Race 2 and WildChords amongst the best of the best. Vote now and bring People's Choice Award to Finland :)
The competition is now the mobile entertainment industry’s leading showcase for groundbreaking innovations, displaying exceptional quality and new trends in mobile entertainment, whether the games are made for the iPhone, for Android Phones, Windows Mobile, Bada (Samsung), BREW MP, for Blackberry, WebOS, J2ME, Flash, HTML5 or any other widely spread Operating System for mobile handsets.
WELCOME TO THE SURVEY OF JOB SATISFACTION IN THE FINNISH GAME INDUSTRY: I am Tuomas Roininen, Digital Culture (MA) student from University of Jyväskylä. I am doing a research for my MA thesis based on IGDA's Quality of Life White Paper (2004) but from the point of view of Finnish game companies. The purpose of this research is to carry out a similar survey as in Quality of Life White Paper (2004). Idea of this survey is to find material for my research about the job satisfaction in the Finnish game industry. This is valid way to find issues in the industry that need fixing to better in Finland. I hope that many as possible working in the Finnish game companies would respond to the survey, so that research should be comprehensive, reliable and useful for anyone who works in the field.
The themes of the survey are: - General Satisfaction - Job Stability - Work Load - Work Organization - Job Quality
I wish that you could answer as truthfully as you can, because that is the way to find the real pittfalls of the industry and also there can be done valid conclusions. All of the survey respondents will be treated as anonymously.
Survey takes about 10 - 15 mins and it includes multiple-choice questions.
Regards, Tuomas Roininen E-mail: tuomas.roininen@jyu.fi University of Jyväskylä Department of Arts and Culture Studies Master's Programme in Digital Culture
Thesis supervisor: Raine Koskimaa, Professor of Digital Culture
Survey is open until 17th of February 2012.
YLE Teema provides an exclusive opportunity for the Finnish game developers community to see Pelinrakentajat documentary before the masses. The documentary film is in Finnish. When & where: January 18th at 7PM, Andorra movie theater, downstairs of Corona Pub, at Eerikinkatu 11.
Register to the event: / rekisteröidy tapahtumaan täältä: http://pelinrakentajat.eventbrite.com/
*** YLE Teema ja IGDA Finland kutsuvat teidät seuraamaan Pelinrakentajat dokumenttifilmin ekslusiivista ennakkoesitystä. Päivämäärä on 18. tammikuuta, kello 19. suomalaiset pelikehittäjät ovat lämpimästi tervetulleita Andorraan, Eerikinkatu 11 (alakerta).
Pelinrakentajat on YLE Teeman peli-illan avaava dokumentti. Suomalaisesta pelintekemisestä kertova tarina lähtee 90-luvun alun demoscenestä ja kulkee suurien konsolipelien ja pienempien kännykkäpelien kautta aina tähän päivään. Ennen kaikkea siitä tinkimättömyydestä ja intohimosta, minkä avulla Suomen peliteollisuus on noussut 20 vuodessa lähes tyhjästä merkittäväksi teollisuudenhaaraksi.
Dokumentissa on haastateltu kymmentä pelialan vaikuttajaa mm. Remedyltä, Housemarquelta,Bugbearilta, RedLynxiltä ja Roviolta.
Toimittaja Kaj Laaksonen
Ohjaaja Tommi Mattila
Tuotanto Markku Mastomäki
YLE Kulttuuri ja viihde 2012
Kesto 54 minuuttia
Tervetuloa! Welcome!
IGDA Finland Chapter was in the spotlight in IGDA Perspectives Newsletter in October 2010. There was also a story Crowning achievement: Marketing Lessons From Crown of Byzantus by Pyry Lehdonvirta, Casual Continent. Good stuff! We would also like to remind you that: It’s Global Game Jam time again and it’s fast approaching! The 3rd incarnation of this highly successful worldwide event is coming January 28-30, 2011. We invite you to take part in the largest game jam event in the industry.
Warren Spector is the Prize! Deadline Extended: IGDA Chapter that Brings in the Most New Members By Nov.19 Wins Game Legend as VIP Meeting Speaker
LOS ANGELES – Oct. 12, 2010 -- The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) chapter that brings in the most new members by midnight PST Friday, November 19 (original deadline has been extended) -- will win game industry legend Warren Spector as a VIP speaker for a chapter event. Spector, a master storyteller and designer for one of the most highly-anticipated games of the year, Disney Epic Mickey, is known for his innovative views on game design.
Currently Spector is general manager and creative director at Disney Interactive Studios’ Junction Point. Prior to his work at Disney, Spector started the Ion Storm Studio in Austin and is best known for his work on blockbuster video game franchises such as Thief, System Shock, and Deus Ex.
All 81 chapters world wide are eligible to win.
Point values are as follows:
Lifetime Member: 10 Points (a limited number of Lifetime Memberships are available at $600.00) 2 yr Core Member: 5 Points 1yr Core Member: 2 Points Student Member: 1 Point
Member registration is available online and as a PDF. Send recruits to www.igda.org/join/online or print out the PDF membership application form here:
www.igda.org/sites/default/files/IGDA_Membership_Application_0.pdf? PDF forms can be submitted via email to Sheri Rubin, sheri@igda.org or faxed to (856) 423-3420.
The Winning Chapter will work with the headquarters of the International Game Developers Association to organize and promote the Grand Prize meeting.
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:
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