IGDA Melbourne

It’s Open Mic time again at IGDAM and if you want a spot at the mic, please get in quick, because the line-up is already looking schweet, so this is the place to be on Tuesday (assuming you’re not at GDC).

When: Tuesday 1 March – presentations start at 7.30, so any time from 6pm is good.

Where: Cho Gao – Level 3 Melbourne Central

Who & What:

Christian McCrea – GEELab (Games & Experimental Entertainment Laboratory)

This as an exciting initiative by RMIT that’s gearing up this month and right up our alley.

At the GEElab, games will be understood as a cross-disciplinary function as well as the engine of entertainment media and Internet innovation. Practice oriented game and entertainment media research will be carried out by the way of cross-medial experimentation and an understanding of science as fiction, in the sense of not being afraid to think and design differently as welll as think and design speculatively. For example, GEElab members will investigate how to “gameify“ traditionally non-linear media such as TV, film, or radio, developing design strategies, narratives and service prototypes.

Next to these tasks, one of the major goals of the GEElab will be to inquire the potential of games and entertainment to positively influence and change behavior, seeking to suggest solutions for a more peaceful, sustainable, healthy and egalitarian – that is: playful – world. The GEElab will be working closely with people from across RMIT, as well as with international game research institutions and sponsors from the game and entertainment industry.

Peter Halasz – Because of Games (http://www NULL.becauseofgames NULL.com/) Subversive education through games.

Peter  started the indie studio “Because of Games” to subversively educate
the masses. That is, to create games where your brains benefits from
the seemingly mindless gaming activity we all love.

He’ll be talking about creating game-play mechanics which hinge on real-world skills
and knowledge and illustrating with some prototypes, ideas and

iterations, including a physics engine he “should never have made from
scratch.” Time permitting, he’ll demo the yet-to-be-released “Bubble
Physics” (previously named Magnoa), his current project, and give a
status update.

Caz Parker & Andrew Lamb – Automation (http://automationgame NULL.com/)update

Automation the Tycoon game is for people who live and breathe cars.  The lads will give us a quick show and tell of where they’re at and their upcoming small closed beta.

David Coen – Growing an iPhone app

David will be sharing his experiences in iPhone dev and is happy to receive feedback on it all

Aaron Charcoal Styles

Charcoal’s requested a few minutes at the mic to show off a project he’s been working on.

It’s a tool set that allows Flash developers to make stand-alone Windows versions of their games; allowing them to potentially make versions that can be sold through places like Steam.
It also has the ability to read Xbox 360 controllers and pass the information back to the flash game.

WinnitronAU

John Sietsma or James Rhodes (I’m sure one of them will let me know which) will give an update on their Winnitron plans.

Wishing the GDC pilgrims fruitful, fun and safe travels and the rest of us, well, we’ll have to manage the best we can at a licenced venue with our own talks!

Wireless and tech issues permitting (I like to think of it as delicious irony the troubles we have with tech!) the Level 3 (http://www NULL.level3 NULL.org NULL.au/) lads will be live-streaming the talks.

I think that’s everyone accounted for at this stage – if you’ve been in touch and aren’t included just email me a gentle reminder   If you are yet to put your hand up but want to, get in quick by email giselle@igdamelbourne.org

PS – but wait, there’s more, and it’s not steak knives it’s HEEEAAAPS better

Ryan Keable – Anomalous

48 hour gamemaking challenges
Ryan and Ryan from Anomalous will be talking about their 48 hour project again, where they are up to and what will be next.

They will also be talking about their first release for the iPhone, Homemade Shooter!

So Justin Brow has done a tremendous thing attempting a head count of the Australian games industry.  He’s put a heap of time and effort into it, and as a result the data is impressively  comprehensive for what can be such a slippery subject.  All figures referred to are thanks to 60Sox (on behalf of the ISIS program).

JB says

Obviously given the splintered nature of the industry atm, I do not profess that the attached count is water-tight. There are big shops operating who may well have reasonably-numbered teams of games developers working away (for instance, at this stage I have not spoken to anyone at Animal Logic or Rising Sun) as well as a myriad of one-person operations busily making the next Fruit Ninja in bedrooms across the country. I will say, though, that the attached count is certainly indicative of where we are at as an Industry today.

So on first broad sweep, there’s currently 931 people working in games throughout Australia.  The state by state breakdown is:

Melbourne – 410

Brisbane – 262

Sydney – 144

Canberra – 74

Adelaide – 21

Perth – 20

There’ll be more updates at a more reasonable hour, but considering the only other figures I can currently get my hands on put the industry at 2000 strong about 2 years ago, there’s some building to be done, and some questions to be asked.

Whilst no figures identifying individual studio sizes will be quoted by me, we’ll compare publisher backed to independant figures here soon.

I’m sure tsumea and GDAA will also have their data sorted into prettier pictures with more comprehensive analysis in the near future

Night all! I’ve opened the comments for now so feel free to comment and  keep it nice, I’ll be back to check how well you’ve been playing together in the morning!

PS – JB, Souri said I could publish and we all know I have trouble shutting up! Great work!

Whilst some of us watch with envy as others head to San Fran for GDC, we refuse to shut up about games, even if few will be listening on this side of the planet, sooo…..

The IGDAM meet up for March will be an Open Mic Night at Cho Gao.  We’ve already have a few people let us know they’re up for a yak (and this time I don’t mean the beer) so if you’d care for a spot at the mic to talk about your projects, plans, collaborative ambitions, whatever – if it’s games related we want to hear from you.

When: Tuesday 1 March

Where: Cho Gao, Level 3, Melbourne Central (our new home til the Manabar opens and we can work out if we’ll fit there)

The mic will be switched on 7.30 (8 latest, I promise) but you’re always welcome to head on down earlier so the catch up/networky part can happen before and after the open mic.

Here’s the facebook event (http://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/home NULL.php?#!/event NULL.php?eid=144580178936041) and we look forward to seeing you there, or hearing all about your GDC experiences in April.

I’ll be mc’ing the night as Tom and Craig will be in San Fran, so if you’d like a bit of a chin wag about your project/plan/whatever just send me an email giselle@igdamelbourne.org

Time permitting, once I have a few happy volunteers I’ll get the word out about who’s talking about what.

Dr Katherine Phelps, of  Glass Wings (http://www NULL.glasswings NULL.com NULL.au/) is looking for a game developer to collaborate with on a ‘Human Rights: Aussie Rules (http://gdaa NULL.com NULL.au/human-rights-are-aussie-rules-online-smartphone-game-prospectus-expressions-of-interest-sought)‘ submission for the Eastern Community Legal Centre. They do have a budget and people will be paid.*

She got in touch asking if any IGDA dev’s would be interested.  You’d need to have a programming background with java, flash or open source skills as options.

If you are interested, please contact Katherine on email muse@glasswings.com.au Submissions are due on Monday14 February so please get in touch this week.

If you’re looking to collaborate on a project and would like a shout out on our little blog here, just email info@igdamelbourne.org

*all care, no responsibility, please investigate all job and collobrative offers with due diligence.

Last night was a blast, it was great to have igdam old hands and new jam crew getting together.

On a sour note, a brown crumpler bag with, of course, a laptop inside, went missing.  As the second time this kind of thing has occurred recently all I can think to do is say two things.  Firstly, if you are the person responsible for the missing items, pardon the vernacular, but piss off, you’re not welcome.  Secondly, I’d like to encourage you all to keep your stuff with you during meet ups (which as a chronic bag misplacer I know can be hard) and only bring the tech you have to.

Ok, less sour notes, whilst we await the Mana Bar Melbourne to open and see if we can squeeze in there with some kind of multi-room projection equipment (sounds great in theory) we will be having a GDC Waifs and Strays open mic night at Cho Gao on Tuesday 1 March.

The facebook event (http://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/permalink NULL.php?story_fbid=176061255771300&id=1642427578#!/event NULL.php?eid=144580178936041) is up, and if you have something you’d like to chat about at the mic for 2-10 minutes please let me know giselle@igdamelbourne.org .  Tom and Craig will be living the high life at GDC so I guess it’s my turn to MC !  If you’re interested in presenting something more substantial, we’d love to chat to you about it.

We’re hoping to have some more info on the Geelab setting up in Melbourne in March and will endeavour to keep you posted on any exciting delicious morsels we’ll have to share.

Feel free to head on down to Cho Gao whenever suits, we’ll run the mic from around 7.30-8 for up to an hour and then it’ll back to the networking*

*networking,v,  the practice of making contact and exchanging information with other people, groups or institutions. Usually, networking occurs via the semi-liberal application of alcohol with other people who have interests in similar areas. The goal of the networking relationship may be to further your personal employment opportunities or to cultivate new clients or the expansion of business relationships.

Hey everyone,

here’s a list of all the games that were created as part of IGDA Melbourne’s first Global Game Jam event. We had a fantastic turnout of 72 developers, teaming up to make 18 complete and playable games. That fact alone is remarkable, that all games were planned and scoped properly to be completed within just 48 hours, and all the participants should be proud of that fact. On top of that, over a single weekend, all participants added a game to their portfolio, and learned valuable skills in creativity and developing under a tight schedule.

The games made at IGDA Melbourne Global Game Jam 2011 are (in alphabetical order):

• Magic Spatula – Ant Antagoniser – Save the Elan Frog (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/ant-antagoniser-save-elan-frog):
  • Andrew Lamb, Caswal Parker, Jayelinda Suridge.
• Team Sideways – Breeder (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/breeder):
  • Dan Clayton, Christopher Errey, Matthew Manuel, Sam Wong.
• Yunikun – Diversity (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/diversity):
  • Tadgh Dinnage.
• Team Dead As – Dodo Demise (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/dodo-demise):
  • Aaron Cox, Jake Henderson, Benn Lockyer, Alex Newsome.
• Burnt Out – Eternal Flame (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/eternal-flame):
  • Anthony Cassidy, Peter Lawson, Matt Spriggens.
• Touch My Pixel – Floodlight (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/floodlight):
  • Tony Polinelli, Tarwin Stroh-Spijer.
  • Winner: Best Gameplay.
• Team André – Game Over (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/game-over):
  • André Spierings.
• Team Anything – Got Wood? (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/got-wood):
  • Daniel Bugeja, Stephen Gigante, Nina Nikolic, Guy Noble, James Siddel.
  • Winner: Most Daring.
• The B-Team – The Last Flight of the Bumblebee (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/last-flight-bumblebee):
  • Ivan Dixon, Conor O’Kane.
  • Winner: Best Graphics, Tied for Participant’s Choice Award.
• Free Hugs – Plagued (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/plagued):
  • Dave Allan, Alex Boylan, Jason Hall, Mitchell Johnson, Brad Moore.
• Team Disorganised – Planet Panic! (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/planet-panic):
  • Chris Antonello, James Filippone, Stuart Murray.
  • Winner: Most Innovative.
• Team Pants – Rising (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/rising):
  • Mike Blackney, Finn Morgan.
• In Five Seconds – Saldo (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/saldo):
  • Trevor Dikes, Harry Lee, Jarrod Lowery, John Sietsma.
  • Winner: Best Sound.
• Crunch Time – Slingshot! (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/slingshot):
  • Mothana Dabash, Michael Gillies, Peter Jamieson, Kai Lynk.
• Team Space Defender – Space Defenders (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/space-defenders):
  • Ian Gielen, Aaron Styles, Luci Temple.
  • Winner: Most Fun.
• Team Broficiency – Ultra Happy Death Virus HD (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/ultra-happy-death-virus-hd):
  • Patrick Clearwater, Matthew Elvey Price, Sandra Gibson, Luke Hus.
  • Winner: Winner: Best Game, Tied for Participant’s Choice Award.
• Æther – Vivimus (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/vivimus):
  • Edward Whitehead.
• Team Anura – Whip Frog (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/whip-frog):
  • Campbell Barton, Alex Fraser, Daniela Hammer, Luca Pavone, David Thompson.
  • Winner: Organiser’s Favourite, Honourable Mention (Teamwork).

Once again, congratulations to all the teams involved. If you want to play these games, you can use the links above to download them from the GGJ site. You can also come meet us all at Cho Gao next Tuesday, and meet the teams themselves!

Whilst I don’t want to encourage the brain drain, it’s some cool jobs, so thought you may be interested.  As with all jobs posts to this blogs we’re #justsayin and recommend due diligence if you think it’s one for you

Audio Director
Concept Artists
Tech Programmer
AI Programmer
Staff Writer
Senior Asset Artists
Senior Character Artist
Senior Environment Artist

We offer :

Relocation Assistance
Two months free accommodation
Travel costs within the Amsterdam area
Great Bonus scheme
Expat Tax discounts possible

Further details available at the Guerrilla Games website (http://www NULL.guerrilla-games NULL.com/jobs)

Please apply direct to our website against the position you are interested in or contact me direct : adrian.smith@guerrilla-games.com (adrian NULL.smith null@null guerrilla-games NULL.com)

IGDA Melbourne was asked to chat with the team on “Byte Into It (http://www NULL.rrr NULL.org NULL.au/program/byte-into-it/)” on 3RRR FM last night, about the Global Game Jam that was run last weekend (Once again I’d like to give gushing thanks to our awesome sponsors for the event, Firemint and La Trobe University).

It was lots of fun chatting about what the Global Game Jam is, the games that were made, and the energy of the weekend. You can download a podcast of the episode here (http://rrrfm NULL.libsyn NULL.com/index NULL.php?post_category=Byte%20Into%20It) (Feb 2) – I’m on from about 17:00.

Again, if you want to actually see the games that were made, and play them yourself, come and meet us at Cho Gao (Melbourne Central) next Tuesday Feb 8th. The presentation will start at 7:30, but come before then to say hi and have a few drinks

Be there.

That is all

And the 2011 Global Game Jam has been completed. This was the biggest ever Global Game Jam, with a record 6500 participants globally, taking part in 170 sites in 44 countries, making a total of almost 1500 games (All of which can be downloaded from the GGJ (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/) website to play.

Congratulations to everyone that joined in the fun! This was IGDA Melbourne’s first time running a GGJ event, and we had 72 eager developers locked up in cramped (and seriously air-conditioned) conditions over an entire weekend, making video games based on the theme ‘Extinction’. We had 18 teams formed, all creating and completing a playable game. This by itself is a fantastic achievement, and something all the jammers should be proud of. Some of the teams have already continued working on their games after the jam.

We’d like to once again thank our sponsors for the event, Firemint, La Trobe University and Stephan Schutze (http://www NULL.stephanschutze NULL.com/). Without their support before and during the event we simply would not have been able to pull this off, so huge props to all of them! Huge thanks to Giselle and also all the other IGDA committee members and helpers we had over the weekend.

The excitement through the entire weekend was constantly high, with people meeting new friends to form teams, and teams mingling and sharing ideas and improvements throughout. Photos and videos will be posted shortly on this site, and a bunch of photos are already on the facebook (http://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/group NULL.php?gid=2387534951) page.

We had a constant stream of visitors and media throughout the event, including representatives from Firemint, Torus Games and Tin Man Games, Hosts and crew from Level 3 and other local media. We also had a prestigious panel of judges to decide which of the games were most supremely awesome. A number of awards were given, with certificates and prizes. Full details on these, and links to all the games to come soon.

Thanks to all who helped make this event so memorable, in particular the jammers themselves. Your enthsiasm throughout the entire weekend, particularly in the wee small hours of the morning, even when seriously sleep deprived, was truly inspiring, and it’s fantastic to see just how many quality games were made in a single weekend.

We’ll be reminiscing on all the events of the weekend, and re-capping all the games made during the weekend, at our next meet at Cho Gao, February 8th. Looking forward to seeing you all there