To launch and celebrate, Andrew and Ben will be adding to the amazing that is the GDC: Delayed Australian Release with a chance to meet the team, hear about the development and score a Steam code.
The rest of the night’s details are in the original post
For more info about the Curse, head over to the Brawsome website (http://www NULL.brawsome NULL.com NULL.au/blog/index NULL.php/games/macguffins-curse/)
From the wonderful worlds of GDC and Twitter, a game jam has evolved, with 26 sites globally kicking off on Friday 30 March at The Hub, 673 Bourke St Melbourne (http://maps NULL.google NULL.com NULL.au/maps?q=673+bourke+st+melbourne&hl=en&sll=-25 NULL.335448,135 NULL.745076&sspn=42 NULL.067662,79 NULL.013672&hnear=673+Bourke+St,+Melbourne+Victoria+3000&t=m&z=16).
Andrew Brophy and Harry Lee have brought this together in record time and there’s space for around 60 jammers to create games based on the ideas from the twitter parody account that is @PeterMolydeux (https://twitter NULL.com/#!/petermolydeux). Pick any of the game ideas tweeted and away you go!
To secure your place, for a meagre $24 to cover Hub hire, head on over to the eventbrite listing (http://molyjam NULL.eventbrite NULL.com).
It’s another chance to jam with creative game developers and show the world stage how inspired Melbourne game development is. You’ll need to bring your own hardware, food, deodorant and sleeping gear. The site is located near Southern Cross Station and amongst plenty of shops to keep you sustained throughout the weekend.
For further information, check out the local facebook event page, and the central What would Molydeux site. If that doesn’t tell you all you need to know, get in touch with the organisers via molyjamaus@gmail.com.
Katie Williams, freelance writer from Kotaku Australia, will be covering the event. She had a chance to to catch up with the man behind the parody (http://kotaku NULL.com/5848926/an-interview-with-the-man-behind-gamings-funniest-fake-twitter-account), check it out.
Harry and Andrew are also on the lookout for sponsors, so if you or your company would like to support this wonderfully creative initiative, don’t be shy, let them know.
After much ado, GDC’s delayed Australian release will be in Melbourne.
When: Tuesday 10 April 6:00pm onwards
Where: The Workers Club (http://maps NULL.google NULL.com NULL.au/maps?q=The+Workers+Club,+Brunswick+Street,+Fitzroy,+Victoria&hl=en&sll=-25 NULL.335448,135 NULL.745076&sspn=61 NULL.878284,79 NULL.013672&oq=the+workers+club&hq=The+Workers+Club,+Brunswick+Street,+Fitzroy,+Victoria&t=m&z=15), cnr Brunswick and Gertrude Streets, Fitzroy
Harry Lee: While I’m sure meta-games will rate a mention, Harry will give the CA (Conference Associate) perspective, staying at indie hostels, and what happens when you try to illegally sneak into parties.
No doubt they’ll all be showing off the wonderful thing that is party networking, and hope you can make it along to live (or relive, if you made it this year) vicariously through their experiences.
Let us know if you’re coming along via the usual facebook event (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/events/365672066806786/).
Freeplay announced today that the 2012 Freeplay Festival will be held at the State Library of Victoria and beyond from 19‐23 September 2012.Freeplay 2012 will see the return of its conference and workshop program, public expo, awards, local and international speakers, and its unique mix of games, industry, culture, education, and play, centred around this year’s theme of ‘Chaos and Grace’.The festival will explore the chaos of the creative process, of development, and of the political, social, and artistic culture that surround us. It will dig into attempts to transform that chaos into systems and rules, and it will look at the way grace seeps into the skin of our work.Freeplay’s weekend program will once again take place at the State Library of Victoria on the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of September.
Acting CEO and State Librarian, Sue Hamilton said “Games are an important way for people to engage with the world and with each other. They allow people to learn through interaction and develop new skills for managing complex thinking. Games succeed in this because they are intrinsically motivating; people play games because they enjoy it, not because they have to.
People also use libraries because they want to. In a modern library, collections take many forms - manuscripts, books, websites, digital media. Games are a fundamental part of this landscape, so it is important that libraries not only ‘play’ in this space, but encourage others to do so.”
Today, Freeplay also says goodbye to co‐director Eve Penford‐Dennis who is moving on to focus on new projects.
Eve Penford-Dennis said, “The Freeplay Independent Games Festival has been an enormously exciting event to run, and I feel very privileged to have been its co‐ director.
“It’s always been important to me to promote, through Freeplay, the talent, and sheer ingenuity that people display when unencumbered by the weight
of conformity in mainstream game development. It has been both humbling and inspiring to work for a community that is so positive and passionate about games, their way.
“Leaving something you’ve been an integral part of for a long time is always a difficult decision but I’m proud of how Freeplay has grown and transformed the public conversation around games and play. In particular, I’m proud of the public program which drew over 1800 people through Experimedia in 2011, the awards which celebrate the best of Australian creative development to local and international audiences, and establishing Freeplay as a stand‐alone organisation which I’m sure will support Freeplay long into the future.” Current festival director Paul Callaghan will remain on to direct the 2012 festival before also pursuing new opportunities.
“It’s been an amazing experience working on Freeplay for so long and watching it evolve as we’ve gone from 600 attendees in 2009 to over 2000 in 2011, as the opportunities for independent game developers have grown and as games and play have shifted into the cultural mainstream. I’m looking forward to the 2012 festival being bigger and more ambitious before handing it over to somebody with a fresh perspective.”
Expressions of interest for the position of festival director will be available later in the year.
If you are looking for funding your next game project, Film Victoria (http://www NULL.film NULL.vic NULL.gov NULL.au) has some great funding options, and applications close mid-April.
At The Boat Builders Yard (http://theboatbuildersyard NULL.com/cms-contact) from 6pm – 9pm (talks starting at 6:30) in South Wharf we are pleased to give you some inside info on what it takes to secure funding from people who have been there and done that.
Ben Britten: As part of Tin Man Games (http://tinmangames NULL.com NULL.au/), Ben has written successful funding applications and is now one of the assessors for the fund (yes, he’s one of the people you’ll have to impress)
Chris Wright: The Chief Surprise Architect from Surprise Attack (http://surpriseattack NULL.com NULL.au/) has been involved in three successful funding applications in collaboration with his indie clients, and can give tips on this too, as well as what it takes to be able to access even bigger pots of money.
Chris Watts: Chris’ company, Play Bit Entertainment (http://www NULL.playbitent NULL.com/), has also been on the receiving end of Film Victoria funding for his recently released Facebook game, Puzzle Treasure (http://apps NULL.facebook NULL.com/puzzletreasure/?ref=ts)
And of course, Film Victoria’s own Brad Giblin will also be there to answer your questions.
As we are limited for space, this event is for those looking to secure funding in the next round of applications or the near future. We will be looking into holding a more general ‘How to Secure Funding’ event later in the year to cover not only Film Victoria, but also Screen Australia and any other relevant funding bodies.
Please be sure to RSVP via the facebook event (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/events/284818771586451/).
If you have any queries, email giselle@igdamelbourne.org
A message from Tony Reed, CEO of GDAA:
Dear members of the Australian game development industry,
RMIT University’s Games & Experimental Entertainment Laboratory (GEElab) is offering two 3-year full-time PhD stipends, to highly motivated Australians or New Zealanders. At the GEElab, an international research team is investigating how game design thinking can affect and alter architecture & urbanism, mobility, popular media & storytelling, engagement as well as other sciences, cf.www.geelab.rmit.edu.au (http://www NULL.geelab NULL.rmit NULL.edu NULL.au/). The GEElab operates sites at RMIT in Melbourne, Australia, as well as in Stuttgart, Germany, there as GEElab Europe, and is based in RMIT’s School of Media and Communication.
Both PhD stipends contain an uplift for EU loading and run at AUS$30,000 tax-exempt p.a. each, over the course of three years. With these stipends come one-off relocation allowances as well as funding for an optional German language course if the successful applicants are not proficient in German. In addition, the GEElab will sponsor project cost as well as conference travel given circumstances. It is intended that the successful candidates will commence as soon as possible in Melbourne, and relocate to Germany in May or June of 2012.
3-Year PhD Stipend: Game Design for Future Cities
This stipend supports a doctoral student and is linked to the question how game design methods as well as playfulness can, methodologically and practically, serve as design principles and design results for the city and for citizens of the future, tackling fields such as urban well-being and liveability, citizen engagement as well as sustainability. The successful applicant will be required to spend most of her/his stipend’s time on extended field research in the Stuttgart–Karlsruhe high tech industry region in the southwest of Germany, as well as in other RMIT GEElab sites, if necessary.
3-Year PhD Stipend: Game Design for Popular Entertainment
This stipend supports a doctoral student who will explore, in an applied fashion, under which conditions established forms of popular culture (e.g. sports, music, fashion), or media (e.g. TV, movies, textbooks, museums) can become interactive, enhanced, and potentially co-created entertainment experiences that have been inspired by games, and what social and cultural implications, novel uses and contexts these scenarios render. The successful applicant will be required to spend most of her/his stipend’s time on extended field research in the Stuttgart–Karlsruhe high tech industry region in the southwest of Germany, as well as in other RMIT GEElab sites, if necessary.
Please find detailed information about these stipends – including selection criteria and application procedure – at www.geelab.rmit.edu.au/
Applications for both stipends close Saturday, 31 March 2012. Interviews for both stipends will take place in April of 2012 (after Easter) in Melbourne. Please direct all enquires regarding these opportunities by Email to GEElab director Dr Steffen P Walz: steffen.walz@rmit.edu.au (steffen NULL.walz null@null rmit NULL.edu NULL.au).
Dear members of the Australian game development industry,
Thanks to everyone for pulling together to make the Play Party such a success. We will look to a better floor plan in the future so more people can play more games.
And huge thanks for your kindness and generosity which now means I’m a lost for words lifetime IGDA member.
Thousand Pound Bend is once again unable to accommodate us in March, but The Order of Melbourne is happy to have us again, and this time the rooftop will be ours too.
So…
If you’re not stateside for GDC we have a ripper discussion with Chris Wright, Chief Surprise Architect at Surprise Attack (http://surpriseattack NULL.com NULL.au/), the indie games marketing specialists and Dan Golding, video games blogger at Crikey.com (http://blogs NULL.crikey NULL.com NULL.au/game-on/) about how to market yourselves, your games and how to liaise with media to obtain the best possible outcomes. We may have another games journalist dropping in to join the discussion, but that depends on when
When: Tuesday 13 March 6:30, talks start at 7:30pm
Where: The Order of Melbourne (http://maps NULL.google NULL.com NULL.au/maps?q=the+order+of+melbourne&hl=en&ll=-37 NULL.80875,144 NULL.963291&spn=0 NULL.010019,0 NULL.01929&fb=1&gl=au&hq=the+order+of&hnear=0x6ad642af0f11fd81:0x5045675218ce7e0,Melbourne+VIC&cid=0,0,13260682760810499361&t=m&z=16&iwloc=A)
RSVP via Facebook (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/events/220873738009588/)
So if you want to know the tricks to marketing your game, writing media releases and communicating with journo’s insights, don’t miss out.
If you have any queries email giselle / at/ igdamelbourne dot org
A selection of newly conserved games from the Melbourne Global Game Jam (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/sites/2012/igda-melbourne-la-trobe) will be available for your sampling pleasure at the next IGDAM meet up. Please note the unusual date (didn’t want to cramp Valentine’s plans) and venue (the bend was already booked).
When: Tuesday 21 February from 6pm
Where: The Order of Melbourne (http://maps NULL.google NULL.com NULL.au/maps?q=the+order+of+melbourne&ll=-37 NULL.80875,144 NULL.963291&spn=0 NULL.010019,0 NULL.01929&fb=1&gl=au&hq=the+order+of&hnear=0x6ad642af0f11fd81:0x5045675218ce7e0,Melbourne+VIC&cid=0,0,13260682760810499361&t=m&z=16&iwloc=A) (think Freeplay afterparty venue and you’re set)
Some of the games for your tasting pleasure include:
Omelette Boris (http://www NULL.kumobius NULL.com/omeletteboris/), Purgatory (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2012/purgatory), Circle of Snake (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2012/circle-snake), Faia (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2012/faia), Harmonize (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2012/harmonize), Hairy Cat Holocaust (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2012/hairy-cat-holocaust) (please play on mute), Deep (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2012/deep)and many, many more….
If you could let us know if you’re coming via the facebook event (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/events/155828627866033/) it’d be much appreciated.
Jammers, please register your game for display (https://docs NULL.google NULL.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dFhDVzlMVEo4ejM3U25wZTh6S3ZHTXc6MQ#gid=0) so we can save you a space and have someone set up by 6pm at The Order.
We also owe significant thanks to our other Gold Sponsors the Academy (http://aie NULL.edu NULL.au)of Interactive Entertainment (http://aie NULL.edu NULL.au) and Immersive Technologies (http://www NULL.immersivetechnologies NULL.com/)for their generous financial assistance. Their support allowed us to provide meals and some fun distractions to relieve the jammers from 48 hours of relentless development. The game jam would not have been possible without their early support.
All the jammers also owe many thanks to our Prize Sponsors EA Aus (http://www NULL.ea NULL.com/au)
tralia (http://www NULL.ea NULL.com/au),Stephan Shutze’s Sound Librarian (http://www NULL.stephanschutze NULL.com/sound-library NULL.html), Surprise Attack (http://surpriseattack NULL.com NULL.au/) amd StormFX (http://www NULL.stormfx NULL.com NULL.au/) for their generous donation of prizes including a copy of the Stephan’s sound library, valued at $2000 for the best game audio, a half day branding and marketing workshop for the most surprising game, as well as JB giftcards and a terrific selection of EA games and merchandise.
Finally, cheers to our Indie Sponsors Tin Man Games (http://tinmangames NULL.com NULL.au/), The League of Geeks (http://www NULL.leagueofgeeks NULL.com/), and The Voxel Agents (http://www NULL.thevoxelagents NULL.com/) who provided some financial support and who were also incredibly generous with their time in helping organise, run, and judge the jam. Particular thanks are also due to Ben Britten-Smith of Tin Man Games who provided valuable mentorship to the jammers.
Hope to see you at The Order