Thanks to  the Games Developers’ Association, we can offer a 10% discount on all tickets to GCAP, 14-16 November 2011 to all IGDA Melbourne regulars.

To make sure you are actually involved in IGDAM you need to contact Giselle directly, giselle@igdamelbourne.org for a unique code, which can be entered at the time of booking your conference ticket.

This is the biggest local developer conference in the Australian calendar and it’s highly recommended that you don’t miss out.

GDAA members receive a 20% discount, so if you’re a studio or indie it would be worth checking out membership options too.  For further information email info@gdaa.com.au

The Game Developers’ Association of Australia is now soliciting session proposals for speakers from all disciplines to address our core theme of ‘The Journey’ for Game Connect Asia Pacific 2011.

The 2011 conference aims to establish the foundations on which the Australian industry will grow to become a major international game development territory in the future by exploring the lessons learned in the past 30 years of Australian development, how they have led to the current development landscape, and how those lessons can influence the future of studios, projects, and the creation of intellectual property.

The event also seeks to identify and understand the resources, tools, production processes, platforms and new business structures that exist for the industry, and how the implementation will assist the creative development and competitiveness of the Australian industry.

GCAP Event Information

Date: 14 – 16 November 2011

Venue: Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Australia

GCAP Structure

GCAP consists of a number of tracks:

Programming | Art | Design | Production | Business Development

and has multiple presentation formats:

Panel/Roundtable discussions | Lectures | Workshops | Masterclasses

For more details head over to your friendly, neighbourhood GDAA website

MELBOURNE – 19 July 2011 – The Game Developers’ Association of Australia today announced that the industry conference Game Connect Asia Pacific (GCAP) is returning to Melbourne in November 2011.

With it’s theme of ‘The Journey’, GCAP 2011 will deliver a series of lectures, master classes and discussions, designed to identify the processes, resources and opportunities that will grow the Australian industry over the next few years.

“’The Journey’ is a liberating theme for the conference as it not only allows us to look forward and plot the path of the Australian game development industry over the next few years, but also lets us look back at our evolution, dissecting what has been learned over 31 years of creating games in Australia,” said Antony Reed, CEO of the Game Developers’ Association of Australia.

“GCAP 2010 was a community driven event and in many ways defined the capabilities of the Australian industry. For 2011, participation from every discipline in the game making process ensures we establish the right foundations for the industry’s future growth.”

GCAP 2011 ‘The Journey’ will consist of a number of tracks – programming, art, design, audio, business development and marketing – addressing the needs of the whole industry. The conference will also include multiple presentation formats, including panels, round table discussions, lectures and master classes.

GCAP 2011 will be held at the new Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre from Monday 14 November to Wednesday 16 November 2011.

The GCAP 2011 website will go live on August 1, 2011 – www.gcap.com.au

About Game Connect Asia Pacific:
Game Connect: Asia Pacific (GCAP) is Australia’s premier annual game development conference, exhibition and networking event for the Asia Pacific Games Industry and is administered by the Game Developers’ Association of Australia. GCAP 2011 will be held at the Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre from Monday 14 November to Wednesday 16 November, 2011.

For event and media information, contact:

Alison Barnes

Director

Alpha Event Management

Ph: + 61 2 9126 9412

E: alison@alphaevents.com.au

Hey devs

Come along next week and hear about some exciting new game projects and initiatives at our Open Mic Night!

When: From 6.00pm, mic’s turn on at 7.00* (give or take, but earlier than usual to fit it all in!)

Where: 1000 Pound Bend, Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

We’ve received a huge response to our call-out, so much that we unfortunately can’t fit everyone into the one night. Don’t worry though, you can expect more Open-Mic events to come. In particular, we’re looking at hosting a presentation evening later this year specific to student groups, to give them a chance to publicly show off their hard work for the year.

but without further ado, the running sheet for next week is as follows:

• QBOY – Student Project (Student Presentation)
• Swing Interactive – Student Project (Student Presentation)
• Harry Lee – Current and future projects and Harry’s Jam (Student Presentation)
• Wicked Awesome Pty Ltd – “The Adventures of James Chimp”
• Anomolous Interactive – “Homemade Shooter” to “Slingshot Justice”
• Chris Mackenzie – AdHatchers Advertising Agency
• Trent Kusters – Introduction to  “League of Geeks”
• David Thompson -  GameLoft Auckland update
• Casper Pieters – 3 Part TV Series with a related Gaming Platform (He wants to pick your brains!)
• Raptus Games – Starting a new Indie Studio, preview of first release ‘Draw’
• Walk Through The Clock – First year as an Indie startup
• PlayBit Entertainment – “Puzzle Treasure”……phew!

It’s ok, we’ll go all old fashioned and have an intermission on this one, and it’s micro-talks or midnight.  If there’s a particular project or topic you’d like to discuss futher just catch up with the presenter later in the night.

We’ll also hear  from Paul Callaghan about  Freeplay, which is just around the corner, and Tony Reed from the GDAA will explain who can take advantage of the new R&D Tax Credits and how.

Finally, although not chronologically, there will be a sneak preview for an exciting event that IGDA is helping to bring to Melbourne next year…any guesses?

Come along to hear all about it all!

I tried for pretty pictures, but they got all squashed, so here’s the invite in black and white:

RMIT University Research & Innovation presents:

THE FUTURE OF GAMES & ENTERTAINMENT:
GEELAB LAUNCH & SYMPOSIUM

The GEElab is a new initiative from RMIT University destined to contribute design research
and innovation to the academic community and to the development of the games, entertainment
and media industry both in Melbourne and internationally.

Tuesday 15 March 2011, 5pm – 8pm

Venue:
RMIT University, City Campus
Storey Hall, Level 7 conference rooms
336 – 348 Swanston Street
Melbourne

To be launched by:
* Professor Daine Alcorn, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation and
Vice President, RMIT University
* Professor Stephanie Hemelryk-Donald, Dean, School of Media and Communication,
RMIT University

Speakers:
* Dr Steffen P Walz, Director, GEELab, How the Geelab May Help to Invent the Future
* Gabe Zichermann, Gamification Expert and Author, Chair of the Gamification Summit,
San Francisco, Mastering Gamification: The Future is Fun
* Professor Zhao Chen Ding, Director of New Media Research Centre, Beijing Institute
for Fashion Technology & Founder of the Milan/Beijing Digital Entertainment Jam,
Jamming Digital Entertainment
* Panel discussion—To Boldly Play, featuring Antony Reed (Game Developers’ Association
of Australia), Brad Giblin (Film Victoria), Dr Christy Dena (Cross/Transmedia Designer),
Giselle Rosman (IGDA Melbourne) and surprise guests.

RSVP:
By Thursday 10 March to
mediacommunication@rmit.edu.au
Limited seating available

Further information:
info@geelab.rmit.edu.au

In partnership with:
* Game Developers’ Association of Australia
* Film Victoria
* IGDA Melbourne (That’s us!)

The plans for the party are underway – and numbers are filling fast.

We’ve got the location – Big Ant Studios right in the middle of town – thanks! *waves* – and this also means we’ve got the list at the door, and if you’ve not on it with invite in hand then you miss out. And that would make us sad. So please make sure you register

We’ve got the food – HUUUUUGE shoutout to AUTODESK for sponsoring the tucker and who also have some super-amazing deals for ‘lil ‘ole IGDA Melbourne folk – so get in touch with Paul Hellyer if you’re looking to upgrade by Jan 18

We’ve got hmmm, a few drinks I guess – so if you feel like sponsoring the bar of what is sure to be a memorable party, please , contact giselle@igdamelbourne.org – I’d love to hear from you and make it that a top arvo is had by all.

Have no fear, it’ll all happen – but any and all support is welcome.

If you work for any of the tagged companies which we do our best to support we’d love your involvement – and it seems from the rsvp’s we’ll see some of most of you there.

Bring on the rooftop!!

…..and she’s back after a hectic Open Day season I’m glad to be helping the IGDA crew once again, albeit 23 hours before the next meet up.

It’s a bit of a taster’s plate this month, with the main course being some delicious morsels of GCAP goodness (I think I might be hungry, but I digress)

WHEN: Tuesday 7 September 7.30pm onwards (yep, that’d be tomorrow/tonight/you’ve already missed it)

WHERE: 3 Degrees Bar, located in the QV cnr Swanston & Lonsdale Sts

WHAT:

Tony Reed will give us an update about how GCAP’s shaping up (might be time to look for some cheap flights north)

Martin Wilkes will treat us to the low-down on FMOD as well as some government-based (we still have one somehow, right?) initiatives that will be of interest to some games folk out there

No doubt discussions will be around the current state of play in Oz, so it’s also good to look at the new evolving options out there for game creators in their many forms; we’ll kick around more ideas on studio and salon setups, cross skilling, upskilling, Game Jam, art exhibitions and lots more…. so there should be something there for everyone!

NEW VENUE:

Yep, the kind folk of 3 Degrees have agreed to take us, and have offered a slab of beer as a door prize for tomorrow night, as well as their specials drink list:

$5 Glasses of Wine of the Month – Hardy’s Nottage Hill Chardonnay/Shiraz

$5 Bottles of Crown Lager

$5 Bottles of Beer of the Month – Dry Dock Lager

$5 Spirit of the Month – Johhny Red (unless sold out – then they’re all something else…)

Any queries, we’ll be keeping an eye on the facebook event (and will soon be updating the whole facebook thang to encourage dialogue), and @igdamelbourne will be in twitterland on the day – join the chirping

I’ve personally been looking forward to this one since March, so I hope to see you there, you can tell me all about Freeplay  :D  -Giselle

As most of you are aware, our most recent meetup was on the 6th of July. We hosted Tony Reed (Game Developers’ Association of Australia), Neil Rennison (Fraction  Studios, Tin Man Games) and Cameron Lee (EA Melbourne) as panel members for a night of industry and development dissection.

Apologies were accepted on behalf of Kevin Chan (Bluetongue) who unfortunately couldn’t make it due to impromptu overseas guests.

The night was kicked off by Paul Callaghan of Freeplay, who was very pleased to announce that the IGDA will be hosting the Freeplay after parties. This will in fact be counted as our next monthly meetup, so be sure to head along to Freeplay (it’s looking fantastic) and we’ll see you for drinks afterwards.

Now that the Freeplay program is out (link below), expect details on the after parties on August 14 & 15 very soon.

http://www.freeplay.net.au/2010-program/

The studio panel went well, with our three presenters covering a range of development and industry related topics, including… marketing, outsourcing, production and communication techniques, tips for startups, and much more. The end of the panel saw some great questions from the audience also.

On behalf of the committee and July’s attendees, a big thank you to our three panel members! Also, thanks to everyone who made it along on the night.

Stay tuned for more info on next month’s Freeplay after parties and other info bound to come out of the IGDA woodwork.