http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php en lisa@lisadearaujo.com Copyright 2009 2009-06-25T14:09:00+00:00 http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/guitar_hero_rock_fest_2009/ http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/guitar_hero_rock_fest_2009/#When:14:09:00Z one guitar, one rocker, one hero June 25th - Sidney Sussex College BarDate: June 25th, 2009 Time: 8.00pm to 11.30pm Venue: Sidney Sussex College Bar (enter via Porters Lodge opposite Sainsburys.) Participate as individuals or represent your company. Either way, infamy and a place in local games community folklore await as the event will be filmed and the winner awarded legendary status amongst peers. The Games Eden Guitar Hero team are putting the finishing touches to the event including playlists, scoring and setup so register now to take your seat at history in the making. Entrance is free to Games Eden members and member company employees.  £10 a head to non-members Download this poster and put it up in your office! Event Proceedings 2009-06-25T14:09:00+00:00 http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/brains_in_the_game_norwich/ http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/brains_in_the_game_norwich/#When:10:38:00Z The Creative Process, How Do Good Ideas Get Turned Into Fantastic Games?The Creative Process, How Do Good Ideas Get Turned Into Fantastic Games? Date: 4th June 2009 Time: 6.00 pm to 8.30 pm Organised by: Games Eden and Norwich University College of the Arts Venue: The ‘Stew’ Gallery 40 Fishergate, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 1SL Speakers from Skillset and leading educators and developers. Brains in the Game provides a tete á tete between educators and developers asking how we can improve the symbiosis between the Games Industry and Education/Training institutions.  Games companies and education/training providers will give short presentations and discuss new ways to supply the right kind of talent at the right time. The theme for the evening is the creative process, how do good ideas get turned into fantastic games? The seminar will look at best practice and the barriers that stop Games Developers, Tutors and Students getting together more. Plus Networking over refreshments This is a free event, but places are limited. Register now: http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/GamesEden/BrainsintheGame Event Proceedings 2009-06-04T10:38:00+00:00 http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/life_without_the_cd/ http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/life_without_the_cd/#When:12:16:00Z With CD on its last legs, how are consumers now getting their hands on game content? The internet continues to transform our lives, but how can commercial digital creativity make the most of opportunities to thrive in the online world?Date:  Thu 21st May 2009 Time:  16:00 - 19:30 Venue:  The Kaetsu Centre, Murray Edwards College, Huntingdon Road, Cambridge With CD on its last legs, how are consumers now getting their hands on game content? The internet continues to transform our lives, but how can commercial digital creativity make the most of opportunities to thrive in the online world? The speakers, all experts in new delivery mechanisms through direct experience, will present and lead us through the fascinating world of online game content delivery. We will be exploring real world success with D2C digital downloads,content delivery to digital communities and the creative and commercial imperatives of social networking and portal sites - where are games headed on the global digital roadmap! Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of a rapidly developing games industry network in the East of England. We have lined up an impressive list of speakers from the Industry to debate the issues. The event is free to attend, but places are limited and are based on first come first served. Register now for this event. Agenda 16:00 Registration and Refreshments 16:30 Welcome and Introduction - Rob Precious of Geomerics 16:40 Going direct: Opportunities, Pathfinders and Pitfalls - Rick Gibson from Games Investor Consulting Rick will present the scale, growth and innovation potential of the online gaming market. He’ll describe some leading games companies that are changing the rules, throw the differences between running offline vs. online companies into stark relief, and ask why so few British studios operate in the online world. 17:00 Q&A 17:10 Self Publishing: A Best Practice Clinic - Alex Chapman from Sheridans the Creative Business Lawyers Alex will present a best practice guide to Self Publishing in the digital era with a particular emphasis on protecting IP. 17:30 Q&A 17:40 “We are all assuming the future is online. Is this right?” - David Braben from Frontier David will talk about how increasing online distribution of games is likely to change the games industry, but also challenge the assumption that all games will be sold online in the near future. He will talk in the context of Frontier’s online-only release of LostWinds, and experience with games sold through conventional retail channels. 18:00 Q&A 18:10 Presenter Panel Discussion Led by Rick Gibson, this will be an open panel session drawing on the panel’s experience and the presentations, leading into lively debate involving the whole audience. 18:30 Networking over Coffee/Tea 19:30 Event Closes This agenda may be subject to change Speaker Profiles David Braben About Frontier - Frontier employs over 200 people, based in Cambridge, UK and is one of the games industry’s leading independent developers, having built upon the innovative creations of founder David Braben, co-author of the seminal ‘Elite’.  Frontier is currently making games for all leading platforms. The studio has received several prestigious BAFTA nominations (e.g. for ‘Dog’s Life’ and ‘Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo’) in addition to an Academy of Interactive Arts Institute nomination for it’s US PC No. 1 hit ‘RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3’. In October 2007 publisher LucasArts and Frontier released the award winning “Thrillville: Off the RailsTM”, the sequel to their 2006 best-selling original kids title in North America, ‘ThrillvilleTM’. LostWinds®, Frontier’s chart-topping launch title for Nintendo’s WiiWareTM digital game download service won the 2008 Develop Industry Excellence Award ‘Best New IP’. Frontier is working on the eagerly anticipated Xbox®360, PlayStation®3 and PC action thriller ‘The Outsider®’ as well as other exciting, but as yet unannounced, projects. www.frontier.co.uk Games Investor Consulting Founded in 2003, Games Investor Consulting specialises in strategy consultancy, market research and corporate finance, typically consulting at board-level on market assessment, corporate strategy, market entry and development, fund-raising, investment and acquisitions. GIC provides specialist analysis of the games industry, authoring or editing a broad range of research reports including the first major report on online gaming in 2004. GIC’s clients include the BBC, RTL, FremantleMedia, Hasbro, Sony Computer Entertainment, Nomura, Jagex and various governmental bodies, amongst others. GIC founded and led the Games Up? campaign, which lobbied government for more support for the UK’s games development industry Alex Chapman of Sheridans Alex Chapman is an intellectual property expert and leading lawyer in the interactive entertainment, leisure and creative industries. He has an especially strong reputation in computer games and digital media, with first hand knowledge of the sectors as part of the development teams on a number of successful projects before taking up the law. He now acts for some of Europe’s top developers and publishers and is regarded by the UK legal directories as “a star”, “worth every penny” and “a leading authority on IP law pertaining to computer games” (Legal 500) and “an expert in the computer games sector” rated for “fighting his clients’ corners well” (Chambers and Partners). Alex is also listed in Develop Magazine’s 25 most important people in the UK games development industry. He is also highly regarded across the creative and leisure industries, particularly advising a wide range of clients from brand owners to sports personalities in relation to intellectual property and commercial rights issues. In this area Chambers and Partners comment that Alex “covers the whole spectrum of IP rights brilliantly and goes through things in great detail. As software and entertainment media increasingly come together Alex consequently regularly advises, writes and presents on convergence matters. Event Proceedings 2009-05-21T12:16:00+00:00 http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/tiga_discount_for_gamehorizon_conference/ http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/tiga_discount_for_gamehorizon_conference/#When:09:06:00Z Tiga members can benefit from spacial discounted prices to GameHorizon Conference on the 23rd to the 24th of June.TIGA members can benefit from a special discounted price for the GameHorizon Conference—which features a heavy hitting line-up of speakers from companies including Sony, Microsoft EA, Quantic Dream and Eutechnyx. The conference will take a look at the high-level issues facing industry executives as well as highlighting where the business opportunities will lie in the near future. If you sign up before midnight on Friday 29 May you can get your ticket for the specially discounted price of just £199. The conference will be held in the iconic Sage venue on the Quayside of Gateshead Newcastle, UK on the 23rd and 24th June.  There will also be a “007” themed party and poker tournament (Texas hold’em style) for the evening of the 23rd and plenty of opportunity to meet other delegates. Speakers include: David Jones, Creative Director & CEO, Realtime Worlds Jamil Moledina, Director, Electronic Arts / EA Partners Mark Rein, Vice President, Epic Games Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Quantic Dream Charles Cecil, Managing Director, Revolution Ian Livingstone, Creative Director, Eidos (conference host) Peter Edward, Director, PlayStation Home Platform To benefit from this discount go to www.gamehorizonconference.com and use the promo code ghc_tigmem09 or call Carri Cunliffe on 07881 833 443 to arrange to be invoiced. Conferences and Meetings 2009-05-21T09:06:00+00:00 http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/free_entry_to_ai_games_technology_research_network/ http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/free_entry_to_ai_games_technology_research_network/#When:09:11:00Z TIGA has negotiated a special day and free entry for its members to the AI and Games Technology Research Network with a TIGA open session in the afternoon as part of the event programme.Date: Tuesday 2nd June 10am – 6pm Venue: Dana Centre, Science Museum, SW7 (Nearest tube: South Kensington / Gloucester Road) TIGA has negotiated a special day and free entry for its members to the AI and Games Technology Research Network with a TIGA open session in the afternoon as part of the event programme. All TIGA members are invited for the whole day with a special programme for the AI and Games professionals of keynote industry and academic speakers, networking and ‘open mic’ sessions.  The day will end with a sponsored reception at Imperial College (guests welcome) supported by CITIN.  This is great chance to discuss the issues that matter to you with industry professionals and leading academics. TIGA members should register at: http://www.aigamesnetwork.org/main:events:2ndnetworkevent This year the AI and Research Network has joined with the Game 09 event at Imperial College on the June 1st, to create 2 days of seminars, demonstrations and networking opportunities specially for the industry. TIGA members can register for those events at http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/game/ Conferences and Meetings 2009-05-19T09:11:00+00:00 http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/guardian_reports_onj_games_industry_brain_drain/ http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/guardian_reports_onj_games_industry_brain_drain/#When:09:14:00Z Increasing numbers of the UK's best videogame designers are being lured abroad in a costly brain drain which the UK industry says the government has done far too little to stop.The Guardian reports on the UK’s games industry demands action to stop brain drain As top designers are lured away by rivals offering lifestyle incentives and tax breaks, the communications minister, Lord (Stephen) Carter, is considering options for assistance.  Industry News 2009-05-18T09:14:00+00:00 http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/brains_in_the_game1/ http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/brains_in_the_game1/#When:18:13:00Z This University of Hertfordshire hosted Brains Eden event will look at the games industry as a business and will help students and other interested parties understand how the games industry works.Date: 14th May 2009 Time: 5.00 pm to 8.00 pm Venue: Film, Media and Music Building, Room 2B05, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, AL10 9AB Speakers and Topics include: The games industry - Jon Hare Jon has worked on over 60 games in the last 25 years on over 20 formats from Sinclair Spectrum to X-Box360. 10 of these games have reached number 1 in the UK games charts. He is best known for his time as co-founder of legendary computer Games Developer Sensible Software (1986-1999) with whom he designed and developed games such well known as Sensible Soccer, Cannon Fodder and Wizball. Sensible Software was twice voted developer of the year for the prestigious Indin Awards. For the last 10 years he has been a game design and business development consultant in the computer games sector for a number of international games developers such as Bitmap Brothers, Elixir Studios, Monumental, Tower Studios, In2games, Nikitova, Atomic Planet, Sobee, Acony, E-Play and Nice Tech and publishing companies such as Codemasters, THQ and Sony. In addition Jon frequently performs numerous media, public speaking and educational roles for such corporate bodies as BAFTA, The British Consulate, GDC and numerous television and radio channels, websites and magazines. How to start a company - John McMillan Head of McMillan Technology, John is responsible for bringing high tech products to market. John has created and run numerous high tech companies in the last 25 years.  He has helped Universities market their intellectual property.  He is President of the Sudbury Chamber of Commerce and he chairs the Collaborate2Innovate group - an initiative designed to help technology companies in the eastern region increase opportunities through networking. Plus Networking over refreshments This is a free event, but places are limited. Register now: http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/BrainsintheGame Event Proceedings 2009-05-14T18:13:00+00:00 http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/self_publiishing_seminar/ http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/self_publiishing_seminar/#When:21:29:00Z Tiga and Sheridans are hosting a free seminar entitled "Self Publishing: Good Opportunity - Good Practice.Date: Thursday, 28th May Time: 5:30pm for 6pm Venue: Sheridans, Whittington House, Alfred Place, WC1E 7EA Self publishing is becoming increasingly popular and available. As new platforms and routes to market emerge, so the opportunities grow, both for established games devfelopers and new entrants into the industry. However, self-publishing also has its risks. This seminar, hosted by Sheridans and Tiga and featuring guest speakers from platforms that make self-publishing a viable option, will go through the opportunities and advantages of self-publishing and provide a road map to avoid the pitfalls. It is an essential event for anyone interested in self publishing. Please rsvp to events@sheridans.co.uk to reserve your place. Conferences and Meetings 2009-04-27T21:29:00+00:00 http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/jagex_joins_tiga/ http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/jagex_joins_tiga/#When:16:16:00Z Jagex Ltd, the UK’s largest independent games developer, was unveiled today as the newest member of Tiga, the UK’s game developer trade body. Jagex Ltd, the UK’s largest independent games developer, was unveiled today as the newest member of Tiga, the UK’s game developer trade body. The Cambridge based games studio, which is best known for the free-to-play MMO RuneScape and most recently Funorb.com, has joined Tiga to support Tiga’s valuable work promoting the games industry in the UK. “As one of Britain’s largest games developers we are delighted to support Tiga” said Mark Gerhard, Jagex CEO. “We passionately believe that the UK is one of the leading development communities in the world and by joining Tiga we hope to assist them in raising the profile of UK game developers and crucially to ensure that the UK remains a great place to make games. I urge all game developers to join Tiga to help make the UK the best place in the world to do games business.” Richard Wilson, Tiga’s CEO, added: “Jagex is one of the most successful game developers in the world, not just the UK. Jagex has developed extraordinarily popular games and is at the leading edge in terms of online safety and security. “Jagex’s decision to join our trade association is a massive endorsement of Tiga’s new strategy: to campaign for developers in political circles, to maximise the industry’s media profile and to develop services that reduce Tiga members’ costs and strengthen their commercial opportunities. I look forward to working with Jagex in the cause of serving the UK games development sector.” Industry News 2009-04-15T16:16:00+00:00 http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/cambridge_firms_strong_show_in_san_francisco/ http://www.gameseden.co.uk/index.php/site/cambridge_firms_strong_show_in_san_francisco/#When:09:09:00Z JEREMY COOKE, CEO of Cambridge-based Gameware Development, wrote the following article for Cambridge News Online from the Game Development Conference in San Francisco.OVER the last week, thousands of game developers from all over the world have descended upon the Moscone exhibition centre in San Francisco to discuss their latest game projects and discover the creative possibilities of new digital technologies. From small creative applications for iPhone to huge and ambitious next generation console projects, computer games are becoming ubiquitous and GDC is the place where creative digital technology is scrutinised and debated among the leading lights and wannabes of the ever-growing game development business. The Cambridge game development community is well represented at GDC. More than 30 delegates are attending the show from companies such as Sony studios, Zoonami, Gameware, Ninja Theory, Geomerics, Frontier, Universally Speaking and Jagex. Most of these companies are members of Games Eden, the Cambridge-centred, regional game development networking organisation. Games Eden hosted an event at GDC on Wednesday March 25, with the intention of introducing our 800 employee-plus local creative digital entertainment hub to the wider global game development and publishing community. By all accounts, Games Eden, supported by sponsorship from EEDA, EEI, Screen East and FDMX is starting to bring recognition to the Cambridge region as a centre of games industry excellence. Game products such as Runescape, Heavenly Sword, Wallace and Grommit, the advanced middleware solution Enlighten from Geomerics and the augmented reality technologies delivered by Gameware to the CBBC gameshow BAMZOOKi are all helping to build a burgeoning digital creative community in the region. Support companies such as Universally Speaking are building businesses providing translation, localisation and product testing services to this new growth area. In some part, the establishment and growth of interactive software businesses is due to the prior existence of game computer manufacturers Sinclair and Acorn. Of course, Cambridge is also home to a strong range of technology companies including ARM, CSR, Broadcom, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia and Sony. Building the infrastructure to support a world-class creative digital community is supported at Government level in France, Canada, Australia and Korea. The Games Eden group has grown organically to become one of the largest creative technology hubs in the UK. Let’s hope that this area of growth in an otherwise bleak economic landscape is nurtured and harnessed for the benefit of our region. Industry News 2009-04-02T09:09:00+00:00