May Gathering - an insight into board games

Last IGDA gathering held on 6th May had extra board gaming flavor thanks to Tactic. Kati Heljakka and Petter Ilander from Tactic's Product Development unit were visiting us. That time 85 game enthusiasts joined the party chatting about game development and board games in particular. For those who do not know, Tactic (Nelostuote Oy) got started in 1967 when they launched Kimble in Finland. Their current goal is to be the market leader in board games in Europe and they are evidently doing very well. Tactic is trying to expand board games into digital and mobile. Currently they have some board games with DVD additions available but they are also looking for new opportunities on mobile.

Kati and Petter gave a short presentation of Tactic and their future plans. Tactic is currently developing mobile version of word explaining game Alias. They are also very interested of transforming their other games into mobile and are currently looking for partners(!). If your company is interested in finding out more about their plans, please get in touch with Kati and Petter (firstname.surname@tactic.fi) .

Besides board gaming, the chat rolled around similarities and differences between board game and digital game development, GTA IV and the report Neogames put out in April. Neogames highlighted that Finnish game industry is lacking of around 200 techsavvy people. Recruitment definitely is a shared challenge for many!

With some drinks and a lot of talk, it was another fun night at System Rock! Next time (10th of June) will be the last gathering before the summer break. We hope to hear the latest news from Nordic Game Conference as well as see you all there!

May gathering - Tuesday 6th

Greetings people! Spring is finally here, birds are returning and sun is becoming a regular fella in our skies. What better way to celebrate spring but to come with your colleagues in System Rock. Bring in your handheld gaming devices for some spring WiFi gaming bonanza!

*IGDA FINLAND MAY GATHERING* Place: System Rock, Keskuskatu 4, 00100 Helsinki (map: http://igda.fi/?page_id=5) Time: Tuesday 6th May, doors open at 19.00

See you there!

Meeting survey results!

Hey All! The results for the survey on System Rock  are finally in.    First of all, I wanted to say thank you to all the people who took the time to give feedback.  Your views are very important to us and we definitely appreciate you taking the time to fill out the survey!

System Rock appears to still be the preferred venue primarily because of its excellent location.    Many also felt that the size, the fact that it is private, and the bar selection are quite good.

There were a few repeated concerns raised about System Rock such as the noise/music volume and chair availability that we hope to remedy in the near future.

We are also keeping an open mind to the possibility of a new venue. There were some really great suggestions for things to look for in a new venue such as: more comfortability, a terrace for the summer, more tables and the possibility of ordering food. If you have any further suggestions for a venue please feel free to write me at: liz.lehtonen (at) gmail.com

Thank you,

Elizabeth Lehtonen

April Gathering - where to find talented game gurus?

The third IGDA Finland Presentations session was held on 8th of April at Papa Giovanni Showroom. This time the theme was education covering everything from most interesting research findings to current state of games’ education and recruitment: how to boost up collaboration between companies and school which would benefit both.

The night was kicked off by Koopee "Neogames" Hiltunen who gave a briefing of a survey on game education (Pelialan koulutusselvitys) which will be published on 24th April by Neogames. One challenge for the growth of the game industry will be the lack of skilled work force. Neogames survey will suggest actions to enable the growth of the industry.

Frans Mäyrä from the University of Tampere and Petri Lankoski from University of Arts and Design talked about universities´ role in “education”. Universities do not train programmers or 3D artists but generate a lot of important data about the gamers, technical trends as well as tools for ideation or software development. Frans reminded that Tekes is a good source of funding. Especially when companies do not have the needed resources (time or people) an alternative would be to join a project where companies would collaborate with researchers as well as other companies along by the value chain. University of Tampere is currently preparing SoGame project which focuses on integration of social media and games in online services. Petri Lankoski brought up that University of Art and Design (Taik) is closer to praxis and hands-on work but still would also educate “educators of educators”.

The next three talks focused on professional training. Juha Vanhanen from Adulta gave a talk about courses Adulta is offering. Currently there are both basic and additional training available from basic game industry education to Game producer / manager course as well as business course (Pelialan liiketalouden valmennusohjelma). The students will graduate every second year and according to Juha majority of them have found work at the industry. KAJAK (Kajaani University of Applied Sciences) has a Game Programming Module. The studies started in 2006 and first students should graduate in 2009. KAJAK would be interested in closer collaboration with companies around Finland because there do not YET exist that strong game industry in Kajaani area. On-the-job training offers should be targeted to Veli-Pekka Piirainen. The last but not least was Veikko Miettinen from Outokumpu Pelitalo. Pelitalo is focused on 3D graphics. North Karelia College Outokumpu started game level designer and 3D-animator education in the fall of 2005. Currently they have a good line of applicants and good skills on 3D modeling and animation. They have also worked with Swedish Playsquad.com and utilized their motion capture equipment. Education theme continued at the bar where Outokumpu Pelitalo and Taik were showing some of their works. Petri Lankoski presented “Lies and Seductions” game project and Outokumpu showed their showreel, 3D models and animations. IGDA Finland Presentations attracted 40 people this time and the pub night gathered 105 gamers to the System Rock.

April Presentation & Gathering - Tuesday 8th

Hello everyone! Looks like winter is trying to catch up on us! But no blizzard can stop the monthly stampede to IGDA Finland Gathering! But wait... There's more! It's time for our 3rd IGDA Finland Presentation - In our presentation series.

*IGDA FINLAND APRIL PRESENTATION #3* Venue: Papa Giovanni Showroom, Keskuskatu 7 Time: Tuesday 8th April at 17.30 to 19.00

*IGDA FINLAND APRIL GATHERING* Place: System Rock, Keskuskatu 4, 00100 Helsinki (map: http://igda.fi/?page_id=5) Time: Tuesday 8th April, doors open at 19.00

What are the most interesting research findings at the moment? What type of collaboration schools and game developers have at the moment? Could students collaborate with the companies in doing user tests, 3D graphics or level design?

Join us at the IGDA Finland Presentation #3 session which is organized in association with Remedy. This time we talk about education and research. There are several schools, universities and other educational institutes in Finland offering courses in game design, production, graphical design, animation, sound design and programming. How to find a win-win situation -- a way to utilize the bright minds and future talents easily and/or improve processes and develop better tools for the developers with the help of educational institutes?

Veikko Miettinen (Pelitalo Outokumpu), Frans Mäyrä (University of Tampere), Petri Lankoski (University of Arts and Design Helsinki),Veli-Pekka Piirainen (Kajaani AMKK) and Juha Vanhanen (Adulta) will talk about ways to utilize the findings of game research and student projects as well as improve the collaboration between industry and education.

We'll continue the night with good discussions, beer and some demos at the System Rock from 7pm onwards.

Cheers!