IGDA Finland February Gathering with Viope

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12.2.2013 something called an IGDA Gathering happened. Club Adams, the new meeting place of gaming community in Helsinki area, was baptized with style. The first one to steal the spotlight was Viope.

Viope served us a multitude of goods. Firstly, they sponsored the February Gathering and donated a fair amount of precious drink tickets. We are ever grateful!

Viope had reserved another seat at the sitting: the first show of the night was the award ceremony of Viope Game Programming Contest 2012. We heard a few words from one of the judges, Remedy’s Saku Lehtinen, and then the stage was taken over by Viope’s Kwame Afreh and Tram Nguyen, who had the honour of presenting the awards.

The nominees came all over the world, Saudi-Arabia, Macedonia and Singapore, to name a few. Eventually both the main award and the student award went to a Singaporean entry Kindly ever after by the team Ancora. Congratulations! Check out all the nominees from here.

The spotlight was occupied again later that night: it was time for the Finnish Game Jam award ceremony! This year there was no single winner, and the prizes were in fact Honorable Mentions designed to celebrate noteworthy gaming experiences. In the spirit of the Game Jam the categories were delightfully wonky, such as Beertasking and Multidrinking Award and Public Love Award. You can see a list of all the honored and nominated games from here.

So that was the February Gathering. People swarmed in like there was no tomorrow, and thanks to all of you we made a record: whopping 296 visitors! We are insanely happy! We also offer a big thank you to our host Club Adams.

See you next time!

WildChords at IGDA Finland April Gathering

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Bring out your guitars! For many people it was just another Tuesday night in Helsinki, but game lovers know better. Old and new friends alike found their way to Bar Cuba to converse, relax, and participate in sudden brainstorms.

After most of the visitors had settled in the stage was claimed by Ovelin, the melodious sponsor of the evening. Cristoph Thür, co-founder and CEO of Ovelin, was so kind as to entertain us with a few words and a demonstration of their acclaimed iPad game WildChords. The innovation of WildChords is to learn to play the guitar the fun way through gameplay objectives. Be afraid, Guitar Hero.

Ovelin donated visitors a few drinks and a guitar pick, and one especially cozy corner of Cuba was reserved for those who wanted to try the game for themselves. Evening was not short of wildlife as Ovelin´s exotic mascot Carsten the Crocodile was also present, ready to pose for the multitude of cameras.

We had 140 human visitors and one crocodile. Maybe in the next IGDA gathering we will hear live guitar music from one of you? Thank you to everyone and see you in May!

  Photos by Stuart McQuade

IGDA Finland 2011-2012 season start on September 6th!

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One sign of the approaching fall are the IGDA Finland pub nights. Finnish game dev scene is buzzing due to the eyes of the international game developers community being on Finland! Season kick off will take place on September 6th at Cuba bar. On the agenda we have some casual networking along with live music! Come catch up and hear what is happening in the Finnish game development scene. If you still haven't received your IGDA membership card, ask about it when you register to the event at the desk at Cuba bar. If you are not a member, no problem! Everyone is welcome to take part in the IGDA Finland events! This fall will be action packed! IGDA Finland is arranging interesting events focusing on games, marketing and starting up a game studio, just to mention a few. Top-tier Finnish game studios will share their insights on what has kept them busy over the summer and we will have a visit from the guys of Unity. If you have any wishes or suggestions regarding Unity, see the thread at IGDA Finland's Facebook group wall. The first ever IGDA Finland event outside the capital area will take place in October when IGDA Finland goes to Tampere. We'll have free transportation from Helsinki! More information to follow in late September.

Also: • New website: check out http://igda.fi • We'd appreciate any feedback on the IGDA Finland newsletter • Jobs.igda.fi is at your service!

We hope to see you all at Cuba on September 6th.

IGDA Finland Coordinators team: Sonja, Vesku, Joona, Samuli, Collin, Pauliina and Joonas.

IGDA FINLAND SEPTEMBER GATHERING Place: Cuba Bar, Erottajankatu 4, 00120 Helsinki (map: http://igda.fi/?page_id=5) Time: Tuesday, 6th of September, doors open at 7PM

Invitation: IGDA Finland April Gathering

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Hi everyone, next IGDA Finland Gathering will take place on April the 5th at Cuba Bar as usual. Join us to hear and share the latest buzz in Finnish game industry! Also remember:

IGDA FINLAND APRIL GATHERING Place: Cuba Bar, Erottajankatu 4, 00120 Helsinki (map: http://igda.fi/?page_id=5) Time: Tuesday, 5th of April, doors open at 19:00