April Gathering - Midspring Meeting

The cold winter had passed but left the midspring weather a bit chilly. However, the people in game industry showed what they're made of and joined the Monthly Gathering on April 7th. It was a good evening for IGDA as Cuba Café saw a total of 97 visitors out of which 7 were new.

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One of the main topics of discussion was of course the Game Developers Conference 2009 and the good vibes it left on people. There were other major topics in addition, including the prospering of Finnish titles in App Store and our new industry partner, Walkthru, a Finnish company concentrating on translating games from English to Finnish.

People also talked about the Special Interest Group, Women in Games or "WIG SIG" which got a new advisory board. Sonja Kangas is now a board member in WIG SIG as well as Nordic Game Program and IGDA Finland. You can find more details from Sonja's article about WIG SIG.

The game development club Score is exclusively representing Finland in Microsoft Imagine Cup semi-finals with two titles: Villa Penguila and Unity. Both games can be downloaded from Nordic Game Portal.

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You can check out the rest of the snaps at the gallery or alternatively at Flickr.

Don't forget to add the next Gathering Event on your calendars! It'll be held on May 5th, same place, same time. See you there!

February Gathering: There's something in the air

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A cold weather was to be endured as the developers found their way to Cuba Café in Helsinki on February 10th. Fortunately the good atmosphere and drinks at the venue kept people warm and cozy, showing no signs of the frisky wind outside.

This time around, 8 new visitors found their way to the event, with the total number hitting a good 99.

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Alongside the friskiness the gathering had a touch of fresh air as we got to welcome new Recoil Games' developers from abroad and our guest from Denmark. Hopefully you had a good time and you'll join us again at the next event!

As a rare occurrence there were also multiple startups also interested in the general atmosphere and looking for possible business opportunities. A great night to do so as all of the biggest Finnish game companies were well represented at the scene.

The evening progressed well until the small hours of wednesday. As always, everyone seemed to have a pleasant time. It was nice to see that you don't need to be a native to survive the cold! ;-)

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You can check out the rest of the snaps at the gallery or alternatively at Flickr.

Get your calendars out (or on) because the next gathering will be held at Cuba Café on March 10th! Further information will be released shortly after. See you there! ;-)

January Gathering: Promises for the New Year

[singlepic=343,320,240,,center]The exciting year of 2009 started off with a bang at the IGDA Finland Gathering on January 13th held at Cuba Cafe in Helsinki. Despite the gloomy and cold weather and the Finnish tradition of "tipaton tammikuu" ("Dropless January", meaning an alcohol-free month) a whopping 138 visitors showed up to enjoy their time with a glass - or a pint - of their favourite beverage. We were also given the pleasure to welcome 9 new faces aboard. Hope to see you at the next gathering, too!

[singlepic=341,320,240,,center] Without hesitation the topic of the evening was the oven-fresh indie game Crayon Physics Deluxe by Petri Purho (2008 IGF winner), which has received lots of good press of late. Petri most likely got his hands blistered from all the congratulating handshakes he received throughout the evening!

The evening progressed nicely with developers changing ideas and the latest news on the field. All in all, the evening was a great success knowing that usually Januaries are on the quiet side. Later in the evening some visitors even found the will and courage to do a small-scale dance show! :)

[slideshow=31] You can see more of the photos taken at the event at the gallery.

Be sure not to miss out the next gathering on February 10th! Same time, same place!