December IGDA Finland Turku Hub Gathering

/

A year of gatherings came to an end in Turku with a special guest from the finnish mobile game history. Taneli Armanto, the creator of the famous Snake -mobile game on Nokia devices was sharing some stories behind the Snake -game and boy was it interesting. The game is probably one of the most largely distributed mobile game ever and while it was in development, it wasn't clear it would turn into a huge success. WP_20131219_18_35_07_Pro__highresVitali Kirpu, an indie developer from Turku is making a name for himself with his Pixel Piracy getting greenlighted in Steam in just a few days. In the game, the player controls the crew of a pirate ship. The player must sail the ship over a number of sea zones, each with procedurally generated events in a roguelike fashion, while facing pirates and other hostile forces, recruiting new crew members, keeping discipline, outfitting, upgrading ship and more.

pixelpiracy

The game was quickly featured in Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Polygon and Wired UK. Check out a gameplay video, it's great!

 

-IGDA Finland Turku Hub folks

 

IGDA Finland Oulu Hub November Gathering

/

After a hugely successful October gathering we decided to play it a bit more conservative in November and arranged a classic pub night. This time we chose to occupy the restaurant Otto K instead of our usual place, just to explore possible future establishments for our gatherings. The place felt good and the staff was very supportive, so maybe we’ll give Otto K another chance some time during 2014.

The house was filled with around 20 local game developers who gathered around the tables to have more or less meaningful discussions with each other. The ice hockey game shown on the screen sparked some discussion about violence in games vs. violence in sports, but in general the tone of the conversations were quite casual.

At the moment we are working hard on planning and arranging the gatherings of 2014, so stay tuned and remember to play games!

- Antti Wilenius & the IGDA Finland Oulu Hub volunteers

Kicking off IGDA Finland Tampere Hub

/

It finally happened. With the first IGDA Finland Tampere Hub gathering held at 29.10.2013 now behind us, the whole organizing team can let out a sigh of relief. After months of planning we can say with utmost certainty that the team did a marvelous job at putting it all together. But it would not have been without all you folks taking part in the gathering and making it a night to remember. We would also like to express our gratitude towards our sponsor Fragment, a game development studio situated in Tampere. Thank you!

The event took place in Jack the Rooster, a local rock bar situated near the city center in Tampere. The doors opened at around 6 pm allowing the long queue of people to finally trickle inside and enjoy their first cool beverage courtesy of Fragment.

Once we had all the early arrivals inside, the program could commence. The official program consisted of an introduction to IGDA Finland by Tatu Laine followed by speeches from our sponsor Fragment.

Starting something new does not usually come without obstacles. First of all, due to the high turnout of people, we were having some issues with getting people inside as fast as possible. One of the biggest problems, however, was that people believed the kitchen to be open during the event. This was not the case and we will try to remedy this in the future.

Jack the Rooster proved a wonderful choice of venue. It really had that rock’n’roll feeling that we experience in the game development industry here in Finland. We were also able to negotiate great pricing for IGDA Finland members as well as our sponsors.

On a personal note, I would like to thank the whole organizing team for all the hard work they have put into making this happen! Tampere really has the spirit that becoming a great international game development hub requires.

Until next time, IGDA Finland Tampere Hub volunteers Timo Heinäpurola Annakaisa Kultima Minna Eloranta Arto Koistinen Mika Kuusisto Mikko Karsisto Jukka Mikkonen Jukka Kauppinen

Introducing IGDA Finland hubs!

/

IGDA Finland boosts game development in all of Finland!IGDA Finland ry wants to accelerate game development activity in your area.

If you’re involved in the game development scene in your region, you can apply to become an IGDA Finland Hub! If you’re having get-togethers or other kinds of professional activity for game development professionals in your region, we want to help you!

IGDA Finland promotes the development of careers and professional skills of individual game developers based in Finland, and develops further the international recognition of the Finnish game developer community. IGDA Finland Hub -membership can help you boost your local activity and networking. You’ll have our help in arranging your events and visibility through our information channels. If you’re an active coordinator in your area, please contact us!

This is an example of IGDA Finland local hub logo. Design by: Sami Marsch

Prerequisites for becoming a Hub:

  • Gather 5 active IGDA members to become the Hub
  • Hold 4 public IGDA Hub gatherings per year
  • Update activity log on IGDA Hub pages

Benefits for becoming a Hub:

  • You may present your club as IGDA Finland [area] Hub
  • Promote your events on IGDA Finland FB-page and web eg. www.igda.fi/hubs/turku/
  • Email address for your region eg. turku@igda.fi
  • Right to use IGDA Finland hub logo

BONUS! Starter pack for the new IGDA Finland Hubs:

  • 5 IGDA Finland hoodies
  • IGDA Finland rollups for presentations and meetings
  • IGDA Finland Posters and flyers

IGDA Finland reserves the right to revoke the Hub status if deemed necessary (eg. due to lack of activity). New individual IGDA Finland Hubs are accepted by IGDA Finland Board.

Interested? Contact us and we’ll get you started: jyri.partanen@igda.fi and tatu.laine@igda.fi

Hello Finland, IGDA Finland supports local clubs and communities across Finland. Design by: Sami Marsch