Games Ireland Gathering 2012!

I attended this years Games Ireland Gathering. This networking and information event was held in the Gibson Hotel in Dublin and ran for the whole day with a morning of workshops followed by an afternoon filled with interesting discussions from a large number of esteemed contributors. These are a great opportunity for graduates and other people seeking work in the game industry to see what is happening first hand and hear how its done from those in the know. 

Discussions on the day ranged from the future of the cloud, mobile gaming and the current state of games development in Ireland. Several big name companies such as PopCap, BigFishGames and even Havok were there advertising positions available. Some free stuff from the stalls are always good to weigh down the bag for the physical experience of leaving the place with something. 

Keynote speakers included Dylan Collins, the executive Chair of Fight My Monster, a new rapidly growing multiplayer gaming site aimed at under 13 boys. This has expanded at a frenetic pace since its inception. The stats are quite impressive, with membership of the site approaching 1 million members. The site allows players to fight each other with their monsters, play mini games, chat to their friends and teach them some basic numeracy and economics with the games internal money system. His speech was funny and entertaining, Dylan being a likeable man with lots to say.

The second Keynote speech was given by Phil Campbell, a veteran game designer with over 20 years of experience and who worked on several iconic games such as the original Tomb Raider, The God Father games, Heavy Rain and several James Bond titles. He took us briefly through how he got to where he is and gave an interesting insight into how he he approaches his work. 

The final section event of showcased some up and coming Irish gaming companies and demonstrated their latest projects. The BitSmith team, colleagues of mine from my masters course, showcased their game Ku, an action RPG based on Irish mythology for release on the iPad. Open Emotion were there again in force opening with a hilarious video depicting their CEO, Paddy Murphy, kicking ass Mario-style within a game. They also had a big announcement of their new secret project. They have the dubious honour of developing the official RubberBandits game. This should be interesting to see, keep an eye out for The Rubber Bandits, Revenge of Stephen Forward! Ideal Binary, Redwind Software and Tribal City also showcased their latest projects.

I must say I really enjoy these events. There is a very tangible sense of comradery amongst the fellow gamers and enthusiasts. The panel discussions are always interesting, the guest speakers are funny and have great tales to tell and the start ups presenting their games are inspiring. Another bonus is there are usually great prizes to be won, this year a Notebook and 2 Kindle Fires were up for grabs. The networking at the end of the event even provides some free beer that tastes particularly sweet. They are well organised and most crucially free. I look forward to the next Games Ireland event and will be there with bells on!