Mary Carty

I really enjoyed the Games Ireland Gig yesterday. There was a great buzz in the Gibson with standing room only. Lots of people sharing stories and having conversations with some of the most interesting Games companies around like Big Fish Games and Pop Cap. I met some really creative, innovative people and learned what’s next for the Games Industry here. And it’s really hot right now.

The first session ‘The Business of Games – How Does Today’s Industry Click?’ was very useful and a great way to start off the day. It wil be interesting for me to see if there are similarities with Games producers in Scandinavia; as I’m presenting at Growing Pains and Media Evolution next Monday.

The showcase of new Irish Games really proved that we have a wealth of talented storytellers here. My favourite launch of the day was from Openemotion in Limerick who showed some great creative flair with a presentation that showed Paddy as the main character in a game. Humor, great style, engaging stories, featuring some famous Limerick boys will make their new game one very big hit! Here is how Paddy introduced his company. The works says way more than any speech could! Openemotion, one to watch.

Super Happy Magic Fun Time!

I was also impressed with the work done by Ideal binary on interactive eBooks for children. Again using effective storytelling and some lovely visuals, kids get to immerse themselves in the world of The Grimms’ Fairy tales and have some fun too. I liked the “read it myself” option for early readers.

There is so much opportunity in this space at the moment. But it comes with important lessons. Firstly, learning how to partner up with the larger Games companies earlier, particularly if you have a big hit early on in your career. Learning how to market your games properly is another lesson. Paddy Murphy had the crowd in stitches when asked by Dylan Collins why one particular game was such a hit, Paddy replied because they “tried at marketing!”

Keynotes from Game royalty like Phill Campbell; creative director on blockbuster interactive franchises James Bond, The Godfather and Tomb Raider; was a lesson in holding on to your creatice vision, looking at the hidden narratives within the story and finding inspiration in what you know.

Phil’s drawings were stunning and it was so impresive to see how he used his hand sketched drawings to bring his creative teams together and to scope out aspects of each game that gave the p more depth and substance. Everything from the route into a shop to the descriptions on how buildings worked and what people did in them were fascinating.

Phil’s talk also highlighted how his background as an architect informed his creative ision, his building of worlds within each story/Game he has worked on and the minute attention to detail.
The Games industry needs engineers, sure but as Apra mentioned so perceptively, it needs many other creative souls as well, from sound, to colourists to legal, marketing and finance. Phil’s presentation wes a lesson on how creatives or other professionals crossing over into this industry can bring skill sets, vision, innovation and creativity to benefit the whole industry.

Overall, this was a fun, engaging and positive event. The bases were well covered from funding, to legal issues and the business of making and marketing games. Well done, Games Ireland, can’t wait for the next event!

This is what was covered yesterday:

2pm Welcome by Games Ireland CEO

Panel 1 ‘The Business of Games – How Does Today’s Industry Click? ’
Jeanne Kelly Mason Hayes and Curran, Anna Scally KPMG and David Sweeney Games Ireland/ISFE

2.30 pm Panel 2 “Games Development in Ireland and the Games Incentive Package”
Barry O’Neill Chairman Games Ireland, Hugh Mac Atamney Dublin Institute of Technology,
Aphra Kerr, NUIM, Game Developers Ireland, Jessica Sachs Director of Developer Relations, BigFish Games, Paschal Donohue T.D.

3pm Keynote 1 “The Fight My Monster Story & Why Kids Will Destroy You All”
Dylan Collins, Executive Chairman of Fight My Monster

3.30 Panel 3 ‘The Cloud – Whats the Forecast?’
Oracle Chair, Colin l’Anson, HP, Will O’Brien, VP Business Development BigFish Games,
Greg Ward, Microsoft, Jeanne Kelly, Partner, Mason Hayes and Curran,

4 pm Break

4.15 Panel ‘Going SOLOMO!- Opportunities in Social, Locational and Mobile’
Chair Ben Cranks HP, Paul Breslin, MD Europe, PopCap Games, Sean Clark, Executive Producer BigFish Games, Marc O’Morain, SWRVE

4.45 James Whelton – Coderdojo, Getting more kids to code games

4.50 Keynote 2 – ‘Game Design Lessons – From Croft to Corleone’
Phil Campbell, Creative Director on major licensed franchises ‘The Godfather’, ‘James Bond’ and ‘Tomb Raider’.

5.30pm ‘The Green Screen – Irish Games Showcase’
Bitmith
Redwind
Openemotion
Tribal city
Ideal binary

6-730pm Drinks Reception and Networking

Games Ireland Logo (C) Games Ireland with thanks