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Train2Game Game Jam - Words of Wisdom

 

For all those attending the game jam today - here are a few words of wisdom:



Keep it simple - Simple ideas executed well will give you a shot at the title!



Dicatatorship not Democracy - You cannot create a game jam game based on popular opinion.



Premature Design Ejaculation - Your fourth idea will be the best one - don't start too soon.



Process - Nail the design and then work on the process to deliver that design.



Review - Stop at…

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Added by David Sharp on March 25, 2011 at 10:30am — No Comments

Train2Game Christmas Competition - the games!

 

We recently ran a competition at train2game for the students to build a game in just 10 days based on a map graphic we game them.  The games could be built in GameMaker only.  If you're interested in how the competition turned out, you can download the games at the following link:

 

http://intenseinteractive.co.uk/t2g/T2G-Xmas-Competition-Entries.torrent

Added by David Sharp on December 20, 2010 at 5:25pm — No Comments

I'm famous in Bangkok ... !!!

and not in way that Gary Glitter is Thankfully.

Here is the Bangkok Post article about the Game Jam we ran there in November 2010.

Added by David Sharp on December 9, 2010 at 11:47am — No Comments

Fragmentation

The games market has always been tough. The on-line games market is extremely tough. And now Goggle has entered the fray:



http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2010-12-08-googles-chrome-web-store-goes-live-with-over-200-gameshttp://



On the surface it might sound like a good thing, but is it? Another player in the on-line space, how is the…
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Added by David Sharp on December 8, 2010 at 11:34am — No Comments

Train2Game examines the ongoing struggle of being a success at retail

I was recently interviewed for the Train2Game on the dilemma for games developers over the power of retail to get their games off the shelves.

Added by David Sharp on December 7, 2010 at 4:23pm — No Comments

Bangkok Games Jam 2010

I'm out in Bangkok at the moment running the Bangkok Games Jam event on behalf of the British Council as part of the Bangkok Design Festival. We have 40 students battling it out for the kudos of being able to create the best game they can in just 48 hours!



I have a number of UK games industry professionals out here with me helping me run the event.

If you would like to follow the game jam back in the UK, there are a number of ways:



Hashtag: #bkjam

Follow the… Continue

Added by David Sharp on November 21, 2010 at 4:49pm — No Comments

Train2Game



The past couple of months I've been working with the guys at DR Studios on the Train2Game course for games development. The course is a route into the games industry for those people that didn't want to go to University or couldn't go for some reason. Many of the students are more mature and are retraining from an existing career.


There are no guarantees, the course does not guarantee a job or anything at the end, no course can, but it meets the…
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Added by David Sharp on September 4, 2010 at 12:00pm — No Comments

RM* 3D stereo features on BBC’s “Ed & Oucho’s Excellent Inventions”



Late last year we provided key sequences for the BBC2

children's programme Ed &…

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Added by Debs on March 9, 2010 at 9:57am — No Comments

Information Security

Excellent article on information security, and where the open source mentality fits in.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8139997.stm



There are so many ways to access and reference information these days that the idea that a lot of our information is 'secret' is a nonsense. Clarity and transparency have become the watchwords of a large part of modern living and even more so in the wake of the MP's expenses scandal. So in an age when a lot of our personal data is… Continue

Added by David Sharp on July 30, 2009 at 10:18am — No Comments

Digital Champions & the Digital Divide

I'm a big fan of this kind of thing:



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8136315.stm



There should be more of this kind of thing from both the government and from organisations that are involved with the development of the UK's digital economy (Regional Development Agencies, NESTA etc.)



The idea that we have a digital have and have-not is something that should not be allowed to persist. Access to the net, the vast information it contains, the competitive… Continue

Added by David Sharp on July 6, 2009 at 4:54pm — No Comments

Cold Calls

Ever wonder why some face-to-face sales calls win, but others fall flat? Wonder no more. According to sales uber-guru Neil Rackham, there are five main reasons for failure during a B2B sales call. And, luckily, they’re ALL within YOUR control. Here they are:





A sales call is a waste of time if…



• (1) …you can’t provide the customer with insight and information that the customer would normally pay to receive.



• (2) …you can communicate about your offerings,… Continue

Added by David Sharp on June 17, 2009 at 10:12am — 1 Comment

Students and New Business

This made me smile :



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8096604.stm



Students using their capacity to get a cheap loan to fund the start up of their businesses. Whilst the abilities of students to get everything that they can for nothing have been long known, the idea they might turn that ability towards commerce and enterprise is a new twist in the tale. There are some questions about this thought that come to mind ...



Does the idea that a student… Continue

Added by David Sharp on June 14, 2009 at 5:00pm — No Comments

Is the web going from amateur to semi-pro?

This was a very good article written to emphasise some interesting points:



http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/06/is_the_webs_amateur_hour_over.html



I've had similar thoughts in the past. The web is hindered sometimes by the everyone can do it at any time kind of way it operates. The amount of junk out there is phenomenal, see my previous posts about clearing the junk off the internet if you want to read more.



As 'amateurs' have populated the web with all… Continue

Added by David Sharp on June 7, 2009 at 12:14pm — No Comments

Control of the Control

Nintendo has had to go through this years E3 gaming show with Sony and Microsoft stealing all the headlines about their new motion controllers. Nintendo went low tech with the Wii in most respects other than the controller, which uses motion to control the device and the games, an absolute revolution when the Wii came to market.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8080698.stm



Sony and Microsoft were always going to join the party with a motion controller at some point… Continue

Added by David Sharp on June 4, 2009 at 10:35am — No Comments

Sell-By Date

Everything has a sell by date. Products, services, ideas. When this story appeared it reminded me of how out of date the BBC can appear to be at times.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8077839.stm



The BBC has an elevated position in the media in the UK and we pay heavily in terms of the licence fee and the legal protection the BBC enjoys in terms of competition (or the lack of it). I think the time has come to get rid of the licence fee and allow the BBC to compete… Continue

Added by David Sharp on June 2, 2009 at 10:40am — No Comments

Deal of Deals?

This might turn out to be one of the most significant deals in the past 15 years



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8070291.stm



Microsoft teaming up with Sky to deliver premier league football and current movies via the xBox Live network. This is the kind of deal that takes Microsoft closer and closer to their little nivana of having a Microsoft powered device in every home. There will be a lot of parents that feel better about buying little Jonny an xBox if they can… Continue

Added by David Sharp on May 29, 2009 at 12:55pm — No Comments

Location Location Location

I'm not sure I agree with this:



http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13643981&source=hptextfeature



The article insinuates that highly creative people do their most successful work abroad rather than in the UK. I'm not sure that abroad is the key, whereas I do accept that quite often the stimulus that a trip provides can often make for a more creative train of thought. For every creative person that delivered something unique or memorable abroad… Continue

Added by David Sharp on May 18, 2009 at 8:42am — 1 Comment

A convenient excuse?

Sony has reported in excess of a $1 Billion loss for the previous financial year and have credited it to the current financial crisis the globe finds itself in:



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8050636.stm



There is some reading between the lines to be done here. The past 3 years have seen Sony's overall position in the consumer electronics market erode massively. The win in the Blueray versus HD-DVD battle is the only ray of sunshine in the recent past. PS3 continues to… Continue

Added by David Sharp on May 15, 2009 at 3:19pm — No Comments

Unlikely Bedfellows?

Because of the unusual financial times and the near collapse of the car market, Porsche and Volkswagen have decided to merge:



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8036748.stm



In their own rights both companies are massive worldwide brands that represent different parts of the car market. Porsche has built a formidable reputation in the sports car market and VW has always had a solid, reliable, mid range persona built around German reliability. It shows the depths to which… Continue

Added by David Sharp on May 7, 2009 at 9:25am — No Comments

An Apple in every livingroom?

I'm not sure this is as big a potential surprise to everyone as it might at first appear ...



http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/rumours-build-on-apples-gaming-ambitions



As a company Apple is fortunate in some respects. It clearly has a world class research and development methodology that has kept them at the forefront of the digital sector in some areas and has kept their visibility high in terms of PR and brand. This allows them to be adventurous and ambitious in many… Continue

Added by David Sharp on May 5, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

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