Congratulations and a great big gold star to Digital Goldfish, which is the first company to get in touch, sign in and create their own page within SG.biz.
You can see the results of their efforts by following the DG link on the left hand side, or by clicking here.
When the eyes of the world turn to Scotland in August, you'll be glad you took the time / delegated the task and made yourselves look marvellous.
Since the radical redesign of the SG site in the early 1700's, the company links on the left hand side of this site have been replaced with dedicated pages: one per company.
Each page contains a link to the company's website, but it can do so much more! Yes, far more.
You can post logos, screenshots, images, animations, links to relevant external sites, write editorial, produce copy or even create your own mini-blog within the greater SG.biz universe.
It's extremely powerful, useful and interesting.
have a look at the Indoctrimat page and you can see a basic example.
This facility is open to EVERY company*. The only condition is that you write your own page (alternatively, we can do it for you and include interviews, independent editorial and pictures of you looking fashionable with celebrities but there is a charge for this...)
If YOU want to ensure that YOUR company page is up to date then WRITE to us and TELL us. We'll sort you out with a login.
REMEMBER the EIF happens in AUGUST and you better believe the editor is going to be pushing SG.biz in any and every given situation. So the number of eyeballs and delicately probing fingers will go through the roof.
Do YOU want to be left behind looking like the HAPLESS fellows who couldn't be BOTHERED?
Of course not...
News breaking last night alerted us to an impending visit from the Guardian's Tech Weekly podcast crew.
They'll be at Home House in Edinburgh next week to investigate chat to the digirati, onlinian and interactivites hereabouts.
Aleks Krotoski highlighted the visit in the GamesBlog and mentioned several of the recent news stories, including RTW's millions (soon to be a major motion picture), Dare, game design on the national curriculum (next story to be posted) and the general focus on games in Scotland.
It made us feel quite special.
You can sign up for one of the limited places at the coffee morning on Upcoming.
This morning, we're delighted to offer you something new. Paul Farley, the MD and one of the founders of Tag Games sent us an article looking at the business of making games in Scotland and plans currently being hatched in Dundee...
The games industry in Scotland is flourishing and you don’t have to look far to see the evidence. Studios of all shapes and sizes are being birthed, growing up and reaching maturity in their chosen sectors, fantastic graduate talent is being raised through our leading edge universities and colleges, games are being signed, released and selling in ever greater volumes, inward investment is being attracted (the latest being a rather impressive $50 million for Realtime Worlds rumoured this week) and a new found air of confidence and self-belief is evident across the nation.
It’s a remarkable turn around. Five years ago Scotland lost two of its largest and most established development studios in less than twelve months. The new rising stars of Scottish game development seem to have emerged from those days stronger, wiser and more determined than ever to make an impact on the world stage.
One of the most pleasing aspects of this resurgence - especially in Dundee where many of Scotland’s developers are based - is that we now have a number of developers working across a range of platforms, technologies and game styles. Everything from educational games through mobile, casual PC, console download, handheld and all the way to massively multiplayer online worlds are developed right here in Scotland by an increasing number of talented and ambitious developers.
No longer is the games industry here based upon two or three powerhouse developers. A quick glance to the left side bar on the ScottishGames.biz home page shows a growing number of studios boasting strength in depth across the entire spectrum of the games industry. This spread of activity combined with our unique and enviable heritage in game design and development (which now totals in excess of 20 years) is a compelling mix which should provide a strong and sustainable sector for the Scottish economy for years to come.
As the games industry continues to expand beyond the traditional boundaries of video gaming to become the top entertainment medium we cannot ignore the fact that although our developers often punch well above their weight we are still at a relatively small scale on a global basis. With the future pointing to a blurring of the distinction between publishers and developers enabled by digital distribution, it is a dubious ambition to seek the establishment of a Scottish games publisher at this time.
Supporting the growth of current and future content creators to achieve a greater scale and strength would however not only aid the further steady growth of this key industry in the short term, but also set them up for explosive growth once digital distribution becomes the norm.
This month in scenes which will be no doubt be reminiscent of the recent G8 summit at Gleneagles, a number of key decision makers from the games industry in Dundee will be meeting for the first time. The initial remit will be to explore how they can work together more effectively for their mutual benefit. If successful an wider invitation is expected to be made to games companies across Scotland for future meetings. Scotland’s compact nature means that many of the games companies located here are geographically close to each other.
In the case of the three game developers who will soon be occupying space in one building in Dundee’s new digital media district, the reality is that they will physically be just next door! Although these companies might be geographically close there is very little direct competition opening the way to open dialogue and the possibility of collaboration on a number of levels.
It is my hope that as a collective group of companies all offering specialist skills in different areas of game creation we can offer a much more attractive proposition as a unified group than as individual entities. It is in our interests to see the industry here grow and develop to a global scale allowing us to attract the best talent, make better products, increase profitability and provide a greater, long term contribution to our local and national economy.
We can only achieve our potential through the sharing of a common vision, an attitude of cooperation and the passion and commitment to deliver it. Perhaps the next big thing to emerge from Scotland’s games industry could be itself?
Another week, another chance to catch up on the significant releases, deals and events which have helped to shape the world of gaming as we know and enjoy it today...
1511 - Da Vinci proposes 'a mechanikal contryvance upon which blocks maye be arranjed into lynes', predating Tetrys by over 400 years.
1966 - Gemini VIII lifts off, carrying a DEC PDP-1 running 'Space War'. Neil Armstrong plays game during pilot David White's space walk.
1984 - Release: A4 Fighter/Bomber Strike Command: First Strike - Dawn's Early Light [Eaglesoft]
1985 - First confirmed sighting of poke for Sam Fox Strip Poker [Martech]
1993 - Release: Ringo Starr's Big Rig Raceway [Domark]
1997 - Sega Dreamcast given Greek citizenship
The much anticipated 'Byron Report' has hit the newswires this morning. Your editor has already appeared on Radio Scotland this morning - and is popping up to the BBC Dundee offices to do so again come lunchtime (tell all your friends).
In case you missed the run up to this, the UK government asked popular TV psychologist Tanya Byron (Little Angels/The House Of Tiny Tearaways) to conduct a review into the harmful effects of videogames and the Internet on children.
Many headlines and much debate and forum space has been given over to speculation on the eventual results - and their impact on the games business - but this morning the full report has emerged.
Outside the usual newspaper hysteria and uproar, the important part for the games sector is the recommendation that ALL games should be classified by the BBFC.
Currently only those titles which features specific themes or scenes, which would indicate the need for an older age rating are submitted to the BBFC, while other titles fall under the voluntary pan-European PEGI system.
This means that titles such as GTA, Manhunt, Unreal, etc. all go through the BBFC ratings system before they can hit the market. Games such as Mario, Spyro, Sonic, etc. don't.
If the new scheme is accepted - and the indication from the government is that is plans to accept the scheme in full - then it will require every game to be submitted to the BBFC before it can be released in the UK.
On the surface this makes some sense. Most people are familiar with the rating system used for movies, so applying it to games MAY start to educate parents about what is appropriate for their children to play.
What is not clear right now, is what will be defined as a 'game'. Will it only be those games which are purchased physically through retail? Will online, mobile, casual and MMO games be included? It's not clear from the information which has so far been released.
If it does include all of the above, which may well be the case eventually - even if not from the very beginning - then it means the BBFC's is going to have increase it's workload from the 2% - 3% of games which currently demand their attention, to looking at 100% of the games released in the UK.
Every Spyro game, every Sims add-on, every new NintenDog will now need to be scrutinised. If you add in the mobile games, casual games and online flash games which are, arguably, a significant new component of the industry, then it's going to multiply the number of games which require official BBFC attention by a huge factor.
Purely from a manpower and timescale point of view, that's a colossal undertaking. Will the government actually pay for the enormous increase in staff - and experienced staff at that - which this undertaking will require?
Of course this also impacts the whole concept of what actually constitutes a BBFC 'review'. The controversy over the GTA: San Andreas 'Hot Coffee' incident shows that even playing through a complete game may not highlight all of the potential content. When you add in online play, or sandbox games, then it becomes an even more difficult task to try and evaluate the game in any meaningful way.
The corollary to this is the penalties which retailers may now face. One of the other recommendations is that retailers face stiff fines, or even prison sentences, if convicted of selling games to children below the age classification.
This ignores the reality that many retailers experience on a daily basis and which has been reported in almost any discussion of the new report. If a child is told they cannot purchase a game due to an age classification, they simply return with a parent, who'll purchase the game for them - despite advise to the contrary.
This is the real heart of the debate. The need to educate parents and ensure they are aware of what is and what is not appropriate for their children. Unfortunately, both games and the Internet - which is also covered in the Byron report, seem to be areas in which parents absolve themselves of any responsibility.
Sadly, many parents are of the widely held conviction that 'games are for kids' and regardless of what stickers, labels or classifications appear on the box, will buy almost anything for their children, based on this assumption.
The games industry has created a number of initiatives over the past few years to help parents learn more about games and make appropriate choices about their children's gaming habits. Yet in any conversation, debate, panel or articles regarding age rating and adult content in games, it is obvious almost from the outset that a parent's lack of understanding is the key issue in ensuring kid's are protected from inappropriate content.
This is the heart of the Byron report. Making it far more obvious for parents what is 'good' and what is 'bad, both online and in games. The report recommends Internet and games training classes for adults and the creation of a UK-wide council which looks at protecting children from the perils of the Internet and videogames.
The council would be made up of "government, industry, children's charities, young people and parents".
The long-term effects on the industry of having this council, plus a BBFC (or BBFC style) regulatory board, could be very interesting. Controversial or adult oriented games would not simply have to pass the classification process, but would presumably be subject to the scrutiny of this oversight council.
The potential for a game to be denied release, or vilified for it's hypothetical content, could be hugely increased, with this system in place. For large-scale console titles, this could have enormous consequences. Publishers would have to think very carefully about releasing games which may be considered offensive or harmful.
Bully and Manhunt would almost certainly never have reached the market if they faced this process.
This offers the possibility of new games in long-established franchise being affected. As technology advances and graphics continue to improve, titles like Unreal, Quake, Counter Strike and Half Life could conceivably encounter problems because they are 'too realistic'.
Titles which feature other controversial content such as religion or politics, which have so far escaped BBFC oversight - assuming they don't feature violence or sex - would also presumably have to be passed and rated.
How this could affect the emerging indie scene and the potential for games to evolve into an actual art form, remains to be seen.
The real tragedy is that the games industry itself could have taken the lead and established links with government and clear and responsible guidelines for labelling and identifying games - as well as educating parents.
Instead the industry has missed the opportunity to control or lead this process. A TV psychologist and a government keen to be seen as 'responsible' are placing the industry on a path from which there could be no comeback and which could affect not only the games we play, but the games we're allowed to make for years to come.
It remains to be seen how 'the industry' will choose to respond to the Byron report and how it closely will align itself with the recommendations.
Regardless of this, the games sector in the UK will now have to get used to a level of oversight and control it's never had to face before.
Scottish Development International has passed on information about an event taking place in Edinburgh this Friday. The UK department of Trade & Industry is holding a session looking at the marketing strategy for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).
The session take place in the Castle Suite of the Jury's Inn on Jeffrey Street. It's free to attend and starts at 09:30.
The schedule send through by SDI doesn't go into detail on the content side, but snack-wise it looks very appealing:
09:30 - Teas/Coffee
11:00 - Teas/Coffee
12:00 - Buffet Style lunch (for 30)
13:00 - Teas/Coffee
14:30 - Teas/Coffee
You can also check out the full summary document:
Journalists, analysts and market research types have been wading hip-deep into the news of Activision and Blizzard's merger for much of this week, debating, discussing and projecting on what the deal means for both companies, the industry at large and the entire future of gaming.
However, it's Penny Arcade which, as usual, provides the most valuable insight [NSFW If you work somewhere nasty]
The marketing industry is reported to be falling out of love with celebrity endorsements - where superstars and celebrities are used to convince a zombie-like populace that products are cool.
However, the Scottish games scene seems to be a new and untapped market for the marketing crowd and in the last few days two different companies have been used - surreptitiously we suspect - to hawk stuff.
The first sighting comes from Intent Media, the publishers of MCV, Develop and Mobile Entertainment. Clearly keen on cashing in on the newfound 'legend' status of Denki's Gary Penn, the Intent website uses a banner which unmistakably features the team from Denki...
Picking up an award if we're any judge (OK, you may have to click on the image to really bring out the detail...)
However, the slightly more blatant endorsement - for 'miracle' kitchen knives/samurai swords (wait till you see what these babies can do to a pineapple) - includes an appearance from Game Ops founder Jim 'Chef Tony' Woods.
It's a trend we heartily approve of and can't wait to see Dynamo's Brian 'Handsome' McNicoll advertising a gentleman's fragrance, or Mr David Jones' Miracle Car Wax (stands up to rain, dust, road grime and rocket launchers...)
Here's something new, a quick round up of gaming headlines from the past 24 hours.
Leave a comment and let us know what you think of this as a regular (daily?) feature...
Spare Change?
