We are proud to announce our keynote speakers for Games edu 08.  At the Northern event, Matt Southern (SCEE), Producers of Burnout Paradise, Rockstar North (TBC) and Mike Reddy (newport).  The Brighton event will feature Jonathan Blow, Mark Morris (Introversion), Toby Allen (sumo), Nick Burton (Rare), Blitz Games, and Abertay Univesrity.

We couldn’t be happier with the inclusion of an exclusive talk by Jonathan Blow, creator of Braid, and Introversion will show some of the research they have been doing for subversion.  In Manchester not only will two of the biggest games of the year be showcased by Matt Southern will be spedning 2 hours looking at how education needs to step up to keep abreat with the golden age of games. 

All of the slides we have from Games:EDU:07 are now available here, including presentations by Chris Satchell of Microsoft and Matt Southern of Evolution Studios. They’re linked in the sidebar, and the url is:

http://www.gamesedu.co.uk/slides07/

We hope to be able to update soon with slideshows from the rest of the speakers.

August 2, 2007

“Film has been a century of preparation for the Games Industry. Now is our time” Matt Southern, Evolution Studios

GAMES:EDU:07 was again a huge success this year.  Held in Brighton, alongside the Develop Conference UK it is the only education-focused conference for both videogames academia and industry.  Organized by Pixel-Lab, the event brings together the UK’s foremost educators to connect directly with computer games developers and producers, exchanging ideas, and discussing best practice and perspectives.  This year was an intensive day with 12 sessions and over 110 people in attendance.

Last year’s event focused on the need for industry to engage with academia.  In the last 12 months this appears to have been taken on board, with industry representatives from Disney, Blitz, EA, Rare, Sony, Epic, Evolution, NC Soft and many more engaging in the debate.  Now is the hard part, how can the two worlds work together?  

In 2007 the focus was Talent and Technology.

There was plenty for the audience to get excited about throughout the day, and with over a third of the audience present from industry, the day was an effective forum for the issues that industry and academia often face.

Core development skills were heavily stressed throughout the day with Chris Wells, senior artist from Epic Games, illustrating just how high the bar has risen in terms of the skills required to craft modern art assets.

Chris Satchell followed on to stress the importance of subjects such as Maths and Computer Science, but also cited that admission rates for the latter are falling by 40% each year. “Curricula need to be made more interesting ….. as even passionately motivated students can be turned off by dull ways of teaching”. He promoted the XNA framework as a way to teach aspects of CS through practical yet engaging exercises.

Following on from Satchell, Matthew Jeffrey, head of European Recruitment for Electronic Arts, claimed that there is no talent crisis, and if anything, the UK is experiencing a talent boom. However, UK game development risks losing people to more tempting opportunities overseas, and only by properly valuing graduates can the UK industry hope to retain them.

The content of some of the generalist games courses came in for some heavy criticism from Jeffrey. Generalist Game degrees are not viewed as favourably as more technical or vocational degrees.

Matt Southern, a former university lecturer who is now Product Manager at Evolution Studios, covered a great many subjects in his talk, stating diversity in the industry as a vital factor in creating breadth in games. While saying hardcore gamers are important, Southern also asked all the academics present to leap on casual gaming, saying it is that which will send games into the mainstream and make them  "to movies, what movies are to theatre".   He concluded with a passionate speech about rivalry between the film and game industries, suggesting that the next time anyone in the industry is patronised by a film studio, they should patronise them in return, also making the incendiary claim that the film industry is "a century of preparation for what we do".

Industry players are not wholly critical of academia, there are efforts being made to reach out to a number of institutions. Sarah Lemarié, manager of DevNet at SCEE, announced the PSP academic development programme, giving universities access to developer-level tools for teaching.

Academia has much to offer the games industry, and Professor Paul Fullwood from Abertay University highlighted this in one of the last talks of the day. Students offer "almost unlimited prototyping ability", while a university can lend a project implementation academic legitimacy and longevity. Academic institutions also have access to special public funding, unheard of in the commercial world.

Clearly, academia and the games industry still have obstacles ahead.

Games:EDU provides a perfect place for these to be aired and discussed, and will return to the Develop conference next year in July.

Photos of the speakers at Games:EDU 07 are on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10715609@N04/sets/72157601121166722/
and available in high res if needed.

The slides used for the speakers presentations this year will soon be online at the Games:EDU website, with audio of some of the sessions to follow.

http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/401/event_wrap_up_gamesedu_.php

GAMES:EDU:07, the International conference for games education announces speakers from the leaders of the next generation gaming industry, including Microsoft, Epic Games, Evolution Studios, SCEE, Autodesk, Rare and Disney.

Organised by Pixel-Lab and Tandem Events it takes place as part of the Develop Conference in Brighton on Tuesday 24th July.

The conference now in its second year focuses on the current and future education needs of the computer games industry, bringing industry experts and educators together to encourage debate and the sharing of best practice. Last year saw over 120 delegates from across the globe networking, participating in workshops and engaging with the world’s top developers and publishers.

Confirmed speakers for GAMES:EDU:07 include Epic Studios, Chris Satchell (Microsoft), Matt Southern (Evolution Studious), Michel Kripalani (Autodesk), Nick Burton (Rare / Microsoft Game Studios, Mike Gamble (Instinct Technologies) Jason Avent (Disney Interactive Studios) Chirs Chilton (Skillset) and Rob Catto (FullSail).  

Supporting GAMES:EDU are some of the UK’s foremost educators, and this year workshops will be led by the University of Abertay, the University of Glamorgan and Full Sail from the States.
“Abertay has been a leader in industry relevant game technology and design courses for some time.  GAMES:EDU will become a key event in the Abertay calendar as a place where academics and Industry can discuss, share, and develop best practise in all areas of game development and production “
Dr Henry S Fortuna, Division Leader, School of Computing and Creative Technologies, Abertay.

Andy Sithers, Microsoft Academic Alliance, who will be speaking on the technology panel as well as supporting the event comments “Microsoft is fully committed to helping develop academic work in games in the UK. GAMES:EDU is an excellent opportunity for academics and games developers to begin a conversation which will help keep the UK as a growing centre of excellence in the gaming industry to ensure graduates have the right skills and knowledge to enter into the industry and contribute to that success.”

Skillset, the sector skills council for the audiovisual industries, is fully supporting the one-day conference and will be discussing its future plans to develop the Computer Games Industry accreditation programme.  GAMES:EDU:07 features a series of case studies entitled: “The Skillset Sessions”.  This year they focus on how education can work better with the games industry, the overall aim being to develop the UK as the world’s source of creative and innovative talent in the future for all forms of computer gaming.

Kate O’Conner, Skillset’s Executive Director – Policy and Development and Deputy Chief Executive comments. "Skillset strongly believes industry engagement is key to developing relevant and effective training and education. Skillset’s accredited network of courses represents best practice in this area and offers targeted provision ideal for entrance to the games industry. GAMES:EDU will help the academic community understand why engagement is important and how industry involvement and industry focused tuition benefits students, employers and universities alike. By providing an open space for discussion GAMES:EDU will help develop the quality of this accreditation program and encourage further interaction between Education Institutions and Industry."
GAMES:EDU is an essential date for educators from across Europe in the field of gaming and games development.  GAMES:EDU is the first conference worldwide that brings together the UK’s foremost educators from across all disciplines to connect directly with developers, publishers and games producers. For more information see www.gamesedu.co.uk.
The GAMES:EDU:07 Day Pass is £120 or £95 if booked before July 1 2007.
For registration information see www.gamesedu.co.uk.
GAMES:EDU:07 is part of the Develop Conference which takes place in Brighton from Tuesday 24  to Friday 27 July. See www.developconference.com.

GAMES:EDU is supported by Microsoft, Autodesk, Skillset, Evolution Studios and Disney Interactive Studios.

Confirmed speakers for GAMES:EDU:07 include

• Epic Studios,
• Chris Satchell (Microsoft),
• Matt Southern (Evolution Studious),
• Michel Kripalani (Autodesk),
• Nick Burton (Rare / Microsoft Game Studios,
• Mike Gamble (Instinct Technologies)
• Jason Avent (Disney Interactive Studios)
• Chirs Chilton (Skillset)
• and Rob Catto (FullSail).  

As preparations for GAMESEDU 07 begin in ernest an advsory board has been set up to agree the content, format and details.  This will ensure that everything is fit for purpose as we grow and develop the conference.

The current  board consists of :

• Dr. Jon Purdy – University of Hull, Computer Science Department
• Jon Weinbren – UCCA Farnham / Imaginary Productions
• Gareth Hutchinson – Glamorgan Centre for Art & Design, Technology
• John sear – University of Derby
• Gregor white – University of Abertay Dundee
• Sarah Lemarié / Mark Breugelmans – Technology Group, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
• Ian Livingstone / Anne Murphy – SCI / Eidos
• Matthew Jeffries – Electronic Arts
• Nick Burton – MGS / Rare
• Jolyon Webb  – Blitz games / TruSim
• Matt Southern – Evolution
• Chris Chilton – Skillset

Ken Perlin, John Sear, Ian Livingstone, Adam Roberts, Jon Purdy, West Pier

thanks to Jason de la Rocca 

A week on and the dust has begun to settle.

What a great conference we had, and a big thanks to all who attended.

100% of the feedback has been positive, except for the Pork Pies – but we can blame someone else for that

Planning for Games Edu 07 has already begun so if you want to present, or have an idea please get in touch – info@pixel-lab.co.uk

Games Edu has its fair share of gatecrashers but who would have expected such a games celebrity turn out:

• Ken Perlin
• Ernest Adams
• Miles Jacobson
• Rhianna Pratchett

A mention by Phil Harrison in his closing keynote was nice too.  Shame he didn’t know more about Games Edu before he bemoaned the need for a games education day