Speaking at Sundsvall 24


Sundsvall. The capital of norrland. 100 000 inhabitants. 50 000 in the city. The stone city, after no less than four raging fires. Heavy industry; forest, paper, aluminum. 1 percent of the Swedish population, using up more than 5 percent of the electricity. Apart from industry also banking, insurance and IT.

And an alarming unemployment rate.

Adam and Ulf were invited to keynote at Sundsvall 24 – speaking about digital entrepreneurship with a focus on games.

From Gotland University GAME, subject responsible Adam Mayes and program coordinator Ulf Benjaminsson will talk about life for digital entrepreneurs.
 
Starting a business is simple, but the amount of games that make their money back is laughingly small. Adam and Ulf will give a whirlwind tour of the current market for games to show how the business is changing (rapidly!), and then provide methods for adaption. They’ll give advice for setting up your company, planning your business and managing your creative process.
 
Reality is not broken, but it is a lot less glorious than you might think.

If the audience approves, the two are also happy to talk about the GAME education at Gotland University, and give some handy tips for getting the most of your student loans. 😛

Our local game developers Zeal Game Studio and Meow Entertainment were also on the program.


Max Tiilikainen (founder of Meow) spoke about honing the drive and motivation required to be an entrepreneur. Robin Flodin (CEO of Zeal) spoke about his journey from game design student to game developer to business owner and employer.

Sundsvalls Tidning covered the event.

This was a first attempt on an event like this in Sundsvall. Mikael Bergvall and his crew did a tremendous job in generating buy-in from the city. We’re looking forward to next time, and hope to see many more of the local (Sundsvall) studios on stage!

GGC 2012 Photos

All great games have to start somewhere, and Gotland University gives their students a truly great start. Nestled in a disarmingly picturesque Swedish island, this small yet breathtakingly innovative game design course grounds applicants in the theory, even the ethics, of how to create the next generation of games – but practically applies this knowledge from the get-go. From the very first year, developers (for that is what they are) split into teams and design imaginative, polished games […]
 
They learn the importance of teamwork and delegation as well as raw coding or design skills… and over the last decade, have produced games that rival even the biggest AAA studios in terms of quality, scope and good old fashioned fun.
 
Indeed, Gotland’s output has consistently been a highlight of my Gamescom coverage every single year.

Jonathan Lester, dealspwn.com

PHOTOS OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN!!!

Tillsammans sÃ¥ lyser lärarna och eleverna pÃ¥ GAME starkare än solen. Kontrasten som uppstÃ¥r mellan Visbys tysta och lugna leverne och den sprudlande och levande miljön som huserar inne i Wisby Strand när GGC 2012 sparkats igÃ¥ng är chockerande. […]
 
När helgen når sitt kulmen i form av det fantastiska Gotland Game Awards, där de mest framstående spelen från mässan tilldelas pris i olika kategorier, är jag precis lika lycklig över vad jag har fått ta del av som jag är ledsen att det hela är över. Som utomstående är det självklart att skolan har haft ett fantastiskt år, vilket för mig presenteras genom de spelen som elever och lärare entusiastiskt ställer mig inför.

Joakim Sjöberg, powergamer.se


’nuff said. 😀

Countdown

28 days to GGC. Which means 21 days to jury hand in. Don’t panic, bring a towel.
Good presentations requires practice, practice, practice. 5 minutes. GO!
First year students demoing their game
Cheap, DIY clap sensitive glove – how to; Step 1. slaughter a Konga-drum, a wireless mouse and a furry animal. Step 2: ???. Step 3: Profit! 😀
Second year student modelling
There’s still time for a much deserved coffee break in the sun.

Funky fun stuff

Just met with first year team 2o’clock, who showed me a demo version of the input device they’ve created for their arcade game.

WHAT IS THAT THING?!
Fire in the hole!
The game is creatively titled BlockDropper

You can pretend you don’t want to play with this. But we both know you’d be lying. 😀

Register for the Opening Expo Fri 25th, 17:00-19:00 (free of charge!).