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Gearbox: The Wii U Will Get The Best-Looking Version Of Aliens: Colonial Marines The Best of the Independent Games Festival 2011 exhibition at Melbourne’s Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) is set to end on March 25. Gloomy news, I know — my socks have been thoroughly marinated in a pool of liquid human despair formed by my tears. But! The leaking of said sad-fluids was premature, to say the least, because come March 27, ACMI will host the Best of IGF 2012.
This one is for folks who claim that all the good game stuff is in Sydney. Games Masters is a new exhibition focusing on the history of video games and its most influential titles, and it’s set to take place next year at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.
I spent last week playing a bunch of student games aimed at tackling some of the world’s toughest problems. Environmental conservation was a common theme. It’s also the theme of an Australian student game design competition just announced.
Ten of the most acclaimed indie games of the year will be featured at an exhibition kicking off in Melbourne tomorrow. Head down there and you’ll be able to play them all.
Time for a history lesson! The Australian Centre for the Moving Image has a pair of PDFs up detailing the past and present of the Oz gaming industry. One document contains a hefty write-up on local achievements, while the other has a timeline of specific events.
While the PDFs are hosted at the ACMI website, it appears the research was done by Bond University. They account for the good times (Bioshock, Puzzle Quest) and the bad (Fury), and provide a great overview of how far our industry has come. If you think there’s nothing new to learn, think again. I for one didn’t realise Halloween Harry was developed in Oz. I loved that game. I’m sure you’ll make a few interesting discoveries of your own.
History of game development in Australia [ACMI, via Tsumea]
Game On, the ACMI’s tribute to all things gaming, is drawing to a close. July 13 is its last day – and your final chance to check it out.
That’s not all. Including its adventures in Chicago, London, Hong Kong and other cities, Game On is damn close to breaking the world record for expo attendence. From the release:
The overwhelming successful season puts the four month run at ACMI ahead of the London Barbican Gallery’s attendance record of 99.500, and second only to the exhibition’s seven month run at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, which attracted 127,000 during a seven month run in a city with triple the population of Melbourne.
“Furthermore, if our attendance this week remains consistent, we’ll go achingly close to setting a new world record for the exhibition’s visitation by the time Game On is game over on Sunday night,” [ACMI Director Tony Sweeney]said.
Come on folks, we can do it! If you’re in Melbourne (or interstate this weekend), make the effort and attend this fantastic expo. Opportunities to break world records don’t appear every day… unless of course you do nothing but eat nickels* and play Pac-Man.
Press release after the jump.
* It’s a Family Guy reference – apologies in advance for the use of US currency.
Just because you don’t live in Sydney doesn’t mean you have to miss out on meeting some of machinima’s biggest names.
Rooster Teeth’s Burnie Burns, creator of This Spartan Life Chris Burke and Bioware’s Armando Troisi, among others, will be present at the ACMI in Melbourne from June 14 to 15. They’ll be talking about all-things animation, including making movies in games like Halo and World of Warcraft.
Press release with pricing and bios after the jump.
[Pic, thanks Sgt. Hartsock]
Nintendogs is the sort of game I never understood the appeal of. If you want to play with, feed and raise a dog, why not buy a real one?
Still, if you, or a friend, is having trouble getting to grips with Nintendo’s puppy simulator, the Australian Centre for Moving Image down in Melbourne is holding a “training session” on May 15 between 6 and 7PM. The session will also include beginner’s help for Animal Crossing.
At the very least, it’s a great way to introduce someone to the DS and the world of casual gaming. Heck, you could even make a date out of it. Maybe. Probably not.
More details after the jump.
The world has gone 8-bit crazy. It has, and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image’s April 24 premiere of director Marcin Ramocki’s film 8 Bit: A Documentary About Art And Videogames is proof of this fact.
If you happen to live near the ACMI (pro tip: It’s in Melbourne) and have a keen interest in the history of art in games, then you should contemplate paying the institution a visit. Ramocki will be in attendance to field questions, so it’s definitely worth the effort.
DJ Trip will also be at the premiere. Trip has a love of 8-bit music, which is why he’ll be back at the ACMI on May 4 for Game-O-Rama.
Read on to see a special document designed to inform one of the specifics of this event. A press release, in other words.
If the Game On exhibition wasn’t enough, the ACMI now has its sights set on educating parents on both the fun and serious aspects of gaming.
Each day, from March 25 to March 28 and March 31 to April 4, the ACMI will be running its “Navigating games for parents” sessions. By the looks of things, the sessions will focus on a variety of topics, from game classification to cheating (the good kind).
Not only are the sessions free, there’s also mention of Easter eggs.
Note that the ACMI is located in Melbourne, so it’s a locals-only event, unless you’re willing to make the interstate trip.
Navigating games for parents [ACMI, via Sumea]
