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]

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.

Melbourne heads for world record high score for Game On

Melbourne’s Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) will close the doors this weekend on its winter blockbuster exhibition, Game On, with the added bonus of potentially setting a new international record for audience attendance.

The largest ever exhibition dedicated to the past, present and future of videogames, Game On was has toured the world, being presented at major international cities across the globe including Helsinki, Chicago, Tel Aviv, Hong Kong and London.

Since opening the doors here in Melbourne at ACMI in March, it has drawn record crowds who’ve relished the chance to do battle against each other while playing their way through the history of videogames.

‘Having already smashed attendance targets by more than 50% and breaking through 100,000 visitor mark, Game On has attracted an audience of 117,000 as of Tuesday this week’ ACMI Director Tony Sweeney said. ‘Melbourne loves a blockbuster and clearly can’t get enough of Game On’ and these terrific audience numbers don’t include the thousands of people who’ve attended our public and education programs’.

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’. Tony said.

If you haven’t already done so, the time to play your way through the history of video games is almost up as Game On closes this Sunday, 13 July.

www.acmi.net.au

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]

Machinima Film Festival
Saturday 14 – Sunday 15 June, ACMI Cinemas
Information & bookings: www.acmi.net.au or PH: (03) 8663 2583

The coolest machinima from around the world hits the big screen at ACMI this June.
A convergence of animation, computer game technology and filmmaking, machinima films are created within the virtual reality of a game engine. Using sophisticated gaming software as the foundation, with its already beautifully realised 3D animated characters and landscapes, machinima-makers create animated films in real-time for a fraction of the cost of traditional computer generated imagery seen in multimillion dollar big budget studio films.

From the latest season of Red vs. Blue to highlights from the European Machinima Film Festival, through to workshops and Q&A sessions with some of genre’s most talented filmmakers, it a weekend packed full of machinima at ACMI.
Industry innovators coming to ACMI to introduce their work, conduct workshops and give presentations include:
• Armando Troisi, Lead Cinematic Designer Bio Ware
• Chris Burke, creator, This Spartan Life
• Frank Dellario, President, ILL Clan
• Burnie Burns, creator, Red vs Blue
• Ezra Fergusen, producer, Rufus Cubed
• Rod Mayer, CEO, Beepa

Full bios in attached document. All are available for interview on request.
For screeners, interviews, images or further information please get in touch.

* Program overleaf *
* PROGRAM *
Sat 14 Jun 11am-5pm
Machinima Festival Showcase unclassified 15+
Explore the art of machinima filmmaking and its dynamic relationship to videogames when the world’s top machinima filmmakers gather to talk about their work. ACMI Cinemas > Full $20, Concession $15

European Machinima Festival Highlights
Reels 1 & 2
Festival screening s of highlights from the first European Machinima Film Festival presented by Frank Dellario Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences. Works include: The Viral hit Ballad of Black Mesa is a toe tapping, gun toting, tour de-force. Taking cues from works like STOMP, and contemporary advertisement, Hark! Hear the Wails, short take on the traditional Christmas carol in World of Warcraft, with a devious twist. A Child’s War is a Virtual Video Project by Global Kids produced at the Museum of the Moving Image New York. The video is based on research done by the youth about the situation of child soldiers in Uganda and the upcoming trial and the International Criminal Court.

Chris Burke (This Spartan Life)
Taking over the Sandbox: Machinima As a Live Environment
A presentation and live discussion inside Halo 3. In a day of online gaming, relationships are forged, current events discussed, narratives recorded and, occasionally, games are played. Here, the crew of a talk show can feel pretty vulnerable. But along with the perils come some unique opportunities in participatory media. In our quest to rise above the smack talk, we will be joined live by other gamers and a special guest in Halo 3.

Armando Troisi (Bio Ware)
Blending and Bending Mediums: BioWare’s Mass Effect As videogames mature, the cinematic language has become increasingly prevalent as a way to convey narrative and emotion. BioWare’s Mass Effect series criss-crosses the ever-blurring line between passive & interactive entertainment, imbuing their trademark roleplaying games with a strong dose of cinematic storytelling. This fusing of two mediums is not without its challenges, however. Should narrative be front and center, or should the Player discover plot without the directed camera? Armando Troisi, lead cinematic designer Bio Ware, will present what narrative design considerations are made as well as further explorations into the balance of cinema and games.

Frank Dellario (Electric Sheep)
From Quake to Carnegie Hall: An ILL Clan Journey
Frank Dellario’s is an epic adventure that spans than entire history of machinima from Quake runs to his work with virtual world entrepreneurs Electric Sheep the largest 3D and virtual reality architecture company in the world. A founding member of the Ill Clan, he is the creator the popular machinima series Tra5h Ta1k . He has produced and directed numerous machinima projects for clients such as MTV2, Spike TV, Audi, Intel and Microsoft.

Ezra Ferguson (Rufus Cubed)
How Machinima Changed Everything: Indie Film Finds World of Warcraft
“Film-maker Ezra Ferguson of Rufus Cubed explains how his tiny production house enjoyed incredible success and unexpected tragedy in the budding art-form of Machinima and more precisely: World of Warcraft Machinima. “WoW”, with over 10 million subscribers, a rich mythology, and a dynamic culture of social interaction created a perfect vessel for Rufus Cubed’s most memorable work. Learn how Machinima has upended film-making and forever left a camera crew in virtual space.”
Sunday 15 June, 11am – 1pm

Making Machinma
Making Machinima World of Warcraft
Ezra Ferguson (Rufus Cubed), Rod Mayer (Beepa)
Practical tips to Making Machinima in Warcraft from leading filmmaker Ezra Ferguson of Rufus Cubed and Rod Mayer the creator of FRAPS
Forge: The Making of Griff Ball
Burnie Burns (Rooster Teeth)
Burnie Burns the creator of Griff Ball will explain how one day when going about his business making the worlds most popular machinima he accidentally made a game. Learn the origins of Griff Ball and some tips on working with Forge.

Making Machinima Panel
Chris Burke (This Spartan Life), Burnie Burns (Rooster Teeth), Frank Dellario (Electric Sheep) Ezra Ferguson (Rufus Cubed), & Rod Mayer (Beepa)
Discussion offering practical advice on making machinima. The panel discusses what its like to work in an emerging genre revealing there most foolish ideas and their most cunning tricks in filmmaking in games engines.
Sunday 15 June 2008, 2pm – 5pm

Red vs Blue
Reds vs Blue Reconstruction
With Q & A with writer and director Burnie Burns (Rooster Teeth)
Red vs Blue: Reconstruction is the follow-up to the internet phenomenon Blood Gulch Chronicles. In Reconstruction, everyone’s favourite group of hapless soldiers faces off against an all-new enemy, while still fighting amongst themselves. Filmed in Halo 3’s theatre tools, RvB: Reconstruction continues the tradition of first class machinima from Rooster Teeth Productions. Approx run time 90 minutes

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.

Nintendo DS Training Sessions at ACMI
- nintendogs and Animal Crossing for beginners -

Brush up on your nintendogs and Animal Crossing skills, or come along and learn about the games this Thursday 15 May, 6:00pm at ACMI, Federation Square.

Nintendo will be holding nintendogs and Animal Crossing beginners’ classes and everyone is welcome. Whether you have played these games or not, come along and learn about two of Nintendo’s most popular and unique games on Nintendo DS.

In Animal Crossing you call the shots in a completely unique world. Own a home, go to work, make friends and celebrate holidays and special events, and with the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection you can visit friends all over the real world or welcome them into your town! Find out how at the training sessions.

nintendogs allows you to have your very own pet puppy inside your Nintendo DS! Select from multiple breeds, care for and train your puppy using the touch screen and microphone. nintendogs is a unique game where you actually use your finger on the touch screen to scratch your puppy’s stomach! Come along and learn more about nintendogs.

Giveaways and exclusive downloads will be available on the night. If you have a copy of either game, bring them along with your Nintendo DS.

Event Details:

What: nintendogs and Animal Crossing beginners’ training session

When: Thursday 15 May, 6:00pm – 7:00pm

Where: ACMI, Screen Pit Room, Federation Square, Flinders Street Melbourne

Visit: http://www.nintendogs.com.au/ for more information on nintendogs

Visit: http://animalcrossing.nintendo.com.au/ for more information on Animal Crosssing

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.

8 BIT: A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT ART AND VIDEOGAMES (USA) – Australian premiere screening 24 April, at ACMI

Q & A by director Marcin Ramocki (New York) / 8 Bit live performance by DJ Trip (AUS): http://www.acmi.net.au/gameon_8bit.aspx

8 Bit is the new feature from New York-based director Marcin Ramocki, chronicling the relatively recent history of video game-based art. The film had its world premiere at the Museum of Modern Art and voted by ArtForum as one of the year’s ten best films.

What is “8 Bit”?
Best known as music form – 8 Bit artists use vintage videogame technology such as the Commodore 64 and the Atari 2600 to create the music. The 8 Bit genre has a long history dating back to the early ’80s, with bands such as Kraftwek who included videogame blips and beeps in their famous song “Computer world”. These days, 8 Bit has a world wide dedicated following – not only are there several websites dedicated to this artform, but 8 Bit events attract substantial crowds, particularly in Europe where over 5000 people might attend an live 8 Bit performance or festival.This current interest in 8 Bit music is not surprising given that many of the people making music now are in their ’20s & 30s and grew up playing games and have a huge nostalgic fondness for them, plus working versions of old videogames, computers and consoles have serious collectable cache these days given their rarity and enormous retro value.

Marcin will be in Melbourne for the premiere and will be conducted an audience Q & A after the event.

The screening of 8 Bit on April 24 will also feature a special set from DJ Trip, one of Australia’s best known exponents of ‘8 Bit’ music (both as composer and DJ). DJ Trip is shortly launching his new EP ‘Sid Vicious’, featuring a stack of tunes created with the good old Commodore, the Amiga and the Nintendo Game Boy.

DJ Trip returns to Melbourne in May:
• On Sun 4 May for Game-O-Rama (ACMI) on May, a day-long event for videogame collectors (organised to coincide with Game On), where he will perform and also be one of the guest speakers (see http://www.acmi.net.au/gameon_gameorama.aspx )
• On Thurs 8 May at The Corner, supporting John Foxx (ex-Ultravox, UK)

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]

Don’t freak out if you submitted a story and it didn’t win. It’s automatically eligible for the second batch of three tickets.

If you haven’t sent in your tale of retro gaming woe/comedy/wrist-slashing depression, you have until this time next week to get something in. For all the relevant details, the original competition post is the place to go.

Winners after the jump!First up is Kristina, who included a picture of herself with Sir Beanie McCreepy. Sorry Kristina, the Laws of the Internet demand I post it. But first, her retro moment:

Last year at GDC I went to the Second Life party and met the creator of King’s Quest! I gushed cause he is a celebrity :D I also met a guy who tried to pick me up by pretending to be Peter Molyneux but that a story for another day…

And here’s the lady in question:

Kirk Smith is currently serving time for killing his brother:

Me and my bro had been playing Double Dragon, we were playing co-op, fighting our way, level after level, to rescue my characters girl, after reaching the final level that jerk turned on me, beat the crap out of me and took the girl for himself :’(

The last one is from Thomas Gribben, who had the unfortunate pleasure of playing Shaq-Fu:

I was playing Shaq-fu and my whole family was trying it defeat the end boss everybody tried and failed. So i had a go, I was about 4 years old so i bashed the controller and magically i beat him. Now my family calls me NES Masher or Nasher

Congratulations folks, I’ll be in touch shortly to collect your mailing details.

We’ll return next week with the second, and last, selection of winners. Until then, watch out for the reminders.

Week 1: Win Tickets To Melbourne’s Game On Exhibit [Kotaku AU]

For specific info on how to enter, hit up the original post.

The exhibit opened mid-last week and has a few months of excitement left to go. The official site has everything you need to read to convince you of its awesomeness.

Thanks again to the ACMI for supplying the tickets for the comp.

Week 1: Win Tickets To Melbourne’s Game On Exhibit [Kotaku AU]

Looks like the Australian Centre for Moving Images read your mind. Or, more likely, it’s a coincidence.

The dates you’ll want to ink in your unicorn journal are March 6 to July 13. That’s about 18 weeks of retro gaming paradise. Tickets will set you back $15, or $10 for concession. Families of two adults and two children can cheat the system by purchasing a special $44 ticket. Alternatively, you could keep an eye out for a very special ticket giveaway, coming to a gaming blog* near you.

(*SPOILER: IT’S THIS ONE!)

The only downer? It’s in Melbourne. For all you Mexicans out there, I know you’re wondering why you should care, but as a Sydneysider I have the right to cry like a big sissy.

Just try and stop me.

Game On [ACMI]