Author Archives: Andrew Macdonald

Remembering Stew Hogarth

Remembering Stew Hogarth banner

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of local game designer Stew Hogarth at age 34 on the morning of the 15th September 2015 after a lifelong battle with congenital heart disease. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and his wife Inez at this difficult time.

You are invited to join us for a celebration of his life at 13:15 on Wednesday 23rd September 2015 at St. Columba’s Roman Catholic Church, Derwent Avenue, Dundee, DD3 0BE followed by a reception at the Invercarse Hotel.

Smiling Bag Games

Stew was widely known and much loved within the Scottish game development community. After graduating from Abertay University in 2004, he worked for local studios Denki and Chunk before founding his own studio Smiling Bag Games to work on independent projects and game jams. However you knew Stew, we thoroughly encourage you to seek out and play his games or read his blog.

Freeman Heart and Lung Transplant Association

His family have requested that any donations in Stew’s name be made to The Freeman Heart & Lung Transplant Association (Registered Charity 1157894) during the memorial service, or online via JustGiving; in recognition for all the help and hope they have given Stew over the last few years. As of writing, the campaign has already raised over £2,000 to support transplant patients in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

You can find more news coverage of Stew’s passing online on Gamasutra and Develop.

On a final and personal note, I’d like to thank Stew for repeatedly reminding me that your health need not get in the way of being creative or making games. It doesn’t have to take over your life and “it doesn’t control you”. I only wish I could have told him the difference he has made myself.

Live: Watch the Edinburgh Game Symposium on Twitch!

After a morning of interesting technical difficulties and the slaying of many gremlins, the Edinburgh Game Symposium: ProtoPlay Edition stream is now live on Twitch.tv! This gives the folks at home or at work a chance to catch the afternoon’s talks and participate in the conference. If you find the talks interesting or useful, please consider supporting EGS:PE remotely by donating via PayPal, or sharing the Twitch link with your friends or colleagues!





Tickets for the evening concerts are still available on EventZilla, and space is rapidly filling up at our own EGS networking and Dare Kick-Off Party.

IGDA Scotland at the Edinburgh Game Symposium, plus a networking party sponsored by Kobojo!

Edinburgh Game Symposium: ProtoPlay Edition poster v2

We’re extremely proud to be supporting this year’s Edinburgh Game Symposium at the Dare ProtoPlay Festival on Wed 12th and Thurs 13th August 2015 in the Marryat Hall of the Caird Hall. It’s bigger and better than ever, jam-packed with something for everyone! Buy Tickets!

With flexible and affordable tickets for each event in the conference available here we heartily encourage you to come along to what you can; or tune in to the talks online using IGDA Scotland’s first ever livestream on Twitch.tv!

Wednesday: Talks and Networking Party

EGS Networking and Dare Kick-Off Party short banner

First up are a series of varied game developer talks featuring many familiar Scottish industry folks, plus some fresh faces from further afield on Wednesday followed by an IGDA Scotland networking party (sponsored by Kobojo) in the evening. If you can’t take time off work, you can still watch our livestream on Twitch.tv and come to the party later 😀

Eventbrite - EGS Networking & Dare Kick-Off Party

Thursday: Workshops and Live Music Concerts

EGS Music Logos

The second day of EGS features young game designer workshops during the day and two back-to-back live video game music concerts in the evening. First up is an performance from orchestral ensemble The Mantra Collective orchestra, followed by a dance party with Super Hexagon chiptune superstar Chipzel. Tickets for these can be bought separately online or at the door.

July Meeting: Cross-Media Collaboration in Edinburgh

Join us on Thursday 23rd July at CodeBase from 19:30 as we return to Edinburgh to learn how our speakers are playing with the boundaries of games through cross-media collaboration; plus the usual recent news, open mic, and laid back developer networking.

June 2015 Cross-Media Collaboration banner

Eventbrite - IGDA Scotland July Meeting: Cross-Media Collaboration

Our Speakers

CodeBase

We’d like to thank CodeBase for supporting this meeting.

Our meetings are always open for anyone and everyone to attend whether you’re a student, professional, educator, or just curious. Tickets are free, even for non-IGDA members.

June 2015: Recruitment

June 2015 Recruitment Banner

Come along on Wednesday 3rd June for our first monthly chapter meeting of the year in Dundee, where we will be hearing from a recent IGDA Foundation Intel Scholarship winner; and discussing games industry careers with a varied panel of seasoned games industry professionals with Q&A and free beer in NEoN’s Unit 5 in the Vision Building.

Eventbrite - IGDA Scotland June Meeting: Recruitment

Our Speakers and Panelists

NEoN Digital Arts Festival LogoWe’re hosting this meeting at Unit 5 in the Vision Building in association with the NEoN Digital Arts Festival and Dundee MakerSpace. The venue can be found on the right-hand side of the main foyer as you enter the Vision Building.

Boyd Multerer Masterclass at GCU

Boyd Multerer Banner

Join us for a masterclass with Boyd Multerer (@BoydMulterer), the man responsible for Xbox Live, the gaming and entertainment service now used by more than 46 million people worldwide on 12th May 2015 from 6pm at Glasgow Caledonian University. He will share with us lessons learned from Xbox and his predictions for the future of gaming. He will focus on the importance of anticipating changes in technology and culture, and forecasting how they will change in future years.

Eventbrite button

While working at Microsoft, he was also behind the XNA C# game development framework, which allows independent developers and creators to produce games for the Xbox 360 console for the first time. Since then, he founded and led the team that worked on the Xbox One’s operating system, which went on to win a Technical Emmy and a Microsoft Technical Achievement Award. After almost 20 years at Microsoft, Boyd left in December 2014 and is now working on an as yet unannounced project.

The masterclass is free and open to the public, but IGDA members can book reserved tickets for themselves by contacting us at [email protected] (while stocks last). Light refreshments will be served afterwards in the Garden Café in the Govan Mbeki Building.

Eventbrite button

Diversity in the Creative Industries Panel

Diversity in the Creative Industries Banner

Join us at Abertay University on Thursday 26th March from 5pm to hear from a panel of games industry professionals on the current state of diversity within the games industry, and the role of women in games. Our panelists will be sharing their own personal experiences, stories, advice on getting a foothold in games and building meaningful relationships within the development community.

Eventbrite - Diversity in the Creative Industries Panel

The panel is open for anyone to attend whether you’re a student, professional, educator, or just curious. Tickets are free, even for non-IGDA members. A donation on the night in aid of WRASAC Dundee would be appreciated.

Abertay Feminist Society Logo

We’re hosting this special event in association with the Abertay Feminist Society. If you wish to stay up to date on their activities, please like their Facebook page for all the latest news, or contact Paige Shepherd to learn more.

 

The Panelists