TIGA, the trade association representing the UK games industry, and
GameHack saw thirty-seven teams of entrants compete to design and develop an original game within 24 hours. Taking place at Pinewood Studios on 28th and 29th April 2012, the event provided a brilliant showcase for aspiring or independent game creators.
List of winners:
Adobe Best Flash Game for iOS Winner:
The Super Flash Bros
Antix Labs Procedural Generation Challenge Winner:
Vegitects
BlueVia Best Use of Mobile Winner:
Lightwood Games
Getty Images/Pinewood Studios/Centroid 3D Games Trailer Challenge Winner:
Knightshade
Marmalade Best Cross Platform Mobile Application Winner:
Smoking Games
Turbulenz/Mozilla HTML5 Games Category Winner:
Hack FM
Papaya Mobile Social Game Hack Winner:
Placeholder Games
SCEE Best Game Award Winner:
The Super Flash Bros
TechHub Most Innovative Idea Award Winner:
Lightwood Games
TIGA Most Awesome Game Award Winner:
Team Coderunner
Thomas Curtis, Developer Advocate of BlueVia said:
“BlueVia is incredibly proud to have been a part of GameHack and we could not ask for a better introduction to games developers. The quality of games produced was nothing short of stunning and a testament to the talent within the UK games industry, as was the way that attendees helped each other even if they were aiming for the same category prize. I would like to thank TIGA for helping to organise the event, Pinewood Studios for allowing GameHack to be the first ever game event to take place at the site and to all of the attendees who made the event such a success.”
Dr Richard Wilson, CEO of TIGA commented:
“The TIGA-BlueVia GameHack was a tremendous success. Our GameHack gave developers a chance to create innovative games in new teams at the inspirational setting of Pinewood Studios; the chance to network with some of the best people in the UK games development sector; and a chance to win some superb prizes. Above all, the GameHack brought the development community together for an extremely enjoyable weekend”.
Patrick O'Luanaigh, CEO of nDreams and TIGA board member, said:
“TIGA is the trade association that gives UK content creators the opportunity to fulfil their potential. I had the privilege of being one of the TIGA-BlueVia judges and I was highly impressed by the quality of the games created. This augers well for the future of the UK game development sector which TIGA will be at the forefront of driving forward”.
Giles Farley, Managing Director Group Post Production – Content Services, Pinewood Studios Group, commented:
“It is fair to say that Pinewood has traditionally been associated more with film and television production than games, however, the skills and techniques required to produce commercially successful, creative content are converging. As a result, we are working more and more with games companies and we were delighted to have had the opportunity to host this year’s GameHack. The event demonstrated that collaboration, innovation and commitment can deliver truly outstanding results in a short space of time. We look forward to the next GameHack event and developing relationships with colleagues in the games industry.”
TIGA and BlueVia have compiled all the technology used at GameHack to provide the following statistical breakdown (please note that some people entered into multiple categories):
Platform Number of entries Percentage of entries
Mobile 18 41.86
Web 8 18.60
Cross platform 5 11.63
Flash 5 11.63
Procedural generation 7 16.28
Total 43 100
42 per cent of entries were for BlueVia's mobile category 'Best use of Mobile'. The popularity of this category echoes the shift in the wider gaming industry towards mobile devices. Thanks to Tubulenz and Mozilla category, HTML5 had a strong showing with 19 per cent of entries. For rapid development ‘Cross Platform’ and ‘Flash’ were used in 12 per cent of entries, respectively. GameHacks attendees were not daunted by Antix’s challenging hardcore 'Procedural Generation Challenge', with 16 per cent of entries testing their mettle in this category.
TIGA and BlueVia were impressed at the range and breadth of ideas at GameHack, from bluetooth enabled lights out, augmented reality tower defence; while remaking old classics like Reversi to hand coding multiplayer servers without using any libraries showed that GameHack had incredibly skilled attendees who love making games.
Ends
NOTES FOR EDITORS
List of all the prizes
Fourteen prizes are available across eight categories:
1. Best cross platform application
2. Best use of mobile
3. HTML5 games category
4. Mobile social game hack
5. Procedural generation challenge
6. Games trailer challenge
7. Best flash game for iOS
8. Best Game Award
Prizes on offer for winners are:
1. Made with Marmalade professional license worth $3,499
2. £500 worth of Arduino vouchers
3. 2 x £500 cash prizes
4. Potential to receive an additional £2,500 to fund completion and publishing of the game on Turbulenz
5. Adobe Creative Suite Premium (worth £1,429 excl.VAT)
6. 2 x top of the range Android smartphones
7. 25,000 downloads of your game guaranteed with Papaya’s Social Game Engine
8. Opportunity to mix your next games trailer at Pinewood Post Production
9. Half a day motion capture studio time with Centroid
10. One year’s free membership of TIGA
11. One year’s free membership of TechHub
12. PlayStation®Vita development kit
GameHack Event Categories Teams must enter one of the following challenges and meet the pre-set criteria:
Best cross platform application
Marmalade is looking for the best cross platform app or game. Use our SDK to develop games that span more than one platform. We're looking for apps and games that display the best in originality, utility, and commercial viability.
Best use of mobile
BlueVia thinks there are creative ways to using mobile devices to enhance gaming beyond the screen, this category is for those who want to challenge established gaming conventions. Need ideas to get you started? Think location-based gaming, linking of different devices for multiplayer gaming, using mobile to redesign old classics – location and sound enabled Marco Polo perhaps!
HTML5 games category
Turbulenz is looking for game demo’s that combine a great first-pass of some classic retro games with some of the powerful social features of the web today. For example, some classic-style platformer, arcade or puzzle game mixed with the ability to play with friends, invite friends to challenge you, or win achievements.
Mobile social game hack
You’ll have the weekend to create the best possible social freemium game using Papaya’s Social Game Engine. You bring the imagination and talent, we'll bring over 50 million potential customers
Procedural generation challenge
Your challenge, from Antix Labs, (should you decide to accept it) is to generate as many stunningly beautiful game graphics as possible in as small an executable as possible. The graphics can be 2D or 3D, that’s your choice, but they must not use any hand drawn graphics. Not even as an input to the generation system. The emphasis will be on graphics that could be used in a real game, so simply implementing a 2D fractal will not score as highly as a view of a landscape.
Games trailer challenge
You’ve created your game. Now get people to play it by creating a video game trailer using Getty Images content. Tell your game’s story. Take our high res video, stills and music, and turn it into something new. Put your own spin on it, in a short video of between one and three minutes.
Best Flash game for iOS
Adobe has set the challenge of creating an iOS game using flash technology. More details on each challenge can be found at: www.gamehack.co.uk
About TIGA
TIGA is the trade association representing the UK’s games industry. The majority of our members are either independent games developers or in-house publisher owned developers. We also have games publishers, outsourcing companies, technology businesses and universities amongst our membership. TIGA won 10 business awards and was nominated a finalist for 9 other awards during 2010 and 2011. In 2010 TIGA won two business awards including ‘Trade Association of the Year’ from the Trade Association Forum.
In 2011, TIGA won eight business awards including ‘Trade Association of the Year’ from the Trade Association Forum, ‘Outstanding Organisation’ from the Chartered Management Institute and two Global Business Excellence Awards, including ‘Outstanding Marketing Campaign’. Richard Wilson won the ‘Leadership Award’ from the Trade Association Forum and the ‘Outstanding Leader’ award from the Chartered Management Institute. TIGA is an Investors in People organisation.
TIGA's vision is to make the UK the best place in the world to do games business. We focus on three sets of activities: political representation, generating media coverage and developing services that enhance the competitiveness of our members. This means that TIGA members are effectively represented in the corridors of power, their voice is heard in the media and they receive benefits that make a material difference to their businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial opportunities.
For further information, please contact Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO on: 07875 939 643, or email
AboutBlueVia
BlueVia is the global developer platform from Telefonica that helps developers take apps, web services, and ideas to market. BlueVia is built on four founding principles: – Scale – Tools – Business Models – Path to Market BlueVia offers ground breaking, zero risk, business models for developers, along with ‘mix & match’ models to create multiple revenue streams. For more information, documentation and video tutorials, go to http://www.bluevia.com/
About SCEE Developer Relations
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), based in London, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of PlayStation®3, PlayStation®Vita, PlayStation®2, PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) and PlayStation®Network software and hardware in 109 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. SCEE also develops, publishes, markets and distributes entertainment software for these formats, and manages the third party licensing programs for the formats in these territories.
About Mozilla
Mozilla is a global community of people creating a better Internet. We build public benefit into the Internet by creating free, open source products and technologies that improve the online experience for people everywhere. We work in the open under the umbrella of the non-profit Mozilla Foundation. Everything we create is a public asset available for others to use, adapt and improve. For more information, visit www.mozilla.com.
About Pinewood Studios Group
The Pinewood Studios Group has become a destination that the world’s film, TV, advertising and videogames companies have chosen as a base for some of the biggest productions, including the 23rd James Bond film Skyfall (Eon Productions/MGM/Sony Pictures); Snow White and the Huntsman(Universal); Anna Karenina (Working Title Films/Universal); Prometheus (Fox); Dark Shadows(Warner Bros); Dancing on Ice, The Magicians, Got To Dance and Sing If You Can. Pinewood also hosted one of 2011’s biggest videogames Driver: San Francisco. The facilities comprise the best quality sound stages, a globally unique underwater filming stage, a wealth of specialist production resources, state of the art TV studios, post production and digital content services.
Pinewood offers the Games Industry the opportunity to see and hear their work in some of the best theatres in the world. Pinewood’s award winning Post Production facility can also offer localization in over 40 languages; project management; custom sound design; sound editorial; Oscar winning mixers; world class foley recording and editing; strong ties to the world’s film community as well as PR and brand recognition opportunities by association with one of the leading names in the business. Visit www.pinewoodgroup.com for more info.
About Marmalade
Marmalade makes software that lets developers build and distribute cross-platform applications quickly, easily and without compromise. Our true cross-platform technology provides the best performance and the best portability – and all within the industry’s most open and flexible development environment.
About Turbulenz
Turbulenz is a next generation HTML5 games platform, bringing social connectivity and community to the heart of games. With the vision of creating the greatest gaming experience, Turbulenz provides game developers with a world-leading HTML5 JavaScript SDK and development tools, as well as access to the Turbulenz network, allowing games to reach over one billion people on web connected devices. For more information, visit Turbulenz at www.turbulenz.com or contact Gavin Shields on 01483 338 720 or email gavinshields@turbulenz.com.
About Adobe Systems
Incorporated For more information about Adobe Gaming, visit http://gaming.adobe.com
About Papaya Mobile
Founded in 2008 by CEO Si Shen and CTO Qian Wenjie, PapayaMobile provides both tools for game developers and content for players on its growing social mobile network of over 30 million users worldwide. With headquarters in Beijing and offices in San Francisco and London, PapayaMobile offers developers a fast and easy way to reach millions of users across the globe and improve their return on investment for Android and iOS game development.
Players can participate in high quality social mobile gaming experiences with rich community interaction across Papaya’s rapidly growing network of paid and free iOS and Android games. http://papayamobile.com/developer
About Antix Labs, Ltd
The Antix Game Player (“AGP”) is an on-device software client for native games services licensed to multiple tier one device makers. Third party casual, advanced casual and premium games are distributed in a device-independent format similar in concept to MP3 or PDF. This format lets consumers access and share games from any of their connected AGP-powered 'screens', which include mobile phones, TVs, STBs, PMPs, and PCs. In much the same way as they do already with music, photos and videos, consumers can distribute trial games virally across networks and off-line to their friends and family while still protecting the rights and revenues of operators and publishers.
In addition to AGP itself, Antix provides the corresponding tools, certification mechanism, optional white-label store, and optional game warehousing necessary to deploy a complete service offering. Antix Labs Ltd., headquartered in Reading, England was founded by Francis Charig, a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer.
About Getty Images
Getty Images is a leading creator and distributor of still imagery, video and multimedia products, as well as a recognized provider of other forms of premium digital content, including music. Getty Images serves business customers in more than 100 countries and is the first place creative and media professionals turn to discover, purchase and manage images and other digital content. Its award-winning photographers and imagery help customers produce inspiring work which appears every day in the world’s most influential newspapers, magazines, advertising campaigns, films, television programs, books and Web sites. Visit Getty Images at www.gettyimages.co.uk to learn more about how the company is advancing the unique role of digital media in communications and business, and enabling creative ideas to come to life.
About Centroid Motion
capture and character animation services to the film, television and video games industry, Centroid delivers motion capture and 3D pipeline solutions throughout Europe. With a team of thirty industry professionals, a comprehensive list of facilities and services from production pre visualisation to finished post production animation and a strict secure data environment, we deliver on time to the highest standards, quality and security.
About TechHub
TechHub is the physical hub for the technology start-up community. It's launching first in London in the Shoreditch/Old St area and will consist of desk spaces, co-working space, meeting rooms and an event space. London is the first space, but will be swiftly followed by others in the TechHub network around the world, so wherever you are, you can connect @TechHub.
About o2 ThinkBig
Young people are full of ideas, energy and enthusiasm. But they need the right support to turn their ideas into reality. That’s where Think Big comes in. We find young people with great ideas and help them get going by giving them the training and funding to make their ideas work. www.o2thinkbig.co.uk
About GamesAid
GamesAid is a new UK video games industry based charity. It distributes funds to a diverse range of charities; it is a means of giving something back on behalf of the industry. GamesAid acts as a broker of charitable activity on behalf of the industry, taking advice from all sectors. It is a non trading body. The charity is administered by Trustees, who operate on a fixed term basis. It is formally run by a chairman, who is also on a fixed term. GamesAid is a children and young people's charity. www.gamesaid.org
About Creative KTN
The Creative Industries Knowledge Transfer Network mission is to accelerate innovation in the Creative Industries in the UK. We are home to innovators from all sectors of the Creative Industries from Advertising to Fashion and Design, from Architecture to New Media, TV, Games and beyond. Membership is free and you can join by clicking on the website link https://connect.innovateuk.org/web/creativektn
About Thumbstar Games
Thumbstar is a global mobile entertainment service provider run by industry veterans who have created, developed, published and distributed some of the most standout brands in the history of video games. www.thumbstar.com
About TechExcel
TechExcel is a leading provider of collaborative issue management software for various disciplines including software development, customer service, IT service, and help desk management. www.techexcel.com