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Indie Games Marketing Course

Anthony — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 06:47:32 +0000

Let’s Make Games is proud to present the Indie Games Marketing Course!

Coming to help Perth game developers with their marketing and PR are Chris Wright [MELB], founder of Surprise Attack and game marketing specialist (with over 100 campaigns under his belt), and Tim Colwill [PER], editor-in-chief of Internode’s gaming portal Games.on.net. The IGMC is an intensive evening course that features an interactive 2-hour positioning workshop, plus talks and feedback on your marketing from our guests:

Tim Colwill: Approaching the Press

What does it take to catch an editor’s eye? How can you make your press release stand out from the other 6,000 that cross their desk every day? As editor-in-chief of the thriving game community games.on.net, Tim will give you first hand insight into what you can do to make your press materials attractive to even the most time-deficient editor.

Chris Wright: Indie Game Positioning Workshop

Chris will take you through a two hour interactive workshop on how to “position” your game. Using a variety of unique exercises, this Surprise Architect will get you thinking about your games’ hooks and themes, and how to emphasise these unique features within the global game market. Prepare to be delighted and astounded as you learn things about your game that you never knew (or perhaps were too humble to admit!), and how this information can boost your marketing efforts.

Bring your games, bring your plans and come for an evening of indie games marketing kung-fu. Tickets are only $35 for this valuable information-packed workshop that will get your game’s marketing on track. Book your ticket soon, as spaces are limited. Light refreshments will be included during a coffee break.

Details

Time/Date: 6:00pm – 9:00pm, Thursday April 26th
Location: Northbridge Piazza Community Building, cnr Lake St. and James St. (entrance is beneath the big screen)
Tickets: $35, available from Eventbrite or the order form below!
Event Page: Facebook
Flier: For printing is here.

The Indie Game Marketing Course is proudly sponsored by ScreenWest and City of Perth.

Event registration for Indie Games Marketing Course powered by Eventbrite

What’s Up Pitches?!

Nick — Mon, 09 May 2011 10:05:44 +0000

Update: All standard presentation spots are now taken (although there are challenge spots still available), and there have been some minor changes to the schedule.

For the latest information see this blog post.

Do you have a burning hot concept that you just need to tell everyone about? Have you been head-down for six months and are ready to show off your hard work? Need to find an artist or programmer for your masterpiece?

Now’s the time to pitch it to us!

What’s Up Pitches?! is a Let’s Make Games micro-pitching event being held at Central Institute of Technology on Friday, 27th May. Bring your 3-minute pitch about your game-related project or topic, participate in interactive activities, or come and listen to see what developers in the local industry are thinking and working on.

Flyer (click for larger version):

If you are interested in presenting a 3-minute micro-pitch, please respond to this post, to the Facebook event, to the PIGMI mailing list thread, or use our Contact page.

Details:

Time/Date: 5:30pm – 8:00pm, Friday 27th May 2011
Location: Central Institute of Technology, East Perth (140 Royal Street, formerly known as eCentral TAFE)
Schedule: Registration from 5:30pm, pitches start at 6:00pm!
Activities: Micro-pitches, interactive activities, networking
RSVP: If you intend to provide a pitch at the event, please RSVP by 20th May.

Some members of Let’s Make Games are already preparing micropitches about their current projects and pet peeves. We also have two special guest speakers (Garth Pendergrast from Stirfire Studios and Quie Ying Morrison from WA Tourism) who will pitch an idea and pose questions on this website for you to respond to with your own pitches!

So, what are you going to pitch?

Flyer photo credit: John Morgan

Games panel discussion & networking session for ScreenWest

Nick — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 14:06:59 +0000

Together with ScreenWest, we are running a games panel discussion and networking event next Wednesday (16 March 2011). Obviously, we’re super excited! Any time we get to share our love for games is a time to look forward to.

This event is the perfect opportunity for Let’s Make Games to let local traditional screen practitioners know all about games (what they are and how they are made), and to introduce them to local game developers! So we hope that you can all attend, and encourage your other media colleagues to be there as well!

Keep an eye on our homepage (or follow us on twitter) as we will announce the panel line-up later this week. Thanks to ScreenWest for putting this event together!

Details:

Time/Date: 6pm-8pm, Wednesday 16 March 2011
Location: Alexander Library Thearette, State Library, Perth Cultural Centre
Announcement: Original announcement on the ScreenWest website
RSVP: rsvp@screenwest.wa.gov.au

And here is a handy map!:

View Larger Map

Update: Fixed the RSVP email address! The correct address is rsvp@screenwest.wa.gov.au (It was previously incorrectly listed as rsvp@screenwest.gov.wa.au).

Short talks by Perth game developers

Nick — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:13:28 +0000

Let’s Make Games is proud to announce our next event:

Title: Short Talks by Perth Game Developers

Time/Date: 5:00pm – 8:00pm, September 10, 2010

Location: Room B202 (the theatrette), eCentral TAFE, 140 Royal Street, East Perth

Description: Let’s Make Games has invited four local game developers (Matt Comi, Saxon Druce, Aranda Morrison, and Paul Turbett) to share their first-hand experiences developing and releasing games for various platforms (iPhone, Flash, Xbox360, Playstation 3, and PSP).

We’re very excited to have such a great line-up of speakers talking about recently released games on multiple commercial platforms. Perth game development has sure come a long way in the last few years!

Here are some links to our speakers’ games:

Square Off! by Gnomic Studios

Star Hammer Tactics by Black Lab Games

Class 3 Outbreak by Binary Space

The Incident by Big Bucket Software

Here’s the event flyer (click image for a print-ready version):

Hope to see you there!

Update: If you are on Facebook, check out the Facebook page for this event.

Update: Location updated with Room number (B202, the theatrette). We’ll be putting up signs and guiding people to the right place, but it’s nice to know the room number just in case!

The cake is a lie… so have some pie

Nick — Fri, 28 May 2010 09:51:30 +0000

Our next event will be next Friday and this time it isn’t purely a social affair!

Details:

Time/Date: 5:30pm – 7:30pm / Friday June 4, 2010

Location: eCentral (TAFE), 140 Royal St, East Perth

Description: Short talks on Python and Game Development

We’ve invited local game developers Simon Wittber and Chris McCormick to present short versions of talks that they are preparing for PyCon AU 2010 over in Sydney.

Here’s the flyer (click image for a print-ready version):

In keeping with the “Py” theme, there will be pie. Or is that a lie? Is this going to be some sort of pie-con? (Our sincere apologies for that pun.)

Hope to see you there!
View Larger Map

Note: We’re experimenting with more technical events based on community feedback. If this goes well (good turnout and responses), we may seek to run more. Do you have something interesting to present? Or something that you would like to see a presentation on? Let us know!

Photo source.

Update: Fixed typo. Event is until 7:3pm (not 8:30pm) and doors close at 8:00pm. Sorry for the confusion!

Sundowner this Saturday

Nick — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:07:59 +0000

As the sun sets on a significant period for the Perth game development community, Let’s Make Games has decided to run a sundowner so that everyone can catch up over a drink and a BBQ.

Details:

Time/Date: 4pm-8pm, Saturday 27 February 2010

Location: BBQ area at Matilda Bay (meet at the Gazebo)

Schedule: 3pm setup, 4pm drinks, 5pm cooking, 6pm food!

Food/Drink: BYO or buy our $1 soft drinks and $2 hot dogs

Activities: BYO picnic mat, footie, frisbee, etc.

Here’s a handy Google Map (click the markers for more information):

View BBQs at Matilda Bay in a larger map

We apologise for the late notice compared to our previous events (a number of us have been distracted by recent matters), but we hope to see you there!

Update: Facebook event page.

iParty 2.0

Nick — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:25:06 +0000

Update: It was a great event! Click here for photos.

Let’s Make Games and IGDA Perth Chapter are proud to present iParty 2.0, the greatest ever end-of-year party for the Perth game development scene!

2009 has been an amazing year for the Perth game development community – with many local game releases, community events, and a number of new companies starting up. The end-of-year party is all about celebrating and showcasing these achievements in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere!

Details:

Title: iParty 2.0

Time/Date: 6:00pm – 9:00pm, Friday, November 27, 2009

Location: Innovation Centre, Enterprise Unit 3, Technology Park, Bentley

Description: Meet local game developers, check out the latest releases, and just have a good time. Food and drinks are on us.

RSVP by November 20 for catering and registration purposes.

Here’s the preliminary event flier (click for larger version):

As you can see a few areas are blank and we need your help to fill them in! If you are a local game developer who intends to submit a video for the showreel, please send us some screenshots and a company logo by November 6. Your final showreel videos will be required by November 20.

Showreel video submissions are limited to one 60 second video (720p resolution preferred) per company or product. So a company with two products released or under development in 2009 can submit a total of three videos (one for the company and one per product). If you already have a suitable video online, just send us a link to it!

If you are interesting in sponsoring the event, please contact us for more information as we have many options available (from contributing to food and drink costs to providing raffle prizes). Sponsorship is a great way to get your name out in front of local developers – or just to show your appreciation for the local scene!

We’ll release the final print-ready version of the flyer (with game screens and sponsor logos) on November 10.

For now, here are some important dates to mark on your calendar:

Friday 6 November 2009: Final flyer image deadline (for sponsors and showreel screenshots).

Friday 20 November 2009: RSVP deadline (for catering and registration purposes). Showreel video submissions deadline.

Friday 27 November 2009: iParty 2.0!

Also be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed (or check back regularly) for more information on the event. Feel free to ask any general questions in the comments section and we will try to answer them ASAP!

Help spread the word online; This will be the biggest party of the year for the Perth game development scene and we want to see you all there!

Update: Oh, I almost forgot to extend a HUGE thanks to the Innovation Centre who are our venue sponsors for the event. We wouldn’t have such a fantastic environment (or as much money available for food and drink) without their generous support!

We made beautiful music

Nick — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:37:28 +0000

Last night’s Guitar Hero: World Tour competition and social night was super fun.

Turn-out was a less than normal (just over 20 people – maybe people were intimidated by the music-game-ed-ness of it all), but it didn’t matter one iota.

I’m not sure that any words written here could do it justice, so I’ll just leave it to videos (on our brand new YouTube channel!) and photos.

Here’s a compilation video of how the evening progressed:

And here’s the complete encore performance of the competition winners, Rainbow Stance:

Finally, here are the photos (I was very conscientious to take a lot of photos this time!):

Note: Know of any other local games community/industry videos/groups on YouTube? Let us know so that we can add them to our favourites list!

Guitar Hero competition and social night on tomorrow!

Nick — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 07:49:36 +0000

Let’s Make Beautiful Music (our August social event) is on tomorrow night (Tuesday, 25 August 2009), and features a Guitar Hero: World Tour competition in addition to the usual socialising, networking, and general good times.

If intending to enter the competition, you can register your band by commenting on this site or using the contact page – or just ROCK UP on the night and register at the door.

Clearly bands will primarily be playing for the eternal glory of being the GREATEST (Guitar Hero) BAND IN PERTH. However, the winning team will also recieve this copy of Guitar Hero: On Tour for Nintendo DS:

Entry is FREE, so you have nothing to lose! Here are the competition rules:

Bands of 4 people are encouraged but not required. A mic stand will be provided in the case that a singer wants to play an instrument as well. Bands can choose to perform any song from Guitar Hero: World Tour that are 6 minutes or under in length. The minimum difficulty for any instrument on any song is Medium. The tournament will be elimination based on points, with the exact structure determined by number of entrants.

Bands will be scored on 3 criteria with a total of 30 points possible per performance:

Accuracy – Divided by 10 and rounded down to nearest .5, i.e. 89% = 8.5

Difficulty – Awarded by judge, based on the difficulty of the song in relation to band skill, bands can increase difficulty on easier songs with play styles for more points (i.e. using touchboard only, blindfolded playing, crazy solos)

Performance – Awarded by judge, how exciting and entertaining the performance was by the band, including style, attire, audience engagement, energy,etc.

If a band is bringing their own instruments they must be compatible with the Xbox 360 and arrive by 6:45pm so they can be sync with the system.

Thanks to Dan and Anthony for putting these competition rules together! Let’s make this another awesome event!

Update: Know someone keen on Guitar Hero or interested in the local game development scene? Spread the word! We’re a volunteer-run non-profit group, so any publicity (eg. posting to forums or your blog) helps and is greatly appreciated!

Let’s Make Beautiful Music

Nick — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:01:24 +0000

Our August event is just one week away…

and we’ve decided that it’s time to ROCK OUT! with a Guitar Hero World Tour competition. There’s even a prize for the winning team!

Details:

Title: Let’s Make Beautiful Music

Time/Date: 7:00pm – 10:00pm, Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Location: The Velvet Lounge, 639 Beaufort Street, Mount Lawley

Description: The usual catch-up-over-drinks with a friendly Guitar Hero World Tour competition thrown in for good measure!

Links: Facebook event page. (Also feel free to join our Facebook group to be notified of future events).

Here’s the event flier (click on the flier for a printable version), aka your personal invitation.

As with all of our events, the primary purpose is always to provide a casual environment for local game developers and enthusiasts to meet, exchange ideas and knowledge, catch-up, and generally just have a good time.

Don’t be afraid that there will be nothing for you to do just because you are planning on entering the competition!

Note: If you are keen to participate in the competition, you can register your band in the comments section (just mention your band name and number of people).