bitSmith release new FranknJohn footage

Some of the team from Dublin-based indie studio bitSmith are at GDC in San Francisco this week - but that hasn't stopped them pushing out a trailer showing early pre-alpha footage of their upcoming game FranknJohn.

The top-down, rouge-like-like brawler should be getting a Kickstarter soon, but in the meantime you can take a quick look at the gameplay and some of the environments that you can look forward to in the final game.



In a statement via their newsletter today the developers said they'll be streaming sections of the game on their Twitch channel.

LIT Thurles team take games prize at Imagine Cup

Building 3, Microsoft.
Photo: Wiki Commons

At lunchtime in Microsoft’s Sandyford offices in Dublin this Tuesday teams of young people gathered in corners, and around half eaten sandwiches, to talk in hushed tones. This was their last chance to prepare before the judging started.

The Imagine Cup is Microsoft’s annual competition for software innovation by students from across the Island. I had come for the games but stayed for some of the extraordinary apps on offer.

After a morning spent casually talking about their ideas in the brightly lit presentation room at the rear of Microsoft’s Building 3, the reality of the situation had set in. They were here from colleges across the country to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges from academia and industry.

These were the people who could take their ideas from a pastime to a product that they could sell. This is a high-stakes competition, and despite the shy smiles you could tell the pressure was on.

Stephen Howell (@saorog) is Academic Engagement Manager at Microsoft. He organised this year’s competition and he agrees that the set up is an intimidation one - “This is the only way to really put them on the spot.” he said as he showed me into the judging rooms.

Kú goes live on Steam this St. Patrick's Day

Bit Smith Games today announced that Kú: Shroud of the Morrigan will be released on Steam on 17 March.

Kú is a top-down 2D game with action-rpg elements. Bit Smith released the game on iPad last year but now, after a protracted Steam Greenlight campaign, it's finally getting a full re-release for PC.

Versions of the game are already available on the developer's website for Android, PC and Mac.

The game is a twist on the Táin, the story of Cúchulainn, set in a future Ireland.

In a statement on their Steam page today the developers said: "What better way to celebrate St. Patricks [sic] Day than to consume yourself in some ancient Irish history."

Kú was not without its problems on iPad - but a lot of my frustrations came from the controls. The game has full controller support on PC. There's no detail on pricing yet but I'll keep you informed.

Microsoft Imagine Cup judging in Dublin today

The Imagine Cup is Microsoft's annual innovation competition. And today is D-day for the teams involved.

Each of the teams has been busy developing their ideas - an innovative piece of software running on Microsoft's platrorms and today they need to pitch their work to real judges from industry.

Submissions closed in early February and today the top teams in Microsoft's three categories - Games, Innovation and World Citizenship - will compete.

I'll be going along to see what Ireland's young tech creatives are working on.

Video game start-ups shine at Enterprise Ireland event

Dublin Castle CC via [Dicky]

Ten Irish games companies were among the 103 businesses showcased by Enterprise Ireland this morning at Dublin Castle. Speaking on Morning Ireland, Enterprise Ireland's Chief Executive Julie Sinnamon said that there was a really high callibre of companies to showcase.

Enterprise Ireland is the government body tasked with developing Irish industries for international markets. The High Potential Start-Up Class of 2013 event is used by Enterprise Ireland to introduce companies that it has supported during the previous year.

Ms Sinnamon told RTE that technology companies were leading the pack over the past year.

"The biggest sector of all was really the technology, software, internet, games area... really dynamic, young companies and very enthusiastic and full of energy."

She said these companies were driven by really big ambitions.

The full report released by Enterprise Ireland divides the companies into two groups - 'High Potential Start-ups' that have sucessfully raised seed capital and 'Competetive Start-ups' or early stage companies. 

The list of games-specific companies includes Simteractive, a developer headed up by Elaine Reynolds, formerly of Lionhead and Sixminute - a team formed from the ashes of PopCap's Dublin office.

Here's a list of the games companies involved:

High Potential Start-ups
Gamesparks
Sixminute

Competitive Start-ups
Beat Your Manager
English Bubble
Hail Studios
Rainbow Rocket Studios
Sighter
Simteractive
Powwow
Thoughtbox

State of Play 2013

Prison Architect producer Mark Morris will be giving the keynote speech at tonight's State of Play at DIT Angier Street. He works with Introversion Software in the UK.

A satirical twist on business-sim games like Theme Hospital, Prison Architect tasks players with running the most efficient privatley owned prison possible. It's currently in open alpha (an early test version) for people who want to preorder the game.

State of Play is an annual event looking at the Irish game development scene. There'll be games to play from a host of Irish indies from 5PM and a range of Irish and International speakers on stage. Coverage of last years event is available here on HackettOut.

You can still register for the event on stateofplay.ie.

Here's a terrible trailer for the Alpha version of Prison Architect.

State of Play 2012 Round-Up

Growth in the Irish games industry is creating opportunities for artist, designers and programmers. Last night’s State of Play conference heard that the Irish industry has almost quadrupled in size in the last three years.

• The 'Hackett Out' live blog captured the evening: Read along with State of Play here. 
• Get the data: Jamie McCormick’s report on the state of the industry can be found here. 
• Who’s funding indie development in Ireland? See Wayra Ireland and NDRC
• Got some free time? @seriousgamesIRL live-streamed the whole event. Find it here.

Ku from Bit Smith Games
Source: Bit Smith Games

The call for new talent came again and again from speakers at the 2012 State of Play indie-game showcase in Dublin last night.

From artists to coders, new blood is in short supply in this growing industry. The number of companies working in video-games here has jumped from 21 in 2009 to over 83 this year.

Jamie McCormick, Marketing Systems Manager at Gala Networks Europe, published his report on the state of the industry in Ireland last week. He said video-games are now worth €210m to the Irish economy every year.

His study, “Games Industry Ireland 2012”, is available online on gamedevelopers.ie. McCormick said that the study highlighted skills shortages in in Ireland, especially in the area of animation.

And he proposed solutions. He’s trying to bring together the Irish Film Board and the game’s industry to pool their talents.

State of Play 2012 Live Blog

Live blogging from tonight's DIT indiegame event in Dublin.