MassDiGI Game Challenge: February 26 & 27, 2016 – Cambridge, MA
Join us for our 5th annual Game Challenge at Microsoft New England Research & Development Center in Cambridge! More information on the competition including registration details here.
2016 MassDiGI Game Challenge registration opens – 12/14/15
2016 MassDiGI Game Challenge registration opens
By Tim Loew, executive director, MassDiGI
It is hard to believe that 2016 will mark our fifth time hosting the Game Challenge. Time flies. Over the years we have seen some amazing game concepts and titles near-release from a range of indies and students of all sorts. Take a look back in our Game Challenge archives and check them all out. We are proud to have had folks participate from far away places and right next door. And, sponsors, mentors, speakers, volunteers and judges have helped make it all happen. Thanks again to everyone involved, we sure couldn’t do it without your support – especially, Microsoft New England for providing such great space each year.
That said, we expect this year to be better than ever. Though no substantial changes have been made, we have tweaked a few things which will be noticeable to veteran competitors at the event. With only 40 slots available, team registration will go fast so if you’re an indie, college or high school team, sign up sooner rather than later. See you on February 27 and 27!
GAME LAUNCH Don’t let the bedbugs bite: Midnight Terrors hits stores – 12/9/15
Don’t let the bedbugs bite: Midnight Terrors hits stores
By Tim Loew, executive director, MassDiGI
Midnight Terrors, a free, fun and challenging tower defense game released today on the App Store and Google Play, came from the imagination of Joe Lajoie in May 2014. At that time, Joe, a Becker College student (now alumnus), was an intern in our annual MassDiGI Summer Innovation Program (SIP). After successfully pitching his idea about a boy named Casey and his toys to the rest of SIP, he along with talented students Renzo Heredia from Berklee, Loren Sherman from MIT, Ning Xie from Mt. Holyoke, Benji Smith from Northeastern and Aromie Kim from Tufts teamed up to make the game a reality.
Working together over that summer, the team, using Unity, produced a high-quality game (watch the terrific trailer here) which, during a demo at Boston TechJam, caught the attention of New York City-based game publisher Thumbspire. From there, partnering with Thumbspire, we brought Midnight Terrors into our LiveCode Studio program at Becker during the 14/15 academic year. Through LiveCode, many more students from Becker as well as RISD, Hampshire and WPI had roles in the further development of the game, winning awards and polishing it to the point where it was tested in international markets.
This fall, the 15/16 LiveCode launch team, a group of students from across a range disciplines, put the final touches on Midnight Terrors and it is now available to download for iOS and Android.
It has been a busy semester for the launch team which pushed out Limbs (Google Play, App Store), another SIP14 and LiveCode 14/15 & 15/16 title, in October and, working with Thumbspire, has Hibachi Hero, a SIP15 and LiveCode 15/16 title, slated to hit the stores on December 17.
Update: Click here to read the Worcester Telegram’s December 8 story on the Midnight Terrors launch.
GMI Post: Massachusetts is a game changer in gaming
“Amid the unstoppable growth of the multibillion-dollar gaming industry around the world, the state government of Massachusetts joined forces with schools and businesses to establish the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute (MassDiGI) four years ago.” Read the full story at GMI Post here.
MobileDevHacker: January 27, 2016 – New York, NY
Join MassDiGI’s Monty Sharma at MDH on January 27 in New York. More info here.
FIG Talks: January 16, 2016 – Cambridge, MA
Catch our 12:30 pm panel “Game devs: The next generation” featuring SIP15 alumni Veronica Ni (RISD), Ari Green (MIT), Rejon Taylor-Foster (Becker) and Rachel Burton (WPI) at the Boston Festival of Indie Games FIG Talks at Microsoft New England in Cambridge on January 16. Schedule here. Registration information here.
PVGD Make Talk Play: January 10, 2016 – Hadley, MA
Join us on January 10, 2016 at The Quarters in Hadley for the PVGD Make Talk Play Meetup! Details forthcoming.
HEVGA/FGG Games + Higher Education + National Impact: December 10 & 11, 2015 – Washington, DC
Come meet fellow game makers, researchers and funders in Washington, DC. The Federal Games Working Group (FGG) and the Higher Education Video Game Alliance (HEVGA) have joined forces to convene the first ever Games + Higher Education + National Impact Event in Washington, DC on December 10-11, 2015. More information here.
Take this, please: 2015/16 Mass. game industry survey – 11/19/15
Take this, please: 2015/16 Mass. game industry survey
By Tim Loew, executive director, MassDiGI
A few years ago we launched our first survey of the Mass. game industry. We learned quite a bit. We hope to learn more this time around, too.
That said, I’d like to thank all the survey respondents in advance – be they companies, studios, divisions, universities, hobbyists, non-profits, indies, schools, departments, colleges, etc. The information you provide in the 2015/16 Mass. Game Industry Cluster Census & Econometric Survey is critical in helping understand aggregate workforce, business, education and technology trends while providing the statistical foundation for expected biennial comparisons as well as ongoing efforts to attract talent, grow the sector and build alignment across industry, academia and government. Confidentiality is assured. Only aggregate data will be reported.
- Take two minutes and take the survey – click here!
I’d also like to thank Prof. Pacey Foster at UMass Boston and the folks at the UMass Donahue Institute for there invaluable assistance.
I encourage you to share the survey link with anyone and everyone in your network. The more data, the merrier.
Survey link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1y1bAAVNM_EPz1pt5CgEWUhRASN6GOBuDMVcZWKcbrck/viewform
The survey will remain open through January. Results are expected to be announced soon thereafter.
!Atrevete! Exploring STEM College and Career Expo: November 21, 2015 – Worcester, MA
Drop by our booth at !Atrevete! Exploring STEM College and Career Expo on campus at Worcester State University. Information here.
