Think summer: 2015 SIP application period opens
By Timothy Loew, executive director, MassDiGI
SIP ’14 – Team picture
There may be 33.5″ of snow on the ground as I write but it is never to early to think about our annual Summer Innovation Program. Since the program began in 2012, of 296 total applications, 61 students from 16 different colleges and universities have earned a spot to spend their summer making games with us.
This past year, the 22 accepted students came from Becker College, Berklee College of Music, Hampshire College, MIT, Mt. Holyoke College, Northeastern University, RISD, Smith College, Tufts University, UMass Lowell and WPI. Working on teams – in just a little over 11 weeks – they produced four great games, all of which will be available to play soon, with two being published by Thumbspire. To get a sense of their games and the process, scroll back through some of last summer’s blog entries.
There is no other internship program like SIP in the world. Accepted students will have a game development experience they will never forget. Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? Details on the program, as well as the application, can be found here. The deadline for applications is March 20, so apply today!
» Read More
Drop by our booth (#4248) at PAX East 2015 and say hello! This year we will have game demos from Wooplex, Black Hat Oculus, Cat Tsunami, Midnight Terrors and more! And, as always, we will be offering drop-in mentoring and running the Made in MA QR Quest!
You’re also welcome to join us at our panel: “Game Devs: The Next Generation, Part Two” on Saturday, March 7th at 1:00pm in the Bobcat Theatre. This panel features students from MIT, Becker College, WPI, RISD and Berklee College of Music talking about their experiences making games in our Summer Innovation Program.
» Read More
Party time!
Join us for the best party of the year on March 5 in Cambridge! Click here to RSVP!
Download the program here!
Pre-PAX East Made in MA Party
March 5, 2015, 6-9pm
Event Sponsors: Microsoft and Turbine
Gold Sponsor: Disruptor Beam
Silver Sponsors: Funkitron and Becker College
Bronze Sponsors: GSN Games and BlueSnap
Featured Community Partner: Extra Life Boston Guild
Community Partners: Boston Post Mortem/IGDA, MassTLC, Boston Fesitval of Indie Games, Women in Games Boston, MIT Enterprise Forum Games Circle, MassTech, Boston Indies, Boston Unity Group, Playcrafting Boston, IGC, Pioneer Valley Game Developers, Worcester Game Pile, Lowell Independent Game Development Meetup, Purple Monkey Game Jam, HackerRank, IGDA NH and Game Makers Guild!
Presented by MassDiGI
Main Showcase: Disruptor Beam, Funkitron, Becker College, GSN Games and BlueSnap!
Indie Showcase: The Molasses Flood, Skymap Games, Part12 Studios, Skreens TV, Black Hat Oculus, Glass Knuckle Games, Asinine Games, TestTubeGames, Wooplex, Mob Made Games, Urban Electronics, Nasty Dragon Games, Idle Action Studios, Worcester Game Pile, Pioneer Valley Game Developers, Ysbryd Games, Obey and Half Glass Games
College Showcase: The EcoKids and the Paper Pests (WPI), Midnight Terrors (Becker), Xeero (WPI), Champoline (Fitchburg St.), Drifter (NEIT), Legend of Ora (Fitchburg St.), Sticky Tongue (Becker), Authentic Octopus (Wentworth), Pole Control (Becker), Hikari Michi – Light Road (WPI), Prism Wars (NEIT) and Eye Bot (Fitchburg St.)
- Free for students – email us for a promo code!
- Advance purchase – $10 + fee on Eventbrite
- At the door – $15
- Recommended 17+
- Positive ID 21+ required for cash bar
- No refunds
- Limited capacity
» Read More
We will be at GDC from March 2-5. If you wish to schedule a meeting, please drop us a line. In addition, we are hosting our annual Made in MA at GDC Party on March 3. Details below.
Made in MA at GDC Party
Please join us for drinks and snacks before another long night of work. Great chance to catch up with old friends and to make new ones. RSVP required. Contact us for a promo code.
Sponsored by Vivox, BlueSnap, HappyGiant & Pileated Pictures
» Read More
Join us for our 4th annual Game Challenge at Microsoft New England Research & Development Center in Cambridge! More information on the competition including registration details here.
» Read More
The gates are open: 2015 Game Challenge registration begins
By Tim Loew, executive director, MassDiGI
One of the events I look forward to most each year is our big MassDiGI Game Challenge pitch competition. There really is nothing like it. Come experience it for yourself – team registration and general admission for the 2015 edition is now open.
Game Challenge ’14 – Grand Prize winner Jenna Hoffstein, Little Worlds Interactive, The Counting Kingdom
Since the Game Challenge began in 2012, over 120 teams have entered some pretty amazing games including titles like The Counting Kingdom, Catlateral Damage, PWN, Wobbles, Depression Quest and Pathogen – just to name a few of the winners from past years. In addition, over 700 competitors – be they indies, students or hobbyists – had the chance to meet with industry mentors, hear from experts, share knowledge, split $50,000 in prize value, have fun, play and celebrate games.
This year, we made a couple of changes worth pointing out – 1.) moving the event from early March to early February and 2.) redefining Concept and Prototype to Demo/Alpha and Beta/Near Release.
In addition to those changes, we are also pleased to note that this year’s event t-shirt design will come from the winner of, you guessed it, the Game Challenge t-shirt design contest. Give it shot.
Other than that, thanks to the sponsors, mentors, judges and volunteers, it should be as exciting as always.
Of course, we couldn’t pull any of this off without such great teams and their games – the competition is the show. I look forward to seeing you there.
» Read More
“As the video game industry enjoys growth across the United States, Massachusetts is reaping some of those benefits, according to a national trade group, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).” Read the full story from the Worcester Business Journal here.
» Read More
Launch! Many Mini Things coming soon to the Leap Motion App Store
By Pat Roughan, senior, WPI
Many Mini Things is a fun motion-control party game for the Leap Motion controller that combines many mini-games with mini capsule toys. The mini-games challenge you to win as many as possible before losing four times. You preform actions, like spinning a DJ disc or kicking a hacky sack into space, by moving your hand over the Leap Motion. Each victory is rewarded with a virtual collectible toy, and high scores for each difficulty are saved to an in-game score table.
Download Many Mini Things for free here, invite your friends over and have a blast!
When our team of developers looked into the Leap Motion, we wanted our players to immediately understand the controls for our games without instruction. We decided on motion, grip, and spin as our three controls, and looked at real world activities that used these motions. We then added a level of unexpected wackiness to it, like fireworks going off after petting a rock, to make the activies more engaging than their real world counterparts.
The game, made for players of all ages, was created by a team of six students from WPI, Becker College, Smith College and Berklee College of Music during the 2014 MassDiGI Summer Innovation Program (as well as Becker students from a fall ’14 /spring ’15 Live Code course ). Our team of interns worked over the eleven weeks to create a game that would be published for all to enjoy through the Leap Motion app store. With help from game industry mentors and MassDiGI staff, we turned Many Mini Things from a concept into a reality – and we hope you love it as much as we do.
Find us online!
Web – http://games.massdigi.org/manyminithings/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/manyminithings
Twitter – https://twitter.com/ManyMiniThings
» Read More
Join us at one of MassDiGI’s New England-wide Making Games 101 mini-workshop series coming up this fall and winter. Stops will include locations in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut and, of course, Massachusetts. Each mini-workshop, held in partnership with local institutions and organizations, will focus on game development educational and career content for high school students. This series is underwritten by the ESA Foundation.
Drop us a line for more information!
Locations and dates*:
- Worcester Youth Leadership Institute, Becker College, Worcester, MA – 8/13/14 – registration closed
- RISD, Providence, RI – 10/8/14 – registration closed
- NH TechFest, Nashua North High School, Nashua, NH – 11/1/14 – registration closed
- SNHU, Manchester, NH – 12/6/14 – registration closed
- UConn, Digital Media & Design, Stamford, CT – 12/10/14 and 12/16/14 – registration closed
- Worcester Technical High School, Worcester, MA – 12/12/14 and 12/17/14 – registration closed
- Hampshire College, GGJ, Amherst, MA – 1/23/15 – registration closed
- Bonus – Pathways in Technology Early College High School, New York, NY – 3/18/15 – registration closed
- Champlain College, Burlington, VT – 4/28/15 – registration closed
- Maine College of Art, Portland, ME – TBD*
- Lowell High School, Lowell, MA – TBD*
* Check site for updates.
» Read More
Come on down and ”Meet MassDiGI” with NUGDC – a great opportunity to network, talk games and more! All Northeastern Univ. and Boston-area game development students are welcome.
When: October 30, 2014 – 7:00 p.m.
Where: Northeastern University, 108 West Village H, 440 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115
» Read More
