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Battlefield 1 crowned as best selling title of 2016 in Australia and New Zealand
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EA's shooter has held off a pre-Christmas charge to top the boxed retail charts for 2016 in both Austalia and New Zealand. MORE
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Good Game cancelled
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Australia's longest running video games program has been axed by the ABC. MORE
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Girl Geek Academy are Building a Female Founded Victoria
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The Girl Geek Academy has announced how they will be spending the $1.3-million in funding they received. MORE
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ESL Australia announces new season of AU & NZ Championship
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The eSports league returns bigger and better for 2017. MORE
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'Hex' and 'Nichboy' jump to the Seven Network
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The two former Good Game hosts are reportedly set to host a brand new gaming show on Channel 7. Their departure is said to be the catalyst for the show's axing. MORE
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JOB SPOTLIGHT
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Driving our visual revolution
By Joab Gilroy
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There's this gut reaction from many Aussies to downplay our accomplishments. To feel like we're underachieving. To worry that taking credit can seem like bragging, that it might set someone up to appear to be a tall poppy. The side effect of this rampant, aggressive humility is that it can appear like Australia is rarely involved — especially when it comes to behind-the-scenes work in a field as technical as video games. The Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE) might feel the sting of this a little more than most — they've been training and unleashing their students into the world of Games, Animation and Film visual effects for more than 20 years now.
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TAIE — with Campuses in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Online — is one of the world's longest operating educators in the realm of visual effects. But because their alumni work behind-the-scenes — because so much of the video game creation process is behind closed doors — it can seem to some like Australians aren't making games.
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There are still many opportunities for the talented creatives in the industry. Australia's indie gaming scene thrives as more developers than ever find themselves spoiled for choice when it comes to the tools required to create games. Collaborative creative workspaces like The Arcade in Melbourne and Game Plus in Canberra create opportunities for networking and growth, playing host to some of Australia's biggest hits of the last few years. The wonderful thing about the Aussie Indie revolution is that our cultural sense of humour has a better opportunity shine without being overwhelmed — designers get to design, and nowhere shows this better than in the mobile space.
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Mobile games out of Australia take the world by storm as Aussie design sensibilities gel beautifully with worldwide tastes. CrossyRoad, TownCraft, Duet and other acclaimed mobile games came from our shores — the second most downloaded mobile game of all time (Fruit Ninja) was developed in Brisbane.
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The skills learned by the brilliant VFX artists who graduate in Australia are used on projects outside of games, too. The Lego Movie, Gravity, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2, Mad Max: Fury Road and Avatar feature work by Aussies who got their start learning the ropes at AIE and went on to work at award-winning VFX houses like Weta and Animal Logic. In TV, the staggering Battle of the Bastards from Season Six of HBO's Game of Thrones was worked on heavily by Iloura, based out of Sydney and Melbourne.
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Overseas game opportunities abound for Aussies with vision and training. Last year's Gears of War 4 and the upcoming Injustice 2 highlight the work of artists and alumni of AIE working at The Coalition and NetherRealms Studios respectively, and the list of top tier Aussie talent working overseas only continues from there with others working at Telltale Games, Ubisoft Toronto, BioWare and Bungie.
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Films are more reliant than ever on the visual effects abilities of brilliant artists. In games, graphics companies continue to churn out better cards for use with higher resolution monitors, requiring more and more impressive finesse when it comes to 3D Animation, Programming and Design. The gut reaction might be to think Aussies aren't involved, but it's actually a fantastic time to be making, playing and talking about games in Australia.
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Monday, mid-morning, it was announced that the ABC had decided to cancel Good Game after 10 years of high quality reporting, criticism and entertainment. The decision saw an unprecedented outpouring of grief on social media, and equally impressive coverage from specialist and mainstream media.
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Good Game’s axing has come as a shock to many of us in the industry. Over the course of 10 years,1,300 plus episodes and four iterations, Good Game redefined the way Australians consumed games media. While there have certainly been a number of other gaming shows to feature on the idiot box, Good Game — a show billed as for gamers, by gamers — changed the game (pun intended).
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In its decade on air the show did more than just showcase which games were soon to be released. Good Game challenged the minds of gamers. It reminded them that we are a community, we are all in this together, and no matter what anyone else may say, you’re special and there is a safe place here for you. The show challenged the narrative of games media through unforgettable specials and segments that highlighted the depth of talent and diversity; its Women in the Games Industry feature, which aired in 2015, in my mind should be inducted into an industry hall of fame, preserved for future generations of gamers.
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I, like many, have been a fan of the show for years. It has left an indelible mark and has made a huge bearing on my path through life and in many ways, sees me where I am today. What I want to say, like so many, is thank you. Thank you to series creator and MCV Pacific Pillar of the Industry, Janet Carr. Thank you to the show’s hosts, both past and present, thank you to the myriad staff that worked behind the scenes and thank you to the fans for keeping the program on air for as long as it was, for helping it spawn off-shoots like Good Game Live, Spawn Point and Pocket. And thank you to the ABC, whilst they are responsible for the shows end, the network took what many traditional media outlets would see as risks, and afforded the show unprecedented opportunities.
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It may have been the first time Australian’s were able to view game reviews and opinions that were unbound by the tethers of commercial influence, but let's hope that it isn’t the last. With Good Game Spawn Point to continue on in a rejigged format, we can at least rest assured that the hearts and minds of the next generation of gamers are in safe hands.
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To all the Good Game family, I wish you the very best of luck in whatever you may do.
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Good Game, Well Played!
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