Great news! Wits University has undertaken to fund A MAZE. Johannesburg again this year. We are therefore on track for another great event. (yay for funding!)
When: 11-13 September 2014
Where: Tsimologong Technology Hub on Juta Street
A MAZE. Johannesburg will run on the 11th to the 13th of September, in Braamfontein.
We have arranged a new venue, in the Tsimologong Technology Hub on Juta Street, so all of the games and game related events will take place in the same space. (http://www.jcse.org.za/hub)
We are able to negotiate with the (revamped) Bannister Hotel for a block booking for out of town visitors. http://bannisterhotel.co.za/
Kalashnikovv Gallery (www.facebook.com/KalashnikovvGallery) have come on board and will be arranging music events and parties in the evenings in the same area.
A MAZE. Johannesburg will run as a partnership between Wits Digital Arts and the international A MAZE brand (Read: Thorsten).
I have been assigned as content curator, in collaboration with Thorsten, for the games arcade, workshops and talks.
I will also be representing MGSA, and involving MGSA as much as possible in the event.
A formal call for content will be posted soon, but in the meantime, feel free to begin submitting your games, proposals for workshops and talks, and nominating other games from South Africa, and Africa as a whole, for the event. Post them in this thread so we can keep it all together.
I have also been in negotiation with the Swedish Embassy and Swedish Institute about bringing out Swedish indi-game designers. They are on board, and I will be visiting Sweden and the Nordic Games conference in May to approach people for the festival and to build partnerships for indi-games between the countries. (I'm not sure what that means either, but they have a string of meetings arranged, and I will be talking to Nick about what to expect from 'trade missions')
I am very exited about this, and so please to be able to finally confirm with you all that it is definitely up and running for 2014!
When: 11-13 September 2014
Where: Tsimologong Technology Hub on Juta Street
A MAZE. Johannesburg will run on the 11th to the 13th of September, in Braamfontein.
We have arranged a new venue, in the Tsimologong Technology Hub on Juta Street, so all of the games and game related events will take place in the same space. (http://www.jcse.org.za/hub)
We are able to negotiate with the (revamped) Bannister Hotel for a block booking for out of town visitors. http://bannisterhotel.co.za/
Kalashnikovv Gallery (www.facebook.com/KalashnikovvGallery) have come on board and will be arranging music events and parties in the evenings in the same area.
A MAZE. Johannesburg will run as a partnership between Wits Digital Arts and the international A MAZE brand (Read: Thorsten).
I have been assigned as content curator, in collaboration with Thorsten, for the games arcade, workshops and talks.
I will also be representing MGSA, and involving MGSA as much as possible in the event.
A formal call for content will be posted soon, but in the meantime, feel free to begin submitting your games, proposals for workshops and talks, and nominating other games from South Africa, and Africa as a whole, for the event. Post them in this thread so we can keep it all together.
I have also been in negotiation with the Swedish Embassy and Swedish Institute about bringing out Swedish indi-game designers. They are on board, and I will be visiting Sweden and the Nordic Games conference in May to approach people for the festival and to build partnerships for indi-games between the countries. (I'm not sure what that means either, but they have a string of meetings arranged, and I will be talking to Nick about what to expect from 'trade missions')
I am very exited about this, and so please to be able to finally confirm with you all that it is definitely up and running for 2014!
Comments
Sweden's got an indie scene that's a lot further along than ours here, it's not just all Mojang - there's a strong creative dev history of people doing really interesting things. A skills transfer would be amazing!
Another Hard Deadline™ to get my ducks in a row for! So exciting! :D
I'm thinking it would be a great way to raise something for us :)
It was on their poster, and I haven't seen it big enough anywhere else online.
Of course I can just trace it but it would be nice to get the real thing :)
It took me a while to understand how it was supposed to be a unicorn... I'd suggest making the head shape an actual horse head. It can still have the derpy-happy grin ;)
The face came from AMAZE Berlin, making it a horse is kinda... well then we might as well make our own...
I mean really:
Horse:
With a notch that breaks the shape of the circle:
here's a better horse but i'm not sure if this is right. I don't see the sex symbol in the original, feels like finding a man symbol in that isn't going to be common at all,,,
We're in deep shit once we enter the Hall of Mirrors, though.
Can I remind us to get the file from Thorster? :) and all the logos we'll need? :) Can make the poster too!
Will there be a Cape Town Game Dev Road Trip Bus this year? Preferably a chrome plated one.
https://www.shosholozameyl.co.za/train-routes.html
Shotgun a seat on the bus trip from CT!
What is the final date that we can submit a game to show case at A.MAZE Johannesburg? We'd like to show a polished version of Alien Lobotomy
I would suggest submissions by the end of June, so you can be notified by the end of July, so you have August to polish?
The first list of cool foreign developers attending has been revealed:
Emilie Gervais, digital artist (FR) - @emilie_Gervais
I’m the girl next door with a smiley tattoo working with the internet.
PS. Everything about my work that was social media related is over since June 2013. I am no longer interested in questioning performance art that way right now. =)
Julie Heyde, game designer (DK) - @julieheyde
Julie Heyde is based out of Copenhagen, Denmark, and grew up playing video games with her two older brothers. They called it babysitting. Julie has been in the video game industry for 10 years. She started on the investment side, next as a connector between game developers, publishers and technology developers through her company, Bandello. Julie is an active game jammer and is currently working on the Norse mythology based Virtual Reality game, XTODIE, which clearly reflects her Viking roots.
Tatiana Vilela, game designer (FR) - @mechbird
Graduated in game design and contemporary art, Tatiana Vilela is a digital designer. She creates playful experiences based on dedicated controllers as part of researches on perception. She’s currently involved in a master’s degree in interactivity studies at the Sorbonne University in Paris.
Pippin Barr, video game maker (NZ) - @pippinbarr
Pippin Barr is a video game maker and critic who teaches prototyping and game design at the University of Malta. His games address everything from airplane safety instructions to contemporary art.
Jukio Kallio, musician, game designer (FI) - @jukiokallio
As a kid, I begged for a guitar from my mom and it went surprisingly well and now I make videogame music. I went on to make soundtracks for such things as Nuclear Throne, LUFTRAUSERS, GunGodz, Super Game Jam and Old Spice Saves The World. And some of my own videogames too. And live shows as Kozilek.
Joonas Turner, musician, sound designer (FI) - @KissaKolme
Joonas Turner is a sound designer with a passion for video games. He is most notably known for his soundscapes found in the mobile hit BADLAND (by Frogmind) and the mutant shooter Nuclear Throne (by Vlambeer) and for voicing the action packed shooter Broforce (by Free Lives).
David Hayward, game event producer (UK) - @nachimir
David Hayward has been running games related events for over a decade, including organisation of London-based festival Feral Vector, production management for the GameCity Festival, and curation of independent games and custom hardware for EGX. He is also a founder of one of Europe’s largest hackspaces, with a particular interest in digital prototyping tech and short run production.
You can still send me submissions if you have not yet done so. Email it to me at hanli.geyser @ wits.ac.za
Please title your email AMAZE Game Submission so that I don't loose it.
Best
Hanli
Also obviously beyond happy that Joonas is coming to South Africa.
http://www.newfusion.co.za/_mgxroot/page_10744.html
Granted, you wouldn't be jamming in either direction.
@Bensonance
I'm very disappointed that you failed to use that pun first :P
I can ask the rest of the members of Free Lives who are heading up what they think. Jarred says it sounds fun.
Kinda curious how this is going to work since we've never had to buy tickets for it before, and last year it was really cool that kids in the area could just come in and play some games and I can't really see that happening this year if that's the case.
So any chance we can get some clarity on the matter?
We will have to wait till Hanli is back from Digra next week Thursday/Friday before we can receive full and informed comment on the matter.
Now we need to organise some accommodation. What is the situation with that? Is there something cheap we can get in on, or must we organise it ourselves? Perhaps someone has a couch/floor we can sleep on?
(also booked flights but not hotel rooms :D )
You putting in work to make AMAZE possible, almighty or gtfo :p
Taking interviews :P