If you’ve always dreamed of meeting the creators of some of South Africa’s locally developed games, then the NAG home_coded & Make Games SA stand is your first stop at this year’s rAge expo. Fourteen of SA’s most respected game developers will be showing off their latest games, and you’re invited to come and play them all! Many of the developers will be there in person, happy for you to pick their brains. They include Free Lives; QCF Design; RuneStorm; RetroEpic Software; Manikin Games; Level 3; Giant Box Games; Rogue Moon Studios; retroFuture; Celestial Games; Steven Tu; Deciduous Games; Made with Monster Love, and Red Dot Lab.
The local game development industry may still be in diapers, compared with that of the US or Japan, but our developers certainly don’t lack the passion and skill that has made their international counterparts successful. And that’s what the NAG home_coded & Make Games SA stand is all about – recognising the local talent that’s going to put SA games and game development studios on the map. In fact, the home_coded initiative sponsors, NAG, Learn3D & rAge, are all about nurturing local talent.
Learn 3D is a specialist in 2D and 3D animation and visual effects training, with a strong emphasis on game development. Their internationally qualified instructors will be offering free 2D and 3D illustration, animation, and game development classes during the rAge expo (booking online at www.learn3d.co.za), to help wannabe developers get a taste of things.
You can also take part in the Learn 3D Home Grown competition, with amazing prizes up for grabs. All you have to do is download the sample games (produced by Learn3D’s game development students) from their site. Play the games, and then vote for your favourite. On 2 October 2013, Learn3D will announce the winning game, and that’s the game that’ll be up for play at this year’s rAge expo. Competing gamers will battle it out over the course of the expo, and once scores have been tallied, the winners will be rewarded.
The gamer in first place will take home a Sony PS Vita; if you make it to second place, you’ll walk away with your choice of console game. And the third place winner will warm his or her back pocket with a R250 Look & Listen voucher.
If local indie games are your thing then also make sure you get to the NAG stand at rAge this year. The guys at NAG magazine (well Geoff really) have put together their very own game, are you sitting down… Beyond the Dome: Roxy’s Quest (Part XIII): Ain’t Got Time for This Sh*t. It’ll be available to play on the stand and your high score over the course of the weekend might put you in line to win a MSI GX60 gaming notebook valued at R14,999. Spot prizes also up for grabs.
However you look at it, the NAG home_coded & Make Games SA stand, as well as the NAG magazine stand is where wishes and dreams are made real, and where local talent is truly celebrated.
