Student game now featured by Apple in 40 countries worldwide
BAFTA-winning student game Tick Tock Toys has become a global hit for its creators, receiving promotional features on Apple's App Store in 40 countries worldwide including Australia, France, Germany, Mexico, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand. Sophia George, NUA alumnus and co-founder of the games creator Swallowtail Games, said: "I really want to get families playing games together, and to let as many young women as possible know that they too can get into the games industry. I just hope that people of all ages downloading and playing Tick Tock Toys helps to spread that important message all over the world." Read an interview with the students by the Eastern Daily Press.
Students to launch indy games studio after winning enterprise competition
A team of six Games Art and Design students have won Brainchild, NUA's annual student enterprise competition. The group now plan to start up a new independent games studio to develop their side-scrolling 3D platformer game 'The Wanderer: Tears of Irrigo'. Read the NUA press release on Brainchild 2013.
NUA hosts BAFTA Creative Skillset Guest Lecture
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) selected Norwich University of the Arts to host a video games lecture as part of its Creative Skillset Guest Lecture programme. Guest speaker Siobhan Reddy, Studio Director at games studio Media Molecule, addressed an audience of NUA students about her career in the games industry, which started as a Production Assistant on DiscWorld Noir at Perfect Entertainment before joining Criterion Games where she produced popular titles including Burnout 3 and Burnout 4. Siobhan joined newly founded Media Molecule in 2006, winning dozens of awards for LittleBigPlanet 1 and 2. In 2012 Media Molecule announced that it was working on its first Vita project, Tearaway, which continues Media Molecule’s focus on creative gaming.
Creative Bloq offers free download of graduate's work
2012 graduate Ollie Hoff has had his work selected for the Creative Bloq free Monday wallpaper giveaway. Ollie provided an illustration for the blog, which interviewed him about his budding design career which has seen him selling his work through the Society 6 website.
Graduate's work profiled on creative blog
The Creative Boom blog has featured the work of 2012 graduate Jordan Andrew Carter, who is operating as a freelance illustrator and will take part in the Inkygoodness and Ammo magazine character exhibition at the Coningsby Galery in London in May.
Course leader in Top 100 Women in Games
Marie-Claire Isaaman, course leader of BA Games Art and Design at NUA, has been named as one of the top 100 women in games by MCV, the leading trade news and community site for all professionals working within the UK and international video games market. Marie-Claire is an active supporter of the Women in Games Jobs and spoke at the 2012 European Women in Games conference in Brighton. Also named in the list is NUA graduate Sophia George, who is a co-founder of games development company Swallowtail Games.
Students present paper at international arts conference in Turkey
Two NUA students have given a 15 minute talk at the Maltepe University International Fine Arts Student Congress 2013 in Istanbul, Turkey. Samantha Pillow (Year Two BA Games Art and Design) and Phillipa Bradley (Year Two BA Illustration) delivered a paper on 'Newly emerging topics in the future of art and design'.
Graduates form games company
NUA graduates Bryn Morrison Elliot and Sam Gross are among a team of six that have formed a games development company called Secret Lunch and are working on their first release, a 2.5D platformer called Shu. The company was formed with a grant from Abertay University's Prototype fund.
BAFTA winning alumni talk to students on launch of App Store game
Alumni Kristian Francis and Sophia George visited NUA's Media Lab to talk to students about the launch of their iPad game Tick Tock Toys. The game won Dare to be Digital, the student games development competition, in 2011 and received promotional features on Apple’s App Store in 40 countries worldwide on its day of release in February. Kristian and Sophia were part of the team which went on to win the BAFTA Video Games Ones to Watch Award in 2012. Download Tick Tock Toys.
Lady Shotgun Design Director visits NUA
Games Art and Design students enjoyed a presentation on the smartphone and tablet games of development company Lady Shotgun by Design Director Anna Marsh. Anna has 14 years games industry experience as a games designer in both development and publishing, working Psygnosis, Sony, Creative Assembly/Sega, Eidos, Crystal Dynamics, Rebellion, iO, Disney and Mediatonic. She is former Executive Designer on the Tomb Raider franchise and has also worked on the Hitman and Aliens franchises, Rogue Trooper and Dropship.
Course leader speaks at Women in Games conference
Course leader Marie-Claire Isaaman was invited to speak at the 2012 European Women in Games conference which was held in Brighton in September. Over 150 people attended from more than 9 countries. Marie-Claire participated in a breakout panel session titles 'How to get into the games industry' with representatives from Blast Furnace, The Picture Production Company, Blitz Games Studio and Codemasters. Watch this short film report from the conference (Marie-Claire speaks at 02:35).
Alumnus selected for ImagineFX splash
BA Games Art and Design graduate Jordan Grimmer's concept art is splashed across a double page spread in this month's ImagineFX magazine's fxPose feature.
Sony internships secured by four students and graduates
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has awarded internships to NUA students through its relationship with the Games Art and Design course. Year Three student Chris Green is currently in his placement alongside 2012 graduates Chris Jarvis and Paul Verblis, who will shortly be joined by Year Three student Michael Elphick at the company's Cambridge Studio. Their roles are centred around integrating and preparing Environment Assets for review in Killzone Mercenary for the PlayStation Vita.
"The NUA students and graduates who we've been working with have been a revelation to us. They've taken to the work quickly and have shown just the right blend of enthusiasm and professionalism."
Mark Green Sony Computer Entertainment Senior Producer & NUA Industry Liaison Group member
Graduate's game now available on App Store
A game co-created by 2012 NUA graduate Matthew Jillings is now available to buy from the App Store. Matthew created all of the artwork for the Jimbo Jet, which features a small plane trying to make its way to an unknown destination. Matthew worked as a team with his brother who was responsible for the graphics and text and another friend who did the coding. The game took about six months to develop.
Graduates set up Games development company
Two NUA graduates have launched a company called Swallowtail Games. Sophia George and Kristian Francis, who were part of Team Swallowtail which won the 'Ones to Watch' prize at the 2012 BAFTA Video Games Awards, have been awarded up to £25,000 to develop and test a complete prototype game by the Abertay University Prototype Fund. Read the BBC story.
Course gains official industry backing
The BA Games Art and Design course has received official accreditation from Creative Skillset, the industry body that supports skills and training for people in the creative industries. The
accreditation represents an endorsement by industry panels in recognition of the course's links to the creative sectors and track record in securing employment for their graduates. Read the full press release.
Drum and Bass musician provides sound tutorials
Jay Hurren of British drum and bass group E-Z Rollers visited NUA to provide one-to-one tutorials for students on sound design. E-Z Rollers have been featured on the soundtracks for Grand Theft Auto 2 by Rockstar Games, Sled Storm by Electronic Arts, Rollcage and Rollcage Stage II by Psygnosis, as well as on the film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Women in Games chief visits NUA
The Chief Executive of Women in Games Jobs (WIGJ), a 'not for profit'” company that works to recruit more women into the games industry, visited NUA's Media Lab to talk to Games Art and Design students about her organisation. Gina Jackson, who has worked for Ocean Software, Kuju, Eidos and Nokia, was invited to visit after Course Leader Marie-Claire Isaaman sat on the 'How to get into the games industry' panel at the recent European Women in Games Conference in Kensington, London. After touring the Media Lab facilities Gina met with recent graduates Sophia George and Kristian Francis, who have founded their own studio after winning the BAFTA Ones to Watch award at the BAFTA Video Games Awards 2012. She then met further groups of current students to discuss careers in the games industry.
Students seek to repeat NUA BAFTA success
A NUA-led team of students has are finalists in this year's Dare to be Digital competition. This follows a victory last year by Team Swallowtail, led by three NUA graduates. This year's entrant Team Fortify is led by BA Games Art and Design graduate Felix Green and includes BA Animation student Andrew Jackson. The competition is run by Abertay University and attracts entries from universities across the country as well as internationally. Felix, Andrew and their three team mates will spend two months using the facilities and technical support at Abertay as well as being mentored by professionals from the games industry to develop their proposal into a prototype game which will be exhibited at the Dare ProtoPlay event in Dundee in August. The three winners of Dare to be Digital will be shortlisted for an award in the BAFTA Video Games Awards in 2013. Read the press release about NUA's previous success at the BAFTAs.
BAFTA success for NUA graduates
NUA graduates are being hailed as the future of the digital games industry after picking up a BAFTA at the British Academy Video Games Awards. Kristian Francis, Sophia George and Rosie Ball, who all graduated from NUA's BA Games Art and Design course in 2010 and 2011, won the BAFTA Ones to Watch Award for developing a game app called 'Tick Tock Toys'. The game was a winning entry in the national student game development competition Dare To Be Digital and the graduates are in the process of releasing it commercially. Read the press release about NUA's success at the BAFTAs
Dorling Kindersley purchases student work
Publishing group Dorling Kindersley has purchased an illustration from Year Three student Kamil Jadczak, which will be published in its forthcoming title 'Children's Book of Mythical Beasts and Magical Monsters'. 'The Berserker' shows a Viking berserker and is the dominating image in a 2 page layout which opens the section about warrior heroes.
Students win prestigious industry-judged games competition and BAFTA nomination
Three NUA graduates have won £2,500 and a nomination for a BAFTA after being named in the final three of games development competition Dare to be Digital. Kristian Francis, Sophia George and Rosie Ball will now wait until the British Academy Video Games Awards in March 2012 to find out if they will win the BAFTA Ones to Watch Award. Read a press release about the BAFTA nomination.
NUA joins games industry trade association
TIGA has announced NUA as its newest member. NUA's BA Games Art and Design course provides a vocational focus with the opportunity for academic progression.
"NUA is a great example of an academic institution that is wholly committed to imbuing their students with the skills to not only work in the industry, but also to innovate, challenge and potentially shape the industry in the future."
