Thanks for those who have attended this quarter's chapter meeting, and for Pixelstream for hosting this quarter's meeting in their new office in Makati.

We were able to hear three presentations during the meeting: the CGOverdrive report from Matahari Studios, the Pixelstream game engine demo for both PC and Xbox 360, and the talk from Yehey regarding their online world currently in development. More materials will be uploaded in this site soon.

Here are some of the pics of the meeting:

Roger (Anino Mobile Producer), Gaby (GDAP President) and Ranulf (IGDA Manila Chapter Chairperson)

Group picture which includes Mr. Fujii (PixelStream President) and Paul (Anino Mobile CTO)

Ryan of PixelStream giving a demo about the PixelStream Game Engine running on the PC

Demo of PixelStream engine running on an XBOX 360 with their game demo "Brando"

Ron brought over a Playstation3, and for almost all of us it was our first hands-on experience with the PS3. We had some fun with the launch titles such as Resistance: Fall of Man.

Noel Lim, the art director of Secret6 also gave a tutorial on normal mapping.

After the event, a raffle was held where the winners won a Playstation3... pen! Also raffled were a GameDaily notebook and a Sony cap. Ranulf Goss also discussed the upcoming Game Connection event in Singapore happening in September of this year.

We had a special guest for the evening, Swethadry from TestingCzars who came all the way from India to give some information about their company.

Pictures of the event below:

Ron Schaffner, our host for the evening

Enjoying the great food that Secret6 provided for the meeting

Gabby Dizon, IGDA Manila coordinator presiding over the meeting

Noel Lim, Secret6 art director giving a presentation on normal mapping methods

Enjoying the PS3

Eric Marlow and Ranulf Goss of Matahari, speaking to DLSU's game development instructor Natasja Bautista and Pixel Stream's Roderick Rivero

Group pic of all the IGDA meeting attendees

Thanks to everyone for going to the IGDA meeting, we're looking for greater participation in the next one.

Our first IGDA Meeting for this year will be on Feb. 13, 2007. The venue is at the Secret6 office at the Taipan Place in F. Ortigas (formerly Emerald Road), Ortigas Center. Meeting starts after work at around 6PM.

Topic of the talk: First look at the PS3! Ron Schaffner will be in town from the US so everyone can take a look at what the PS3 can offer. Also, they will be preparing a talk about game art.

See you there!

L-R: Alexander Calero of Glyph Studios, Joey Alarilla of Inquirer, Paul Gadi of Anino Mobile, Altair Martinez of Pixel Stream

The Anino Entertainment crew enjoying their trip to Singapore

One of our 3 Filipino speakers, Alex Calero giving his talk

IGDA Manila coordinator Gabby Dizon with Obsidian Entertainment's J.E. Sawyer

Matahari Studios' Eric Marlow and Ranulf Goss with AGDS organizer Allan Simonsen

Pixel Stream's Altair Martinez giving his talk

Anino Mobile's Paul Gadi lecturing about Test-driven development

Keynote speaker Ian Livingstone giving us his very entertaining keynote.

The AGDS 2006 was a highly successful event, with all Manila attendees agreeing that it was very useful for the tracks and networking with industry peers. We'd like to thank the organizers for the event are looking forward to greater participation in next year's AGDS.

Thanks for those who attended the Chapter Night! We had fun swapping stories about our game development works, we had lots of people, lots of food and lots of fun. Hope to do this again nearing Christmas =)

Group Pic, taken early in the evening, more people followed later

Luna of Anino Entertainment, who shared with us a quick post mortem of the game Timothy and Titus

Ranulf of Matahari Studios, informally discussing the plans for the game development industry organization for the Philippines

We would be having our IGDA Manila Chapter Night this August 19, 2006 , 7pm at Cusina ni Virginia, 641-D Boni Ave. Mandaluyong City (beside PSBank).

This would be more of an informal get together of the game development professionals, so employees of game development companies are welcome to drop by and hang out. Also we would like to welcome back Raffy from his educational trip in Korea.

Thanks,

Ranulf

Seperate Game Development Industry Organization discussion
- We have consulted experienced people regarding setting up the new org, and we're pushing thru with the creation of the org, target is end of this year
- Ranulf of Matahari Studios has provided draft goals and bylaws to be reviewed by potential member companies
- This org will hopefully be funded by game development companies here and by grants with the help of government
- This org will in turn help fund IGDA Manila activities as well, so that there would be no problems not having a legal entity
- Supported activities would include GDC, AGDS and UGG

Asian Game Developer Summit 2006
- Gaby of Flipside is in charge of coordinating speakers and delegates from PH
- We will try to go as a PH delegation so that organizing the trip can be easier and the expenses can be lowered down
- We hope to introduce more PH people to the event, we hope we can host the event in PH by next year

UGotGame and other events this year and next year
- UGG will have an exhibition type environment more than competition, and it will be now limited to just student category
- 10 game dev slots and 4 mod slots are allocated, this might change due to the number of entries
- Matahari Studios will be a primary sponsor, and other game development companies might sponsor as well, depending on the package

Chapter Get together and sponsorship
- David formerly of Pixelstream will be organizing a Chapter Night get together, Luna of Anino will be coordinating for the venue
- Most likely in Boni this August or September
- We plan to present post mortems about Anino's Timothy and Titus and Ladyluck's Terrawars:NY
- In this event, we would be more of a community night rather than a formal meeting

Thanks,

Ranulf

We would be having the IGDA Manila Chapter Meeting this July, here are the details:

When:
July 29, 2006 ,11 am

Where:
Matahari Studios

3203 Robinsons Equitable Tower
4 ADB Avenue
Ortigas Center, Pasig City 1605

Agenda:

1. Seperate Game Development Industry Organization discussion
2. Asian Game Developer Summit 2006
3. UGotGame and other events this year and next year
4. Chapter Get together and sponsorship

Thanks,

Ranulf Goss
IGDA Manila Chapter Chairperson

Meeting Discussion Points:

1) Ranulf Goss (IGDA Manila Chairperson/PowR Games) introduced the IGDA's mission and goals, and the IGDA Manila Chapter's direction.

2) Luna Cruz (Anino) shared her experience in attending the Asian Game Development Summit held last year in Malaysia

3) Alex Calero (Azalea) discussed the benefits of having an industry organization, citing the benefits given to other industry organizations

4) John David Uy (Laro/Pixelstream) discussed the future benefits of an game industry organization, from guiding educational institutions to solving logistical issues

5) The game development companies gave presentations about their respective companies and some demos of the games that they are developing

Thanks to all those who attended the event, including the IGDA board members, and DLSU-CCS for giving us time and venue for this event.

Emerging Technologies for Philippines 2020
April 17-18, 2006
New World Renaissance Hotel
Building Tomorrow's Technology Today

Website: http://www.dlsu.edu.ph/conferences/etfp/default.asp

There will be a special IGDA Manila session where we would be discussing the game development industry in the Philippines and IGDA Manila's important role in the industry.

See you guys there =)

The challenge for industry, government and academe is to unite in their efforts to maintain, if not improve the current situation of ICT in the country in order to explore these potentials. This conference is in response to that challenge. It will highlight current state of ICT in the country and its role in national development; promote awareness of current (local) research activities in key areas; and encourage research collaboration between industry, academe, government and private institutions.

Special attention is given to the Game Development industry which is expected to grow from $5M in 2004 to $9.8B by 2009.

Game Development

* Discover new technologies that can be integrated into game design to enhance player’s game experience
* Learn tools and techniques used in game development including gaming platforms, modeling tools, and artificial intelligence
* Build rich game environments by knowing important aspects of modeling, animation and rendering

Afternoon Session: April 17, 2006

Session I. Game Development on the PC Platform

This session will discuss relevant aspects of game development specifically on the personal computer. The track opens with an introduction on the basic components of game design and development, followed by a discussion of more specific issues on game development like graphics, programming and intelligence.

Time Activity
1300 - 1345 People, Process, Tools and Trends of Game Development
1345 - 1430 Game Art
1430 - 1515 Game Programming
1515 - 1545 Coffee Break
1545 - 1615 Developing Intelligent Characters for PC Games

April 18, 2006
Track 2 Game Development

Session II. Game Development for Mobile Devices

0830 - 0915 Designing Games for a Mobile Device
0915 - 1000 Game Graphics for Mobile Devices
1000 - 1030 Coffee Break
1030 - 1115 Multiple Builds, Once Code Base: How to Use ANTENNA for Easier Porting
1115 - 1200 Mobile Game Development: Trends and Opportunities

1300 - 1600 Session III. International Game Development Association Sponsored- Special Session

Here are the minutes of the IGDA chapter meeting last February 11:

1. New Board Members Announcement

We now have 14 advisory board members, and more to follow. The new members are :

Noel Lim ( Secret Six )

Rainier Umali ( Vitas )

John David Uy ( Laro )

Alex Calero ( Azalea )

Chris Arquiza ( LadyLuck )

Raffy Cabredo ( De la Salle )

Also, Gaby Dizon of Flipside is appointed International Liason of IGDA Manila chapter, to represent the Manila chapter in international events like GDC. Congratulations, Gaby!

Finally, a new start up game development company, Matahari Studios has joined the IGDA Manila chapter.

2. Emerging Technologies Conference

Raffy of DLSU is coordinating with IGDA Manila chapter with regards to the conference. Each member company of IGDA manila will be given 15 minutes to discuss their respective companies on the afternoon of the second day of the event, and those who are board members would be given VIP access to the event.

3. Elections/ Appointments issue

Neil of Anino raised his concern regarding officers and by-laws of the chapter. The board has unanimously tasked David of Laro/Pixelstream to research on other IGDA chapter's setup and discuss which setup would be best. The result of his research will be discussed in the Emerging Technologies Conference.

4. Schedule of Chapter meetings and corresponding presentors:

Q2 ( around late May ):
Laro/Pixelstream
Azalea
Anino Entertainment

Q3: ( around late August ):
Flipside
Slycesoft
Matahari

Q4: ( around late November ):
DLSU
Others

We would be adjusting our chapter meetings to evenings and we would try to have a large venue for presentations.

5. Sponsorships

IGDA Manila would be looking for sponsors for the next chapter meetings throughout the year. Target companies would include software and hardware companies, and food companies.

6. Seperate legal organization

Alex of Azalea would be talking with the Animation Council of the Philippines regarding the process of setting up the legal game developer organization. This would be discussed in the Emerging Technologies Conference.

We would be having the IGDA Manila Chapter Meeting this February, here are the details:

When: February 11, 2006 ,11 am
Where: Hotshots Glorietta

Agenda:

1. Annoucement,Introduction of the New and Current Advisory Board Members ( latest list is on the Chapter Advisors link )
2. Emerging Technologies Game Development Conference Update
3. Discussion of Officers Selection, either by Appointment or Election ( big possibility of appointing /electing new officers on this meeting )
4. Scheduling of Chapter Meetings throughout the year and game development companies to present on these meetings
5. Sponsorships for IGDA Manila Chapter Meetings and activities
6. The seperate legal entity for Philippine Game Developers
7. Others

Thanks,

Ranulf Goss
IGDA Manila Chapter Chairperson

Meeting Attendees:

Ranulf Goss
Allan Estioko
Altair Martinez
Michael Sean Tan
John David Uy
Gabby Dizon
John Morin
Chris Arquiza
Nobuhiro Fujii
A.R. Umali, jr.
Rainier B. Umali, M.D.
Alex Calero
Dindo Dagaas
Patrick McQuilken
Enrico Orbe
Paolo V. Cordero
Kristoffer Glenn M. Fernandez
Ritwic Ricardo M Bhonjon
Paulo Trinidad r. Tible
Marjorie Pantig
Jeff lontoc
Noel Lim
Mark Vincent Rodriguez

Meeting Discussion Points:

1.Asian Game Developers Summit (AGDS) - review of the events that transpired in the summit, some feedback from those who attended from the Philippines, and heads up for the next one next year.

2.Legal Game Developers Organization - we discussed the need to have a legal non-profit organization to represent game developers in the IT organizations and government here, same as what we have in our animation industry. The representatives of the game developer companies here agree to pursue creation of the organization, which would focus more on game development industry building and other things which IGDA manila chapter will not cover. The game development representatives will meet again to further discuss this.

3.Emerging Technologies event( pseudo-Game Development Conference ) - we announced the upcoming Emerging Technologies event. It will be held in March 2-3, 2006, in a hotel, fully sponsored by
one of our top universities. All of the tracks will be presented by people from IGDA manila chapter member companies. There would be tracks for game design, programming, and arts, and would tackle mobile and PC game development.

Manila Chapter website has now moved to a blog style site. This will allow faster publishing the latest news in the Manila Chapter.

Ranulf "Slyce" Goss
IGDA Manila Chairperson