In Ireland only children play video games

Above is how Toyota created an SUV television advertisement using the World of Warcraft game. That was in the US. In Ireland, only children play computer games.

Or at least that is what you’d think looking some things such as the Irish Film Censor’s ban on Manhunt 2.

With the massive amounts of advertising spend by games firms in Ireland recently ad space sellers here should by now notice the scale of the computer games market.

Of course, it has been growing in the past years, but on going high-profile ad campaigns such as those for PS3, Halo 3, and Fifa 08 should cement the view how widespread computer games now are.

But if we have really moved on might remain a unanswered question for some time. It’s only a year or two ago that one of us at Games Toaster had a phone conversation with a regional newspaper to be told that there is no money in computer games.

World Cyber Games Ireland details

Regional heats of the World Cyber Games Ireland
are on in Dublin on the weekend of August 17, and in the Midlands on
the weekend of July 22. A third event in Galway is due to be announced.

The Irish qualifiers for the World Cyber Games in Seattle are to be
held again this year at the Digital Hub, and will take place on September 15 -
16.

Games in the Irish events are Counter Strike 1.6 (pictured) on PC with a teams of five,
Project Gotham Racing 3 on Xbox, and FIFA 07 on PC.

MORE: World Cyber Games Ireland announced

Manhunt 2 banned in Ireland

Manhunt 2 has come under a prohibition order by the Irish Film
Censor’s Office, effectively  banning the sale of the game in
Ireland. The moves follows a ban by the British Board of Film
Classification.

“IFCO recognizes that in certain films, DVDs and video games,
strong graphic violence may be a justifiable  element within the
overall context of the work” states a notice on the Censor’s website. “However, in the case of Manhunt 2, IFCO
believes that there is no such context, and the level of gross,
unrelenting and gratuitous violence is unacceptable”.

The company behind the game, Rockstar Games, issued a statement
which said that they were “Disappointed” with the UK ban, but would
respect the authority of the UK censor and abide by the rules.

“Manhunt 2 is an entertainment experience for fans of psychological
thrillers and horror. The subject matter of this game is in line with
other mainstream entertainment choices for adult consumers”, the Rockstar statement added.

The games company is owned by publisher Take Two, and have also been
involved in controversial titles such as Grand Theft Auto and Bully.

Ireland subscribes to the European age rating system PEGI, however the Video Recordings Act 1989
covers games but it is up to the publisher to submit games for rating.
The censor can class a game prohibited under section 3 (1) of the Act.

The wide-ranging section allows banning for games in which elements
could be “likely to cause persons to commit crimes…, would be likely
to stir up hatred against a group of persons…, would tend, by reason
of the inclusion in it of obscene or indecent matter, to deprave or
corrupt persons who might view it”, of where “it depicts acts of gross
violence or cruelty (including mutilation and torture) towards humans
or animals”.

Also see:
- FEATURE: Irish parents ignore age ratings on violent and obscene computer games
- Youth Council of Ireland wants boycott of “shocking” game, Canis Canem Edit

World Cyber Games Irish qualifiers set

Irish qualifiers for the World Cyber Games Festival 2007 in Seattle are due to take place in Dublin later this year.

The Irish qualifiers will be held at the Digital Hub on September 15 and 16, 2007.

The main Irish competition will be proceeded by regional finals, the
first to be announced will take place in Streete Community Centre,
Streete, Westmeath from Friday July 20 to Sunday July 22 - for more see
midlans.net.

Games to be played are Counter Strike 1.6 on PC with a team of five,
Project Gotham Racing 3 on Xbox, and FIFA 07 on PC. There is a wider
selection of games in the Seattle event, but funding and sponsorship
only allows for so many teams and players to be  sent over to the US.

For more see worldcybergamesireland.com and the LAN Party section of boards.ie.

Dare to be Digital open day tomorrow

An
open day for the student computer games competition, Dare to be
Digital, will take place from midday tomorrow at the Digital Hub’s
Digital Exchange in Dublin.

As Games Toaster reported last May prototypes will be constructed in Dublin this year, with 9 of the 10 weeks of the competition spent in Ireland.

“Rather than just sending one team to Scottish finals, we will be
selecting six teams from the whole island of Ireland to be
represented”, commented Michael Hallissy, of the Digital Hub back in
May, “The six teams will take part in a mentoring and support program
in Dublin during which they will build their game. Support will be
provided by Irish and UK games companies. At the end of a nine-week
support programme, they will then travel to the University of Abertay
for the grand final”.

Last year at the international competition in Scotland, a Derry based team, Rule of Thumb, won in three categories — ‘Best Use of Technology’, ‘Best Team Player’, and team member McNicholas won ‘Best Artist’. For more details visit daretobedigitalireland.com.

FEATURE: Irish parents ignore age ratings on violent and obscene computer games

Many parents ignore age ratings on violent or obscene games, as
advice from the self-relegated retailers often falls on deaf ears as
parents buy 16+ and 18+ games for children, writes Cian Ginty.

Staff at the main Dublin video games retailers agree that minors are looking for adult-rated games “all the time”.

We interviewed retail staff at six game stores in Dublin, most said
that when they explained to parents that a game’s content was not
suitable for children the majority bought the game anyway. The content
of these games includes drug taking, violence, and sexual references.

BBC research published late last year states the average age of
gamers in the UK at 28 years old, but retail staff in Dublin agreed
that the majority of people looking for adult rated games are children.

Surveys of game players in both the US and the UK may put average
age of gamers well above 18, but again according to the BBC research
into game player’s habits, higher percentages of children play games
more often. In addition, 70% of younger gamers aged 6-10 favoured
‘action adventure’ games, in the age group 25-35 the popularity of this
genre dropped below 50%

In a striking similarity to underage drinking, one game shop staff
member said that when children are refused they sometimes ask other
shoppers to buy the game. This wasn’t echoed by staff in other shops,
but this may have been because of the store’s location on one of
Dublin’s busiest shopping streets.

Ger Connolly, Deputy Film Censor, at the Irish Film Censor’s Office
(IFCO) commented, “Our own research of parents’ attitudes would suggest
they are very concerned as to the suitability of anything their
children are watching”.

Parents
are still buying these games for their children, even though an IFCO
survey on parents’ views recorded ‘drug taking’ and ‘violence’ as the
topics that cause parents most concern. With age ratings, 83 percent of
parents replied ‘drug taking’ was ‘very important’, followed by
‘violence’ at 75 percent. Including the percentage of parent who said
these were “fairly important” pushes the percentages beyond 90%.

For age classifications of games the Irish censor’s office
subscribes to ‘PEGI’, a voluntary pan-European age ratings system.
Ireland is represented by the Deputy Film Censor on the board of PEGI,
but the voluntary system has no legal basis in Irish law.

“We strictly enforce PEGI, we treat it as its mandatory” said commented Michael Finucane, Commercial Director, GameStop, one of the largest Irish games.

“As with all entertainment mediums, not all content is appropriate
or acceptable to all people” commented a spokeswoman for Microsoft,
maker of the Xbox 360 games console, “We believe in the rights of
parents and caregivers to make educated choices for their families on
the appropriateness of a game’s offerings”. Microsoft help families
make these decisions Microsoft actively supports and abides by all game
rating systems in effect in the different parts of the world.

Publishers — such as Microsoft, Sony, and Rockstar — only have to
voluntarily submit a game to the Irish Film Censor’s Office if the game
is “deemed prohibitable”, which includes games which containing obscene
or indecent matter or possible incitement of crime.

The UK uses a similar system. However, in the UK more games are
referred to the censor to be legally classified. Across the border in
Northern Ireland games rated for over 18 end up with the recognisable
red ‘18′ circular logo from the British Board of Film Classification
(BBFC).

In the Republic, it’s different. The recently released ‘Vice City
Stories’ for the PlayStation Portable, the latest title in the
well-known Grand Theft Auto series, only received a PEGI 18+ age
rating. ‘Gears of War’ for Xbox 360, which includes screen filled
blood-splatter after chain saw use, also appeared on Irish game store
shelves with the dull black and white age rating.

With games publishers the situation appears to be if in doubt sent
it to the BCFC, but it’ll pass in Ireland using the voluntary ratings.

Cllr. Aodhán

Developer criticises Ireland’s games courses

Kelly, a leading figure of IDGA Ireland, has criticised game development education in Ireland.

Kelly, co-ordinator the of Ireland branch of the International Game Developers Association,
has written an extensive report on the state of game development
education. Titled “The Problems with Game Development Education in
Ireland”, it focuses on both the Republic and Northern Ireland and is
published at gamedevelopers.ie.

His main point of disapproval is “the apparent re-badging of
traditional media and computer science courses to include the word
‘games’ somewhere in the title, while failing to adapt the content
and instruction offered to deal with real-world issues”.

Also outlined was a lack of industry consultation over course
content, a lack of industry-experienced lecturers, a failure to update
course content in keeping with the industry change, a failure to
communicate with the industry in regards to work placements, too many
short certificate and diploma courses, and a failure to include enough
team-based projects.

Problems aren’t confined to Irish courses; noting the industry accreditation scheme ‘Skillset’
set up in the UK last year, Kelly said that only four of forty games
development courses there were awarded accreditation. The report also
states, “industry commentators in the UK, US and Canada have voiced
similar concerns”.

Kelly, a founder of IGDA Ireland, is an executive producer at Nephin
Games in Galway. He has previously worked at Intel and Instinct
Technology. He is a contributor to IGDA papers, and has judged the
Irish legs of the Dare to be Digital student developer competition.

In the article, he says it is not intended as a “course bashing
rant”, saying, “I am not alone in wishing I was able to recommend
many of the Irish games development courses to aspiring students rather
than encourage them to go to the UK and attend one of the more
established courses”.

Pointing out that games development is “closer to Arts education
than Science education” Kelly says courses should portfolio-based. He
adds that there should be a focus on teamwork, “In the real world,
your students will rarely if ever be doing projects on their own”.

The article points to the IGDA’s ‘Curriculum Framework’ as a
guide, and advises collages to contact the IGDA Ireland, the local
industry, or go to the education forums at gamedevelopers.ie.

World Cyber Games Irish leg in Dublin

The Irish heats
of the World Cyber Games are to take place in Dublin from September 23
- 24. There are currently 103 of 250 places taken on the event’s Room101.org signup page.

Taking place at the government’s Digital Exchange
on Crane Street (near the Guinness Storehouse), it’s a
bring-your-own-computer 24 hour LAN, with competitions for PC and Xbox
360. Participants must be over 18 and holders of an Irish Passport.

It is planned that there will be two areas; one for players PCs only
used for warm-ups, and a competition area with neutral “state of the
art PCs with top of the range kit” which will be used by all players,
spectators will also be allowed to attend.

The official games for 2006 are Fifa Soccer 06, Half-Life: Counter
Strike 1.6, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, StarCraft: Brood War, WarCraft
III: Frozen Throne, Dawn of War: Winter Assault, and for the Xbox 360,
Dead or Alive 4 and Project Gotham Racing 3.

Although it was advertised that signups closed on August 18, this is apparently not the case. The world finals are in Monza, Italy from October 18 - 22.

Ballyfermot and Trinity students win computer games competition

- Northern Ireland team picked earlier this month
- Teams go to Scotland for the finals
- Competition possible door opener to games ind.
- Irish Gov agency to send six teams in 2007
- Prototype incubator to run in Ireland next year
 
After some confusion about the Irish event this year, winners of the Republic of Ireland leg of the Dare to be Digital student games development competition were revealed last week.

What is described as a ’supernatural crime thriller’ was the winning
game from ‘Enduring Fragments’; it was from a joint team of third level
students from Ballyfermot College of Further Education, and Trinity
College. The game, set in London around 1900, features the ghost of a
dead detective as the player charter.

The winning team from Northern Ireland were picked earlier in the
month. Hugh O’ Keeffe, Alan McNicholas, William Horton, David Doherty,
and Seamus Gallagher of ‘Rule of Thumb’ won with a ’story-driven
action/adventure game’ named ‘Gal:Ex Spatial Delivery’. They are
studying Interactive Computer Entertainment at the North West Institute
in Derry.

Fighting it out among four teams, from six colleges, the Republic
team were interviewed by a panel of judges - Peter Lynch, Eirplay
Games; Tony Kelly, IGDA; Peter McInally, Torc Interactive; and Paul
Durrant, Director of Dare to be Digital. Along with the Northern team,
they will now go to the University of Abertay in Scotland where they
will be given support to build a prototype for the finals hosted at the
university in ten weeks time.

Prizes include (in UKP) £2000 for ‘Greatest creativity /
innovation’, £2000 for ‘Best use of technology’, £2000 for ‘Greatest
market potential’, and further support. Previous winners have gone on
to work in the games industry.

The events are supported by government agencies in the south, the
north, and in Britain, as well as EA Games, and Donegal-based Torc
Interactive.

Michael Hallissy, of the Irish Government’s Digital Hub, said that
“the Dare to be Digital competition is an excellent initiative which
not only offers students the opportunity to apply their technical
skills in the area of games development, but it also builds their
capacity to collaborate, be creative and consider game development as a
real career option”.

Talking of their commitment to gaming as a career, and expanding on
plans for next year Hallissy states, “Rather than just sending one team
to Scottish finals, we will be selecting six teams from the whole
island of Ireland to be represented”. Adding that “the six teams will
take part in a mentoring and support program in Dublin during which
they will build their game. Support will be provided by Irish and UK
games companies. At the end of a nine-week support programme, they will
then travel to the University of Abertay for the grand final”.

Games events at the Digital Hub

On
Thursday, computer games events planned for this month start in the
Irish Government’s Digital Hub in Dublin. Exhibitions, debates, and a
‘Careers Expo’ are pencilled in from May 5 to May 18.

The Digital Hub is home to a number of games industry companies, including middleware company Havok, and mobile games developers TKO, and Eirplay Games. As we reported recently, games developer DC Studios are in the process of moving into the Hub.

The Hub’s latest exhibition, ‘Exhibit8: New Frontiers in
Gaming’ is open office hours, 9.30am-5.30pm, from Thursday, with the
official launch of the events on the same day, incorporating the
announcement of the winners of the student games competition Dare to be Digital Ireland.

On Friday (May 6) a public talk titled ‘Censorship in the games
industry’ is set to debate censorship in games, chaired by the
journalist and critic, Medb Ruane, the panel is to include Ger
Connolly, the Duputy Irish Film Censor;
Dr Mary Corcoran, Professor of Sociology, NUI Maynooth; and Paul Hayes,
a games marketing consultant. Other panel-based discussions lined up
are ‘Game Design - Responding to New Interfaces’ (Monday, May 9),
‘Mobile Gaming: Successful Business Models’ (Wednesday, May 11),
and ‘Learning Through Gaming’ (Wednesday, May 18).

To guide those looking into a career in the games industry, the
Gaming Careers Expo takes places 11am to 5.30pm, on Monday, May 9.

For full listings of venues and times, as well as registration for some events, visit the Digital Hub’s website.

Edited 03/05/2005: changes to the panel of the ‘Censorship in the games industry’ debate.

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