Havok in court over brand firm dispute

Telekinesys Research Limited, the Dublin-based games middleware firm known as Havok, is being sued by a design agency that helped created their brand. According to the Sunday Business Post, the branding work for Havok by Dublin design company, Creative Inc, had appeared in a marketing magazine article as a case study.

Emmy-winning Havok then wrote to Creative Inc requesting them to cease linking it self to the games firm. But Creative are now taking action claiming they had an agreement to use work in case studies. The case was mentioned as a motion for entry in the commercial section of the High Court at the Four Courts in Dublin last week.

Havok, based in the Digital Hub in Dublin’s Liberties, was bought by chipmaker Intel late last year. It is best known for its physics software that helps games developers concentrate on other aspects of games creation, but has expanded to areas such as animation.

As result of the Intel buyout, Havok are to release a free non-commercial version of their Havok Complete product for PC from this May. The move is aimed at independent games developers and enthusiasts, as well as academic institutions with games courses.

According to the company its products are used in over 200 “AAA games” and as well as being used in well over 90 titles which are due to be released this year. There include Halo 3, Assassin’s Creed, and Guitar Hero
III, as well as the upcoming Alan Wake, Indiana Jones, and Starcraft II. The middleware maker lists many more on its website, Havok.com.

A deal with Sony before the PlayStation 3 release also saw a version of the Havok product bundled with development hardware kits for the console.

MORE: Legal dispute between Havok and design agency (the Sunday Business Post, March 16, 2008)

Xbox launches student karaoke contest

Xbox have launched a rock ‘n’ roll karaoke competition aimed at college
and university students in and around Dublin.

The karaoke contest, Songs of Praise, kicked off last night at the
Village on Wicklow Street, it will continue at the NUI Maynooth student
union bar on Tuesday.

The overall winner will receive a Gibson electric guitar worth over
€2,000. And each of the seven heat winners will walk away with an Xbox
360 package worth over €1,000, including a console, Guitar Hero III,
and other games.

There are six other dates between now the finals at the Button
Factory (formally the Temple Bar Music Centre) on December 6. These
include nights for DCU, UCD, DIT, and TCD. There is also a second
general night at the Village next Sunday, December 2.

The karaoke addicts will be given a rest with Phantom FM’s
DJ Sinead NiMhordha playing sets between karaoke stints. The Xbox 360
game Guitar Hero III — in which user play the game using a guitar — is
also on playable at the nights.

The Songs of Praise karaoke night is a regular on Sundays at the Village;
the Dubliner called it “Dublin’s best Karaoke Night,” the Irish Times said
it was “Dublin’s most successful and only credible Karaoke”, while the
Guardian said “now firmly established as the city’s place to go on the
Lord’s Day”.

The dates in full are: Tuesday November 27 at the NUI Maynooth SU
Bar; Wednesday November 28 at the DCU SU Bar; Thursday November 29 at
the UCD SU Bar; Sunday December 2 at the Village; Tuesday December 4
at the Odeon for DIT; Wednesday December 5 at Radio City for Trinity
College; and the finals on Thursday December 6 at the Button Factory.

Free tickets to the event can be got via getpraiseatxbox360.com.

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.

Richard Dean Anderson to launch Halo 3 in Dublin; Record breaking attempt planned

Actor Richard Dean Anderson is to launch Halo 3 in Dublin on Tuesday, forming one of the main elements of Microsoft’s Irish high-profile release of the highly anticipated Xbox 360 game.

News that the actor, most famous for playing MacGyver and more recently Jack O’Neill on Stargate SG-1, will launch the game was confirmed this evening to Games Toaster by a Microsoft spokesperson.

However, his visit to Dublin is still somewhat shrouded in mystery as there is still little detail of Anderson’s visit.

Record breaking attempt

Meanwhile, tomorrow - in the build up to the European release on Wednesday September 26 - Irish gamers will attempt to set record breaking times completing Halo 2.

The Guinness World Record - also organised by Microsoft - will start midday at the Dublin city centre in the morning. Microsoft expects hundreds games to turn up to the event at the Xbox Live Gaming Centre / Xbox Live Cafe.

The current record holder is Cody Miller who finished the game in three and a half hours with the ‘legendary’ difficulty setting on in August 2005. The publisher and console maker will be incentives such as prizes of
the limited edition ‘Legendary Edition’ of Halo 3, Marvel Halo graphic novels, and Halo 3 branded merchandise.

Promotion around Ireland

Microsoft also said that the game will be promoted across mediums and are aiming to make it one of the most high-profile entertainment launches. The Halo 3 TV advert, a still of which is pictured above, is just one example.

On the streets, Halo’s star Master Chief - or at least a person dressed as him - will appear on Grafton Street in Dublin this Saturday and Sunday, and move on to Cork, and Galway after that.

By the time of the launch, shoppers entering the main entrance of the St Stephens Green Shopping Centre will be greeted by Halo branding. This will link in with retailer Gamestop’s midnight launch at their new store at the shopping centre. Full details of of Gamestop’s midnight opening across Ireland can be viewed here.

GameStop opens midnight for Halo 3

Gamestop say they will open 14 of its 46 in the Republic and Northern Ireland at at midnight on Tuesday for the European release of Halo 3.

The retailer are to have midnight openings at Henry St, Stephens Green, and Clare Hall in Dublin, along with their outlets in Belfast, Derry, Limerick, Drogheda, Wexford, Tralee, Letterkenny, Mallow, Midleton, Killarney, and Bangor.

Other retailers, such as HMV, GAME, and Smyths, are also likely to have midnight openings in at least the main cities.

A Microsoft spokesperson told us this evening that, in Ireland, “Michael Finucane from Game stop says that pre-orders are running at twice the rate of Halo 2″, while a statement released this afternoon says the company worldwide is “running off 81 games per second to ensure that they meet global demand for this title”.

“It is fantastic to see the level of interest shown by Irish gamers, all of whom are eager to be one of the first people in the country to get their hands on what is set to be the must have game this Christmas,” said Orla Sheridan, country manager at the entertainment and devices division of Microsoft Ireland.

Stuntman Ignition tours the east coast

THQ’s Stuntman: Ignition is being showcased around Dublin and beyond before its launch this Friday.

The publisher kicked off its tour across a small part of Ireland
yesterday using the Stuntman Ignition Plymouth Roadrunner (pictured
above). It’ll have visited ten Xtra-vision stores by end or the
game’s release day.

Stuntman: Ignition is been demoed using Xbox 360, it’s also out on PlayStation 2 this weekend, and October 31 for PlayStation 3.

While they are just about finished today at Swords in Co Dublin, the
following are the outlets planned to be visited in the next three days:
Wedneday, August 29 - 10-12.00 noon at Xtra-vision, Wexford Town; and
3-5pm Xtra-vision, Wicklow Town; Thursday, August 30 - 10-12 noon at
Xtra-vision, Ninth Lock Road, Clondalkin; and 3-5pm at Xtra-vision,
Ashleaf SC, Crumlin; Friday, August 31 - 10-12 noon Xtra-vision, Beside
McDonalds Drive Thru, Blanchardstown, and 3-5pm at Xtra-vision, Seamus
Ennis Rd, Finglas.

Irish computer games websites

We’ve updated our links page, mostly containing links to Irish games websites.

It now includes Irish news/review games sites, community and LAN
sites, Irish sites with games sections, games cafes/centres, game
retailers in Ireland, local official console sites, and links to games
companies based in Ireland. There’s also a selection of international
games sites.

Games Toaster’s links section can be found here, or by using the link on the side bar.

To make a suggestion of a site we’ve missed, use the comments section below, or the ‘email me’ link on the side bar.

Ubisoft brings games to Oxegen

Gamers attending Oxegen this weekend who find they just can’t shake
off a game addiction can find  Ubisoft at this year’s music
festival.

The Ubisoft outing at this year’s Oxegen is part of the games publisher’s Ireland and UK Summer Festival Tour.

Over the weekend they will be showcasing  the Xbox 360 western
game Call of Juarez, their PlayStation 3 version of Rainbow Six Vegas,
and a Wii game ‘Surf’s Up’. They will also be giving way consoles and
Ubisoft-branded merchandise.

Previously,
Sony Computer Entertainment Ireland used the same kind of marketing to
promote the PlayStation Portable in Ireland, at the time they claimed
that over 20,000 people visited the PlayStation Dome tent at Oxegen.

Dublin Pro Evo tournament ends

Winners of the MM’s Challenge, a Pro Evolution Soccer tournament, were revealed today in Dublin.

The organisers have said that 300 players played in what they called the Ireland’s largest ever football game tournament.

Recently at the Xbox Live Gaming Centre, 32 finalists played it out
for six hours over 200 matches resulting in a final between Michael
Stankard and Leon Gallagher.

Stankard (pictured above) from Tallaght won the match, and selected to give new kit
for 15 players to his two local football clubs Boca Seniors and St
Maelruans. He also won a projector with screen, Xbox 360, games and
Reebok sportswear.

Runner-up Leon Gallagher won a 26″ HD television, an Xbox 360, as
well as Reebok sports gear for himself, and kit for the Kildare County
Under 21s.

Brand manager at MM’s, Sarah Keenaghan, said “It has been a
huge success and we congratulate all those involved”.

“Congratulations to
both Michael Leon for winning the tournament and everyone who
played in the tournament” added Tony
Murray, MD at the Xbox Live Gaming Centre, “The MM’s Challenge 2007 was a showcase
what we can do with the Xbox Live Gaming Centre”.

MM’s Challenge 2007: Full list of winners

1st: Michael
Stankard; 2nd: Leon Gallagher; 3rd: Adrian Griffin; 4th: Naem Suhaimi; 5th - 8th: Henry Jackson, Darren Kehoe, Derrick Dowd, Ross Ryan; Last 16: Ed Quigley, Ian Mangan, Barry Bishop, Mohammed Amin, Daniel Boeving, Sean Gannon, Dave Walker, Michael Wilson.

Last 32: Nassir Hussain, Ross Ward, Tony Flynn,
Damien Burke, David Tuohy, Rob Moore, Marcos Isla, Joey Grimes, Paul
Roche, Rodrigue K. Ernest, Mark Tobin, Fariz Izwan, Aaron Wickham,
Jason Molloy, Stephen Moran, Dave Greaney; Last 50:
Stephen Walsh, Jonas Rosemond, Bartosz Slaby, Derek O’Keefe, Declan
Rooney, Wesley Costa, Robbie Maher, Mark Rose, Daryl Stone, Brian
McCarthy, Ross Nelson, Evin O’Neill, James Edwards, Shane Prunty, Craig
Sadler, Blazej Malczak, Jacek Gajczewski, Mike McKeehan.

—–

Lisa Geiran, UCD; Barry Dolan, Shamrock Rovers FC, Karina Kelly, UCD.

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