Henry Hoffman named as BAFTA Breakthrough Brit 2017
Posted: October 27, 2017 Filed under: Alumni, Awards, Uncategorized | Tags: BAFTA, Breakthrough Brit 2017, Henry Hoffman, Hue, USW Computer Games Design, USW Games Leave a commentWe a super happy to see that Henry Hoffman (a graduate of BA (Hons) Computer Games Design in 2011) has been named as a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit 2017. Great to see recognition for all of Henry’s hard work over the last few years.
Henry can pinpoint the exact moment he fell in love with games. He was five years old when playing Sim City at his dad’s university office and a police station named after him was blown away by a tornado. A few years later his dad bought him a copy of Planet PC magazine that came with a free drag-and-drop game building CD-ROM. From that moment Henry was hooked, making over 100 games by the time he was just 13. Around that time, Henry saw a review in the magazine for a game made by Introversion, a British company consisting of three friends making games in their bedrooms. It was then that Henry realised this could be a career.
During his first year of university, Henry’s game Mush won both the Dare to be Digital competition and a BAFTA Cymru award. His breakthrough game Hue was inspired by his fascination with dreaming up new gaming mechanics. When combined with his love for colour, Henry created a game that has stunned players all over the world. For Henry, beginning new projects by thinking about the gameplay first is the crux of making games that people enjoy.
Henry has found that the industry distinction between developers and creatives is unhelpful. For anyone thinking about a career in games, Henry would encourage them to be guided by their passion, and not to let people put you in a box.
Oringinal Text from: http://www.bafta.org/supporting-talent/breakthrough-brits/breakthrough-brits-2017#henry-hoffman–creative-director
For more information on Henry’s most recent game HUE please go here… https://www.huethegame.com/
Tranzfuser 2017 Underway
Posted: July 18, 2017 Filed under: Alumni, Awards, Events, Student Successes | Tags: Competition, EGX, jeff's Tower VR, Moo Moo Move, Stellarmania, Tranzfuser, UK Games Fund, UK Games Talent, USW Computer Games Design, USW Computer Games Enterprise, USW Game Art Leave a commentSo Tranzfuser 2017 is well underway and the three teams based at the South Wales Hub here at the University of South Wales in Cardiff have bee making great progress so we thought we should share it with you!
Team Mochi Software with Moo Moo Move a mobile game where the player herds chubby cows to safety! A giggle-inducing game with elements of sim and strategy.
Team Filthy Fresh with Jeff’s Tower a VR tower defense game, where the player is in the tower, unleashing magical spells to shoot down incoming hordes of enemies of the evil king’s army. Protect the runestone, protect the world.
Team Dark Planet Studio with Stellarmania a space strategy game where the player will take on the role of the director of a company looking to expand its exploits into deep space – be it through piracy, escort duty, financial marketing or technological prowess.
Mike Bithell is on the Game Industry Biz Top 100 list
Posted: April 5, 2017 Filed under: Alumni, Awards, Press, Uncategorized | Tags: Games Industry Biz, Mike Bithell, Thomas Was Alone, Top 100, University of South Wales, USW Computer Games Design, USW Games, USW Graduate, Volume Leave a commentA huge well done to Mike Bithell (BA Computer Games Design Graduate) for making the Games Industry Biz Top 100 Most Influential People in the British Games Industry List.
Taking up coding at a young age, Mike Bithell was destined for games. Although he worked at studios such as Blitz, it was his indie project Thomas Was Alone that made his name.
Taking inspiration from filmmakers such as Kevin Smith, Bithell focused on making impressive titles with a tight budget. Now he is an aspirational figure for many a hopeful one-man indie, but when asked for advice on how to make it in games, he reminds fellow developers that “they are not on the same journey.”
“The business changes weekly, so I try not to give too much advice,” he says.
Following huge commercial success came the chance to meet his heroes, such as Hideo Kojima, which Bithell describes as a “massive privilege.” But according to the Volume creator, it’s the audience that drives him.
“It sounds corny, but the best part of this job is meeting the people who play our stuff,” he says. “Fan art, cosplay, videos – everything that folks do with the games we make.”
Extract from http://www.gamesindustry.biz/top100/indie-leaders
Grad Show 2016
Posted: June 18, 2016 Filed under: Events, Student Successes | Tags: Creative Cardiff, Grad Fest 16, Grad Show, USW Computer Games Design, USW Computer Games Enterprise, USW Game Art Leave a commentWe’ve had great fun at the grad show this year, for the first time our showcase was held outside of the campus in the centre of Cardiff.
There was great work on show from the BA (Hons) Computer Games Design, BA (Hons) Computer Games Enterprise and BA (Hons) Game Art courses over a whole week.
The excellent work can be seen here…
Games Gradshow 2015
Posted: June 12, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Gradshow, Showreel, USW Computer Games Design, USW Game Art, USW Games, USW Graduate Leave a commentA few weeks ago the Games Gradshow was in full swing, showing off final year undergraduate work from students on the BA (Hons) Computer Games Design and BA (Hons) Game Art courses.
It was pretty busy from the get go, with lots of people coming to visit from local games, animation and media companies. If you missed the show, you will be able to see a selection of the work at the Wales Games Development Show on the 19th June… http://walesgamesdevshow.org/ or you can take a look at this year’s showreel.
If you are interested in joining one of our courses, we have a Postgraduate Open Day on 17th June an Undergraduate Open Day on the 4th July.
USW Graduates Alice Rendell and Catherine Woolley in the Top 100 Women in Games UK list
Posted: March 2, 2015 Filed under: Alumni, Awards | Tags: Alice Rendell, Cat Woolley, Creative Assembly, Gamercast, Kobojo, MVC, newport computer games design, Top 100, USW Computer Games Design, USW Games, USW Graduate, Women in Games Leave a commentWe are really excited to see that two of our graduates Alice Rendell @alicemrendell and Catherine Woolley @Catmoo have been listed in the MVC UK Top 100 Women in Games list.
The list comprises of 100 women working in the UK games industry from almost 100 different studios, divisions or companies – chosen by a judging panel of over 50 UK games industry executives.
Alice Rendell Game Designer, Kobojo
Alice is a Game Designer currently working at Kobojo. She has spent over three years at the firm’s Paris HQ, she returned to UK and Dundee earlier this year to work on Zodiac, a JRPG co-developed with former Final Fantasy staff. Prior to Kobojo. She previously worked at Facebook games specialist Ooblada and offered consulting advice on game design at studio We Move Beyond. Alice is also on the Board of Directors of the IDGA Scotland.
Catherine Woolley Senior Designer, Creative Assembly
Cat is currently a Senior Design at Creative Assembly, most recently working on the award winning Alien: Isolation. She has been at Creative Assembly for 4 years, before which she spent just over 2 years at Electronic Arts Bright Light. In her spare time she is a co-host and editor at gamercast.net.
Beneath the Crimson Moon – Available to Download Now!
Posted: November 11, 2014 Filed under: Awards, Student Successes | Tags: Available to Download, Beneath the Crimson Moon, British Library, Crytek, Edgar Allen Poe, GameCity, Gothic, Masque of the Red Death, newport computer games design, Off the Map 2014, USW, USW Computer Games Design, USW Games, Whitby Leave a commentBeneath the Crimson Moon is available for Download Now! Get it today a give it a go, it’s a great game.
Beneath The Crimson Moon is an exploration puzzle game in which the player must find objects that can be destroyed. When destroyed, the materials gathered, can then be used to navigate obstacles by re-building other objects such as bridges or ladders. The game is fully voiced with a narrative and story. Team Members: Sam Beale – Visual Concept Designer, Zack Finley – Mechanic Designer, Gary Kings – Narrative and Audio Designer, Ashely Lake – 3D Asset Designer, Rob Pearce – Level Designer, Mitch Leatherdale – Level Designer.
Beneath the Crimson Moon was a finalist at Off the Map 2014.
The Off The Map competition is a collaboration between the British Library, Crytek and GameCity. It challenges higher education students based in the UK to create games inspired by the British Library’s collections, using Crytek’s cutting edge real-time technology Ceyengine.
The 2014 Off The Map competition accompanies the British Library’s current exhibition Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination. Curators handpicked a number of items, ranging from maps, sounds, text, images, illustrations and architectural plans, to provide three Gothic themes for entrants to base their videogames on. These were author William Beckford’s home Fonthill Abbey, Edgar Allen Poe’s short story The Masque of the Red Death and the seaside town of Whitby, which features in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
USW Games 