The second Continue event of 2018 took place yesterday in the illustrious setting of the British Library and in partnership with UK Young Artists. After welcomes from Roly Keating (Chief Executive of the BL) and Michelle Bowen (Director of UKYA) things got underway with a fantastically interactive session.
Join the curators of the UK’s National Videogame Arcade as they take you on a journey through the history of videogames… in things. Things? Why things? Surely videogames are digital? For sure, videogames are about graphics and sound, they are about zeros and ones, data and code, bits and bytes and pixels and sprites, but they’re so much more than that, too. They are joysticks and mice, computers and consoles, collectible plush toys and Barbie dolls, soundchips and, importantly, ocarinas (of time). Videogames are things we play with. They are playthings. But let’s not forget that they are things.
Continue reading “A History of Videogames in 14 Consoles, 5 Computers, 2 Arcade Cabinets… And an Ocarina of Time”
Nottingham, June 27th – The BGI, the new national agency for games culture, is opening its national headquarters at the Sheffield Kollider, a new hub for creative and technology industries currently being developed in Castlegate, the historic heart of Sheffield. The Kollider building is being renovated with DCMS funding as part of a wider push by Sheffield to create a new cluster for high growth industries in the city. The BGI is one of the first arrivals from a range of creative, technology and biotech businesses expected to locate in Kollider over the next 12 months.
Continue reading “BGI announces Sheffield as its new national HQ”
We’re super excited to share plans for our next Continue event; Continue Edinburgh! In partnership with Riverside Studios, on 16th August we’ll be taking over the University of Edinburgh Business School for an action-packed day of talk and play, uncovering Scotland’s leading cultural game projects. Bringing together cultural commissioners and video game developers, Continue is about creating new opportunities in the game and culture sectors. Highlights include talks from the National Museum of Scotland and a welcome from University of Edinburgh’s Prof. Chris Speed.
Watch this space for a full programme announcement!
Continue Edinburgh is on 16th August at University of Edinburgh Business School, tickets available here
Nottingham, 18 June: The BGI has expanded its board to include a diverse range of stakeholders from across the sector.
The BGI’s board of advisors now includes the journalist Chella Ramanan, Phoenix Perry (Goldsmiths), Karen Hedger (AIM), Claire Boissiere (Harbee Studios), Melissa Jo Knox (Blazing Griffin), Malath Abbas (Biome Collective), Gina Jackson (Imaginarium), Sitara Shefta (Dream Reality Interactive), Hannah Flynn (Failbetter Games) and Korina Abbott (Kinetic Atom).
Some big names are speaking at our second Continue event! The British Library’s CEO Roly Keating is keynoting the Cultural Games event with figures from games, arts and education.
Join us in London, on the 3rd of July at the British Library. Continue reading “Continue London – 3rd of July at the British Library”
This week Rick travelled up to York to attend one of the Audiences of the Future open days, and was surprised to find himself the only games person in the room…
This week we’ve been on the road, visiting Sheffield to meet with a local infrastructure provider, see a games co-working space that’s just opened, meet Sheffield Hallam and chat with Ian Goodall from Aardvark Swift about their many innovative skills programmes…
A lot has happened at the BGI over the last couple of weeks! With an exciting announcement, a trip to China and a top secret project in the works, things have been moving fast. Here’s what we’ve been up to:
BGI announces new Board members and calls for the sector to help govern its programmes
Nottingham, 20 April: The BGI has expanded its board to include a diverse range of stakeholders from across the sector and is calling on industry stakeholders to help govern its programmes.
An expanded board of advisors was announced, comprising Shahid Ahmad (Ultimatum Games), Samira Ahmed (BBC), Katherine Bidwell (State of Play), Carl Cavers (Sumo Digital PLC), Marcia Deakin (NextGen Skills Academy), Iain Dodgeon (Wellcome Trust), Paul Gardner (Wiggin), Katie Goode (Triangular Pixels), Ian Hetherington (Midoki/Wrld), Marie-Claire Isaaman (Women in Games), Tanya Laird (Digital Jam), Andy Payne (Appynation / Just Flight / British eSports Association), Rebellion (Jason/Chris Kingsley/Philip Oliver), Timea Tabori (Rockstar North), Paul Kilduff-Taylor (Mode7), Mark Turpin (Yogscast), Chris White (former Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Games), Richard Wilson (TIGA). Ian Livingstone is Chair.
The new agency also announced its intention to reach a 50/50 gender balance and appropriate BAME representation on the board by summer 2018. The board will propose and vote for new members in late April.
The BGI is also calling on people from across the sector to put themselves forward to join steering groups for the BGI’s programmes. The Steering Groups, focused on Finance, Culture, Skills and Diversity, will open up to new members in the Summer. The BGI encourages a wide range of stakeholders from across the sector to put themselves forward for consideration. Applicants can apply here.
Rick Gibson, CEO of the BGI, said: “By appointing such a wide range of diverse stakeholders from right across the sector to our board and by announcing our goal of achieving an even gender split and good BAME representation in the near future, we’re making a strong statement about the BGI as an organisation, but also our vision for a more diverse sector in future. We are building diversity and inclusion into everything we do and our advisory board will be ensuring that diversity and inclusion remain a focus for all our programmes. With a range of new programmes coming, we need the sector’s help to ensure that what the BGI delivers is fit for purpose for our sector, so we are inviting people to register their interest in joining steering groups to govern the BGI’s programmes.
