Categories: Antique News

Inspiring guests and family fun at Yorkshire Games Festival 2017

Published by
Join Lenon Blur

This year’s festival took place between 8-12 November, continuing our mission to bring aspiring games creators closer to the industry and give families a platform to play together.

There were lots of exciting new additions to the programme. We kicked off the festival with our first Schools’ Day, giving local school groups the chance to experience workshops, talks and activities focusing on key elements of videogames such as coding and design. The museum played host to Key Stage 2 students, while Bradford College, the festival’s headline sponsor, catered for Key Stage 3 students.

KS2 students enjoy Yorkshire Games Festival Schools’ Day at the museum

On Thursday and Friday, we welcomed students and gaming enthusiasts to Pictureville Cinema, where they experienced a range of talks and masterclasses from some of the industry’s leading professionals.

Our keynote speaker was Iki Ikram. The award-winning visual effects specialist and former Naughty Dog artist took centre stage to discuss his career, including his experience of working on successful franchises Uncharted and The Last of Us. Having grown up in Bradford, and crediting his success to studying Graphic Design at Bradford College, Iki provided the audience with an inspiring story and was the perfect keynote for this year’s festival.

Iki Ikram

Other amazing highlights included Arthur Parsons (TT Games) talking about creating Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2; Dominic Matthews (Ninja Theory) discussing Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and its authentic portrayal of mental health; David Wise’s live music demonstration to accompany his talk on composing for videogames such as Snake Pass; and an appearance by BAFTA-winning company Ghost Town Games, who revealed how they developed the smash hit Overcooked.

Arthur Parsons
Oli De-Vine and Phil Duncan of Ghost Town Games

Another new addition to the festival was our ‘Meet the Developers’ networking event, which gave delegates an invaluable opportunity to meet our special guests to discuss career advice, top tips… and, of course, favourite games!

Guests and students talk games at the Meet the Developers networking event

After a successful few days, the museum was flooded by families, games fans and developers for the Let’s Play! weekend. We opened up Gallery One to live gameplay, inviting Yorkshire developers and companies to showcase their in-development games in the second edition of the Yorkshire Games Showcase. Our Videogames, But… collection displayed unusual, wonderful and thought-provoking games to our visitors, while Installation Required led Makey Makey custom controller workshops, inspiring a brand new generation of games creators.

Young visitors test out unusual games as part of Videogames, But… in Gallery One

Two live shows wowed audiences, with Impact Gamers LiVE showcasing games made by young people on the big screen and WiFi Wars providing lots of laughs in an interactive comedy gameshow. Beyond the museum, The Displaced—our first live action role-playing game—led visitors across Bradford city centre in an otherworldly adventure to collect clues and solve the mystery of the Soyuz.

Big-screen gaming at Impact Gamers LiVE
Audience members enjoying WiFi Wars
Players in full LARPing gear for The Displaced

After another successful festival, it’s now on to plans for the next—see you there!

Photographs by Roger Moody and Jody Hartley

This post was last modified on 11/10/2023 2:05 pm

Join Lenon Blur

I am a JOIN LENON BLUR - world-leading expert, and I am the admin of Antiqueworld with many years of experience researching antiques and postal publications. I hope to provide the audience with the most accurate and informative information.

Share
Published by
Join Lenon Blur

Recent Posts

How to Buy Postage Online

When it comes to buying postage online, the benefits are pretty straightforward: you save time,…

1 year ago

14 USPS Stamp Types (Your Complete Guide)

One of the most prominent hobbies in the world is collecting stamps, otherwise known as…

1 year ago

Types of Rubber Stamps

There are various types and options of rubber stamps, so it is quite natural to…

1 year ago

First-Class Mail Fact Sheet

First-Class Mail Fact Sheet What is First-Class Mail Shape-Based Pricing? First-Class Mail shape-based pricing aligns…

1 year ago

Can You Buy One Stamp At USPS? (All You Need to Know)

When you’re sending someone a letter or a card, all you need is one Forever…

1 year ago

USP 51 Antimicrobial Effectiveness Test

USP <51> is used to test preservative effectiveness. The number “<51>” refers to General Chapter…

1 year ago