Ballarat gamers are getting a rare opportunity today and tomorrow, with a collection of government and business organisations joining forces to stage the annual Ballarat Get Into Games (GiG), an expo intended to get young people interested in careers in the game industry.
Presentations open at 10:00am today, including industry figures, educators, and independent game developers. Among the presenters will be Antony Reed, president of the Game Developers Association of Australia, and Tom Killen, from Melbourne's Voxel Agents, creators of the Train Conductor series.
It won't be all work, though. Two game tournaments will be run all day tomorrow, with both of them offering a $500 prize. Fragfest will be a three-game tournament, requiring skills in Call of Duty: Black Ops, Battlefield 3, and Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. There will also be an AFL Live Championship, with the player at the top of the ladder at the end of the day taking home the prize.
For those just wanting to have a play, there will also be several high-tech car racing setups, with force feedback wheels and multiple screens, as well as 40 Xbox 360s set up on the show floor, running a variety of games.
The best part is that it's completely free to enter the expo, participate in the discussions and panels, and compete in the tournaments.
If this sounds like your thing, head down to Ballarat Mining Exchange today and tomorrow. For more information, please check out the Ballarat GiG website.
- James "DexX" Dominguez
DexX is on Twitter: @jamesjdominguez