Game on as Magna celebrates computer gaming industry

MAGNA will welcome British video game royalty when it hosts the nation’s biggest games and careers conference next month.

Guests lined up for Games Britannia: Replayed include Kevin Toms, creator of the Football Manager series, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

He will be joined at the Rotherham science centre event next month by the title’s current custodian, Miles Jacobson, to tell visitors about designing and selling one of the world’s favourite sports games.

Also attending will be Martin Hollis, producer of trend-setting shooter Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64 console. Joining him will be some of the team responsible for the game’s 21st century reboot on Wii, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Bosses from software giants Sega, Namco-Bandai and Crytek UK will be on hand to exhibit their biggest titles, debut upcoming releases and speak with budding local game designers and programmers.

The event’s open weekend at Magna follows a week of workshops by Sheffield Hallam University for school pupils who want to get into game design.

Judges will be revealing winners of a contest for schools to revive classic video game character, Monty Mole, who made his 1984 debut in a video game made in Sheffield.

Weekend visitors will get a chance to try out vintage gaming hardware as well as cutting-edge consoles and handheld systems in the celebration of British gaming innovation past and present.

Innovators themselves will take part in a games-themed Question Time hosted by BAFTA at Sheffield’ Hallam University’s Pennine Theatre on July 1.

A panel of experts including Charles Cecil MBE—creator of the successful Broken Sword series—and creative director Sean Millard, of Sheffield’s Sumo Digital studio, will draw on their long experience in the industry to field questions from gamers and budding game-builders.

For free tickets to BAFTA Games Question Time go to www.gamesbritannia.com/bafta.

Games Britannia: Replayed will take place the following weekend of July 7 and 8. For more information on the festival visit www.gamesbritannia.com/replayed.

For tickets go to www.visitmagna.com and click on the Ticketed Events button.