UK "centre of excellence" proposed Comments by Johnny Minkley

"Centre of excellence"

Who, or what, the fuck comes up with these names? Why can't it just be Games School?

Salford.

Oh god.

Good good, is the government finally beginning to realise that the UK is an industry leader in the field of games development?! Now maybe they can propose plans to financially assist the industry in this country and/or give them tax breaks.

"Salford.

Oh god."

My thoughts.

Again, why the need to build everything up north? Most major UK studios, with the notable exception of Rockstar North, are in the South and Midlands. Makes more sense to build it in somewhere like Brighton, no?

It's a great idea :)

But "examine the options arising from a feasibility study"? A bit like "consulting on a proposal to legislate to give Ofcom a duty to take steps aimed at reducing copyright infringement".

Is it just me or did that Digital Britain report contain a huge amount of promising to consider things but very little in the way of concrete decisions? Not really surprising I guess.

I don't think "Up North" is the problem but Salford is a shithole with a reputation for knife crime.

I wouldn't say all the studios are down South either and so far the best place for games degrees is in Dundee (aforementioned University of Abertay). You're also missing out RTW who are also in Dundee ;).

"I don't think "Up North" is the problem but Salford is a shithole with a reputation for knife crime.

I wouldn't say all the studios are down South either and so far the best place for games degrees is in Dundee (aforementioned University of Abertay). You're also missing out RTW who are also in Dundee ;)."

Point taken ;)

Dundee alone has:

Realtime worlds
Ruffian
Cohort Studios
Proper games
4J
Tag games
Denki

...that i can think of off the top of my head. Shame it's an utter shithole.

I think "utter shithole" is a bit harsh.

It's no Florence, I'll grant you that :)

pffft... i stay by my comment. it's the arsehole of scotland!

It's more sunny and rains less than the rest of Scotland so it's not all bad ;)

Lambtron, AphoticCosmos

HOW FUCKING THICK ARE YOU TWO RETARDS? SALFORD HAS A REP FOR KNIFE CRIME? YOU DONT KNOW WHAT THE FUCK YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.

BRIGHTON? I COULD SAY WHY THE HECK WOULD ANYONE PUT SOMETHING DOWN THERE WITH THE REST OF THE SOUTHERN PONCE TWAT BRIGADE?

UNLESS YOU ACTUALLY GO TO SALFORD AND KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT I SUGGEST YOU KEEP YOU CHILDISH, HYPOCRITICAL FUCKWIT OPINIONS TO YOURSELVES

Note to self:

don't EVER go to Salford.

"BRIGHTON? I COULD SAY WHY THE HECK WOULD ANYONE PUT SOMETHING DOWN THERE WITH THE REST OF THE SOUTHERN PONCE TWAT BRIGADE?"

Pot... kettle...

It's grim up north.

I imagined Layleeloo actually shouting at his(?) screen whilst typing. Made me smile.

It's more sunny and rains less than the rest of Scotland so it's not all bad ;)

not right now it's fucking not.

It's more sunny and rains less than the rest of Scotland so it's not all bad ;)

Isn't that a bit like saying "It's dryer than Atlantis"?

As someone who works in the industry, I'd just like to say that on the face of it it sounds like a pile of old toss. The idea of being paid to play games is crap (though I suspect that's EGs wording), and anyone that thinks that's the job shouldn't bother applying. Even then we're only talking about QA which often gets the guys McDonalds wouldn't give a job to. True, a few make the path to designer from there but it's not easy...

What we need is decent Computer Science courses, decent animation and art courses. Oh hold on, we already do. Why not support them? Decent people will still go through those well-respected channels. The whole hyped-up centre of excellence stuff is all style and no substance, it'll attract dossers who think it's an easy ticket and they'll be wondering what's gone wrong when no one offers them a job. Still, not like the government to waste millions on schemes because they fundamentally misunderstand the issues.

To be fair theres been alot of development done in the Salford area now(lots of money pumped in), BBC moved there and a Id imagine alot of other big businesses have followed, perhaps it was because Manchester is a good location and Salford offered cheaper sites near to a big city with all the facilities you'd need(transport ect).

The government getting more involved with video games in a positive manner sounds like a good idea. :-)

"BRIGHTON? I COULD SAY WHY THE HECK WOULD ANYONE PUT SOMETHING DOWN THERE WITH THE REST OF THE SOUTHERN PONCE TWAT BRIGADE? "

You mean with Eurogamer's UK offices?

I second teabagger's opinion.

New entrants into the industry isn't the problem. Where I work we seem to have no problems finding a fairly constant stream of incredible juniors.

The issue is keeping hold of the staff you have in the face of uncompetitive salaries, crap hours and poor job security.

Guildford Surely?

Lionhead, Media Molecule, EA, Kuju, Codemasters...etc....

@ MrChuckles

That would be wonderful for I live in Guildford. :-)

@AphoticCosmos: There's a big (and increasing) amount of games development in the North East.

Which brings us to the real problem- why, when any major organisation wants to build something "Up North", this only ever means (Greater) Manchester? I'm *from* Greater Manchester, and I think it's taking the piss a little.

Why is shit always up in Manchester? Might as well open a welcome centre in Somalia

So... Bill & Ted's plans for world domination finally begin