WAGE '15

Featured Games

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WAGE 15 took place in Pinefiled Schools Lekki Lagos. With a diverse mix of attendees consisting of Students, Parents, Developers, ICT professionals, and Educational institutions, WAGE 15 created a relaxed atmosphere where visitors networked and had the opportunity to see what is going on around them in the world of African gaming.

Attendees had the opportunity to learn from speakers in Education, games industry, Animation industry, and Finance Services Industry.
The WAGE 15 Conference was moderated by game developer and co funder of Chop Up games, Mr Zubair Abubakar.

Paula Callus of Bournemouth University Spoke on Negotiating Local Content in a Transnational Multi-Media Context.
“A contemporary digital virtual world enables moving images to travel across different spaces engaging in the politics of transnational production and distribution. Historical and contemporary African animation can provide examples of a range of negotiations occurring in content, aesthetic, and form – as the artists straddle different spaces and practices. Do these practitioners need to engage in different conversations with a local audience as opposed to a Western audience? The politics of identity and difference must therefore inform a discussion of how to frame the intervisual or hybrid aesthetic as a quality that may (in places) result from the artist’s awareness of the transnational nature of the market that they talk to. How do these artists adopt aspects of local culture, narrative, artistic tradition and ‘accent’ their work with influences from contemporary multi-media design from the US or Europe? By using different case studies the presentation intends to readdress the notions of the exotic as something that not only locates the ‘Other’ to the West. Instead it invites the possibility to examine talking to a local audience of the diaspora. Furthermore there is scope to consider the liminal aesthetic as being able to talk in multiple directions. The analysis aims to illustrate how it is possible to escape the confines of a binary approach that presupposes the relationship as either one or the other, exotic or not, us and them, here and there. These negotiations one would argue bring about the most successful cases of animation that are able to resonate with audiences from different places. “

Ahmed Alaga of Leap Africa spoke about eLearning: gamified content for social Change.
“The eLearning industry is changing, which means that it's time to reflect and look forward to what the future holds for the world of eLearning especially as the world goes digital.
The major concern for eLearning Professionals and Educators has always been identifying ways , methods, and techniques to engage learners in the learning process. Surprisingly enough, no one would think that games was the answer. After all, games tend to increase learners’ natural desire for competition, goal achievement, and genuine self-expression, while they also promote interactivity, have rules, a quantifiable outcome, and can be colorful, appealing, and extremely realistic well in some cases. However eLearning is no different.
The opportunities of combing eLearning and games are endless creating an avenue to explore numerous behavioral and attitudinal outcome.
We will be looking at how game developers can take advantage of the exponential growth of a multi million dollars industry to achieve other things like making the world a better place, where gaming becomes learning something meaningful and measurable while having fun.”

Representative from Center 4 Tech, GoodHead Divine Tammy thrilled attendees with his topic “How to create a captivating platform game”.

The presentation was aimed at giving useful tips on how to create a fun platform game that players would want to keep returning to play! A platform game is a game which involves guiding an avatar to jump between suspended platforms, over obstacles, or both to advance the game. The player controls the jumps to avoid letting the avatar fall from platforms or miss necessary jumps. Platform games originated in the early 1980s.

Benedict Olumhense from IGDA Nigeria decided to take on the topic of Game design cultural perspectives and Socio dynamics.
He insisted that “For local indies to create that compelling gamer experience through published titles, there need to be creative synergies merging various forms of human life and interaction. One way to do this right is by designing those experiences through existing cultures that we can relate to in our industry. This talk will focus on connecting those human interactions with shared experiences online or offline and embedding those aspects into the design process for game development. This talk will be interactive as much as possible so please come in with your ideas.”

The WAGE 15 conference was concluded with the “Great African Gaming Debate”. Our Speakers had the opportunity to speak about the direction the African gaming industry is going, what we can do to improve it, how we can create content that can be sold to both local and international clients amongst others.
Attendees had the opportunity to ask the speakers questions, network, share ideas and most importantly learn from the professionals available.

The WAGE 15 developers session saw organisations like Bournemouth Univeristy, Kaplan, Center 4 Tech, Africgames.com and Chop up games, showcase their product and services and how best to access them. Kaplan and Bournemouth University introduced attendees to course they can study to help them become games developers and thrive in the gaming industry.
Center 4 Tech showed students and parents the advantages of taking part in the Center 4 Tech summer campaign. They also showcase games developed by past students of the Center 4 Tech training camp. Please visit our home page to play games such as Gold Getter, Fable Wonderland, Space run and Much more.
Chop up games showcased Google Play services, and how they use it to generate profit, reach their targeted clients and customers, and get feed-back from players.

WAGE 15 Expo created a family friendly environment, where attendees had the opportunity to play the latest in console gaming, meet the gaming developers working in the region. Kinect dance parties, tournaments, and much more.
Genii games carried out a soft launch of their new game “Sango and his wives”, whilst Google gave out Google card board virtual reality glasses for attending guest to take home.
Center 4 Tech showcase games developed by Nigerian students as young as 10 years old. They also ran a young developers tournament that was judged by Googles Charles Odili and GTbanks Brian Wilson, the winners of the challenge, all went home with a Google branded merchandise such as, Google Power band, Google Tshirts, Google Virtual Glasses and much more.
Bournemouth University also gave out branded merchandise to attending guest such as Wallets, Baseball hats, Note pads, and memory sticks for students to use back in school.
Game play and tournaments displayed on the day included, Tekken Tournament, FIFA Tournament, Pro Evolution Soccer Tournaments, Africgames.com challenge, Oculus rift, Kinect just dance tournament and much more.
Googles Virtual Reality Cardboard glasses stole the show, showing students and parents the possibilities the world has to offer. By downloading the Google cardboard app, students can afford to visit Paris, Rome and many other locations from the comfort and safety of their classroom, making field trips safer and more affordable.

Center4Tech
Paula Callus WAGE 15 Presentation
Center4Tech's Presentation - HOW TO CREATE A CAPTIVATING GAME
GAME DESIGN THROUGH SOCIOECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES