The world of video gaming has undergone a massive transformation over recent years, to the extent it is now a billion-dollar empire. It is unbeknown to most, but the part that the West Midlands has played in that has been huge.
At a recent conference at Birmingham City University, there was a host of famous faces from the gaming world brought together to celebrate precisely what the local area has done for the industry.
One of the guests on the panel was Louise O’Connor. She is an executive producer at games developer Rare, and her experience has been spread across the industry as she played a pivotal role in the creation of games such as ‘Donkey-Kong’, ‘Perfect Dark’ and ‘GoldenEye 007’. The latter of the games is still considered one of the best to have ever been made.
Speaking exclusively at the event, she said: “I’m delighted to be involved on this panel, not just because I love talking about the games industry, but especially because I think the Midlands is a key part of our thriving industry – full of exciting and talented developers.
O’Connor also recalled that one of her inspirations in gaming was Lara Croft, and she was alerted to the fact that the fictional character was conceived in the Midlands herself. She recalled: “I always forget she’s a Midlands lassie. People are surprised at how many well-known games have come from the Midlands.”
The continued success of Brummie developers hasn’t slowed down, and that has been evident in the success that Codemasters have achieved. The company are one of the leaders in the UK for producing racing games, and they have already released titles such as ‘Colin McRae: Dirt’ and hold the official license for developing Formula 1 games.
Codemasters success was something that Dr Alex Wade talked about on the panel. He said: “From Codemasters in Birmingham to Core Design in Derby, ‘Donkey Kong’ in Twycross to ‘Dizzy’ in Southam, the Midlands is a sandbox of video games that are played and respected all around the world.
“It is home to bedroom coding and international imports, controversial magazines and cheat cartridges, James Bond and Lara Croft, if you’ve ever played, or even heard of video games, the chances are that the Midlands had something to do with it.”
The event was a roaring success in the second city and helped a host of visitors gain unknown knowledge about the role the Midlands has had on the game industry. Birmingham’s 8bit Lounge also joined the event and allowed visitors the opportunity to relive some of their favourite games before and after the City Talk involving the panel.
The whole event goes to show that you’re never too old to play on video games or learn something new about the history of them.
The ‘Level Up: A History of Computer Games’ event forms part of Birmingham City University City Talks series. The events feature a programme of high profile speakers who share their views and insights on a range of topics. All talks are free and open to the public. You can find more information on the Birmingham City University website.
