Students on the University of Salford’s BSc Computer and Video Games have notched up another credit with the release of a new 2D music game for the PC called Ongaku – thanks to a partnership with Smashmouth Games.

For the past year Salford graduates and current students have worked with the Manchester-based independent games development studio SmashMouth Games on the new PC music game ‘Ongaku.’

Ongaku is a game combining an original score and stylised artwork. Gamers enjoy 11 animated levels, each with their own new music themes. They can also generate playable levels from their favourite music tracks, pictures or videos.

Players take the role of the magic crystal Ongaku and progress through the fantasy kingdom of Melody by popping paint bubbles in time to the music. If successfully popped, the paint bubbles reveal an artistic masterpiece, bringing the canvas to life with its unique artwork.

Since its release Ongaku, which means ‘music’ in Japanese, has been downloaded over 500,000 times and has had many favourable reviews in the gaming media.

Toby Rushton, a current student on the BSc programme, said: “Working at SmashMouth Games over the summer was a fulfilling experience; the game’s development provided an insight into just how intense and exciting the industry can be. The SmashMouth team gave a fantastic and extensive view on how to develop a game from the ground up.”
SmashMouth Games Managing Director Zuby Ahmed, who is also a part-time lecturer on the BSc Computer and Video Games programme, said: “The team here at SmashMouth Games are very proud of Ongaku.
“We’re delighted with the opportunity to work with the University and its students. We believe it’s absolutely vital for the games industry to forge credible links with academic institutions. It’s these very students who will become the game developers of tomorrow.”
Umran Ali, programme leader, said: “This is yet another great example of the University’s strong partnerships with creative industries. Our link with SmashMouth Games has enabled our graduates to gain employment in a very competitive industry and, more uniquely, for current students to experience commercial development at the cutting edge of media.”

The BSc Computer and Video Games is one of 39 courses which will be taught at the University’s MediaCityUK base from next year. Over 1,500 students will be taught at MediaCityUK; joining thousands of industry workers and numerous major BBC departments which are making the move north.

As part of this unique project, the University is developing numerous partnerships with industry including SmashMouth Games and the BBC.

The University of Salford Business School course in Search and Social Media Marketing (www.searchmarketing.salford.ac.uk) is aimed at both individuals and businesses keen to boost their chances of getting their websites on the first page of Google’s rankings. Moreover, delegates will develop skills in using websites as a business tool focussing on delivering return on investment.

It’s the first in the UK to earn accreditation from the global leader the US-based SEMPO Institute and is the result of a unique collaboration between leading figures in the Manchester digital marketing industry — including PushOn, Latitude and Mediaedge:cia — and the university.

The 10-week evening course, which has been developed so that it will appeal to both business owners and professionals alike, has been put together following research in the digital sector.

Simon Wharton, Managing Director of award winning Manchester agency PushON, said: “This course is going to bring the knowledge of those in the trenches on a level with those in academia and will give great exposure to anyone wanting to update or develop their Search and Social Marketing skills.”

And Richard Gregory, Chief Operations Officer of Warrington-based Latitude, adds: “Search and Social Marketing is an industry that has experienced exponential growth over the past decade — a course that allows delegates to reflect on the past and prepare for the dynamic future is exactly what is needed.”

Leading to a recognised qualification, the course will also feature plenty of input from industry speakers from the region. It will offer business users a chance to understand the cutting edge techniques required to get their businesses in front of a huge market of potential customers.

It will feature material developed by SEMPO — a global non-profit organization serving the search engine marketing industry. Katie Donovan, Managing Director of the SEMPO Institute, says: “We are delighted that Salford Business School has selected to use our online courses as support material for this class. A relationship with such an innovative university as Salford enables us to further our charter of educating the next generation of search marketing professionals.”

A special open evening for the Search and Social Marketing course takes please on July 29 at 5.30 pm at room 516 in the Maxwell Building at the University of Salford.

To reserve a place please contact Victoria Hartley on 0161 295 3547 or email v.hartley@salford.ac.uk.

Ben Shirley and his team are working on the ‘Fascinate’ project, along with global partners including the BBC. The idea is to make live TV coverage of events, like concerts and sports matches, customisable so that people can watch any aspect without a loss of quality, defining their own viewpoint on the event.

In practise, this could mean that someone wanting to focus on Wayne Rooney during a match could grab a section of the screen and move it into a corner to follow his every move. Alternatively if they wanted to watch the action from behind the goal, they could move their whole perspective and zoom and pan their personalised view however they wished.

Whilst at live events, members of the audience can use FascinateURmobile to get a better view of something on stage they’re interested in seeing – that guitar solo for instance.

As experts in audio-visual research, the Salford team will be responsible for making sure that sound quality stays high and consistent when the view is moved. They’ll also be working on a sound system which captures the noise in a similarly panoramic way to the cameras and can render it on any reproduction system.

Mr Shirley said: “Fascinate is a major development in the way we’ll be watching TV in the future. Media companies can use the technology at a huge range of live events. The World Cup brings this sort of technology into focus, but it’s wider than just the living room. We see this turning all sorts of other live events into an even more rewarding experience as well.”

Technology like that used in this project will be incorporated in the University’s new MediaCityUK facility from 2011. Right next to major BBC departments, the new building will house research and teaching labs covering a wide range of media and digital disciplines.

Fascinate is scheduled to last for 3.5 years and more details can be found at http://www.fascinate-project.eu/

[Main page photo courtesy of vfr800guy]

Whatever the technology promises the content and the new generation of producers behind it will inevitably be co-opted back into the mainstream.  The evening will include a discussion on social media, to thrash out the meaning of this term and, in the process, engender a useful discussion in which guests can play their part.

Salford University has now launched an MA in Social Media.

Further Information

visit:  Salford University Website

[Photo by fredcavazza]