Thurles Information » Computer Games

Thurles Based Website Wins Best Blogger At Erics Awards

George — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:15:06 +0000

Shane Willoughby, TGL Editor.

Ireland’s No 1 Gaming Website, The Gaming Liberty.com, co-founded by Thurles native Shane Willoughby, has just scooped “Best Blogger” award at the 2011 ERICS Awards.

Other 2011 ERICS winners include popular Irish band ‘The Script,’ songstress Adele and Irish rugby star Tommy Bowe.

Commenting on the win today, Shane said; “We’re so very grateful to be the recipients of the “Best Irish Blogger” award at the 2011 ERICS.” He added, “Everyone here at TheGamingLiberty would like to say a huge thank you for all of the gracious and heartfelt support we have received since we started this venture a couple of years ago. ”

The Gaming Liberty.com was first established in 2009, the brainchild of Shane and joint co-founder, Kildare born Joseph Murphy.

The website and has since firmly established itself as Ireland’s No 1 online gaming publication.

2012 promises to be yet another busy year for TheGamingLiberty, with the now annual Thurles based “Games Fleadh,” Digital Games Festival, ranking among their most anticipated gaming event of 2012.

The Games Fleadh, Ireland’s largest computer and console games programming festival, takes place this March 14th and 15th in the LIT Tipperary Institute, here in Thurles.

The now annual ERICS Awards are sponsored by entertainment.ie

Vote The Gaming Liberty Best Irish Blogger Erics Awards 2011

George — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 23:59:46 +0000

Thurles run video game website TheGamingLiberty.com has been nominated in the “Best Bloggers” category at the 2011 ERICS Awards and they need your votes to ensure they come away with the top prize.

Shane Willoughby

The Gaming Liberty was established in 2009 by two eager gaming enthusiasts, Thurles native Shane Willoughby and Leixlip local Joseph Murphy. The website has now firmly established itself as Ireland’s No 1 video game website, a daily source of the latest gaming news, previews, reviews and interviews, operating from Thurles, here in Co Tipperary .

The site has achieved massive success both nationally and internationally, culminating in this nomination at the 2011 ERICS Awards, and is currently ranked 629th best site in Ireland, ranked 273,676th in the United States and 255,610th best site globally.

As it stands, the site is leading the poll of nominees and look set to take the prize of “Best Bloggers” for 2011. However, there’s still three weeks of voting to take into consideration, so nothing is set in stone.

TheGamingLiberty needs your votes. Head over now to THIS LINK and vote for TheGamingLiberty in the ‘Best Blogger,’ category.

You can vote every day, five times a day, so please support local initiatives and support TheGamingLiberty.

We wish them all the best going forward.

Free Chance To Win Wii Game Need for Speed

George — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 15:11:51 +0000

Following the success of our previous free competitions, our readers are invited to enter our latest Christmas competition, with a chance to win the fantastic Wii game “Need For Speed – The Run. ”

This game is sponsored by Europe’s fastest growing Irish Gaming website – The Gaming Liberty.

To take part in this Christmas competition, the simple question to be answered is:- On what day does Xmas day fall ?

So visit the ‘Competition,’ section on the right sidebar of this page and carefully pick your answer. Remember you get just one chance.

Remember: Entry is completely free and this competition will end on December 21st next, in time for Christmas.

Over the coming months and into the new year, we hope to bring you more free competitions, so keep Thurles.Info checked out or ideally, why not subscribe to ‘Daily News To Your Inbox,’ by placing your Email address in the appropriate box, positioned on right sidebar of our home page, thus ensuring you receive each day our up-to-date news and comments by mail.

Best of luck in the competition and our computer will choose the lucky Tipperary winner, who will in turn be notified by Email directly from our site.

Slogan Competition

George — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 23:19:29 +0000

Harry Potter

A Tipperary native now resident in Australia, Katie O.Connell-Knott, is looking for a ‘Tipperary Tourism Slogan,‘ to put on T-Shirts for her next Irish Expats Barbecue.

Katie, a regular visitor and commenter on Thurles.Info and our new tourism site Hidden Tipperary, is looking for a slogan, which will promote Irish Tourism in Australia.

To assist Katie in her quest, we here on Thurles.Info and Hidden Tipperary are putting up a prize for the best T-Shirt slogan received.

Prize: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

The prize winner will be given an opportunity to join in the Battle of Hogwarts and take control of Harry Potter and his friends in their final adventure in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, the Nintendo DS video game adaptation of the blockbuster book and movie. This game goes on sale for the first time on Friday next, so send us your ‘Tourism Slogan,’ ASAP, using the ‘Comment Tag,’ underneath this Post, before Wednesday July 20th and the slogan competition winner will get the opportunity to wield powerful magic and engage in epic battles in their quest to destroy the Horcruxes and Lord Voldemort.

Rules:

(1) Rules are simple, the Judge for this competition will be Katie herself, over in that wonderful Australian State of Queensland, bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean, and her decision will be final.
(2) Send as many slogans as you like, via the Comment Tag, and note, all entries are free and the competition is open to everyone.
(3) Your slogan must contain the words “Hidden Tipperary,” and please do take in to account that your slogan must fit on the front of a T-Shirt, so the fewer words possibly the better, while still getting your Tourism Message across.

We look forward to hearing from you, and the best of luck.

Chance To Win the Xbox game ‘Shift 2 Unleashed ‘!

George — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 23:16:52 +0000

Following the success of our previous free competitions, our readers are invited to enter our latest contest, with a chance to win the fantastic Xbox game Shift 2 Unleashed.

This game is sponsored by Europe’s fastest growing Irish Gaming website – The Gaming Liberty. com

The simple question to be answered is:- On what day does the May Day bank holiday fall?

To enter this competition visit the Competition Section on the right sidebar of this page and carefully pick your answer.

Remember: Entry is completely free and this competition ends May 5th, next.

Over the coming months we will have many other free competitions, so keep us checked out or better still, subscribe to Daily News To Your Inbox, by placing your Email address in the appropriate box, on right sidebar of our home page and thus ensure you receive our up-to-date news and comments by mail, each day.

Best of luck in the competition.

Family Game Night 3 Computer Game Winner

George — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 22:48:15 +0000

Winner Miss Evelyn Brereton

Our March EA PS3 free computer game Family Game Night 3 sponsored by Europe’s fastest growing Irish and Thurles Gaming website – The Gaming Liberty. com has been won by Miss Evelyn Brereton, Loughmore, Co.Tipperary who is branch manager at Pat Hickey Tiles, 1 Ikerrin Road, Thurles, Co. Tipperary. (Tel: 0504 28601).

Miss Brereton, we suspect, spent this weekend spinning the wheel of fate in the GAME OF LIFE, or finding out “whodunit” in CLUE.

Either way congratulations to Evelyn on her win.

Over the coming months we will have many other free competitions, so keep us checked out or better still, subscribe to Daily News To Your Inbox , by placing your Email address in the appropriate box, on right sidebar of our home page and thus ensure you receive our news, by mail, on a daily basis.

Tipperary Institute Record A 50% CAO Application Increase

George — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 12:01:57 +0000

Dr. Maria G. Hinfelaar, President LIT.

Tipperary Institute, with a campus here in Thurles, Co. Tipperary has recorded a further impressive increase in student applications in 2011, following a record intake of students in 2010. Figures, recently released from the Central Applications Office (CAO) demonstrate this remarkable 32% increase in the colleges applications from students, applying for courses in the college, this year.

The Institute has recorded a mammoth 50% increase for first preferences for its courses and this increase comes despite a national reduction in overall applications to the CAO this year. The numbers of students accepting places at Tipperary Institute has now more than doubled over the last three years, making the local Institute one of the fastest growing third level colleges in Ireland.

Acting Tipperary Institute CEO, Michael O’Connell stated: ”This rapid growth in our student applications reflects the growing profile of our innovative courses which will provide our graduates with a rich educational experience and real career prospects. It is particularly encouraging that applications for Tipperary Institute have grown so much this year even though overall numbers applying to CAO are marginally down. It is also encouraging that increasing numbers of local Leaving Certificate students are also choosing Tipperary Institute, where they know they will receive a recognised third level qualification and benefit from a great student experience, but without the costs associated with living away from home.”

Dr. Maria Hinfelaar, President of LIT has welcomed the news and states: “Tipperary Institute has been aligning with LIT since December 2009 and following a Government decision in June 2010 will integrate formally with LIT on 1st September.We are delighted with the progress being made by the soon to be LIT (Tipperary). We are closely collaborating on expanding the range of educational opportunities available across all our campuses, and will contribute to the social and economic development of the entire region. Mature learners continue to return to education in large numbers and applications from PLC students to Tipperary Institute have alone increased by some 20%. This year, the Institute will make more places available than ever before to cater for the growing demand for third level education locally.”

This fantastic growth in applications includes the BSc.(Hons) in Computer Games Design and Development, which had a bumper year with first preferences increased by 77%, while community based organisations has seen a 21% increase in applications for Tipperary Institute’s Social and Community Studies Degree.

Students Note: Tipperary Institute will accept late applications through CAO for all courses until May 1st and CAO applicants can also avail of the ‘Change of Mind’ facility until July 1st.

So for a quality third level education on your doorstep, without the heavy burden of accommodation costs to parents and tailored to your specific needs, look no further than Tipperary Institute!

For further information on courses, check Here or simply Tel: 0504 28072, or why not Email: amcbride@tippinst.ie

Computer Games Could Be Good For Kids

George — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 00:01:21 +0000

Tipperary Institute, Thurles, Co.Tipperary

According to leading computer games programming experts, and employers, the Computer Games sector is emerging swiftly with real potential for well paid future employment.

Speaking at the 2011 Games Fleadh at the Thurles campus of the Tipperary Institute, which is one of the most important annual gatherings for future computer game programmers attending second and third-level education, the CEO of Open Emotion Studios, Patrick Murphy said there is massive potential to develop a lucrative gaming sector here in Ireland.

“We have the creativity and highly skilled graduates to create an indigenous sector and we would love to see Irish graduates establishing their own gaming companies in the future. This is one of few industries that has not experienced a downturn in the economy and is a sure bet to deliver jobs long term into the future. The Games Fleadh certainly gives budding young computer game programmers an opportunity to put themselves on view in the shop window and we will be keeping an eye out for the best on show, as we are looking to scale up in the coming years.” Mr Murphy said.

Tipperary Institute said: “This year’s Games Fleadh saw students develop their own versions of the iconic Frogger Computer Game to mark its 30th anniversary.”

Looks like computer games could be good for kids after all.

Chance To Win Family Game Night 3 For PS3

George — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 21:30:57 +0000

Family Game Night 3

Following the success of our previous free competitions, our readers are invited to enter our latest contest, with a chance to win the fantastic EA PS3 game Family Game Night 3.

So spin the wheel of fate in the GAME OF LIFE, find out “whodunit” in CLUE, get your groove on with TWISTER, trigger crazy chain reactions in MOUSE TRAP, or try your hand at YAHTZEE HANDS DOWN.

This game is sponsored by Europe’s fastest growing Irish Gaming website – The Gaming Liberty. com

The question to be answered is:- On what day does St. Patrick’s Day fall on?

To enter this competition visit the Competition Section on the right sidebar of this page and carefully pick your answer.

Remember: Entry is completely free and this competition ends March 19th next.

Over the coming months we will have many other free competitions, so keep us checked out or better still, subscribe to Daily News To Your Inbox , by placing your Email address in the appropriate box, on right sidebar of our home page and thus ensure you receive our news, by mail, on a daily basis.

Best of luck to everyone.

Global Games Jam Tipperary Institute Ireland

George — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 11:16:10 +0000

Last weekend saw one of the annual highlights for game developers around the world, yes I am referring to the 3rd annual ‘Global Games Jam.’

Once again this global event smashed it’s own record for the single largest games jam ever – 48 hours, 44 countries, 170 locations, 6500 participants, almost 1500 games, one weekend with just one theme.

Global Games Jam hosts Tipperary Institute, here in Thurles, rose to the challenge of organising and joining a game coding marathon for students, creating games, which were then viewed live by International gaming enthusiasts and gaming industry leaders.

Participants were here to make games – fast. It was part of the Global Game Jam, a worldwide event wherein developers, artists and musicians got together to make games in less than 48 hours with eating and sleep left optional.

Some 7,000 odd developers on Friday evening, across the world, worked creating computer games based on a common choosen theme ‘Extinction‘.

When presented with the theme, ‘Jammers’ set about brainstorming concepts, students pitched ideas to attract developers, artists and designers to join their team. Twenty two concepts in total were pitched and these were then honed down, strictly on merit, to just four ideas.

Games agreed and decided were titled ‘Petals’, ‘What We Do Now’, ‘Human Kind’ and ‘Petri Paridice’.

Mr Philip Bourke, the Course Coordinator for T I Development and Games Design stated: “This is as real as it gets, the sandbox nature of these projects, allow our students to experiment with development, design and gameplay in collaboration with their peers. The need to quickly and efficiently produce the code, art and audio assets for fun games in a fantastic way to develop innovation skills.”

Conor O’ Neill, one of the team that produced Petals, said: “This being my first jam, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I imagined it would be extremely challenging to get our ideas into a playable game in just 48 hours. We were delighted to find everyone so helpful in both Tipperary Institute.”

All games produced will be now be showcased later during the annual computer console game programming festival ‘Games Fleadh’ at Tipperary Institute in March next on 9th-10th.