PPD - WEEK 5 - How it all started?

Week 5 we learned how computers first started out and the history behind it all. And also how the games industry started out.

The games industries first started out in the late 70's were people made very cheap kits for people to buy and programme their own games.
Learning about microchips and how to put computers together was the norm back in the 70's.

The first computer that made the big computer boom was the ZX80 this was for sale for under £100.
The computer games industry back in the 80's had alot of competition as people were releasing different computer systems at very high speeds, in 1982 the ZX spectrum came out and over 5 million units were sold, it rivaled the BBC Micro Computer which then reviled the Amstrad CPC.

Some of the more famous games back in the day were made by Mathew Smith (aged 18) he made games such as Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy, these games made alot of money.

But later on during the years came the Home Computer crash which caused the death of the UK hardware industry. But the UK managed to survive by creating titles for big American Systems such as the Commodore and the Atari.

The UK games industry today is going very well!

Lots of big studios are still up and running and have lots of employers also the rise of indie has come about which means alot more smaller companies are employing people too.

The UK has also had some very good Tax Breaks, where you can get a 25% corporation tax relief rate and an additional investment of £188m.

On the conversation of Tax we were also set a task of researching a given country on the basis of how the games industry and tax are applied and differs to other countries.

Our task was to research Canada, we found that there were 329 different games companies dotted around.
Some of these included:

●UBISOFT●WARNER BROS●BIOWARE●EA CANADA●ROCKSTAR●CAPCOM

Canada has great education institutes along with great people and a great atmosphere, although the downside it is very expensive to live there.
Canada is successful because of its Tax Breaks and government grants.

How to get to Canada?

       
Two main methods of immigration to Canada:


        ●Temporary Work Visa:
oJob offer mandatory
oEvaluated based upon qualifications, subject of work
●Skilled Worker Immigration:
oPoint based system to meet immigration requirements
oSkilled people with ‘in demand’ qualifications and skills
oJob offer ready in Canada still quite important
oWork Experience, high qualifications and linguistic abilities in English and/or French
oOverall cap of  25,500 applications for immigration. First come first serve basis of application
oCap of 1,000 applications can be accepted in each priority occupation
●Sponsorship from family within Canada also an option (not necessarily citizens)

Reference:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/16/uk-video-games-tax-breaks-expected-to-protect-more-than-10000-jobs

http://www.cic.gc.ca/englisH/immigrate/index.asp
http://oldcomputers.net/zx80.html
http://oldcomputers.net/
http://maps.speccy.cz/maps/JetSetWillyBulgarianRequiem.png