I didn't get to go to the October meetup due to Kirsty's awesome birthday dinner. Hamish Bode was MC this time.

• Michael Schaeffers demonstrated the Windows 7 Phone build of our port of the Kiwi's Tale (The first time I had seen it live). I had a go of it on the emulator later, it's freaking hard due to the fact that jumps happen randomly. The control scheme might need a pinch of refinement before the game is released. He also talked about his curious project to make a Windows 7 Phone Shoot-Em-Up based around Conway's Game of life. The enemies are various "glider" shapes that travel down the screen and explode into interesting patterns when hit.
• Matthew Gatland gave a hilarious and thought provoking Powerpoint presentation on his five week long mad dash to release Space Octopus Mono in time for the Windows 7 Phone launch.
• Stephen Knightly talked about his time at the AnimFX conference, and some anecdotes from industry bigwigs in Maxis, Zynga (Farmville) and Popcap.

Stephen also gave a talk on the Employment Relations (Film Production Work) Amendment Bill and how it affects us. Long story short, the bill was added into law in order to convince Warner Bros. to produce the Hobbit in New Zealand after union difficulties. It essentially clarifies the difference between a "Contractor" and "Employee", so someone without a formal Employment contract would not be able to sue for Employment rights (Redundancy, Holiday pay etc). 

One of the more unusual provisions of the bill is that it defines a game developer as a film maker (go figure) and therefore covered by it's scope. No one seems to know for sure why the change was made, certainly there was no consultation with New Zealand game development studios. Stephen's IANAL advice was that, if you're not certain about your employment status, make sure you have an employment contract.