Round Up: TIGA Middleware, Tao's GamePlayer, Atari @ NextFest

Today's round-up includes news of the formation of the TIGA Middleware special interest group, Tao Group demonstrating its intent GamePlayer platform at this week's DEMOfall 2006 conference, and Atari's presence at WIRED Magazine's WIRED NextFest 2006, as well as the latest Game Career Guide updates, Serious Games Source posts, GameSetWatch posts and Gamasutra job postings. - The Independent Game Developers Association, the UK-based developer consortium more commonly known as TIGA, has announced the formation of TIGA Middleware, a special interest group formed to promote the interests of companies and individuals involved in the development and promotion of commercial game development tools and technology. TIGA Middleware will be formally unveiled on Monday, October 2 at the TIGA Content, Outsourcing and Middleware Market (itself a part of London Games Week). The newly formed group, which was organized by TIGA's CEO Fred Hasson and Instinct Technology's Business Development Director Mike Gamble, already boasts broad industry support, with founding members including Instinct Technology, Philips, Geomerics, Natural Motion, Digimask, Lifeform and Nice Tech. TIGA Middleware aims to stimulate the co-operation between companies involved in the development and distribution of middleware (both professional and technical); to promote dialogue between technology companies involved in game development and those in other, related industries; to promote the use of industry-standard middleware within academia; and to investigate the availability of funding and support through government (both UK and European) to companies involved in the development of technology. - Tao Group, a provider of multimedia software for home and mobile networks, announced that it plans to demonstrate its intent GamePlayer platform at this week's DEMOfall 2006 conference. According to company representatives, Tao's intent GamePlayer enables game developers, operators and handset manufacturers to provide consumers with a deployable mobile gaming experience similar to what is possible in the console market. Furthermore, Tao notes that its technology allows game developers to get their games to a wider market faster and at a reduced cost, to all mobile devices, including closed devices that incorporate intent GamePlayer. - Atari announced that it is sponsoring WIRED Magazine's WIRED NextFest 2006. Scheduled to take place from September 29 through October 1 at the Javits Center in New York City, Atari will offer an array of technology and entertainment products at its Playground pavilion exhibit, including the Nabaztag Opera, featuring 100 Nabaztag devices. Created by the French company Violet, Nabaztags are the first, interactive wi-fi enabled "smart rabbits" that also double as interactive personal companions. First performed at Paris' Centre Pompidou in May, the Nabaztag Opera makes its debut in America at WIRED NextFest. Composed by Artist and programmer Antoine Schmitt and Music composer and film director, Jean-Jacques Birge, the opera is a musical and choreographic partition in three movements, transmitted via wi-fi, playing on the tension between the music ensemble communion and individual behavior to create a strong and involved showpiece. - The latest updates on Gamasutra sister alt.gaming weblog GameSetWatch include a look a selection of independently developed PC titles, a collection of pictures from the 2006 Tokyo Game Show, and the 3D0 console's crazy Old Man Hunter: Mahjong. - The latest updates on Gamasutra's sister site Serious Games Source include Virtual Heroes' chief technical officer Randy Brown being selected to speak at this week’s Games for Health Annual Conference. - News on Gamasutra's game education sister site Game Career Guide includes a new feature covering the use of game development and Java 3D to teach computer graphics. - Also updated today: the latest Gamasutra job postings, including openings from 2XL Games, Blizzard Entertainment, Blue Fang Games, Mad Doc Software, Midway Games, Pixelux Entertainment, and Sony Pictures.