A Couple of Gamers » Events

Are You Ready to Rock—In Public?

Lori — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:48:23 +0000

Following hot on the heels of a rather successful first attempt at getting Toronto gamers out of their houses in a social atmosphere, it appears as though the blog collective (which almost, awesomely enough, reads like “the Borg collective”) are at it again.

In January, a bunch of Toronto-based gaming bloggers and well-wishers (in that they don’t wish us any specific harm) got together for our first-ever Blogamoke. Hands were shaken, songs were sung, and drinks were consumed in varying quantities.

What followed was a long month of, well, not getting together.

Recently, however, Dave and I happened to run into Dillon Andrews and Paul Hunter at a Hand Eye Society social, and we got to talking about what our next social experiment should be. Interestingly enough, Eric Brazier was there as well. Why is this interesting, you may ask? Well, Eric happens to run a monthly event that perfectly coincides with our love of video games, karaoke, and drinking.

So this time, we’re trading in our microphones for guitars and drums and… uh… microphones. Okay, so we’re not trading in our microphones. Okay, well, some of us are. But I digress.

On Saturday, March 6, there will be a Rock Band Video Game Jam Session at Rockie Raccoons Eatery (their spelling, not mine), located at 2579 Yonge Street in Toronto. Check out the Facebook event page for more details and to RSVP.

We will be there. You should be, too.

(Oh, and in case you were wondering why I didn’t think of a clever name for this shindig, it’s because I’m lazy. So there.)

Update: Shaun Hatton, EP’s newest correspondent (congrats, Shaun!), is planning to attend the night’s festivities. Epic.

What Do You Get when You Combine Gamers, Blogs, and Karaoke?

Lori — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:39:32 +0000

Hey, kids! Want to drink your faces off and participate in mad duets of “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” with your favourite GTA-based gaming bloggers?

On Friday, January 29, Dave and I (as well as Paul Hunter from NextGenPlayer.com and Dillon Andrews from vE3tro.com) will be descending upon the Fox and Fiddle at 280 Bloor Street West in Toronto for our first-ever Blogamoke, a night of mayhem and music for gaming bloggers, blogging gamers, and the people who love them.

So whether you want to hook up with your fellow gaming enthusiasts, meet the people who write about your favourte pastime, drink mad amounts of alcohol, sing bad ’80s hits, laugh at those who do, or a combination of any of the aforementioned activities, feel free to RSVP to the event on Facebook…we’d love to see you there!

Update: Shaun Hatton from TorontoThumbs.com will be singing “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress”…not to be missed!

Gamercamp was like Regular Camp, only Fun and slightly more Co-ed

Lori — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:46:16 +0000

(I was going to make the requisite American Pie allusion, but Calhoun beat me to it last Thursday…)

On Saturday morning, I awoke with the usual amount of weekend meh. I had been writing, tweeting, and writing about Gamercamp all week but, when it came time to actually get up and take the 10-minute bus ride to the Lower Ossington Theatre, I was about as motivated as, well, an adult gamer on Saturday morning could be. Thank goodness for Dave—he wiped the crud from my eyes, took me out to breakfast, and reminded me of the fun date we were about to have (which you are about to experience vicariously through this post…).

Though I thought we were going to be late, we arrived just in time to be filed from the reception area into the main theatre were the micro-conference was to take place. Cookies, coffee and, of course, game-themed cupcakes from SWEETMEAT more than made up for the early start time (1 p.m.? Really?) the kids had to endure and, after catching up with Jaime Woo (the cute guy on the right in the baby-blue t-shirt), finally meeting Imaginary Thomas (the cute guy on the left in the hat—whom you might remember from my imaginary interview with him earlier this month), and getting some brief face time with Shaun Hatton from Toronto Thumbs (not pictured here, but pictured here), the festivities began.

Lori: There was originally a paragraph here about the first two speakers but, due to multiple requests to change the content of said paragraph, I have removed it.

Next up was Michael Todd of Spyeart who regaled us with heroic tales of how he made a game in a week. In fact, he made multiple games in multiple weeks. But, oddly enough, the games of which he’s most proud (and the ones he touted most highly, like Broken Brothers Deluxe) are the ones that took longer. Go figure. Seriously, though—the game-a-week concept is, indeed, an intriguing one. Just not one that could be practised by one who has to deal with a significant other. If I’m wrong. Michael, please correct me (with details on how you achieved said superhuman feats without pissing off said significant other)…

Last, but certainly not least, my favourite Toronto developer, Nathan (can’t get enough of that Critter Crunch) Vella of Capybara Games talked about making indy art for indy games. The short version of his talk was that, if you have too many cooks in the kitchen, it’s harder to create cheap-and-cheerful game art. Or that you need to be passionate about what you do when you make it. Or that it’s better to hire people you know because the people you know are more likely to recommend people who know what they’re doing. I don’t know—I had a Red Bull and got lost in his eyes. And I heart Critter Crunch. For the love of god, isn’t that enough?

Gamercamp? Yes, Please!

Lori — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:28:16 +0000

Want a great first-date idea for this Saturday? Want to make your significant other shiver in antici…pation? Just lean over and whisper the one word that will turn knees to jelly and cause hearts to flutter…

Gamercamp…mmm, baby…Gamercamp…

Okay—so it may not be every couple’s bag—but if unlimited old-school arcade freeplay and listening to Nathan Vella speak turns you on (and why shouldn’t it?), you might want to venture out to the ironic wilds of Ossington Avenue this weekend…

When I first heard about Gamercamp (was it from NextGen Player? Toronto Thumbs? I think it was both), I filed it away in the back of my head as something Dave and I might want to check out. But when co-organizer Jaime Woo contacted me directly to discuss the details, I took a bit more time to check out the Gamercamp site—and the more I saw, the more interested I was—so I decided to ask him and his co-organizer, Mark Rabo, for a bit more info about the event…

***

Mark: Both Jaime and I are pretty big gamers and we saw a lot of events that were on the technical or business side of the video game industry. This city has some great talent that is definitely getting notice. Nathan Vella of Capybara Games will be speaking, and the company’s Critter Crunch was a phenomenal critical and commercial success.

Jaime: What inspired Gamercamp.ca was finding a new way to tell the story of Toronto’s gaming community: we wanted to show the creative process of developers, to get into the brains of the people who made these games and discover what clicked to make their games so addictive and fun.

Mark: And so, for example, Mare and Raigan of Metanet are talking about how they approach making videos like a rock band rather than as a movie studio. We think the topic is interesting and relatable to anyone who does creative things.

Jaime: We think there’s something for everyone at Gamercamp.ca. In addition to speakers [including Michael Todd of Spyeart as well], we also have demos for some very cool projects coming out soon, and people can see the Torontron, the indie arcade cabinet created by the gamer enthusiast association Hand Eye Society. People can also learn about the Replay Arcade Museum, which is set to be Canada’s first gaming museum—and it’s about time Canada got one.

Mark: We also have 1UP, our after-party, which we are throwing with Replay. We’ll have our own onsite arcade made up of over 20 legendary arcade games like Simpsons, Ninja Turtles, Mortal Kombat II, which attendees will have unlimited free play of for the night. It’s gonna be awesome.

***

Awesome, indeed. I know of one couple who will be there with bells on.

So if you want to spend this Saturday hanging out with myriad gamers (including Dave and me), snacking on snacks and hearing Toronto-based indie developers talk about their projects—and let’s not forget the freeplay-fest to follow—check out GamerCamp.ca for more info and tickets or, if you’re still not convinced, watch this extremely hip trailer below (or gaze indefinitely at the gratuitous crotch-shot thumbnail…whatever floats your boat).

All photos courtesy of Jaime Woo from Gamercamp.ca.