Monthly Archives

September 2011

Sep 29
0

October Monthly Meeting featuring Sheri Rubin!

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Sheri Rubin

Sheri Rubin: Master of Game Fu

It’s all a bit last minute, but Sheri Rubin, as part of her cross continent road trip, is coming to speak at this month’s IGDA Victoria meeting on Monday, October the 3rd! Sheri has been involved in the game industry for over 15 years and helped to create more than 30 games including the Golden Tee series and Sam and Max Season One. This will be Sheri’s first visit to our chapter, and she’ll be giving the talk outlined below, so spread the word and let’s get a good crowd out to give Sheri a warm welcome!

Details:

Monday, October 3rd

The Collard Room – Swans Hotel and Brewpub

506 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC

Doors open at 4:30pm

 

Your Developers Are Your Customers

Description:

Too often we focus on the end user, the player, as the basis of our focus on customer needs and wants. What we end up doing is creating an environment that doesn’t promote an experience that is good for all our customers, including the ones that matter most: the developers. This talk will explain the basics of a good customer experience, help managers identify who their “customers” are, and then give them the tools they need to improve their customer experience and bring consistency to their brands. Whether you are a developer, publisher, or service vendor you can quickly and easily take small steps that can impact your bottom line. Even team leads, seniors, and individual developers can implement changes that will over time increase their relationships with others and their ability to succeed.

Areas that this talk will cover include:

  • Post-mortems: Why you’re probably doing them wrong (and you SHOULD be doing them!)
  • Third-party relationships: The two things you MUST do to constantly improve your customer experience
  • Your Staff: Learn why they are the key to making this all happen and what you can do to influence their happiness
  • Branding: Why it’s important for even small developers and vendors (and individuals) to develop a brand and what it can do for you and your customer experience

Your customers are THE most important part of your business – this talk aims to show you how making them a priority can help multiple aspects of your business.

Sep 21
0

Because OrcaJam 2011 Wasn't Gonna Organize Itself

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They look so innocent when they're sleeping.

A resounding success in the Victoria game development community, OrcaJam is over for another year. Many games were made, beverages consumed,  and new friendships began. After all the speeches, rants, and good times have finished, organizer Andy Moore takes a minute to reflect upon the event and consider the successes, failures, and surprises in a article called Organizing OrcaJam 2011.

Sep 15
0

One More Sleep Until OrcaJam 2011!

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No Orcas Were Harmed in the Making of this Banner

That’s right, OrcaJam starts Friday at 6pm here in Victoria and keeps going until 6pm Sunday. That a full 48 hours of good times, game creation, and meeting fellow game makers from all over the place.  There’s still a few spots left for you last-minute folks, so if you want to go, sign up at the official Level Up OrcaJam meetup page. The event is being held at InHub, a new professional coworking space that opened earlier in the year and has become popular with a number of local indie developers. If you haven’t had the chance to check it out yet, then OrcaJam may be the excuse you’re looking for. Pre-party and mingle starts at 3pm. I hope to see you all there!

Sep 14
0

For the Benefit of Mr. Brown

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Probably not the same Mr. Brown

In a recent post on the Canadian digital media news site Village Gamer, blogger Tami Quiring responds to an incendiary article published by Macleans on tax breaks for game developers in Canada. The original article, written by Jesse Brown, was harsh and flippant in tone and seemly unconcerned with accuracy. The response was, to my mind, an excellent defense of the game industry and an appropriate dressing down to lazy journalism. So I share it with you and am happy not to be in the shoes of Mr. Brown.

Update: Link fixed. Apologies.

Update #2: Another response from Jaime Woo at the Torontoist.

Update #3: Peter Nowak at Canadian Business has picked up the story as well. In addition, Jesse Brown remains unswayed.

Sep 14
0

With Local Game Company, Charity Begins at Your Homepage.

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Wordraiser

A screen-shot of Wordraiser - no relation to classic SNES game ActRaiser.

Charities teaming up with video game companies are becoming less unusual these days. Child’s Play, Charitii and OneBigGame are some of the better known examples of this trend. A new game company based in Victoria has continued with this idea, bringing charitable gaming to the social media sphere. Donate2Play is the brainchild of three friends, Tomas Ernst, Kelly Pereira, and Adrian Pereira, who were looking to inject new life into the process of charity fund-raising. On September 8th of this year, Donate2Play launched their first game, Wordraiser. Released on Facebook as a fund-raising vehicle for the Ancient Forest Alliance, Wordraiser is a simple but addictive word finding game that raises money by prompting players for donations as they go up in levels. So far the response has been positive, and Donate2Play are looking forward to expand their partnerships to other non-profits on a global basis.

Sep 07
0

OrcaJam: Not Necessarily a Jar of Seafood Preserves

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OrcaJam 2011

Pajama Party! Okay, not really.

OrcaJam is fast approaching and excitement is growing in the game development community of sleepy Victoria, BC. It’s a popular game jam in the vein of the Global Game Jam and is quickly becoming an annual tradition. Created last year by local independent game creators Andy Moore and Fieran Mason-Blakley, OrcaJam 2010 was a great success – bringing together a diverse group of game developers for a 48 hour period of fun, comradery, and creativity. This year should be no different.

As of this writing there’s still room, so if you’re interested in signing up go to the official meetup page, register, and mark your calendar: OrcaJam is being held from Friday, September 16th (6pm) until Sunday September 18th (6pm). It’s only 50 bucks and includes some food and other treats. More details can be found at the official website: www.orcajam.com. Space is limited so sign up soon. See you there!

 

Sep 01
0

September Chapter Meeting

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In partnership with Level Up! Victoria, we present the Victoria Chapter September monthly meeting. Pro, Indie, Hobbyist, Student, Programmer, Designer, Artist – all levels and disciplines are welcome.

We’ll at Swans Brewpub in the “Collard Room”, the private area near the kitchen/bathroom/ATM.

Let’s discuss the latest events in the industry, tales of going Indie, and game-play design, challenges, and solutions!

We have a private room with a projector, screen, and a ton of tables and chairs. Show off your current projects; do some playtesting; or just relax and enjoy the awesome local food and beer.

Because this is a private room, under-age individuals are allowed to come (with parent/guardian permission of course). Come one, come all. We’d love to see you.

Details: