Monthly Archives

January 2013

Jan 17
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New Venue for the Main Event: Christie's Pub

By | Chapter News, General, Meetings | No Comments
The new Casa LevelUp.

The new second home of LevelUp – IGDA Victoria. Don’t it look cozy? (photo: Russell Ovans)

As you may have already seen on the meetup.com site, we have found a new venue for our Main Event monthly meeting. After weeks of research, contacting venues, comparing notes, backbreaking work, and intensive soul-searching, we are happy to announce the result: Christie’s Carriage House Pub.

Here’s some of the great things about holding our meetings at Christie’s:

  • More space: we can fit up to 45 members comfortably
  • Longer hours: we can have the space until close at 11pm
  • Multiple screens: members can plug into any of a number of television sets to show off their projects
  • More beer: over 30 taps featuring local and microbrew
  • Accessible: Even though Christie’s is not downtown, it is on several major bus routes (2, 8, 11, 14, 15, 33, etc.) and there is ample free parking in the area for those who would rather drive (and if you do, please remember to drink responsibly).

Unfortunately, we couldn’t get everything that we wanted in a venue. One major problem is that Christie’s liquor license does not allow minors to attend our meetings. I’m not sure how many of our members are minors, but if you are, please contact me. I’m planning on holding a separate meetup for those who are underage (and anyone else who wants to join in), to make sure that no one misses out on the fun.

One of the side benefits of researching new venues is that we’ve found a number of places that aren’t appropriate for holding monthly meetings, but could be great for hosting workshops, game jams, and other special events. If you’re considering running a special event for the group, let me know and I can forward the info on to you.

See you at the February meeting at Christie’s!

Jan 13
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Games without Frontiers Conference – Call for Participation

By | Events, General, Local News | No Comments
Looks like someone was sitting a little too close to the television during the Super Mario marathon.

Looks like someone was sitting a little too close to the television during the Super Mario marathon.

I was recently contacted by David Leach, Associate Professor with the University of Victoria Department of Writing and organizer of Games without Frontiers: a conference being held on March 9th at UVic, around the theme of the social power of video games. According to the conference website, Games without Frontiers will feature:

“demonstrations of new social games by students and local designers; a ‘journalism game jam’ to apply game tools to improve public-service reporting; various competitions; screenings of documentaries and game-inspired films; and a panel of local experts to debate the power, the pitfalls and the future of game design.”

To that end, David has told me that he wants to get as many local and/or indie game companies involved as possible. He has outlined the opportunities to participate as follows:

Demo your stuff

Book a free table in one of the demo rooms and show off your game or game-related project. If it has a social gaming focus, all the better. Be prepared to discuss your project, the creative process, and the industry in general with conference attendees.

Speak on a panel

If you’ve got something to say on the use of games for research or the future of game development, you might want to put your name in to take part in one of the conference guest panels.

Get Jamming

Sign up to participate in the day-long Journalism Game Jam and explore how video-gaming can improve journalism or, if you have a discerning eye, apply to judge the results of the jam.

Be a Sponsor

Corporate or local game companies may wish to help out (and get their name out there) by donating incentives, prizes and food for the students participating in the Game Jam or for the conference in general.

However you decide participate, you can get in touch with David Leach via dleach(at)uvic(dot)ca to sign up or get more details. And even if you decide not to do any of the above, you should come out to UVic on March 9th and check out the conference anyway. Feedback on the scheduled events has been very positive so far, so it should prove to be an entertaining and informative occasion for all.

Edit: Here’s a document David sent me with more details: Games without Frontiers IdeaFest Event