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IGDA Victoria

Nov 03
0

November Monthly Meeting featuring Andy Moore's Super Secret Presentation

By | General, Meetings, Presentations | No Comments

We can neither confirm or deny the presence of cows in rubber boots.

Just sending out a reminder of the monthly meeting for November taking place on this coming Monday evening. Continuing our Awesome Talks series, this month’s meeting features the one and only Andy Moore giving a presentation on… well, I can’t tell you! The presentation’s subject is a secret. I can tell you that it’s going to be entertaining and informative and Andy won’t be pulling any punches. Due to the off-the-record nature of his talk, we respectfully request that no recordings be made and no blogging be done about it afterwards. You’ll probably be too busy afterwards socializing with other game developers and checking out the new and exciting projects that people have brought to show off to be blogging anyways.

See you there!

Details:

Monday, November 7th

The Collard Room – Swans Hotel and Brewpub

506 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC

Doors open at 4:30pm

Meetup event: Show & Tell @ Swans

Oct 19
0

Game Jam Madness – It's a Global Contagion

By | Events, Local News | No Comments

It's even harder if all you have is an Atari 2600.

As anyone who has participated in a 48hr Game Jam can attest, you have to be a little crazy to try to make a game in a very limited period of time. That, or the process may drive you crazy. So, if you have been in a game jam before (perhaps even our own local OrcaJam) this Ars Technica article “I think they’re mad”: Inside a 48 hour battle to build the best video game should be only too familiar.

Does it make you want to jump into the next OrcaJam? Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until next year. Of course, there is the Global Game Jam coming up in January. Who wants to participate? Do you think we should try to host an IGDA Victoria GGJ Jam Site?

Oct 16
0

ICIDS 2011: For those who love telling tales

By | Events, News | No Comments
Some days you gotta kiss a lot of frogs…

There’s an event coming up in Vancouver soon and, if you’re like me and love storytelling and narrative design in video games, you won’t want to miss it. It’s the fourth annual International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling and it’s being held for the first time in North America this year running from November 28th until December 1st.

I’ll be attending this year and, if you’ll excuse the plug, I’ll be running a workshop on the 28th entitled “Rummaging in the Geek Culture Toolbox”. You can imagine that I’m pretty excited about it and I wanted to share my excitement by inviting all of you to attend. Invited speakers this year include Chris Crawford of Storytron, Mary DeMarle of Eidos Montreal, and Keith Oatley of University of Toronto. Further details on the conference can be found here: http://icids2011.wp.rpi.edu/ and details about my workshop are here: http://icids2011.wp.rpi.edu/ws-the-geek-culture-toolbox/. Note that there is a discount for IGDA Members.

I hope to see you there!

Oct 12
0

October Mid-Month Pub Social & Awesome Slides

By | Meetings, Presentations | No Comments

All beer was selflessly pre-tasted by yours truly. You're welcome.

We’re already halfway through October, so that means:

a. Hallowe’en is almost upon us.

b. It’s time for another mid-month pub social at the Moon Under Water pub.

Why not take some time away from making your Duke Nukem costume and share some tasty beverages with other Victoria game creators?

Also, Sheri Rubin, our Awesome Talks presenter for the October Monthly Meeting, has been kind enough to post the slides from her great presentation: Your Developers Are Your Customers. Don’t miss the upcoming Awesome Talks at the Monthly Meetings for November and December! Details soon.

Pub Social Details:

When:

Saturday, October 15, 2011, 2:30 PM

Where:

350-B Bay Street

Victoria, BC

Phone: 250 380 0706

Website: http://www.moonunderwater.ca

RSVP:

Level Up meetup event

Oct 04
0

Awesome Talks Lives Up To Its Name

By | Chapter News, General, Meetings | No Comments
awesome

Seriously. Would Honest Abe lie to you?

The October Monthly Meeting was a smashing success and a great kick-off for our Awesome Talks series. We had a full house out for Sheri Rubin’s presentation: “Your Developers Are Your Customers”. Sheri made it out to Victoria from Seattle despite the slings and arrows of transportation difficulties, gave a great talk, and hung around to chat and answer questions afterwards. There was a good mix of students and professionals, indies and studio folks present, much food and drink was consumed and many lively game discussions ensued. All in all, a great time had by everyone. If you couldn’t make it out, I’ll be posting the slides from the presentation soon. Thanks again to Sheri for coming to visit us in Victoria and thanks to everyone who came out for making it such a great meeting.

Remember that the Mid-Month Social is coming up soon: Saturday October 15th at 2:30 pm at Moon Under Water Brewpub. I’ll be posting a reminder closer to the time. It’s a more casual meet-up and a good opportunity to chat with other game creators while enjoying some of the local brew.

Sep 29
0

October Monthly Meeting featuring Sheri Rubin!

By | Chapter News, Local News, Meetings, News | No Comments
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

By | General, Local News | No Comments

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!

By | Local News, Meetings | No Comments

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

By | General, News | No Comments

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.