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Chapter News

Jul 30
0

OrcaJam III Early Bird Tickets Gone After August 1st!

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I like to think Diane Arbus would be photographing Game Jams if she were still alive…

OrcaJam III (or eye eye eye as I like to call it) is coming up fast. Even faster is the due date for the early bird tickets. Organizer Andy Moore recently sent out this message:

“We need to settle on TShirts and get them printed – and we need to order the catering – by August 1st. That means any signups AFTER August 1st become a pain in the butt. So:

If you purchase after August 1st, the ticket price will be higher and there will not be a TShirt for you at the event.

Please spread the word to anyone you know that was *considering* going. Tweet it, post to facebook, anything you can 🙂 I want to make sure nobody comes out disappointed!”

So sign up for OrcaJam before Thursday to get the lower rate *and* a nifty T-shirt! That’s a heckava deal. Share the good word with your friends! OrcaJam is always a good time, so everyone wins!

For more info on OrcaJam, check out the homepage at www.orcajam.com

To register, go here: OrcaJam registration

To visit LEVEL UP, go here: http://www.meetup.com/levelup/

Mar 27
0

Of Game Awards and Elected Boards

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And the award for the most subtle and least exploding awards show logo goes to...

The Canadian Videogame Awards Finalists have been announced. Along with the usual studio nominees like Ubisoft and EA, there are a number of indie developers who made the finals including:

Not only that, but an indie game is a finalist for the most awards: Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP by Capybara is a finalist in nine categories. The awards take place during Fan Expo Vancouver on Saturday, April 21st, 2012.

In other news, the results are back from the 2012 IGDA Board Election. The two vacancies on the IGDA Board of Directors will now be filled by Sheri Rubin and Ed Fries. You may remember Sheri from an Awesome Talk that she gave to our group back in October of last year. Congratulations to both Sheri and Ed!

Feb 28
0

The Medium is the Message

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Or massage. Whatever you like. Although that doesn't look like much of a massage to be honest.

Here at IGDA Victoria headquarters, we do everything we can to help the local game development community grow and flourish. A large part of that is keeping up the lines of communication between the game creators and this organization. We do this primarily through this website/blog, and through various social media including Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

One of the new things that we’re starting is a mailing list through Google Groups. The IGDA Victoria Chapter Mailing List is your source for essential news and event announcements. It will consist only of meeting and event notices and other basic chapter related news emailed to you with the goal of not cluttering up your in-box.

One other thing that we’re working on is a member survey. We want to get everyone’s feedback on what they’re interested in seeing happen with the group so that we can try to accommodate people’s interests and goals. Sign up to the mailing list and stay tuned for an announcement about the survey in the near future. Let your voice be heard!

Feb 03
0

February Monthly Meeting: Highlights from Global Game Jam 2012

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Colton's smiling. This can't be good.

This is a reminder of the monthly meeting for February taking place on this coming Monday evening. This month’s meeting features jam organizer Colton Phillips reporting on highlights from the recent Global Game Jam as experienced last weekend at our own local GGJ site at the University of Victoria. It was a fantastic time for all and some great projects came out of it. Hopefully, some of the participants will bring along their projects to Monday’s meeting to show off. As always, everyone is welcome to bring any projects along that they’ve been working on to share with the rest of the group, and there will be lots of discussion about local goings on in the Victoria game dev community.

More game jam photos below.

Details:

Monday, February 6th

The Collard Room – Swans Hotel and Brewpub

506 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC

Doors open at 4:30pm

RSVP via the Meetup event: Show & Tell @ Swans

Oct 04
0

Awesome Talks Lives Up To Its Name

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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!

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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 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:

Aug 13
0

Hello Victoria!

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Welcome to the new official home page for the Victoria Chapter of the IGDA. That’s Victoria, British Columbia, Canada for those who may be wondering. All news and updates will be posted here and also to our new Twitter account (@IGDAVictoria) and existing Facebook page. Feel free to subscribe to our email list via the right menu to get updates too. There are so many ways to stay informed, it’s downright silly.