Toronto Thumbs

Event
God of War III Preview

Sony was kind enough to extend us an invitation to their God of War III preview event; especially nice of them considering they only hold a couple events a year.  GoW has been a hugely successful franchise for Sony and they are confident that the third installment is one of the most anticipated games of 2010. The event was held at a local venue - not far from Toronto’s downtown core - to let the media get their hands on the game a week or so before launch, further propagating the buzz that surrounds this title.

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Posted in Events, PlayStation 3, Previews | 1 Comment »

Announcement
New Management

The halls around the office don’t echo with the light-hearted banter that it once did.  When Shaun was picked up by The Electric Playground, a good deal of the wind behind the sails of this site changed; our momentum started to diminish.  Truthfully, Shaun is a dynamic and incredible person with enough work ethic, enthusiasm, and creativity to power a small country.  Perhaps that may not make a lot of sense to some of our newer readers, but to those who know Shaun, it is probably an understatement.

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Posted in Awesome, Blah Blah Blog, Blog, Events, True Gaming Friends | 8 Comments »

CHIPTUNES, GLITCH TECHNO, SYNTHS, AND ROCK
One Killer Show Lineup - February 6, 2010

Toronto chiptunes artist Oxvylu, who wrote and performed all of the music your hear in our podcast, will be playing a live show tonight at Hard Luck Bar (812 Dundas St. West., Toronto). As if that wasn’t awesome enough, DJ Finish Him, who did all of the music in Reindeertase, will play a few songs with him.

Rounding out the show will be the synth-rock stylings of The Sister Wives, the danceable sludge rock of Cobra (that’s my band), and the utterly mind-blowing Deutsche Banks.

So drop by, say hello, have some complimentary candy, and enjoy the show.

Doors will open at 9:30 p.m. Check the Facebook event page for more details.

Posted in Awesome, Events, Music | 2 Comments »

PAX East Almost Sold Out
Hand Eye Society Road Trip Impending

PAX East in Boston is just a few weeks away! While tickets are still on sale, when I last checked there were only 600 three-day passes available to the event. I attended PAX’07 in Seattle and it was one of the strangest yet also one of the most enjoyable events I’ve been to. Oddly, we haven’t seen a schedule for panels, a list of guests, or a list of bands that will be at PAX East and yet so many tickets have already sold.

Since so many members of Toronto’s indie game community will be attending PAX East this year, Mark Rabo (one half of the super team that brought us Gamercamp) has put out an open call to Torontonians to see who’d be up for a road trip. In a message sent to Hand Eye Society members, Rabo counted the benefits this road trip would afford: “Fast food, car farts and interminable boredom await… not to mention car-to-car WiFi gaming battles!”

Along the way, the road trippers will stop at NCHEG (the National Center for the History of Electronic Games). There’s also the promise of debauchery before continuing the journey on to PAX the next day.

If you’re interested in taking part in this trip, live in the Toronto area, and are up for spending way too much time with nerds, take this survey. Also: if you want to be subjected to me listening to Electric Six’s phenomenal album, “Kill” repeatedly and loudly for hours on end, convince me to let you ride in my car. Also: Convince me to drive.

Posted in Awesome, Events, TORONTO | 5 Comments »

Relive The Wizard
Mario Kart Tournament in Toronto

On Thursday, December 3, 2009, Offshoot is holding a Mario Kart Wii tournament at The Bait Shop (358 Dufferin St., Suite 117) in Toronto. The event kicks off at 7 p.m. sharp and attendants are asked to register at the event’s official site as space is limited.

The tournament will start off with 32 players, and after each round the number of contestants will be halved. Up for grabs is cool prizing from Skull Candy, PKG, and Red Bull, among others.

For those of you who just want to watch the festivities, DJ Hot Magma and several special guest DJs are set to provide some music for the night.

I’ll be sitting this one out, as my idea of reliving The Wizard includes a Super Mario Bros. 3 tournament instead of a Mario Kart Wii one. Maybe I’ll have to set that up myself.

Posted in Awesome, Events, Nintendo, TORONTO, Wii | 2 Comments »

Game with Fame
Play Tony Hawk Ride with Tony Hawk

If you’ve ever wanted to skate with skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, you’ll have your chance December 2, 2009, when he logs on to Xbox LIVE to play Tony Hawk Ride with Canadian gamers

Xbox Canada is asking interested gamers to add the Gamertag TonyHawkGWF to their friends lists and to be online at 7:30 p.m. ET on December 2, just before the Game with Fame session begins.

Additional details can be found at the Facebook page for this event. If I had the game, I’d be all over this. As it is, I almost break something every time I’ve stepped on a skateboard, so it’s probably a good thing I don’t own it.

Posted in Awesome, Canada, Events, News Bytes, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

Event Re-cap
Gamercamp Wows, Leaves Me Wanting More

Organizers Jaime Woo and Mark Rabo welcome the crowd. Photo by Gavin Hay from the Gamercamp Flickr Pool.

Saturday’s Gamercamp was unlike any other gaming-related gathering I have attended. Since many of them are sponsored by software and console manufacturers and used to promote upcoming big-budget titles from studios with hundreds of employees, the contrast provided by Gamercamp was both refreshing and much needed.

Instead, the event celebrated local talent and featured demonstrations of upcoming indie games as well as insights from successful indie developers about the creative process, business decisions, and team dynamics. Gamercamp was a casual gathering with snack and chat breaks punctuating demonstrations and lectures.

During these breaks I was fortunate to meet with several local gamers and writers, many for the first time, to talk about gaming and other geeky subjects. Among these personalities were the amicable Imaginary Thomas (who was making his annual public appearance), Lori Dance and Dave Waisglass from the new and awesome game blog A Couple of Gamers, Don Tam from GameNorth.ca, Will Perkins and Lucas Rizoli from Dork Shelf, Ry-Tron and Nadine from Aboot Play, Zack Kotzer from Steel Bananas, and Jaime Woo and Mark Rabo, the minds behind Gamercamp.

What was surprising and most humbling was hearing from people who’ve read Toronto Thumbs and enjoyed the site – so to those of you who expressed kind words, thanks again.

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Posted in Arcade, Art, Awesome, Canada, Events, Indie, TORONTO | 6 Comments »

Event
Gamercamp is Tomorrow

Torontonians, don’t forget: The first-ever Gamercamp is tomorrow! The one-day event celebrating the creativity, art, and history of video games will have presentations from Raigan Burns and Mare Sheppard of Metanet Software Inc. as well as Broken Brothers Deluxe creator Michael Todd and Nathan Vella of Capybara Games.

Various indie pixel art, game demos, and game music will also be showcased at the event, and admission includes dinner and unlimited freeplay of 25 classic arcade cabinets courtesy of Replay Arcade Museum. The schedule has a more detailed breakdown of what’s happening.

Tickets for Gamercamp are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. Advance tickets also come with a raffle ticket for a door prize and can be purchased at Gamercamp.ca. The event will be held at the Lower Ossington Theatre at 100A Ossington Ave., Toronto. Start time is 1 p.m.

Posted in Awesome, Events, Indie | No Comments »

Bargain Alert
Action Figure Sale at Stadium Comics

If you’re looking to build up your action figure collection, pay attention! This Wednesday, November 18, our friends at Sidekick Comics are holding an action figure sale at their retail location, Stadium Comics. Selected figures that are regularly priced up to $21.99 will be on sale for just $9.99 – and these aren’t just the toys you see on regular store shelves, either. Their selection also includes a number of figures based on game franchises like Halo, Gears of War, and God of War.

Of particular note is the 1:6 scale figure of The Joker from The Dark Knight, shown above. Stadium will be selling these for $59.99 rather than the standard price of $99.99. The DC Direct line of 1:6 scale figures must be seen in person to be appreciated. I bought one of Batman for a friend years ago and the craftsmanship is simply amazing.

Stadium Comics is located in Shoppers World in Brampton. You can call them at 905-451-3751 for more information about this sale or if you have any other comics-related questions.

Posted in Comics, Events, Toys | No Comments »

Happy Birthday,
Shigeru Miyamoto

Shigeru Miyamoto, who has enlightened our lives with his inspiring and innovative contributions to the world of video gaming for over 30 years, is now 57 years old.

Happy Birthday, Shigeru Miyamoto. Thank you for doing what you do. Our lives wouldn’t have been the same without you.

Posted in Awesome, Events | No Comments »