Toronto Thumbs

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.

Read the rest »

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

Gamercamp
Mini Pac-Man Cupcakes!

These Mini Pac-Man cupcakes, shown just about actual size (click the photo to super-size it), were just some of the fun snacks at Gamercamp V1.0, held today in Toronto. I just got back from the event, having to duck out early to head out to a birthday party that I’m almost running late for.

Expect a write-up in the near future about the event itself, but for now the main thing to take away is that these mini cupcakes were made by Catherine at Sweetmeat and that they were delicious. The ghosts didn’t even have to be purple with sad faces for them to be eaten, either.

Posted in Awesome | 1 Comment »

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 »

GAMERCAMP
Official Trailer Released!

Yesterday we told you about Gamercamp, the upcoming day-long gaming event to be held November 21, 2009 at the Lower Ossington Theatre at 100A Ossington Ave. in Toronto. But we neglected to include this awesome trailer for the event (I swear it wasn’t on their site yesterday!). So here it is. If you weren’t already excited about Gamercamp, you should be after watching the video.

Posted in Awesome, Events, News Bytes | No Comments »

EVENT
Gamercamp: November 21, 2009

If you live in the Greater Toronto Area and love gaming, mark November 21, 2009 on your calendars and get ready to attend the first-ever Gamercamp. It’s a one-day event that celebrates the creativity, art, and history of video games with guest speakers, demos, and a free-play arcade filled with rare and classic games.

Raigan Burns and Mare Sheppard of Metanet Software Inc. will be delivering the event’s keynote, and will be discussing the rock band approach to game development. Michael Todd will also be delivering an address and speaking about his game-a-week experiment and Broken Brothers Deluxe (be sure to check out our recent interview with Todd, too).

Between sessions, work from the Toronto indie community will be showcased. These include demos, early builds, and various pixel art. The event organizers have teamed up with the Replay Arcade Museum (which will open to the public soon) for the closing party, 1UP, which will feature unlimited free play of 25 classic arcade cabinets.

Tickets for Gamercamp are $15 and can be purchased at Gamercamp.ca. Admission includes dinner and the unlimited arcade free play. Gamercamp is a pretty long event, so you’ll definitely get your money’s worth by attending. It will run from 1 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Lower Ossington Theatre at 100A Ossington Ave., Toronto.

See you there!

Posted in Awesome, Canada, Events, News Bytes | 3 Comments »