MIDSUMMER ROCKSHOWCASE with live Sword & Sworcery music from Jim Guthrie.

MIDSUMMER ROCKSHOWCASE with Jim Guthrie’s Sword & Sworcery

8pm on Thursday, June 30th 2011 at TIFF Bell Lightbox

As it turns out, it’s actually super tough to put together an event for the launch of a videogame project, mostly because there’s an awful lot going on right before & for a few weeks after launch… and then it takes a good few weeks, or months, just to recover.

Now that we’re over two months out from the launch of the record + videogame project known as Sword & Sworcery, the time has finally come to put on a show & cap the project off in style… but the event we’ve dreamed up has become more than just that.

Next Thursday, June 30th 2011, with the help of the lovely people at TIFF (you know who you are), we’ve secured a cinema for an audiovisual presentation we’re calling a ROCKSHOWCASE – half of this’ll be a rad showcase of some of what Toronto’s DIY videogame community has been up to lately, the other half will be a rock show -  a live set from Jim Guthrie & his all-star seven piece band who will, for the first time ever, be peforming songs from Jim’s recently released record Sword & Sworcery LP, the musical companion to the videogame project.

After the show we’ve secured a space to hang out at the nearby Elephant & Castle, where beer will happen.

We’d loooooove to see you at the event, so how about it? Here’s the link.

A few more words:

The members of The Hand Eye Society, on whose board I humbly serve, have played an essential role in establishing a supportive, inspiring ecosystem in which to create & collaborate on strange, experimental things. Appropriately enough, Sword & Sworcery – a locally made, unusually collaborative project – made its first public appearance at the first Hand Eye Society social of 2010. The positive response at this event helped sustain the S:S&S EP team in the long, challenging months to follow… and we are immensely grateful.

As mentioned above, with this MIDSUMMER ROCKSHOWCASE event we’re looking to cap off the S:S&S EP project & help shine a light on a few other local projects & initiatives. While this year’s event might well end up being a one-off, we’ve been imagining it as (potentially) a precedent-setting first in an annual series. Next year there’ll be a whole new crop of projects & initiatives to showcase, and with more music-driven projects like Sound Shapes, Dyad & They Bleed Pixels on the horizon there’ll probably be at least one musical act ready to put on a rock show twelve months hence.

Also: If you’d like to volunteer & help out on this one, just hit up hello@superbrothers.ca

When?

• 8pm on Thursday, June 30th 2011, with an after-party starting at around 10:30pm.

Where?

• The show will take place in cinema two at TIFF. Bell Lightbox, 350 King Street West, Toronto.
• The after-party will be happening at Elephant & Castle, 212 King Street West, Toronto.

Got tickets?

• For more information & tickets, please stop by the event site here http://rockshowcase.eventbrite.com

Note: We’ve chosen to set up an admission fee to offset a percentage of the costs (eg: the venue & the band), although we’ll still be operating this event at a loss. If you’d prefer to pay less or more than the general admission then hop on one of the remaining pay-what-you-can COMMUNITY tickets, intended for folks in Toronto’s DIY videogame communities – if you’re reading this then that’s probably you, so feel free to grab one!

HAND EYE SOCIETY SUMMER SOCIAL 2011: ‘Abstract Athleticism’

When?

• 8pm on Monday, July 4th 2011

Last year’s Hand Eye Society summer social marked the riotous Canadian debut of NIDHOGG by internationally recognized videogame creator Messhof aka @messhof, a now-legendary two player arcade swordplay type thing created for NYU’s No Quarter exhibit. Last year’s social also featured a talk by offworld.com founder & IGF Chairman Brandon Boyer aka @brandonnn.

So what’s the dealio this year?

A visit from a NYC videogame creator with another riotous Canadian debut? Another visit from Mr. Chairman? Maybe even some never-before-seen sport-like creations from Toronto’s own DIY videogame community? WE SHALL SEE!

For now let’s just say the theme is ‘abstract athleticism’… you’ll be hearing more about this soon as the Canada Day + Independence Day long weekend approaches.

Note: You might also be hearing something about a MIDSUMMER ROCKSHOWCASE, happening that same weekend at TIFF Bell Lightbox on Thursday, June 30th 2011. It’s going to be a heckuva weekend folks.

Maybe we’ll see you there?

Nidhogg by Messhof

Previously it has been announced that Mr. Brandon Boyer, founder of Offworld, contributing editor of Boing Boing & newly appointed IGF Chairman will be presenting at the imminent social in Toronto this Thursday, May 27th 2010 at Unit Bar. Since the initial announcement there have been rumblings that one or more out-of-town creators may attend and/or present some of their works, and at this juncture it seems appropriate to reveal the following:

Mark Essen Hoffman aka MESSHOF, a bona fide indie videogame rockstar & educator, will be rocking Unit Bar this Thursday alongside Mr. Boyer. You may be familiar with Messhof as the creator of the inimitable & mind-altering Flywrench (written up in The New York Times somewhere here) and other made-in-Gamemaker punk videogame marvels such as Randy Balma Municipal Abortionist & The Thrill of Combat, many of which have appeared in museums & galleries including Toronto’s own Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art. Messhof’s contributions have even earned him a spot in Vice & Intel’s ‘The Creators Project‘ alongside folks like director Spike Jonze & musician Richie Hawtin, Messhof being the only videogame creator to be recognized in this context.

On offer at Thursday’s social will be Messhof’s latest videogame creation. Commissioned by NYU’s Game Center & revealed at the No Quarter event just a few weeks ago, the peculiarly titled but absolutely kickass Nidhogg will be making its Canadian debut. Nidhogg is an action-heavy sword fighting videogame designed specifically for two players to play competitively in a social environment. It’s insanely fun & super stylish, a bit like Jordan Mechner’s original Prince of Persia by way of Body Movin’ era Beastie Boys. So yeah, a real inspiration!

Note: While Messhof’s videogames may seem raw at first glance, a more thorough examination of any his works will reveal a high level of audiovisual precision in the service of an unmistakeable & wholly fresh videogame creation sensibility. Many of the videogames are available for free and they are absolutely worth your time & attention. You may wish to peruse them all here.

To the distinguished ladies & gentlemen of the Hand Eye Society, it has been ordained:

We shall meet again on Thursday May 27th 2010 at Unit Bar, 1198 Queen West. It is sure to be an auspicious event, occurring as it will at almost the precise moment of the full moon (no, seriously).

OH AND ALSO DID WE MENTION: Mr. Brandon Boyer, he of Offworld & the internet website Boing Boing, newly minted IGF Chairman (!!!), a hero of the people, friend to videogame creators, a curator & broadcaster par excellence, will be in our lovely city of quiet industry for the very first time to deliver some form of immensely significant communication to the assembled videogame creators, enthusiasts, organizers & slack-jawed onlookers.

Doors will open at 19:00 EST & a curated selection of videogames may be available. Suggested arrival time is 19:30 EST. The half-hour presentation will begin at around 20:00 EST. Please note: space is finite, so arrive early and, if possible, be small. Following the presentation one might reasonably expect a mix of friendly conversation & moderate beverage consumption, with the outside chance of some late night poutine, as is occasionally the custom of our tribe.

So mark the date on your (lunar) calendar, alert the press & let’s get cozy!

Ok, this is for the membership of the Hand Eye Society, particularly for those who attended last Thursday’s event (awesome to see you + thx for coming out!) but saw nothing of the presentation (sincere apologies + we’ll try to improve the situation for next time!)…

It’s a ten minute clip intended to approximate what was shown of S:S&S EP, unobstructed & relatively glitch-free:

S:S&S EP footage for Toronto’s Hand Eye Society

The footage isn’t ready for wide release for a variety of reasons so access to the clip will be necessarily time-limited (probably only the next few days)… also, you’ll need to use this password: handeye4ever

This strange little project likely wouldn’t exist without the support, motivation, inspiration, community & context provided by the Artsy Games Incubator, TOJam & the Hand Eye Society… 1 000 000 thx to all y’all & kindest wishes for a bright future for DIY videogame type things in Toronto!

Also: have a lovely candy-heart day!

To the distinguished membership of the Hand Eye Society: apologies for this double-post (reason: it’s complicated), please note that the corrected date for this event is Thursday, February 11th 2010. ***

For the fifth Hand Eye Society Social, the first of 2010, we are preparing a brief audiovisual presentation intended to thrill & amuse. Hosted by Mr. Nathan Vella of Toronto’s own Capy, a studio that has recently released a couple of thingamjigs for Sony & Nintendo’s machines, the presentation will include glimpses at two types of blinking lights offered by two dudes with beards:

Firstly, Mr. Kris Piotrowski, born in Poland & raised in Cuban Missile Ssauga, a former Ryerson film student and currently creative director at one of them independent videogame studios located here in Toronto, will be presenting for the first time a (hopefully) crazybananas Wiiware project called ‘Heartbeat’, while attempting to explain some learnings from its roundabout design process.

Secondly, Mr. Craig D. Adams, born on Canada’s west coast & living in Toronto since the turn of this 21st century, will be presenting a three-way collaborative project named ‘Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP’, described as a brave experiment in I/O cinema for Apple’s touchtronic machines featuring 1) the remarkable pixel artwork of Superbrothers, an ambiguously pluralized & irritatingly cryptic art & design organization known for the occasional published pixel illustration & a few DIY videogame efforts at ToJam & with the AGI plus 2) the soulful soundz of Toronto’s Jim Guthrie, the Juno nominated recording artist known for using a PSone as a drum machine & sequencer to make marvelous music 3) the engineering capabilities & videogame design prowess of the fine & noble folks at Capy.

These two projects, still deep in development and up until now all but unseen, will be making what is effectively their world premiere at this free presentation and social event at Unit Bar on Queen West in Toronto on February 11th. Doors will open & beers will be available from 19:00 EST and the half-hour presentation itself will begin at 20:00 EST (otherwise known as eight o’clock in the evening).

Afterwards the entire Heartbeat & S:S&S EP teams, including Mr.Jim Guthrie, will be on-hand for chit-chat, poutine or what-have-you.

*** It has been reported by members of the Hand Eye Society that, due to a rare bug with Safari, Mozilla & all internet browsers other than Netscape Explorer v1.7, the date of the next social was incorrectly displayed in a recently published post & in the promotional images on handeyesociety.com & everywhere else on the internet too.

The correct date for the next social is in fact Thursday February 11th 2010. For real. The 11th. ELEVEN. TEN PLUS ONE. (NOT THE FOURTH). We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this confusion may have caused.

Hello to the lovely people of the Hand Eye Society,

It’s time for an announcement: Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is GO!

So what is it?

Whelp, it’s a collaborative art/music/videogame project from Superbrothers, Jim Guthrie & Capy that could only happen here in Toronto. Beyond that it’s a little tricky to describe right now, except to say that it’s headed towards Apple’s kickass handheld machine thing at some point. It’s also worth noting that it already it owes a whole heckuva lot to the ladies & gentlemen that have pioneered Toronto’s thriving DIY videogame culture.

Anyways, here’s a ‘first look’ to whet the appetite: swordandsworcery.com

Plus here’s a little project info & some pixel artwork: http://www.swordandsworcery.com/project

We’re still just getting warmed up, but already things are looking/sounding/feeling nice, so we’ll see where things go from here!

* * *

If you’d like to follow the project as it emerges blinking into the light in the coming weeks & months, you have a few options:

-’instantaneous micro-bulletins’ via @the1console & the S:S&S EP team’s twitters.

-occasional ‘teletex bulletins’ via the superbrothers email list.

Also:

-hang out at capybaragames.com, creators of rad videogames like the just released Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes DS & Critter Crunch PSN.

-hang out here at the Hand Eye Society, if anything super significant happens we’ll try and make a little noise.

* * *

If you’re local and you’re press and you’d like to know a little more about what’s going on, maybe get in touch with any of these fine people and say hello: craig@superbrothers.ca, nathan.v@capybaragames.com, kris.p@capybaragames.com.

* * *

Did you know that all three SUPERBROTHERS films are online at vimeo right now?

* * *

We’re hoping to ping a few of the Hand Eye folks (you know who you are!) about the possibility of a little hands-on time with S:S&S in the next few weeks, so yeah – we’ll be in touch!

PRAISE BE to the ladies & gentlemen of the Hand Eye Society, particularly the visionary organization’s founders, for creating a context wherein the creation of videogames, DIY & otherwise, is understood to be cool & worthwhile.

The society, its socials & its related initiatives (the jam, the incubator, the society’s public presence at cultural festivals) have fostered the growth of a tightly-knit community of like-minded souls, creating what is commonly referred to as a ‘consensus reality’ that enables friendly, exciting creative collaborations like the following:

SUPERBROTHERS + JIM GUTHRIE + CAPY = MIRACLES?

Notes: Additional details of the above collaboration will be forthcoming in early December. Should you wish to remain in the loop you might consider joining the superbrothers email list or following @the1console and/or @krispiotrowski.

* * *

That aside, hope to see fellow society members at Mark Rabo’s eagerly anticipated retro arcade event this Saturday at the Ossington Hotel, or at next week’s equally awesome sounding Hand Eye Society social # 5 : The World Premiere of Something Cool.

Beers!

edit: Took the rant down to re-tool. In the meantime, feel free to stop by THE 1 CONSOLE for DESIGN REBOOT HD.

http://www.superbrothers.ca/the1console.html

. . .

l u n a t i c s  INVITE!

1. Are you a videogame creator and/or enthusiast who finds the above picture appealing?

2. Do you have a PS3 & idle time on a Wednesdays from 930pm until 1030pm EST?

3. Do you have moderate skill with videogames & the ability to focus?

If yes, then perhaps you would be interested in participating in this: 

> > > http://www.superbrothers.ca/motorstorm.html

SUPERBROTHERS & THE 1 CONSOLE presents The Motorstorm Syndicate, an online play session that occurs each Monday evening in the spectacular & immensely satisfying videogame Motorstorm: Pacific Rift.

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