The Difference Engine Initiative

By introducing new gamemakers from under-represented groups into our community, the Difference Engine Initiative aims to diversify what kind of videogames are made.

Our first focus is women, and so we have named this version of the Difference Engine after Ada Lovelace.

As part of the OMDC-supported TIFF Nexus, the Hand Eye Society will be running two gamemaking incubators for women in Toronto, one in August-September, and one in October-November.

We are accepting applications for this free program now. To be considered for the first incubator you need to apply by midnight on Sunday July 31st. UPDATE: We received 65 applications! We have chosen the participants for the first incubator, but you are still welcome to apply at the above link to be considered for a future program.

We are having an optional info session Tuesday July 26th at 7pm at the TIFF Bell Lightbox for potential participants looking to meet the coordinators or people of any gender looking to help out with the initiative. Please RSVP.

The Incubators

Each incubator has a maximum of six participants. Participants will attend a 3 hour session once a week for six weeks.

These sessions will provide participants with:

• experience with several point-and-click gamemaking tools that do not require programming;
• feedback and support on their gamemaking process from experienced gamemakers;
• a peer-mentorship atmosphere that has more in common with crafting circles or writers’ groups than a traditional classroom setting;
• snacks, drinks and good times.

Between sessions, participants will have required assignments generally needing 2 to 4 hours.

[Note: The Difference Engine is modeled after the Artsy Games Incubator, so applicants might want to check out the assignments, a session report, or take a look at the games that were produced.]

The Incubator Coordinators

Mare Sheppard is the president of Metanet Software and the co-creator of indie phenomenon N (free download for PC/Mac) and N+ (XBLA/Nintendo DS/Sony PSP). Jim Munroe makes comic books, lo-fi sci-fi movies and novels as well as games. Both are founding board members of the Hand Eye Society. For more on their perspective on game culture, you might like to listen to them being interviewed for CBC Radio’s Spark (scroll down to the “Games As Art” segment).

FAQ

Is there an age restriction?

Not specifically, but we will probably be consuming adult beverages and discussing adult themes and subjects.

Do you need a background in IT or programming skills?

No, though some computer familiarity is good. If you can use Photoshop a bit then you can learn the tools we use.

I am on Mac/Linux — is that a problem?

Nope, there are a few point-and-click gamemaking tools that are cross-platform. You will need some kind of computer access to do the assignments between sessions.

I am a dude — can I participate in the incubators?

Sorry, these two incubators are women only. But if you’re interested in helping the project in other ways you’re welcome to come out to the info session and maybe we can figure out a way for you to be involved!

More questions? Email Mare, Jim or both of us.

Torontron High Roller debuts at TCAF!

We’re happy to announce the Torontron High Roller! A companion cabinet to the original Torontron and what may be the first multi-game indie arcade box with a trackball! It’s making its debut at TCAF, the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, May 7th-8th.

More on other great game content at TCAF after, but first the High Roller details!

The cabinet features five local games as well as a sixth international guest slot for notable games by developers outside Toronto. The inaugural launch games are:

• Shlongg by notsoft is a really great evolution of the old Arkanoid/Breakout paddle games. Only with alien bosses, crazier power-ups and tunnel racing between levels. It’s a real joy to play with a trackball.
• Gesundheit! by Matt Hammill is a puzzle/stealth game with beautiful hand-drawn artwork, pigs, snot and an utterly charming sound track. It was a finalist in the 2008 IGF Student Showcase.
• Airshot Scott by Entelechynt is a game where you disarm bombs by juggling them with bullets. It was created at last year’s Toronto Indie Game Jam.
• Strategic Oil Reserve by iteration GAMES is a classic style arcade game that uses its old school difficulty to comment on the inevitable results of peak oil. Much in the same way its inspiration, Missile Command, reflected on nuclear war and M.A.D.
• Star Fall High Roller by Golden Gear is an insanely fast racing game where you keep a falling star aloft for as long as possible by collecting dreams. Originally designed for the Experimental Gameplay Competition’s “high velocity” theme, this is a new and improved version built just for the High Roller.

Our first International Guest Game is Calamity Annie by Auntie Pixelante (aka Anna Anthropy). It’s a wild west quick draw shooting game with a romantic subplot and great big blocky pixels. A novel addition to this version is the high score reward which lets the top player make their mark by drawing a picture in bullets.

There are also rumors of a secret seventh game, however we can neither confirm nor deny that it exists.

More Torontron cabinets are on their way as we refit the cabinets from the Nuit Blanche Arcadian Renaissance event for multiple games. Big thanks to Jph of iteration GAMES (for the skills) and Site 3 (for the tools) needed to modify the cabinet buttons and to Jph again for putting together the cabinet in the first place.

Other HES Games at TCAF

Along with the cabinets we’ll have three demo stations set up with games by Golden Gear, Big Pants and Spooky Squid including a few making their first playable appearance at the show. It’s a great chance to get a sneak peak of upcoming games by local developers, play some of their back catalog and chat with the creators. Writer of many fine words about games Mathew Kumar will also have his excellent exp. zine for sale at our table.

Less local, but sure to be of interest to many Hand Eye members the indie game culture shop Attract Mode will also be at the show!

They’ll be selling a selection of their usual assortment of game culture goodness, zines, comics, chiptune CDs, shirts and prints (or whatever subset of these they manage to get across the border). Debuting at the show are new Giant Robot prints by Farel Dalrymple, Hilary Florido and a Game Boy zine by Nick Maynard. The TCAF booklet will also feature an exclusive Attract Mode illustration by Maré Odomo, probably best known for his deeply melancholic ”Letters to an Absent Father” Pokemon comics.

They’ll also have the last few remaining issues of the current printing of Life Meter Comics which I pimped last year. They’re full of amazing fan comics by comic artists, animators and illustrators. (Full disclosure: I have a Lovecraft-meets-Jet Grind Radio piece in issue 2, however the comics really are great… and my section can be removed to increase the street value.)

The Attract Mode table is manned by Matthew Hawkins of Fort90 so look for the table listed under his name to find it. He’ll also have all four issues of his Fort90 zine for sale. Number four FORT90ZINE4ANSWER is debuting. Issue three describes his experience as a game designer at a major game company. The second and most popular is all about the game scene in NYC and the first issue is being discontinued so grab it while you can!

Other tables at TCAF likely to be of interest to HES folks:

• HES member Benjamin Rivers
• Spooky Squid collaborator and TOjammer Eric Kim
• Tasha Harris and Scott C. of Double Fine.
• Gamercamp lvl2 speaker and too many things to list Jim Zub

There are probably a ton of others, go check out TCAF’s full listing for all of them.

Toronto Comic Arts Festival

Saturday May 7th, 9am-5pm
Sunday May 8th, 11am-5pm

@ Toronto Reference Library
789 Yonge St., Toronto, Canada
416-533-9168
Admission to TCAF is Free.

Hate Comics But Like Making Things?

Our friends at Site3 are involved with the Mini Maker Faire the same weekend as TCAF and Shawn McGrath will have his game Dyad playable on The Machine — a hand-built motorized arcade machine that really has to be seen to be believed.

Dyad – THE MACHINE from Shawn McGrath on Vimeo.

There’s also a chance the orginal Torontron Classic will be making an appearance at the Faire. Attend both, collect them all!

Toronto Mini Maker Faire – May 7th-8th – Evergreen Brickworks

Super Street Fire

Our Toronto hardware hacker pals at Site 3 have another awesome project getting started and they’re looking for videogame maker involvement.

SUPER STREET FIRE: TURBO CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION is a simulated fighting game in the style of Street Fighter. However, instead of playing a traditional video game, the participants interact with the game with motions and thoughts. Instead of an actual fight, the participants face off by controlling a two-dimensional wall of fire, creating flames of their own color to attack and defend.

Check this out for the kind of help they’re looking for, where they’re planning to stage it and other details.

Also, if you haven’t checked it out, their Thursday open nights are a great way to get to see some projects and talk to some folks.

The Arcadian Renaissance Games

Less than twenty four hours til the beginning of the Arcadian Renaissance! In the atrium of the TIFF Bell Lightbox there now looms a huge white iceberg, a white tarp covering an entire arcade of Toronto indie games to be unveiled to the public tomorrow… but we wanted to give the Hand Eye Society members a little sneak peak.

Here are the six games to be showcased at Nuit Blanche tomorrow.

Cabinet sponsored by:

A two-player game where you play a ladyscientist or her robot butler fighting to keep your cottage cephalopod-free. Now with sound guaranteed to send you spinning into a Lovecraftian fever dream.

More about Cephalopods: Co-op Cottage Defence.

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Cabinet sponsored by:
In the tradition of  the Japanese shmups, or abstract shoot-em-ups, is a game backed by gentle indie rock explosions, procedural graphics and a singular artistic vision.

Find out more about Everyday Shooter here.

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Cabinet sponsored by:
You play a tiny green pig who lures monsters to their doom with your delicious balls of snot.  Loved for its gorgeously expressive hand-drawn animation, this is the long-awaited new version’s debut.

Find out more about Gesundheit! here.

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Cabinet sponsored by Metanet Software:

The classic physics platformer has been adapted to a two-player arcade cabinet, with co-op play and a revamped health mechanic.

Find out more about N here.

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Cabinet sponsored by:
Eject mass to propel yourself. Absorb and grow. Zoom out for the big picture. An ambient videogame in the best sense. [Update: Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties we could not showcase Osmos & instead swapped in the original Torontron games.]

Find out more about Osmos here.

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Cabinet sponsored by:

Take a weird, roundabout trip through a minimalist landscape, with only one button to push.

Find out more about Silent Skies here.

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See you tomorrow between sundown and sunrise! The Nidhogg tournament at midnight is sure to be a crazy bloodbath.

The Arcadian Renaissance Flyer

Saturday, October 2, 2010.
Sundown (6:57 p.m.) to sunrise
Midnight Nidhogg tournament
The Atrium of TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King St. W. at John
Scotiabank Nuit Blanche Exhibit #51 (Zone C)
Free

Please spread the linkage widely!