RGBfilter coverage of the last Social.

The folks over at RGBfilter filmed our last social back in May and put together this sweet video feature!

If you haven’t made it out to one of our socials yet, this gives pretty good taste of what you’re missing.

Also at the Thursday, May 27th Social: MESSHOF

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.

The Third Social of 2010: Thursday, May 27th.

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!

Gain Exp. At Tonight’s Social

Hello! By now you should all be aware of tonight’s Hand Eye Society Social (details here, but: Unit Bar, 1198 Queen West, doors 7 p.m., presentation 8 p.m.). In an entirely unsanctioned by the event hosts (Capy/Superbrothers) kind of way, I just want to note that I’ll have a few copies of issue minus one of my video game ‘zine, exp., in my bag with me if anyone wants a copy. It’s a mere $5 for 32 pages of fairly unusual video game writing, with articles including Punch Out!! (A failed poem), Metal Gear Ac!d (An absurdly complex DIY boardgame for one), and Red Faction Guerrilla (A dream of a spaceship).

The issue I’ll have with me is the second edition of the issue I sold at Canzine (next to the Torontron, see here) and completely failed to announce at the time, so if you already own a copy, huzzah! and you don’t have to bother picking it up again (unless all the original spelling mistakes and grammatical errors annoy you.)

Anyway, if you see me around and want a copy, just ask (I am the dude next to the magazines in the previously-linked coverage). And if you want one but aren’t coming to the social (for shame!) you can buy online here. Thanks!

first social of 2010 is… Thursday Feb 11th***

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.