GamerCamp, for those who don't know, is a two day weekend event (this year was held on November 13th and 14th) located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is an annual event and a gaming hot spot for gamers of all kind including table-top, indie and corporate game developers and gaming enthusiasts. GamerCamp is a great way for people who love games to greet each other and network. It helped to provide a level playing field for budding game developers to meet and talk with the professionals and socialize, face-to-face. I really enjoyed the fact that you could just pick up a old school game and then have a crowd of people behind you watching and wanting to challenge you. It really made me feel like I was in an arcade again and it was a awesome feeling.
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Day One mostly consisted of demos and keynote speeches of indie games that are in development and how they plan to implement new innovations that will help to broaden the video game market. Some notable indie game studios in attendance were Capybara Studios and Super Brothers. There was a very impressive 3D game that was demoed and got a lot of people talking. There was one major studio represented at GamerCamp, maybe I don't know, Ubisoft !!! One of the lead game artists for Scott Pilgrim the game was there, demonstrating piece by piece where he took inspiration for the game and how he put it altogether in its final form. It was really cool to see and if you want to see more I will be doing a massive video on my YouTube channel ASAP.
There was a small band you may have heard of that played at the Wrong Bar located on Queen W and Brock Sts. I believe their name is ANAMANAGUCHI !!!! Yes, the awesome and amazing Anamanaguchi played their awesome chip tunes and rocked the house live in downtown Toronto. They were also accompanied by opening acts Starscream and George & Johnathan (without George) whom also put on a awesome show. I haven't had that much fun at a concert in a long time. :D Plus, I got to meet them before the show thanks to a awesome friend Michael "Birdman" Dodd!
There was a small band you may have heard of that played at the Wrong Bar located on Queen W and Brock Sts. I believe their name is ANAMANAGUCHI !!!! Yes, the awesome and amazing Anamanaguchi played their awesome chip tunes and rocked the house live in downtown Toronto. They were also accompanied by opening acts Starscream and George & Johnathan (without George) whom also put on a awesome show. I haven't had that much fun at a concert in a long time. :D Plus, I got to meet them before the show thanks to a awesome friend Michael "Birdman" Dodd!
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Day Two of more awesomeness, there was some old school gaming happening as well as some hands-on demos of the games that were demonstrated the day before. A&C Games provided retro game systems for people to reminisce and relive the good old days of video gaming. The Hand Eye Society which is a collaboration of indie game developers, scattered their arcade machines all over George Brown College School of Design for everyone to play. And if you really wanted to feel like a kid again you could come in your PJ's grab a bowl of your favorite sugar packed cereal and sit down with some good old cartoons. Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain to be exact!! ;D
In typical gamer fashion some smack talk started about who could beat whom in certain games and of course I got challenged to some Tetris Party for the Wii... mainly by Heather........ and she did kinda school me in front of everyone. But who is to say I didn't just let that happen! ;) (Editor's note: He really didn't, I beat him all the time. :P)
But fun was had by all win or lose! :D Right after the Tetris event, we got to try out the X-Box 360's kinect peripheral and the new dance game that works in conjunction with it, Dance Central. I was pleasantly surprised how well it works and how much fun I had. I have to admit, I'm not much of a 360 guy, but I had a blast! And to my surprise I even got to play with the guys from Anamanaguchi, all enthusiastic gamers themselves! They also had a great time playing the game. :D
Eventually, the day had to come to an end and we all had to go our separate ways, while still looking forward to what surprises were to come next year!
In typical gamer fashion some smack talk started about who could beat whom in certain games and of course I got challenged to some Tetris Party for the Wii... mainly by Heather........ and she did kinda school me in front of everyone. But who is to say I didn't just let that happen! ;) (Editor's note: He really didn't, I beat him all the time. :P)
But fun was had by all win or lose! :D Right after the Tetris event, we got to try out the X-Box 360's kinect peripheral and the new dance game that works in conjunction with it, Dance Central. I was pleasantly surprised how well it works and how much fun I had. I have to admit, I'm not much of a 360 guy, but I had a blast! And to my surprise I even got to play with the guys from Anamanaguchi, all enthusiastic gamers themselves! They also had a great time playing the game. :D
Eventually, the day had to come to an end and we all had to go our separate ways, while still looking forward to what surprises were to come next year!
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My experience with GamerCamp was awesome and from the previous year that I attended they had certainly grown a lot. They were well organized and had a lot for attendees to do. I see this becoming one of the big nerd/indie events that will be huge within five years and will become a staple for the Toronto indie scene. I cant wait to see what next year brings and if you want to see all the footage that I got from the weekend event I will be posting all of it on my YouTube channel hopefully soon (fingers crossed!)
Anyways, thanks for reading everyone! I will see you guys soon on the next blog and as always,
Happy Gaming! :)
Vito
(Editor: Heather Leach)
Anyways, thanks for reading everyone! I will see you guys soon on the next blog and as always,
Happy Gaming! :)
Vito
