As a videogame arts not-for-profit, much of our ability to execute our initiatives comes from volunteer power. But it’s also a great way to engage with like-minded game enthusiasts and advocate for a medium you love.

Here are some of the Hand Eye Society projects we’ll be discussing our needs for:

• Game Curious?: Our play & discussion group is starting next month, and we need to get the word out! We’ll also need people at the sessions themselves.
• Pop-up Arcades: We’re doing game exhibitions at the Wavelength music festival and the Ontario Science Centre in August, and we need friendly people to invite people to play games.
• WordPlay Festival: We need folks to help us help the public with the showcase of writerly games, as well as be on the program advisory team.
• and other new projects, like the Toronto Videogame Wiki, as well as (perhaps) ideas you bring?

If you have 10 hours between now and the end of the year, it’s the perfect time to jump in!

Thurs. August 14, 6pm-7pm
Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street, North of Bloor)
Room B1, in the basement next to the Star Newspaper Room

Drop us a line if you can’t make the session & let us know which of the above appeals to you.

Capybara Games’ Nathan Vella did a great job hosting last night’s IGF Awards, which were sadly lacking in any wins for Toronto nominees Jazzpunk and The Yawhg.

One of the best exhibits at GDC, alt.ctrl features alternative controllers for games and includes Droqen and Patrick Dinnen’s Analog Defender (pictured above) and Droqen’s Bonus Look. Check out Destructoid coverage/photos here.

This headline says it all: “Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime steals the show at GDC 2014’s Indie Megabooth“.

Zack Kotzer at Now Magazine talks to GDC goers here.

Tomorrow the Curating Video Game Culture: The New Wave of Video Game Events panel is open to anyone with a GDC pass (even an expo). It “brings together talks from five leading organizers of a new wave of cultural video game events, including Babycastles (New York), Punk Arcade (Los Angeles), Hand Eye Society (Toronto), Fantastic Arcade (Austin) and The Wild Rumpus (London) to talk about their experiences in starting and growing cultural video game events, and the unique and diverging motivations that guide their work.” We will be having a picnic in the Yerba Buena park afterwards at 1pm that anyone is welcome to join.

Tonight’s OMDC Ontario Social (co-hosted by the Hand Eye Society) appears to be at capacity, but to those who RSVP’d — see you there!

Hand Eye Society Executive Director Jim Munroe will be running a two session workshop at the Liaison for Independent Filmmakers of Toronto:

Games with issues that engage, rather than talk down to the player, are difficult to make. This is a workshop meant to familiarize people with “serious games” — that is, a genre of games intending to do more than purely entertain, whether it be educating or presenting a point of view — and help them think about presenting their own ideas and perspective in an interactive media.

We will be playing and discussing a number of effective issue-based games, including ones the instructor has been involved in producing, such as Pipe Trouble and Unmanned. We will be discussing the importance of mechanics, the emotional impact of complicity, the power of modelling, and the tension between player agency and a linear narrative.

More info here. (Note that this is more of an introduction and overview of the subject rather than a game making workshop.)

The Steam Summer Sale is in full effect till the July 22nd and it’s a great opportunity to pick up some local indie games you may have missed for cheap! Here’s a list of all the Toronto area indie games we know are on sale. However, with so much talented game making happening in the city we may have missed some. Spotted anything we missed? Let us know!

][ Games:
Dyad

Benjamin Rivers:
Home

Bootdisk Revolution:
Bleed

Capybara Games:
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
Critter Crunch

Celler Door Games:
Rogue Legacy

Christine Love:
Analogue: A Hate Story

Drinkbox Studios:
Mutant Blobs Attack

Droqen:
Starseed Pilgrim

Queasy Games:
Everyday Shooter

Spooky Squid Games:
They Bleed Pixels

Ian from Autodesk (which was a sponsor of the TIFF Nexus project we programmed) writes:

Hello,

My name is Ian Hooper and I’m a Sr. Interaction Designer at Autodesk. We are looking for people to participate in a usability session at our 210 King Street East office in the coming weeks. Both student and professional users are welcome.  I am specifically looking for people that are either: 1) brand new to Autodesk Maya OR 2) brand new to Autodesk 3ds Max OR 3) have no 3D experience at all.

Usability testing is a process where we find individuals representative of the types of people who actually use our software and invite them in for a ‘sneak peek’ of one of our products, observing them using it and capturing what they have to say about it.  It is this type of feedback that gets incorporated back into the design of our products and the end result is software that’s easier for everyone to use.

The sessions will be one-on-one and will last about 2 hours. They will take place at our 210 King Street East office during work hours. Participants will be paid a gift card honorarium for their time.

Anyone interested in discussing this further can follow up with me directly at ian.hooper@autodesk.com.

Thank you for your help,

Sincerely,

Ian Hooper

Take notes, students! Each year, the IGDA takes applications for its Scholars program. You submit an essay about how awesome you are, and the IGDA pays your way to a fabulous international game conference like GDC, PAX East or SXSW Interactive. In addition to that, you get all kinds of ludicrous perks like console swag, lunches with game design bigwigs, and studio tours.

This is the Untold Entertainment office. (Well, that took all of two seconds. Now what?)

This is a fantastic program that has selected at least TWO Toronto recipients in as many years (Arthur Marris and Billy Matjiunis of George Brown College). If you’re a student of a video game program and this thing is NOT on your radar, put it there!

Keep your eye on the Hand Eye Society, IGDA Toronto Chapter and the events calendar on the Ontario Interactive Services Directory to discover all the events you could be volunteering at or getting involved with.

PROTIP: volunteering in community video game events looks really good on your application! Jump in!

We are printing Hand Eye Society t-shirts and hoodies with this amazing design by Craig D. Adams (AKA Superbrothers). Level up by layering up!

UPDATE: Sorry, we’re no longer taking orders. 

What you need to know:

• we are taking preorders over the next week, until Wed. Nov. 9th
• limited edition: only 100 t-shirts and 50 hoodies will be made
• pre-ordering them now is the only way to guarantee getting one: no complaining!
• available for pickup Nov. 25-27 at Gamercamp (Xmas shopping: check!) or subsequent HES events

The T-Shirt

• $20+tax
• American Apparel, 100% cotton and sweatshop free
• Men: colour and style, sizing info
• Women: colour and style, sizing info
• Pickup preferred: shipping can be arranged, but it’s extra

Buy it via Paypal/Visa/Mastercard here.

The Hoodie

• $40+tax
• Hanes 50/50
• Pullover style, pocket on front, design is on back
• Unisex: See colour & style and sizing
• Pickup preferred: shipping can be arranged, but it’s extra

Buy it via Paypal/Visa/Mastercard here.

Questions? Hit us up.

EPISODE 16 is finally here; the Toronto Indie Guys’ summer blockbuster! In this EP, both Max & I talk with 3 awesome game journalists in Toronto:

• Jaime Woo, writer for the Torontoist and co-founder of Gamer Camp.
• Mathew Kumar, writer/publisher of exp. magazine.
• David Gallant, freelance writer & newly established indie game developer ( Silver Maple Studios).

PIXELDANCE – Saturday July 2nd 8:00pm

Duffy’s Tavern
1238 Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON

Duffy’s Tavern and Bitmasters Netlabel are bringing you Toronto’s very first and ONLY monthly 8-bit music event on Saturday July 2nd, 2011!

This 19+ event will feature videogame-inspired tunes, crazy pixelated visuals provided by none other than CHIP RAMBO, and classic Nintendo games for all audience members to play to give you a big hit of nostalgia you won’t soon forget.

So, bring 5 bucks and come get your tunes on! Chiptunes, that is!

The night of 8-bit madness will feature:

DJ FINISH HIM
A flawless mix of Rock, Pop, Hip-Hop, and Video Game Music.

Oxvylu
Mellow keyboard jams from a guy whose name is universally mispronounced.

DJ Eastern Blok
He ain’t Russian, so don’t ask. DJ Eastern Blok uses a Nintendo Game Boy for original, fast, blipped up electronica tunes.

jefftheworld
He’ll Jeff ‘your’ world! Melodic chiptune action that’ll get you grooving.

Starpilot
Trippy, blippy, and catchy. He’s from beyond the heavens and among the stars, but has instead chosen to come to us from Kitchener, Ontario to get you dancing.

DEADBEATBLAST
Bring a fresh pair of pants, DEADBEATBLAST may just leave you soiling yourself with excitement with his unique blend of chiptunes and industrial-inspired music. You’ve been warned.

Presented by Bitmasters Netlabel.

FACEBOOK PAGE

Have you heard of (and bought) Flew the Coop yet, a new iOS game? Well, you should if you haven’t!

We have the developers behind the barn, Jason Kaplan, and Damian Sommer. Jason is the founder of Game Prototype Challenge, and Damian is an indie extraordinaire. Releasing their first collaborated iOS game together, we go in-depth on how it came to be, and some of the problems they experienced during development. If you’re planning to create an iOS game yourself, this EP is for you!

Show them some support, spread the word. Mom bloggers, you know what to do. You can buy Flew the Coop here. It’s only $1.

Listen to the EP here, or on iTunes.

P.S. We have a twitter account @TOindieguys , and a Facebook Page here.