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Space dogs, chicken horses and a hyperactive shimmy: the return of Arcade 11

Need an idea for March Break? Get your kids off the Xbox and into indie gaming
February 25, 2015
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By Tracey Lindeman


The second annual edition of Arcade 11 seeks to introduce kids and families to indie and DIY (do-it-yourself) video-game culture. The second annual edition of Arcade 11 seeks to introduce the public to indie and DIY (do-it-yourself) video-game culture. | Photos courtesy of TAG Lab

You’ll have to forgive the students at Concordia’s Technoculture, Art and Games (TAG) interdisciplinary research centre if they seem a little euphoric these days.

The clock is ticking: it’s less than a week till the second annual edition of Arcade 11. This on-campus showcase — a unique event within the public library network’s city-wide Festival Montréal Joue — seeks to introduce kids and families to indie and DIY (do-it-yourself) video-game culture at an optimal time: March Break.

Gina Haraszti, TAG’s coordinator, has been working the kinks out of Mindcraft, a hacked version of the classic world-building game Minecraft that requires that players give up their seat when their character dies. A time-lapse video of the steps taken by previous players will fill new ones in on the evolution of the collectively assembled world.

“It will be interesting to see how people will be responsible or irresponsible about what they leave for the next generation,” Haraszti says.

From March 4 to 6, visitors will be able to try their luck at a total of 10 games and installations, including at Ultimate Chicken Horse, a two-player “freerunning” game; Please Don’t, Spacedog!, which incorporates an Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset; Crypt of the NecroDancer, a “dungeon-crawler” with a Dance Dance Revolution controller; the hyperactive 2D Shimmy; and Moon Hunters, a multiplayer myth-building game by Kitfox, TAG’s designers in residence.

Jess Blanchet, a Fine Arts undergrad who studies Intermedia and Cyberarts, will be teaching attendees to build a simple circuit, use a 3D printer and create crafty items like buttons.

Arcade 11 is about “exploring how games are really a medium,” Haraszti says. “We can think about them just like we think about film or painting.”

Prem Sooriyakumar — a knowledge broker with the Office of Research, one of the event’s co-sponsors — played a key role in organizing last spring’s inaugural Arcade 11, which brought about 700 people of all ages to the 11th floor of Concordia’s Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex (EV Building).

“Being part of Montréal Joue is an important aspect of our ongoing partnership with Montreal’s libraries,” Sooriyakumar says. “It’s an opportunity to pioneer a brand, a space and a concept that engage the public.”

And for Concordia’s staff and faculty, Arcade 11 is, as he points out, “a great way to bring your kids to work.”


Arcade 11
takes place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4 to Friday, March 6, on 11th floor of Concordia’s Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex (EV Building)  (EV-11.725; 1515 Ste-Catherine St. W.). It’s free of charge and open to attendees of all ages. See the complete Arcade 11 programme.

TAG is currently looking for volunteers to help out at Arcade 11. If you’re interested, please contact Gina Haraszti at tag.coordinator@concordia.ca.

 



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