The Canadian Videogame Awards Announces FanFest

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Reboot Communications and Swaf Media announced they will create the Canadian Videogame Award FanFest which will be a "fan-centric event that is solely dedicated to videogames and interactive entertainment."

"Fans will have the opportunity to try out games that will be released prior to the holiday season and meet their creators in the new Fan Zone and Canadian Game Zone. The public will also be able to test their skills against other players in the Videogame Competition.

The event will round out with local bands and other entertainment featured on the main stage prior to the award show on Sunday December 6th, closing out a weekend celebration of the Canadian gaming industry. The objective of the CVA FanFest is to celebrate Canadian gaming and provide a great opportunity for the fans to meet their favourite Canadian developers."

The event will take place later this year December 5th-6th at the old Maple Leaf Gardens.You can check out the full press release here, and check out the main site for full details.

Give Away: Bloxiq (Vita) And WE ARE DOOMED (PS4)

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Last week there were two Toronto developed video games released on PlayStation consoles.

WE ARE DOOMED (which I've done a Let's Play for) from VertexPop on PS4, and Bloxiq from Blot Interactive on PlayStation Vita came out last week, and I have codes for both of them!

You can follow me on twitter for a chance to win, but if you comment on this post (include your email) you'll also enter a chance to win (so if you both Retweet, and comment you get two chances!)

In the meantime, just make sure to follow VertexPop and Blot Interactive on twitter.

Kickstarter: Online MMORPG Fantasy Tales Online

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The developers behind Fantasy Tales Online have officially launched their Kickstarter.  If you're not familiar with Fantasy Tales Online, it is a upcoming retro style RPG. I went ahead and grabbed this description from their Steam page.

"Fantasy Tales Online is retro sandbox fantasy role playing game. You’re an adventurer thrown into a dangerous world. To be successful you will have to form guilds, complete quests, collect gear, fight through randomly generated and hand crafted dungeons, and most importantly construct your own player cities. 

You will encounter thousands of magical and unique items, build your own homes and guilds using blocks obtained from questing, raiding and crafting, and take on strategic boss fights that go beyond the hack ‘n slash mechanic. Our goal is to take away the grind from hack and slash and let you enjoy the game before you reach level cap. You’ll encounter strategy, sandboxing, and housing right from the start."

Let's help them get funded. Make sure to check out their Kickstarter here, and follow them on Twitter here. Best of luck guys!

Instincts Gameplay (Oculus Rift Gameplay)

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Indie Developer Jake Deichert has posted a video for his Oculus Rift island survival game Instincts.  I was fortunate to play the game at this years LevelUp TO which showcased a lot of great student developed games. It was a lot of fun and was a crazy experience to actually look around in realtime and have that mapped to the game. Check out the video below!

Make sure to follow Jake on twitter for all his updates.

The Thristy Gamer - The Magical And Wonderful Fusion Of An Arcade And Bar

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Earlier today I found out about The Thirsty Gamer which is promoting itself as a Bar/Arcade fusion, which just sounds amazing. Who doesn't want to drink and play some arcade games?

"The Thirsty Gamer will be Toronto’s only dedicated Arcade Bar. We believe in having awesome drinks with friends, enjoying fresh local food, and playing new & retro games. We're bringing back the arcade scene to Toronto, and creating a social gaming experience that can’t be replicated at home."

You can keep up to date on the progress for Thirsty Gamer on Twitter, and on Facebook. 

More PlayStation Characters Coming To Super Time Force Ultra

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Developer Capybara Games have announced there will be more Sony-centric characters coming to Super Time Force Ultra.  It's already been confirmed you can play as Shuhei Yoshida, but now you'll always be able to play as the character from Journey (does he have a name?), and Sir Galahad from The Order: 1886.

Super Time Force Ultra is coming soon to PS4 & VITA... and Capy has added a couple more PlayStation exclusive team members to the mix! Capy already revealed that Shuhei Yoshida himself will be a playable character... But Shu didn't come alone.

"But Shu didn’t come alone – in fact, he brought a couple very close friends.

Everyone’s favourite nameless, berobed figure from the PlayStation hit Journey is coming along for the ride! Using grace, agility, and of course, scarves the Journey traveler offers an entirely unique way to encounter the carnage-fuelled levels of STFU.

Having rid London of beastly ghouls in the Order: 1886, Knight of the Round Table, Sir Galahad will also be suiting up with the Super Time Force. Wielding a Luger pistol and a chaotic arc rifle, Sir Galahad provides players with an electrifying jolt of action."

No release date for the game yet, but the game will be cross-buy with PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4. Check out the full PlayStation Blog post here.

Apotheon Now In Beta For Online Multiplayer On Steam

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Developer Alientrap has announced their 2D Greek platformer Apotheon now has an Online Multiplayer component on Steam with five maps, and three modes (deathmatch, team deathmatch, elimination).

"While developing Apotheon's combat system we wanted to fight each other to really make sure it had a lot of depth - since we didn't live in the same city we added online support early on. The online game modes were one of our favorite parts of the game throughout development - but we decided to not release it with the main game because we didn't want to distract from the large single player adventure. 

We've are now planning to release the online modes as a free standalone game - Apotheon Arena, on Steam in the coming months (though this plan depends on how well the beta goes). We want to release it for free so we can have the largest user base possible - and help promote the main single player game. When we release it and with how much content will depend on how this beta goes. "

You can check out the full post on their Steam page here.  I asked if this sort of feature might make its way onto the PS4 version.

So if you're interested, let them know! One more thing! Alientrap has been kind enough to provide some Steam codes for Autocraft. If you want a chance at a code you just need to comment on this article below. I'll dish them out later this week.

Happy Birthday DrinkBox Studios!

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Not many studios can last longer than a few years, which is why I just wanted to wish DrinkBox Studios a happy 7th birthday!

DrinkBox Studios is the developer behind Mutant Blobs Attack, Guacamelee, and the upcoming Severed. Happy Birthday guys!!

WE ARE DOOMED Launches Today On PlayStation 4 / Friday On Xbox One

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Congrats to developer Vertext Pop who will be releasing WE ARE DOOMED on PlayStation 4 today, and Xbox One on Friday.

"WE ARE DOOMED is a twin-stick shooter where you zap polygon baddies with an absurdly overpowered laserbeam. Dive head-first into the action with reckless ambition, charge the SUPERBEAM, and zap everything out of existence in an instant. Chase high scores or just enjoy the beautiful explosion of geometry, colour and light."

Make sure to give lots of love to developer on Twitter, and be sure to pick up the game (I will be and will probably be doing a Let's Play)

RunBow Gets A Bunch Of Guest Characters

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Developer 13AM Games announced today a bunch of guest characters will be playable in their upcoming 9 player multiplayer platformer, Runbow.

The secret characters are:

  • Shovel Knight
  • Rusty from SteamWorld Dig
  • Juan and Tostada from Guacamelee 
  • Swift Thornebrooke from Sprortsball
  • Scram Kitty
  • CommanderVideo and CommandgirlVideo from Runner 2

Can't wait! Runbow is one of the first games I found out about when I started TorontoGameDevs, and I'm super excited to finally play it. Make sure to follow the developers on Twitter. 

Lots of Toronto Game Developers At Bit Bazaar #5: May 9th

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The other day I found out about Bit Bazaar #5 which is described as "a unique celebration of the art & craft of independent games, comics and good food."

"Bit Bazaar is a video game craft fair and marketplace, featuring a local multiplayer arcade tournament! Its held twice a year in the spring and winter in Toronto. Buy one-of-a-kind, limited-edition and handmade/DIY items—pins, zines, boxed video games, card decks, art prints, comics, t-shirts, game soundtracks on vinyl, mixtapes, papercraft and toys—direct from your favorite independent game makers! …And come hungry! Food vendors will be on site serving up tasty food and beverages of the soft and hard variety!"

Lots of great developers will be there, showing off their games including Drinkbox Studios, Cococucumber, PixelNAUTS and many many more. Check out the full list here, and follow them on Twitter for more updates.

The event will be on May 9th, 1-9 pm, and best of all - Free.  I'll be there, who else is going?

Check Out Noodles On iPad From Lummox Labs

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Wanted to take this opportunity to give a shout out to Lummox Labs because I'm now addicted to their puzzle game Noodles on iPad.  Noodles is a "connect all the nodes" type of game, there might be games more similar, but it reminds me of the steam/water puzzle game in Bioshock.  

You can download it on the App Store, and follow the developer on Twitter here.

Developer For Quench Shows Off Elephant Models

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Albert Fung over at Axon Interactive posted a developer blog about creating an Elephant model in their upcoming game, Quench.  It's a great read for those interested in game development and 3D modelling.

"I’d like to start with an overview of our 3D workflow. Generally speaking, I would receive concept sketches and pre-production specifications from our team members, and start building rough 3D models in Cinema4D, our choice of 3D production software. I would then add in lights and colors on the model to enhance its appearance, and then import this model into our gaming engine, Unity3D."

Make sure to check out the full article here.

Pamela Make It Onto Kotaku "A Horror Game That Looks Straight out of Mass Effect"

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Just browsing the internet this morning, and saw that Kotaku ran a small piece of Pamela, the PC Horror game inspired by Mirror's Edge and Mass Effect from NVYVE Studios.

"Pamela is an upcoming PC game that looks pretty striking for something that’s supposed to be a survival horror game. No gross, gritty environments that are so typical of the genre to be found here!

Instead, the futuristic setting looks way more utopian—which makes the premise of exploring a dead civilization seem all the more enticing. According to the developers, the game tasks you with scavenging and surviving your way through “Eden,” and doing so will require the use of advanced toys and equipment that would look right at home in Mass Effect."

Very cool, make sure to check out the article here, and follow NVYVE on twitter here.