While a lot of attention in Toronto is understandably on FIFA right now, the local video game scene is also having its own big celebrations.
On Thursday night, the annual Toronto Games Week (TGW) officially kicked off on the harbourfront with a showcase of all kinds of Toronto-made indie games, several of which were even featured in massive projections on the side of the Canada Malting Silos.
Ravine Studios presents North Shore at TGW.
Co-organized by game developers Jim Munroe and Marie LeBlanc Flanagan as part of the second-annual Toronto Video Game Month and running from June 11-17, TGW brings together more than 50 game showcases, workshops, talks, galleries, game jams and the like across the city. Most of these events are even free, further encouraging anyone interested in games to come on by.
The TGW kickoff turnout was strong.
If the harbourfront kickoff event is any indication, there will be no shortage of things to see at TGW. On one side of the towering silo screen, attendees could watch and, if they won a special golden ticket, even play several Toronto indie games, including Pushing Vertices’ Belleville-inspired skating sim RollerGirl, Ravine Studios’ Canadian wilderness-set North Shore and Cococucumber’s just-released sci-fi RPG Echo Generation 2. (Incidentally, all three are part of a growing trend of games made and set in Canada.) And on the other side of the silo, facing the CN Tower, was a giant projection of more Toronto games produced by Canadian Game Awards creator Carl-Edwin Michel in partnership with FIFA itself.
Right beside the silos, meanwhile, was a market-style setup with many more indie games and other industry organizations. Soft Rains’ acclaimed sci-fi clean ’em up Ambrosia Sky. Lofty Sky Entertainment’s mystery game Hope in the City. Starspray Studios’ pixellated Toronto-set Retroronto, playable on an equally retro-inspired “Torontron” arcade cabinet hosted by the local gaming non-profit Hand-Eye Society. A cozy tent from Montreal’s Gamerella, the world’s longest-running inclusive game jam. Throughout the night, large crowds walked through the venue to check out games and talk with creators, even on a sweltering Thursday evening as the city became swamped with FIFA visitors.
Retroronto being played on Hand-Eye’s Torontron arcade cabinet.
In an opening speech, Lucie Lalumière, the president and CEO of the Ontario digital media trade association Interactive Ontario, noted that Toronto Games Week is the first of its kind in Canada. Hopefully, more cities take note, because after checking it out myself, there really is nothing like it.
The full Toronto Games Week schedule can be found on the event’s website.
