Changing the game at Mixcade
Members of Concordia’s research centre in Technoculture, Art and Games (TAG), Lab Six and a half, and the Mount Royal Game Society are set to transform one of Concordia’s most well-travelled spaces into a video arcade featuring an array of new and innovative local and international games.
On Sunday, February 5, the Mixcade will be set up from 4 to 9 p.m. in the atrium of the Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex. The event is part of this year’s President’s Conference Series, entitled Experiencing the Media Mix: Anime, Manga, Video Games.
“It’s open to the public, and our goal is to have as many people experience these games as possible,” says TAG coordinator Saleem Dabbous.
The term “media mix” refers to the convergence of different media platforms in Japan, including manga (comic books), anime (cartoons), and video games. While most of the three-day program will focus on Japanese culture, the Mixcade will showcase brave, new independent games from Montreal and around the world.
“We’re picking games that we think are really cool and just deserve to be shown and experienced in a public venue,” Dabbous says. “We have a variety of stations that will be set up, including large-scale projections on the Guy Street side of the atrium. We’ll have dual-sided projection so people from the outside can see in. That will help draw a crowd in from the outside, and advertise the fact that it’s a public space.”
Some of the game’s developers will also be on hand to explain how they created their games and how to play them. The Mount Royal Game Society will be bringing an old arcade cabinet retrofitted with a new computer, which can hold up to six games — known as the Arcade Royale — to the Mixcade. Among other games, it will feature GAME GAME VIDEOGAME, a four-player game by local developer Joachim Despland involving robots.
“You have a group of little robots running around a screen trying to pick up this gem, and then do a little victory dance,” says Stephen Ascher of the Mount Royal Game Society. “While you’re doing the dance you’re absolutely helpless.” As a result, the other robots can take the opportunity to steal the gem. “It’s a dynamic, back-and-forth game. It’s actually really exciting.”
Another game, J.S. Joust, invented by a small games studio in Cophenhagen, Denmark, called Die Gute Fabrik, is designed to be played by up to seven players using motion controllers. Players move in time to J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg concertos and attempt to jostle opponents’ controllers while protecting their own.
“It’s what the creator describes as a contemporary folk game,” Ascher explains. “The rules are fairly minimal, but there’s room for interpretation as to what’s fair play. You can come up with house rules, or you can play differently depending on the context.” To make things even more interesting, the game can be played in the dark, since the controllers have lights on them.
The organizers are excited to have the chance to create a public space for showcasing new and innovative games. “The hope is that the games will be accessible enough that anyone can just walk in, pick them up, and have an interesting experience with them,” Ascher says.
The President’s Conference Series kicks off Saturday, February 4 with a keynote address by Eiji Otsuka, a pioneer in Japan’s media world. His lecture, The Unholy Alliance of Disney and Eisenstein: The Wartime Origins of Manga, Animation and Otaku Culture, begins at 5 p.m. in the auditorium of the Grande Bibliothèque (475 De Maisonneuve Blvd. E.).
A day-long symposium on Sunday, February 5, at Concordia University features four panel discussions led by renowned scholars from the United States, Japan and Concordia. The Mixcade opens its doors from 4 to 9 p.m.
The final day of the conference features a series of master classes for graduate students in related fields who want to deepen their understanding of the media mix phenomenon and its implications. Participants include graduate students from Montreal, the United States and Japan.
Concordia’s five-year partnership with the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) was the catalyst behind the conference. BAnQ is currently holding an exhibition on Japanese comic books, entitled Manga – the Art of Movement. The exhibition represented a golden opportunity for Concordia to host a complementary event.
What: Mixcade games arcade
When: Sunday, February 5, 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Where: Atrium of the Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex (EV Building, 1515 Ste-Catherine St. W.)
Related links:
• President’s Conference Series
• “Experiencing the Media Mix” — NOW, January 10, 2012
• “Academics Discuss Popular Culture” — NOW, January 18, 2012
• “A Japanese Cultural Icon Speaks” — NOW, January 25, 2012
• The Research Centre in Technoculture, Art and Games (TAG)
• Mount Royal Game Society