Two electronic gaming-centric events were held in Victoria, BC on the same weekend on March 12, and that can make for some hard decisions for people wondering which one of the two is the show to attend. Fortunately, Games Without Frontiers (GWoF) at University of Victoria’s IdeaFest has no relation to Peter Gabriel‘s song, otherwise there might have been some conflict. Instead, I had to make a tough call. The one on campus was closer to get to and it had an educational appeal that tickled my fancy. LANtasy at Pearkes Recreation Centre was further away and it had a communal appeal. Ultimately, I managed to hit both. Each had a specific audience they wanted to reach out to and it is not fair to say which is better. It’s easier to reveal what each 2016 event offered.
GWoF’s goal is to look at what gaming encompasses from an academic point of view. The panels I attended were informational and afterwards, I could talk to the guest speakers about their work.
Here, I saw youths having fun playing MineCraft. LANtasy saw some children appearing, but there was little they could play. Sure, there were two arcade consoles, but those games were of the violent variety. From what I heard, they took to the Victoria LEGO User’s Group (VicLUG) and Commodore 64 Enthusiasts of Greater Victoria for their entertainment quicker than the roll of a die.
In what I witnessed at UVic is a simple show. Attendance numbered roughly 250 during the time I was there after lunch. I explored MacLauren Building’s A and D wings, looking for where the fun was at. As GWoF grows (this is their second year), so will their numbers. I like this event for the reason it brings local video game companies, artists, professors, grad students, undergrads and youths together to look at where technology is going in both the video game, artistic and virtual world. Together, they make up what we as consumers enjoy in a game product.
I talked to one of this event’s coordinators (Ashley) after he hosted a GameJAM brainstorming session. He described the process of how most games are created: it grows from one simple idea to how the interactive elements operate in sync to carry that idea, the plot, forward. Take for example, how many video games work: the avatar or object the player controls occupies a small space on the screen. That never changes. As elements enter this space, the computer has to decide how that object affects the player. Does it award, harm or cause a part of the digital world to change? Writing the code for video games is not easy, and the same rules apply in board or role-playing games.
In the panel about virtual reality, I wanted to learn more about what’s in store for the future. Is VR about putting on a headset so a new realm is projected upon our eyes? The collective answer from Nicholas Zaparyniuk (Professor of Education at Uvic) and Mike Wozniewski of Hololabs Studio (who knows, he might be the next Steve Wozniak) is no. Talk about failed technologies, namely Google Glass, suggests once the holo-wear can project images directly into the eye to overwrite what we see, then what’s immersive will truly be spell-binding. Eventually, we might reach the levels of being able to “jack in” ala the Wachowski Brothers’ The Matrix or William Gibson‘s Neuromancer. The technology required for that kind of virtual experience is decades away. Today, we are still getting used to the idea of having haptic feedback on interactive screens instead of holography for virtual experiences. Eventually, we can manipulate virtual objects just like in Iron Man / Avengers: Age of Ultron where Tony Stark is manipulating light photons.
On a simpler front, people like Alex Christie and Bernadette Perry are working on realizing the next iteration of hyper-reality in fiction. Essentially, these are Choose-Your-Own-Adventure novels, where readers guide the direction of the narrative. Christie’s Master’s degree dissertation examines the relationship of how ideas are managed in text. Meaning is redefined depending on the order of how the words (if not paragraphs) are placed on a screen. Bernadette’s idea is to use augmented reality to help students learn a new language by transforming the every day into objects they can interact with. Her software uses an object-oriented language to define where things take place and players can use their cell phones or tablet to find the virtual world. These realms are not always defined by how people are transported there by a headset, but also in how a camera from that cell phone senses it through geo-location. In her work, students have a new way to develop their cognitive ability with that language being learned. In what I interpreted from her Explorez! demo, she made a werewolf adventure using the UVic campus as the creature’s stomping ground! I had to chuckle when one of the clues involved his lost pants.
Other panels at this show included looking at the role games that can be applied to daily education (Calculus can benefit greatly since these equations are regularly used in engineering and the sciences, especially astrophysics), examining its uses in medical therapy and creating interactive literature (a topic I’m really interested in).
Curiously, LANtasy didn’t consider inviting Reese Giroux to their show. I knew that they had no plans to bring in speakers for their first-year. I hope in a few years time, they will have the resources to do so and include video game voice over talents (hint: please invite Steve Blum). For now, I’m sure these mutual events can spread the love. At GWoF, Giroux talked all about e-sports, the world of competitive gaming, for the entire afternoon. Most of the gamers at Pearkes already know about his experiences because they are living it. But for the curious or uninitiated, this primer would have made all the difference since Giroux explained why this culture exists and how he got to where he is.
For a single day, this event packed a lot of great panels for people to attend and I find that welcoming.
LANtasy
Saturday was still young and I went to the Pearkes Centre because I had the craving to sample the nom noms from Taco Revolution (a food truck from Duncan). I had reservations about spending the money for a weekend visitor’s pass to this show since a few passes were announced last minute as available. The at-the-door price felt too steep. I knew I’d mostly be walking around the venue which only used half the space, and maybe have a board game I wanted to try out. If Sandy Peterson’s Cthulhu Wars was listed on their website for the RPG/Board Game/CCG Area, then I’d be here all day playing that in a heartbeat! Only the familiar, like Settlers of Catan, were offered. Knowing this space would be focussed on the electronic and miniatures, the ratio is not quite even.
I knew the event was sold out and its inaugural run would be much like GottaCon 2008, but yet the crowds looked about 50 heads shy of fire-code capacity in the half of the arena used for this event on a Saturday. The attendance on Sunday was probably at half capacity. All the main tournaments came and went, and in what remained was a very casual atmosphere. All the usual sponsors and groups that participate in this type of show were there, like ViaTEC, Gigabyte, Kingston, HyperX. Local clubs like VicLUG, Victoria C64 User’s Group and Medieval Chaos (a Live-Action RPG group) were present. There were a few tables selling product, but that was not what this show was about.
I’m hoping next year’s LANtasy will offer panels to educate the public about the appeal of gaming. I liked seeing the presence of two table-top arcade cabinets to allow the baby boomer, Gen X’ers and Y’ers to play the classics like Metal Slug.
The C64 group reported about two youths who came back to try the machines their parents used to play with, and for LEGO enthusiasts, they were running their own version of miniature battles with minifigs. The quest is to defeat the king of the castle. An opportunity exists to engage in player versus player conflict, but unless alliances are made, to defeat the dragon hordes is nearly impossible. I appreciated the fact that this game encourages cooperative gameplay.
On the electronic front, the hardcore video gamers will engage in the competition level tournaments. I could not tell if there were any stations to allow newbies to try out League of Legends or Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Overhanging or visible signage is really needed to show where board game demos are offered (if there was any). I made at least three laps looking for something to try out, and only returned to settle in with my VicLUG pals to play their game.
After talking to Jeff, he reported a capacity crowd of 500 people on Saturday. It will grow to more since they will have the entire space in use next year. Maybe then, they might have a Nintendo Zone. Yes, I’m fully aware how impossible it is to get major companies to appear in small scale events, but I can dream! Even in an unofficial capacity, it’d be nice to have an area for those type of gamers can meet. I was there with my 3DS to search for Pokémon trainers to have virtual battles and Zelda Tri-Force heroes to engage in co-operative missions.
Although I did not partake on Saturday, I hoped that I was close enough to get some 3DS street tags to help me finish some Mii Plaza Images and peek inside while feasting on tacos. Sadly, I overheard an agent in ticket sales dissuade two young ladies from buying a ticket to check out the show. They knew nothing about this culture and was just as uncertain as I was on whether to buy a pass or not. Otherwise, the people who show up will be the same ol’ group. For industry observers like me, I want chances to discover what’s new in the world of entertainment (be it technology, paranormal, cinema or animation) instead of just sitting down to play it.
