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Beers with Friends: Mixing drinks with Toronto's gaming scene
By ten in the evening, a steady stream of people stand outside the Get Well bar in downtown Toronto, clamoring to get in. The west-end watering hole is home to Torontaru, a new monthly meetup for local video game developers and players, which gathers on the last Wednesday of the month. Even in the event's three-month infancy, Torontaru has established itself as a meeting place for game developers to discuss fresh ideas or hatch harebrained schemes, but a casual and safe meeting place is at its core. Kris Piotrowski, creative director at Sword & Sworcery developer Capy Games, says conversations during Torontaru may lead to game ideas, but "maybe it's not intentional." "It just happens," he tells Joystiq. "This is the kind of environment where things do happen." The idea for a casual meetup for game makers in Toronto was one pulled from a similar event in Japan. Piotrowski, Marie-Christine Bourdua (Fez, producer) and Renaud Bédard (Fez, programmer) were inspired by a gathering organized by 8-4, a localization team and podcast crew based out of Shibuya, Japan. "[Marie-Christine and I] went to Japan a few years ago and we were invited to an event called Otaru, which is a gathering of developers," says Bédard. "I guess [the team at 8-4] wanted to have some kind of social evening that they could do every week - every Thursday - where they could drink with friends and bring whoever's in town to be part of it, so you just get there and you talk to people and meet people." Torontaru strives to bring that safe environment, for gamers and creators to come together, share drinks and stories and help grow an already expanding scene.
Capy flies 'Below' the radar on the Xbox One
Microsoft's E3 press conference yesterday was full of gigantic new titles like Titanfall, Ryze, and Metal Gear Solid 5, but in among the blockbusters, there was one little announce that stood out in a big way. Below is the latest game from Capybara Games, the indie Canadian studio behind Critter Crunch and Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes, who most recently won all the awards with the beautiful iOS title Sword and Sworcery EP. Below is about as far from an early next-generation console title as you'd imagine: Instead of bombastic, flashy, and loud, it's quiet, subtle, and slightly menacing. "You are small," Capy co-founder Nathan Vella says while smoking a cigarette outside a Microsoft E3 showcase last evening. "Death is at every turn if you are not smart about it." Below is "a roguelike like," he says, focusing on sending the player through a series of randomized, one-screen dungeons, with a sword, shield, and some other not-yet-revealed tools and weapons.%Gallery-191148%
