GAMECITYNIGHTS SEASON 3 EPISODE 2 - THURSDAY 23rd FEBRUARY, ANTENNA.

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News

GameCity joins the Hall of (Toilet) Fame

We’ve had the post GameCityNights post, now it’s time for the post post post……post?

Anyway, for those in the know, the very talented Jerry ‘GameToilet’ Carpenter headlined the launch party for Season 3 of GameCityNights to share his delightful creations (here’s a previous round up).

What we didn’t know, was that after GameCityNights, Jerry would thank us for saving the day, and his presentation, by creating a game out of the nightmare that is modern technology.

Jackson in “Danger USB” is described as ‘The Hurt Locker meets technical support in this slight but tight twitch puzzler’. Bombs, laptops, French accents, elephants, this game has it all, and we can confirm it’s an absolute riot to play*

This is the first time we’ve ever had a game dedicated to us, so that’s another thing to strike off the collective bucket list. We’re very proud of Jackson (one of the brilliant Antenna tech crew) in “Danger USB” and urge you all to give it a read.

*We actually modified the game owing to the lack of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) in the GameCity office. Instead, we simply challenged one another to untangle a mess of ethernet cables while the team screamed “FASTER” before shouting “BOOM” at a random point. Nobody has yet to disarm ‘the bomb’.

 

Season 3 Episode 1 Recap. What a Load of Bull.

Don’t let the title fool you, folks, Season 3 got off to a rousing start at last Thursday’s GameCityNights launch party. Some might even say they had a smashing (ahem) time*. Let’s recap the Night then, shall we?

You flocked to the venue in droves and were immediately greeted by the frankly awesome beats of Owain Davies, our very new, very talented, and now very permanent, House Band. Pulse quickened, ear drums attuned, we then moved on……

To lay down the gauntlet. Bar manager Dan Bull dared those souls brave** enough to challenge him at his own game to………..something secret which would be revealed later in the night.

Jerry Game Toilet Carpenter then took to the stage. If you don’t know Jerry’s work, it’s a collection of ‘unique’ game ideas inspired by the daily commute to work, then posted at the end of every day. Presenting his very greatest hits, surely the foundation for “Now That’s What I Call Gaming”, (which GameCity will trademark), games included,

Hand Puppet Kaiju Cocktail Part – You Are All Invited

Anagrun! – Shift Five To Survive – “Scribblenauts For Idiots”

Twapeworm

Necro The Narwhale

The Elephant In The Room

Jerry then invited you all to create your own ‘mad-ideas-hastily-scribbled-in-an-against-the-time-situation’ game, before presenting the best and declaring winners. Our highly talented winners then dug deep into the A Winner Is You prize fund to claim the spoils of war. Well, not so much war, as rapid pen scribbling. Thanks to our prize contributors, Codemasters, Rising Star Games, Sega, Broadway Cinema and Kuoda.

From the Desk of! Possibly our favouritest part of any GameCityNights, these golden nuggets are always a delight, filled with insanely brilliant people saying insanely brilliant things, without the cost of an international flight. Brandon Boyer, IGF chairman and creator of the soon-to-be-released Venus Patrol (destined to become our homepage on its launch) was our guest this month, taking us through the very best of indie gaming, the perils of being a judge and introducing Venus Patrol canine mascot, Oliver.

Beat the Bull. A rather brilliant creation, bar manager Dan Bull*** has become a regular feature of the GameCityNights and will challenge/be challenged by the audience in a bid for eternal glory. This month’s skill? Bottle flipping – easy to fail, impossible to master, our challengers didn’t even manage one full flip, while The Bull beat a personal best of 37 flips in 60 seconds. We did smash a lot of stuff, so that made up for it. Sort of. Next month – you decide the challenge!

Seeing out the Night, Paul Butler presented his Augmented Vision, with a titular (buttular?) talk, entitled Ass Effect. We’ll leave you to ponder that one.

So, there we go. The season began. Fun was had. Roll on next month! We’ll announce the headliner soon, but keep the evening of February 23rd free.

*In future instances of Beat the Bull, GameCity promises to avoid using any items not clearly labelled “Indestructible” after we destroyed…….well, pretty much everything. Good fun though!

**Some would say stupid, but we’re all about games culture, not semantics

***GameCity accepts no liability if you receive any awesomeness related injuries from this most pun-tastic game

Season 3 Starts Here

The dreaded third act. The conclusion to the trilogy?* Promising to resolve issues, answer questions and provide closure for the legion of fans, the results are typically a mixed bag; Lucas gave us Ewoks. Coppola succumbed to nepotism. Raimi made Peter Parker dance. Itʼs safe to say, the results have been less than stellar.

Thatʼs why we promise to break the cycle with Season 3 Episode 1 of GameCityNights, on Thursday January 26th at Antenna, Beck Street, NG1 1EQ.

Without further ado, letʼs share the line-up for what is going to be a rather special evening;

GameToilet

For those not in the know, GameToilet is a hysterical/genius/insane collection of ideas for new games made by the very talented Jerry Carpenter. With classics including ʻAnagrun! – Shift Five To Survive! (Scribblenauts for Idiots)ʼ (see the end of this post) and ʻKobayashi Maru v2.0 (No need to lower yourself to Cadet Kirkʼs level here)ʼ, this should be our most interactive headliner so far. Jerry will be presenting some of his favourite creations, running several of his social games, and inviting people to partake in a competition to see who can design the best game.

From the Desk of

Brandon Boyer will join the night’s festivities via astral projection (or possibly Skype) to discuss life as IGF Chairman, his incredibly exciting Venus Patrol project and much more.

Owain Davies is The House Band

Owain dazzled and delighted fans during GameCity6, when he collaborated with our good pal Eric Chahi as they shared their love of the Tenori-On to a rapt audience. Helping to kick things into high gear, Owain becomes a regular Nights resident with a returning series of monthly performances as the house (one man) band. Heʼll even take requests, if you ask nicely!

New projects!

Yes, a new year means new projects, and itʼs about time we launched these;
GameCityTV – the long awaited video service, allowing you to relive almost every moment of the last six years of events.
PlaytheCity – the GameCity Wiki, a chance to share your memories of past events (and possibly correct anything weʼve forgotten). Weʼre relying on you for this – regale us with stories and share any assets you have lying about. Itʼs all about sharing!
(Game)CityHall – people sometimes forget, weʼre a university project. Nottingham Trent Uniʼs foresight is the reason weʼre still operating and CityHall is an outlet for us to reflect on what worked, what didnʼt and what happens with all of the research we gather from our events (itʼs not all about games and parties and awards)

Other returning features – A Winner Is You prize fund, an impassioned MyGame delivery, Paul Butler’s Augmented Vision, a room full of indie developers, hot food, a stocked bar and general merriment throughout the evening. Swing by and say hi!

Thursday 26th January
Antenna, Beck Street, NG1 1EQ
6pm – 11pm
£5 advance tickets available here.
£6 on the door/£5 NUS
18+ ID required.

For exhibition opportunities, email Chris White – chris@gamecity.org

GAMETOILET#389 : ANAGRUN ! - SHIFT FIVE TO SURVIVE ! - "SCRIBBLENAUTS FOR IDIOTS"

*GameCityNights will continue beyond Season 3 (we hope). The trilogy analogy was the best thing we could come up with in early January. We apologise. Weʼll get good at this stuff again. Honest.