Jim Guthrie

Sound Shapes Review

Toronto’s Jonathan Mak and Shaw-Han Liem have finally released Sound Shapes, their attempt to further blur the line between video games and music. We’ve already spoken with them about how the project materialized and heard about Mak’s possibly surprising opinions about building a game with traditional platforming at its core. But how does the game actually… shape up?

Interview: The Creators of Sound Shapes

We had the chance to speak with game designer Jon Mak and musician Shaw-Han Liem earlier this summer, to discuss their new game Sound Shapes. While an extremely loud demo of Dyad played behind us, we talked about their process, Mak's hatred of platformers, the game's musical backbone, and much more.

Interview: Indie Game: The Movie – Lisanne Pajot & James Swirsky

Don't let the name fool you, Indie Game: The Movie isn’t just something for gamers or geeks. The Kickstarter funded film follows several indie game designers as they struggle to complete their respective games - and it's a surprisingly familiar process. We sat down with filmmakers Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky to discuss how they came to make a movie about game development, their Sundance success, and about some of the criticism that has been leveled at the film.

MIDSUMMER ROCKSHOWCASE

SHOWCASE: TORONTO’S DIY VIDEOGAME COMMUNITIES As you may already know, the city of Toronto is home to a patchwork of vibrant, friendly creative communities – this is a city where people who are passionate about film, comics, art, design, technology & music seem to hang out together on a regular basis, producing some cool things […]

Hot Docs 2011 Review: The National Parks Project

The National Parks Project documentary is about two hours long. Two things will result from this: 1) If you see it in a theatre, your ass and legs will hurt by the time it’s over; and 2) If you see it in a city, you will emerge from the film incredibly restless after seeing thirteen of this country’s prettiest places.

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP Review

Once upon a time, a triumvirate of local talent assembled in an attempt to create something. That something is Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, as much an interactive art installation, music album and bit-nostalgia trip as it is an Apple iDevice game. No one was entirely sure what to expect from Sword & Sworcery, but the fact now remains that the "brave experiment" undertaken by Superbrothers, Capybara Games and Jim Guthrie is nothing short of a stunning success.

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP Trailer & Release Date

Toronto developed indie game experiment Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is an exciting convergence of Canadian talent. The iPhone/iPad game just got a new trailer and release date. Sort of. The mysterious "Audience Calibration Procedure" doesn't contain an exact release date per se, but it does stress the significance of the Vernal Equinox - the first day of Spring.

Gamercamp LV2 Raises the Bar

Gamercamp LV2 is a wrap! The two day conference/social/experience featured talks by local game designers, journalists and luminaries, demos of new and exciting projects being developed in the city, music, food and -bit nostalgia. This is a detailed run down of this extremely fun and enlightening weekend.