Nottingham, U.K. — GameCity, the world’s best-loved videogame culture festival powered by Nottingham Trent University, announced on October 12, the Venus Patrol Training Facility will run all week as part of GameCity7, from October 20-27. Venus Patrol Training Facility will feature large scale public presentations of experimental games from designers Die Gute Fabrik, Bennett Foddy, Honeyslug and more, presented by Venus Patrol.

Never one to shy away from the unique, or sometimes downright strange, GameCity has teamed up with videogame culture site Venus Patrol to bring a series of large scale interactive experiences for the entire festival week of GameCity7, from October 20-27.

Blending videogames with alternative input controls, the Venus Patrol Training Facility will offer some of the most unique experiences available, all played on Nottingham’s Old Market Square via large scale projection, so everyone can see you contort your body while you scale a cliff, bounce on a trampoline and push random strangers about. There’s even a chance a rare robotic unicorn may make an appearance…

Venus Patrol founder Brandon Boyer said, “After a successful run of the Venus Patrol Orientation Program in Paris, I’m super excited to give GameCity attendees the first opportunity to officially participate in Venus Patrol training. The games at the facility will perfectly prepare the public for any challenge that lies ahead, on the off-chance that they may be called up for duty elsewhere at the festival…”

Brandon Boyer’s newly launched videogame culture site Venus Patrol will be showcasing independent developers Bennett Foddy, Ed Key and Honeyslug, as well as all of the titles from the recent Sportsfriends Quadrathalon (Hokra, BaraBariBall, Pole Riders, Johann Sebastian Joust). The full list of games available;

Get On Top

A re-imagining of ancient Finnish freeware Fight of the Sumo-Hoppers, Get On Top is Bennett Foddy’s extremely serious Sumo Wrestling sim that sees each player positioned on a real-life trampoline. A Move controller tracks your motion, with every bounce corresponding to a small kick of your wrestler’s feet, with the end game of pinning the other guy to the ground. How does it work? Does it work at all? Come find out.

Proteus Frog God Mod

With Proteus, Ed Key created a game that allowed anybody, from gamers to grandparents, to explore a magical wonderland. This is its biggest failing. The Proteus Frog God Mod presents Proteus as it should be, or, perhaps, must be. With a trampoline and a Sony Move controller you will physically hop around Key’s incandescent world, and in doing so you will embody mankind’s eternal torment at the brawny hands of gravity. You will become Nauseous, and in becoming Nauseous, you will become Perfect.

“American Chopper”

The Venus Patrol Training Facility is the ultimate test of body and soul. Football is, of course, the other ultimate test of body and soul. Science teaches us that two maximums make a negatory, and so it is that Passing Time is a football game with a minimum of interaction. Simply tap the screen to order your footballmen to pass, shoot and tackle.

Pole Riders

“What is pole vaulters had fights?” That is the very important question asked by Pole Riders, a game of trying to nudge a ball into your opponent’s goal with a 15 foot pole. But that’s not all. Pole Riders also acts as an exploration of what a pain it is to do anything with a 15 foot pole, whether you’re performing actual pole vaults or just walking forward. The classic version of Pole Riders can be found here

Johann Sebastian Joust

Inarguably a future Olympic sport, Johann Sebastian Joust is a game for any number of players, each of whom is given a Move controller. It doesn’t need a screen. It doesn’t even need any light. The only rules? Move your controller too fast and you’re out, and the last person standing wins. Now, don’t worry if you’re imagining this game encourages terrible physical violence, or cheap tricks like hiding your controller in your coat and pretending you’re not playing. Because it does. It does. And it’s beautiful.

Hokra

Success at Ramiro Corbetta’s distressingly fast indie eSport Hokra requires workmanlike fingers if you want to win this game, where the first rule is thatthere are no rules. The second rule is that you have to put the ball in your team’s goal to win.

BaraBariBall

A side scrolling, 8-bit abstract fusion of fighting and sports, BaraBariBall is everything you could ask for in competitive gaming. The object is simple; using your character, drop the ball in the water on your half of the screen. But with the ability to air jump to your heart’s content and stun slap your rival to gain control of the objective, the only question is how long your beliefs in sportsmanship last.

MegaGIRP

GIRP is a game of climbing a wall but climbing haphazardly across your keyboard with your fingers. It’s amazing, and legendarily hard. MegaGIRP is the same. It’s the same. It’s fine. You’ll be fine. The only difference is – and it’s a tiny one – is that the “keyboard” is a huge modified dancemat you’ll have to pick your way across with a spider’s own alien grace. But we believe in you. You can do this. The classic version of GIRP can be found here.

For more details on GameCity7, go to www.gamecity.org.

Image Courtesy of  nottinghamgamecity

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Nottingham, U.K. — GameCity, a videogame culture festival powered by Nottingham Trent University, announced on September 28, the GameCityNights tour, in partnership with Edge and sponsored by Maxis’ SimCity. The tour will run throughout the year in a number of venues.

The monthly after-dark explorations of videogame culture have long been a popular event in Nottingham’s calendar, fusing intimate developer presentations with a relaxed and accessible atmosphere.

But after three seasons and more than 20 events, GameCityNights is going on tour with help from Edge and Maxis’ SimCity. Wild parties, groupies, cars in swimming pools, the GameCityNights tour will have literally none of these things.

In partnership with Edge and sponsored by Maxis’ SimCity, GameCity will bring its imitable style to some of the best venues in the UK (once we’ve had a short rest after GameCity7, of course) and help create and support communities interested in the cultural and creative, all in celebration of the best the videogame industry has to offer.

Tour stops:

2012

• November 13 - National Media Museum, Bradford
• November 20 - BFI Southbank, London
• November 21 - Dublin Science Gallery, Dublin

2013

• January 24 - Antenna, Nottingham
• January 29 - Arnolfini, Bristol
• January 31 - Junction, Cambridge
• February 5 - MAC, Birmingham
• February 22 - Animated Exeter Festival
• February 23 - Margate, GEEK2013
• February 25 - Carriageworks, Leeds
• February 26 - FACT, Liverpool

GameCity Director Iain Simons said “After three years of nights’ gigs in Nottingham and loads of brilliant guests and audience members, it seemed like a good time to share the love. The one thing we love more than doing GameCityNights events is driving – so this really is the ideal combination for us. We’re really looking forward to making some new friends and trying out some new ideas on them. More than anything else, we’d really like people to get involved – so if you’ve got something to say or a game to show – get in touch.”

Edge publisher, Richard Keith said, “There has always been a close connection between Edge and GameCity so it’s good to be able to bring the two together for what will be a unique series of events celebrating the best in videogame culture.”

Commenting on SimCity’s involvement, Jacqui Ashworth, Maxis Product Manager, added, “We are really excited to go on tour with GameCity and Edge, and hope to meet many future mayors and SimCity fans along the way.”

The details of each event, including headliners and support acts, will be announced at a later date, but as with all GameCityNights events, the tour will feature the GameCity Arcade, free exhibition space for independent developers to get their work in front of crowds for promotion and/or play testing. Titles exhibited at each GameCityNights tour stop will feature in Edge Online.

About SimCity

SimCity will engage an entirely new generation of PC and Mac gamers as they take charge of their own customized cities and build a world that co-exists alongside friends. For the first time in SimCity franchise history, players’ decisions will have long-lasting repercussions that will extend beyond their city limits. Together, players will address real global challenges such as climate change, the search for renewable resources and natural disasters. It’s up to the players to decide whether to compete or collaborate to shape the world  – for better or for worse.

For more details, go to http://nights.gamecity.org.

Image Courtesy of   nottinghamgamecity

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