208: The Pulse of Creativity

[Murray Chu]

The Pulse of Creativity

It's not unusual for companies in large industries to have competing corporate cultures that isolate themselves from each other. But one organization aims to break down those barriers for Vancouver's game development community. Murray Chu looks at the Artery and how it's helping local artists and designers stay connected.

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[HardRockSamurai]

I live in what people call "the Baltimore art community," which is ironic because we couldn't be less of a community. Everyone is out to prove themselves, and our inevitably competitive nature makes it hard for unity to exist. That's why, to me, Artery sounds fantastic. It just goes to show that creativity cannot exist without collaboration.

Great article; it was a little short, but still a good read. And good luck with Hang em' High. I took a glance at it, and it looks like an ambitious combination of Left 4 Dead and Call of Juarez; which made me kick myself for not thinking of it first

 

[Clemenstation]

Wish there was something like this in Toronto. I met with some guys at Dreamcatcher Interactive once (they mostly publish adventure games), and they went on about how tough it is to pull talent together in this city.

Then they rejected my game pitch

I would've too.

Anyway, there are some nifty events here and there but really not much of a coherent community in Toronto. I've heard the same thing from people in entertainment consumer advocacy groups as well. Something like the Artery would be a good start in the right direction.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

over 800 people in the game development industry have lost their jobs in British Columbia since January of this year.

That's true, England is going through a bit of an issue with its game industry. We haven't really had much of a successful company in gaming for quite a while now, and a website like this could help out. I'm not sure if there are anything like the draw jams, but I've never seen one in my life.

But I do think this Artery website is a good idea and something that can allow for advice when it comes to publicity, business and administration, and even ideas, like that Hang 'em High game that being made (Which does actually seem like a good idea, very creative) and would allow for more interesting and creative collaborations and ideas, something that the game industry would benefit from.

Also, it's a good idea to allow for competition to be reduced, as what usually happens when competition starts to take over is that one company will become a success whilst the other will fade away in the shadows. This however, allows for both companies to become successful, despite not being as successful as they would if the other company did die out.

Anyway, good article and a good idea presented in it as well.

 

[kspiess]

Good article. I might have to head to St. Augustine's bar one night, and check it out.

 

[Adam0ne]

Great article Murray. The more light shed on what Jason and Su have started here is a good thing. One of the best parts of what we do at the Artery is that we don't limit what we'd be interested in having going on - everything from traditional art, to writing, to design, to photgraphy, to 3d modeling and animation is more than welcome. So while it's great for the game industry, it's certainly not limited to it.

It's become largely game-art related in large part to Su and Jason's backgrounds, and their interaction with their students at AI and getting them involved as well, but anyone and everyone is welcome, and if you aren't local, you can still hop on the forums and take part there, even if you can't make it out to the drawjams. We've had members from as far away as Newfoundland and various places in the states hop in and say hi, post work and get advice and feedback. The more the merrier, and the more activity on the forums the better, too. Heck, if you have the interest and background, the Hang 'em High team won't mind where the work comes from, either. All that's required is to fill out and sign the release form, and get in touch with Jason or one of the other leads to get started.

So again, good article, and everyone feel free to swing on by the forums at artery.ca!

 

[shemoanscazrex3]

I live in what people call "the Baltimore art community," which is ironic because we couldn't be less of a community. Everyone is out to prove themselves, and our inevitably competitive nature makes it hard for unity to exist. That's why, to me, Artery sounds fantastic. It just goes to show that creativity cannot exist without collaboration.

Great article; it was a little short, but still a good read. And good luck with Hang em' High. I took a glance at it, and it looks like an ambitious combination of Left 4 Dead and Call of Juarez; which made me kick myself for not thinking of it first

Sorry to go off topic but where is this Baltimore Art Community? I live in Baltimore and boy oh boy